Centre to consider Goa’s demand for 24x7 ‘Drink from Tap’ water supply project

Odisha’s Puri, another tourism-dominated city, became the first in the country to provide 24x7 ‘Drink from Tap’ water supply project in July 2021

New Delhi: Goa’s demand for special assistance of ₹652.61 crore for providing 24x7 Drink from Tap (DfT) water supply project will be considered, central government officials said following a meeting between Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday.

Union minister of housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar chairs a review meeting with Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant to assess the progress in the power and urban development sectors, in Panaji on Monday. (Imaged posted on X by Manohar Lal Khattar)

Further, based on the demands made by Sawant and Goa’s urban development minister Vishwajit Rane, Khattar asked MoHUA (ministry of housing and urban affairs) officials to make necessary policy changes in the tourist states to provide enhanced central government support under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) 2.0 and SBM-U (Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban) 2.0 to better serve the significantly high volume of tourists.

Odisha’s Puri, another tourism-dominated city, became the first in the country to provide 24x7 DfT in July 2021. Following this, the state government expanded the project in other urban centres.

In a government release, it was said that the Goa CM had also sought special financial assistance of ₹326.30 crore minimum for Water Source Augmentation, Infrastructure Development, Rehabilitation of Existing Network, pilot Drink-from-Tap projects including smart metering, IoT and SCADA-based monitoring systems to the State under AMRUT 2.0.

During their meeting, Khattar also advised the State to complete all pending work related to water supply (new/service tap connections and new/service sewer connections) under AMRUT; revision of action plan, expedite tendering work for toilets (community toilets, public toilets, aspirational toilets, urinals), Solid Waste Management, STP/co-treatment facilities under SBM, the government release added. The union minister also urged the CM to inform and educate citizens about PMAY-U (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban) 2.0 to get benefits of affordable housing; profile Street Vendors under PM SVANidhi (a microcredit facility for street vendors), clear eligible loan applications and increase women participation.