
WOKHA, JANUARY 15 (MExN): The office of the Executive Engineer (EE), PHED Wokha, has issued a rejoinder in response to the allegation leveled by the Lotha Hoho that the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) programmes were a complete failure in Wokha.
Refuting the allegation, Executive Engineer PHED, Wokha Division, Er Imnazulu Ao sought to clarify that as of May 2023, under the JJM, 39 villages in Wokha have been successfully completed, certified as fully functional, and handed over to the respective Village Water and Sanitation Committees (WATSAN).
The necessary payments for civil works were made only after thorough verification by the Third Party Inspection Agency (TPIA) and certification by the district Deputy Commissioner. Therefore claiming that JJM being a complete failure, with almost zero implementation is factually not correct and misleading to the public in general, it stated while also pointing out that JJM is an ongoing scheme and covers only rural areas and not towns and municipalities.
Regarding the delivery of water supply to the targeted villages, the department clarified that, under the JJM programme, assets are created, trial runs are conducted, and completed schemes are handed over to the village councils and WATSAN, as per Ministry guidelines.
Following this, the operation, maintenance, and water supply responsibilities fall under the jurisdiction of the community partners (village authorities) as outlined in the JJM guidelines and the Nagaland Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act, 2002.
The public has been asked to verify any information related to the works implemented under the JJM & SBM schemes at the Divisional Office for further clarification.