MALDA, April 2: The public health engineering department is to help ensure that all accommodation for the Central forces and polling personnel in booths is up to standard within the district, by providing drinking water sources and arranging for high sanitation levels.
The executive engineer of the PHE, Mr Swapan Maitra, said the department will bear all costs for the arrangement of sanitation and drinking water sources. Following instructions from the Election Commission, the Malda district administration is now preparing a list of polling stations and accommodation for Central forces. "We are waiting for directions from the administration," Mr Maitra said. “When we get the list from the administration, it will be sent to our higher authorities for approval. We will start the job on an emergency basis, without waiting for the allotment of funds," he added.
According to Mr Maitra, in the last panchayat polls the PHE had spent Rs 79 lakh on repairing water sources in polling stations in this district. On 30 March, the state PHE sanctioned the same amount of Rs 79 lakh for this year's repairs. Meanwhile, PHE officials yesterday interacted with the local people, political leaders, and panchayat members, in a bid to stop the recurring thefts of parts of the pipeline used to supply arsenic-free water to Kaliachak II and English Bazaar area. The thefts have disrupted water supply in many areas.
“If the criminals cut the pipeline and steal parts of it before elections, we are helpless to supply drinking water to various points. We have informed the local political leaders of the matter, and sought their help to guard pipelines that are out in the open in many places,” said Mr Maitra. "We have decided to lay underground pipes in vulnerable areas where the pipes are currently open, to deter thieves and vandals," Mr Maitra added.
n SNS
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