Vijayawada: Chief Secretary K Vijayanand has instructed the district Collectors to take necessary precautionary measures to prevent drinking water problems anywhere in the State during the current summer.

The CS conducted a video conference with district Collectors from State Secretariat on Thursday on summer action plan for drinking water supply, Swarnandhra and Swachhandhra programmes.

Speaking on this occasion, the CS said that 3,438 habitations in 332 mandals in the State that are likely to face water shortage in summer and steps are being taken to implement summer action plan at a cost of Rs 67.31 crore. Keeping in view of hot weather conditions and hot winds likely to prevail in various parts of the State in the coming days, the CS advised the Collectors to be prepared with adequate preparedness and precautionary action plans to overcome the conditions of hot winds.

He directed the officials to supply drinking water through tankers to drought-affected zones and to take private drinking water suppliers on lease basis, if necessary. They were also instructed to take steps to rehabilitate and repair temporary water supply systems, filling drinking water tanks with water, and repairing hand pumps. The CS directed to set up special monitoring cells at state and district levels to receive complaints on drinking water issues, respond to them in a timely manner, and resolve them immediately.

Also, the CS ordered that complaints regarding drinking water received through the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS), various media units, Drought Monitoring Cell, and Contact Center Toll-Free Number -1902 should be responded immediately and resolved in a timely manner.

CS Vijayanand directed the officials that all summer storage tanks should be filled completely with water, canals should be blocked in coordination with the Water Resources Department. He suggested that measures like flushing and deepening borewells should be taken in areas dependent on groundwater.

At the same time, the CS ordered that all fresh water distribution lines and pumping mains should be completely inspected and water leakages should be prevented, and that generators should be made available on stands so that water supply does not suffer in case of power outages.

Later, reviewing Swarnandhra and Swachhandhra programmes, CS Vijayanand said efforts should be made to keep all offices and surroundings clean by organising Swachhandhra Day properly every month. He suggested that special attention should be paid to proper management of various electronic waste (e-waste) and that appropriate awareness should be created among the people. He said that members of self-help groups should be trained on e-waste collection so that e-waste can be identified in all departments and necessary steps should be taken to dispose of it properly. CS Vijayanand clarified to the collectors that posters, pamphlets, advertisements and social media should be circulated to create awareness among the people on the harm caused by dumping e-waste wherever they fall.

Principal Secretary GAD Mukesh Kumar Meena, MD APIIC, Director Industries Department Abhishek Kishore, MD Swachhandra Corporation Anil Kumar Reddy participated in the video conference while Collectors of various districts and other officials participated virtually.