Shillong, August 25: The Meghalaya government has set December 2026 as the target for completing the Nongpoh water-supply project, which has achieved around 75 per cent physical progress.
The issue was raised by Nongpoh MLA Mayralborn Syiem during Question Hour on the second day of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly’s Autumn Session.
Public Health Engineering Minister Marcuise N. Marak informed the House that the project had faced delays, partly due to obstruction by a Joint Action Committee and objections concerning forest clearance.
Seeking a categorical assurance on the completion timeline, Syiem also expressed concern over pending payments to contractors implementing Jal Jeevan Mission schemes across Meghalaya. He said funding delays had affected several projects for more than two years.
Responding to the supplementary question, Marak said the Government of India had recently sanctioned ₹336.62 crore for Meghalaya under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the 2026–27 financial year.
The sanctioned amount comprises:
- ₹2.36 crore as additional Central share
- ₹171.46 crore for single-village and multi-village piped water-supply schemes
- ₹140.78 crore under reimbursement mode
- ₹15.73 crore for support activities
- ₹6.29 crore for water-quality monitoring
However, the minister clarified that the sanctioned amount does not constitute an immediate release of funds. He said several formalities must be completed before the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti releases the funds in instalments. These include pending audits, creation of accounts through the Accountant General’s office, onboarding requirements and functionality assessments.
Marak said priority would be given to schemes that are 100 per cent complete, followed by those with 95 per cent and 90–95 per cent physical progress.
He urged contractors to complete the remaining works, stressing that the functionality of completed schemes would also be an important criterion for the release of payments.
The minister further informed the House that a comprehensive exercise was underway to assess whether completed Jal Jeevan Mission schemes across the State were actually functional.
Meanwhile, in view of increasing water scarcity, the Soil and Water Conservation Department is implementing spring-shed rejuvenation measures in coordination with the PHE Department to protect critical water sources.
The measures include afforestation, construction of check dams, groundwater-recharge initiatives, catchment-area plantations and community-awareness programmes.
