"Levying of water usage charges from the user agencies enabled the state to collect around Rs 1,000 crore which would be used to improve the power situation in the state", Minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE), Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohi-ud-Din said at a public meeting in Poonch district today.
Taj said water is the biggest natural resource of the state and with the collection of water usage charges the state would become self-sufficient in coming years.
He said Water Resources Act 2010 enabled the state to consolidate and conserve water resources all the across Jammu and Kashmir.
He said this amount constitutes around 1/3 of the state's total revenue. He said with coming years this amount would also increase and hoped that the state would become much more prosperous in the coming years.
Responding to the local needs and demands, the minister said that government is conscious of the difficulties of the people of these far-flung and backward areas. He said these areas are now given focused attention and many special schemes and programmes have been devised to match their requirements and needs.