Statesman News Service
MALDA, June 21: “The state government would be able to supply safe drinking water in the eight arsenic affected districts of West Bengal by the year 2010,” the state public health engineering minister, Mr Goutam Deb claimed here during a function on Wednesday. According to Mr Deb, the Centre has allotted Rs 2,000 crore for the arsenic-free water supply project in the state and all projects, many of them under progress, would be completed within three years. “I have no complaints against the Centre at present, regarding sanctioning of funds for arsenic-free water supply projects,” Mr Goutam Deb said. He also pointed out that the state would have to manage Rs 500 crore, which is 25 per cent of the Rs 2,000 crore as matching grant, to get Central assistance and for the execution of the water supply projects. According to the Mr Deb, Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting on 4 and 5 July in New Delhi with all state officials to discuss the matter of drinking water supply programme and to review the present situation. Mr Deb yesterday visited the two ongoing arsenic-free water supply projects in Malda and claimed that the projects would be completed in the next three months. He claimed that the more than Rs 32 crores have been allotted for the three water projects and another project was under progress at Bhutni Diara, a delta in the mid Ganga.
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