Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today called for uninterrupted water supply in rural areas, proper disposal of waste water from village ponds as well as getting rid of open defecation in the state.
Presiding over a high level meeting here to review the implementation of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' in the state today, the Chief Minister asked the concerned officials to submit a 'Detailed Project Report' regarding the proper disposal of waste water from village ponds within a fortnight.
The project needs to be undertaken on a war footing so that villages could be made free from waste water, which pose a major threat to the health of the people and environment of the state, he said.
The Chief Minister asked the officers to ensure minimum 10 hours of uninterrupted supply to the villages through the various ongoing schemes, an official release said.
"Every household must be given connection of tap water so that they could avail the facility of potable drinking water," he said.
In a bid to make the state free from open defecation, Badal gave his nod for constituting district water and sanitation committees under the Deputy Commissioners with officers of the Zila Parishad and representatives of public as its members.
It was informed in the meeting that in order to make people aware about the demerits of open defecation, "motivators" would be deployed at the village level, the release said.
Likewise, Badal was also apprised that the state has already decided to construct 7.92 lakh toilets for providing this facility to every household.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also gave his approval for enhancing award for motivating the Gram Panchayat Committee by felicitating them at state-level.
The best Gram Panchayat committees would be awarded with Rs 5 lakh while the second and third best performers would be given Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively.
