Additional fund allocation to fight Japanese Encephalitis
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has allocated additional 525 crore rupees in 2012-2013 to the States facing the problems of chemical contamination in drinking water and which have Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome(JE/AES) affected high priority districts. The Rural Development Minister and the Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Jairam Ramesh said in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha that this allocation is in addition to the normal allocation under NRDWP to the States including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from which upto 67% of the budget can be used for provision of safe drinking water, including in these districts. The Minister said, in JE/AES affected districts, States can take up activities like conversion of public shallow hand pumps to India Mark 11/111 hand pumps, provision o0f mini-water supply through Stand posts, regular chlorination of affected sources, providing proper platforms for hand pumps/ borewells, soakage pits etc, apart from awareness generation and solid and liquid waste management.
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SNC