By Ananya Pattnaik
According to an official release, the meeting brought together top officials from key departments including Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Rural Development, Works, Forest, Energy, Environment & Climate Change, as well as representatives from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The agenda focused on reviewing ongoing PWS projects and removing inter-agency bottlenecks within the next month.
To improve execution, the committee agreed on weekly or fortnightly joint reviews and the formation of a WhatsApp group of nodal officers for real-time coordination and faster issue resolution.
Key Announcements and Reforms:
Digital Monitoring Platform: A robust digital system is under development for real-time tracking of PWS schemes. Initially, it will integrate SCADA systems for large-scale projects, with plans to extend to IoT-based monitoring for smaller schemes.
District-Level Oversight: Project Management Units (PMUs) will be set up in every district to strengthen ground-level execution.
Community Involvement: Members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) will be trained to use Field Testing Kits (FTKs) for water quality checks and report findings through the Jal Jeevan Mission mobile app.
Organizational Overhaul: The department will study national best practices to restructure itself, moving from an infrastructure-centric to a service delivery-oriented model for rural water governance.
Pipeline Protection Measures: To prevent damage from unrelated civil works, a Government Resolution will mandate prior intimation of excavation through platforms like CBUD (Coordination Between Urban Departments). Additionally, GIS-based pipeline mapping will be adopted to protect assets and increase accountability.
Final Takeaway:
The meeting concluded with a united call for sustained, tech-enabled, and coordinated efforts to fulfill the state’s commitment to universal access to safe and reliable drinking water in rural Odisha. The strategic pivot to real-time digital governance and inter-departmental synergy marks a transformative shift in how public utilities are implemented in the state.