Seethakka calls for strengthening local water sources in remote areas

Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and Rural Water Supply Minister Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) has underscored the need to strengthen local water sources in remote and agency areas, particularly in villages that are yet to be linked with Mission Bhagiratha.

She directed officials to take up the digging of open wells wherever necessary and to complete the construction of check dams before the onset of the monsoon under employment guarantee works. Strengthening these resourceswould help ensure long-term water availability, she added.

During a videoconference with the concerned officials on Saturday, the Minister reminded citizens that drinking water issues can be reported through the toll- free helpline 1916, and instructed officials to act immediately on every complaint. She said the same level of vigilance shown last summer must continue this year, with Mission Bhagiratha engineers maintaining constant field supervision. Special focus must be given to problem-prone villages, forest regions, tribal hamlets and tandas, she added.

Expressing satisfaction with the overall positive feedback from sarpanches, Ms. Seethakka said village-level inputs serve as a crucial guide for the government.

“The sarpanches’ feedback forms the real roadmap for improving Mission Bhagiratha services. Our primary responsibility is to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply to every household,” she said.

The Engineer-in-Chief (ENC) office recently completed a large-scale outreach effort, gathering feedback over the phone from 12,457 sarpanches across 12,728 gram panchayats. Their inputs covered 16 key aspects, including drinking water supply, water quality, chlorination and cleanliness of overhead tanks, pipeline leakages, functioning of pumps, household drainage connections and awareness of the 1916 helpline.

Mission Bhagiratha teams have been asked to visit the villages, inspect the conditions first-hand and complete all corrective works between April 1 and 15, 2026, as part of the government’s 99-day public administration progress initiative.