Jammu, Feb 09: The Government on Friday clarified that there is no proposal to establish a separate Public Health Engineering (PHE) Division at Achabal, stating that the area is already being efficiently served by the existing water supply infrastructure.
Responding to a question raised by MLA Abdul Majeed Larmi in the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmed Rana, informed the House that Achabal falls under the jurisdiction of the Jal Shakti (PHE) Division Bijbehara and is effectively catered to by the PHE Sub-Divisions at Anantnag and Kokernag.
The Minister said that the two sub-divisions collectively manage 157 Water Supply Schemes, providing potable water to 31,448 households across the region.
He emphasized that the operational efficiency and balanced distribution of workload among these sub-divisions eliminate the need for the creation of a new division at this stage.
Rana further informed the House that 70 Water Supply Schemes catering to the Achabal area have been taken up under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), UT Capex, and NABARD, at an estimated cost of ₹17,182.02 lakh.
Of these, 52 schemes have already been completed and made operational, while the remaining schemes are at various stages of execution.
He added that the existing division is managing a substantial number of schemes effectively, with the sub-division-wise workload remaining well within manageable limits.
In view of this, the minister said there is presently no functional or administrative justification for establishing a separate PHE Division for Achabal.
During the discussion, MLA Altaf Ahmad Wani raised a supplementary question seeking further clarifications on the issue, which were duly addressed by the minister.
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