Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday urged the World Bank to sanction additional funds for the timely execution of water supply and sanitation schemes in waterlogged areas of the state.
The chief minister said nearly 40,000 toilets needed to be constructed in waterlogged areas, with each toilet costing around Rs.28,400. The construction cost in normal areas comes to Rs.15,000.
The additional cost should be provided by the World Bank so that the task could be completed within the scheduled time limit, Badal said while reviewing the progress of the ongoing World Bank-funded schemes in the state.
World Bank team leader Srinivasa Rao Podipireddy told Badal that the water supply schemes have been implemented in 317 villages. Work on 194 other such schemes has been initiated.
As many as Rs.305 crore were released during the last fiscal, while budgetary allocation of Rs.403 crore has been made for this fiscal.
Additional works worth Rs.960 crore have been proposed for the 2016-17 fiscal.
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--IANS
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