Speed Post News Network
Patna : PM Narendra Modi inaugurated various projects under ‘Namami Gange’ Yojana and ‘AMRUT’ Yojana in Bihar on September 15, 2020. Four schemes inaugurated on September 15 include sewerage treatment plants at Beur and Karamlichak in Patna city, as well as water-related projects in Siwan and Saran under the ‘AMRUT’ Yojana. Apart from this, foundation stones were for water supply projects at Munger and Jamalpur and River Front Development Scheme under Namami Gange in Muzaffarpur. He said that even during the times of Corona, the work on various development projects progressed uninterrupted in Bihar.
Modi said Bihar is the land of historical cities and has a rich heritage of thousands of years. After independence, Bihar was led by visionary leaders who tried their best to remove the distortions which developed during the era of slavery. He added thereafter there was a lopsided development with changed priorities which resulted in urban infrastructure degradation and collapse of the rural infrastructure in the state.
He said when selfishness overtakes governance and the vote bank politics come into play then the already marginalised and deprived would be the most affected. He said people of Bihar have endured this pain for decades as the basic needs like water and sewerage are not met. He said that people contract diseases by drinking dirty water under compulsion and a large part of his earnings goes on treatment. Under these circumstances, a very large section in Bihar had accepted debt, disease, helplessness, illiteracy as their fate, he added.
Modi said for the past few years efforts are on to reverse the system and bring back the confidence to the most affected section of the society. Since 2014, almost complete control of infrastructure related schemes has been given to Gram Panchayats or local bodies. Now, from the planning to implementation, and the maintenance of the schemes, the local bodies are able to meet the local needs and this is the reason that there is a continuous improvement in the infrastructure of basic amenities like drinking water and sewer in the cities of Bihar.
The PM said in the last 4-5 years lakh families have been provided access to drinking water in the urban areas of Bihar under the Mission AMRUT and State Government schemes. In the coming years, Bihar will be among those states of the country, where every house will have piped water supply. He added Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan played a big role in providing water connections to more than 57 lakh families in the last few months in rural areas of Bihar due to the work of the migrant labor, who returned to Bihar from other states, according to a PIB release.
He said this Jal Jeevan Mission is dedicated to these hard working colleagues of Bihar. In the last one year, more than two crore water connections have been given all over the country under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Today, more than one lakh houses are being connected through pipes to new connections of water every day.He said in urban areas also, the work for providing pure water to 12 lakh families in Bihar under AMRUT Yojana is fast progressing and out of this about 6 lakh families have already been provided connection. He said the number of urban settlements is fast increasing and urbanisation has become a reality today but for many decades urbanisation was considered as a hindrance. He said it is very important to prepare the cities according to the needs of the future and not the present, to give impetus to the mission of Atma-Nirbhar Bihar, Atma-Nirbhar Bharat.
Modi said in Bihar, over 4.5 lakh LED street lights have been installed in more than 100 municipal bodies. He said about 20 big and important cities of the state are located on the banks of Ganga river. Cleanliness of river Ganga river, cleanliness of Ganga water has a direct effect on crores of people living in these cities. Keeping in mind the cleanliness of river Ganga, the PM said more than 50 projects worth more than Rs.6000 crore have been approved in Bihar.