Saturday, Dec 03, 2022 08:30 [IST]

Last Update: Saturday, Dec 03, 2022 02:59 [IST]

Centre sanctions Rs. 1,589 crore for water supply schemes in Darjeeling, Kalimpong

DARJEELING, : The Centre has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1,589 crore for water supply schemes for the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said today.

“I have been informed that the government has sanctioned 284 projects worth Rs. 1070.77 crore for Darjeeling district and 146 projects worth Rs. 518.64 crore for Kalimpong district,” Bista said in a press release.

This is in addition to the funds already sanctioned for urban areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

Likewise, 284 projects worth Rs 860.93 crore have been sanctioned for the district of North Dinajpur. In total, 714 projects worth Rs. 2450.34 crore will be implemented in the rural regions of three districts to ensure ‘Har Ghar Jal’ in every household.

The Lok Sabha member said, “Drinking water scarcity has been a persistent problem for our region and despite getting the highest amount of rainfalls, almost all towns and many villages from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and North Dinajpur district have been facing acute shortage of water. The drinking water problem is so acute in rural regions, especially in the tea gardens, that people have to spend hours every day just to fetch a bucket of water.”

“From the day I was elected, I have made provisioning of drinking water to every household in our region a priority issue. I have repeatedly spoken about it both inside the Parliament and outside it and reached out to the highest offices in our country, requesting for the resolution of the drinking water crisis in our region,” added Bista, while maintaining that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat, concrete actions were being taken to resolve the drinking water crisis in the region.

He thanked the Prime Minister and Jal Shakti Minister for fulfilling the long pending demand while assuring that the BJP would fulfil all the commitments they made to the people from Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars.

Sikkim at a Glance

  • Area: 7096 Sq Kms
  • Capital: Gangtok
  • Altitude: 5,840 ft
  • Population: 6.10 Lakhs
  • Topography: Hilly terrain elevation from 600 to over 28,509 ft above sea level
  • Climate:
  • Summer: Min- 13°C - Max 21°C
  • Winter: Min- 0.48°C - Max 13°C
  • Rainfall: 325 cms per annum
  • Language Spoken: Nepali, Bhutia, Lepcha, Tibetan, English, Hindi