50% DMF funds reserved for Covid Combat

Bhilai, May 18: Anticipating the possible outbreak of a third wave of Noval Coronavirus Pandemic, the DMF Governing Council in its meeting held on Tuesday decided to reserve 50% of the funds for Covid Combat. It was emphasized to use the DMF’s resources to deal with the Corona pandemic. Members stated that considering the apprehension of the Third Wave, it is very important that adequate arrangements are made to deal with it and adequate funds should be made available through the DMF to prevent corona infection. According to the arising needs, a decision will be taken to spend the DMF funds accordingly. District’s Guardian Minister Mohammad Akbar acknowledged the opinion of the members and asked to reserve half of the accumulated funds (about Rs 3 crore) for Corona combat. After consideration of the proposals of the members, the remaining Rs 3.38 crore could be spent for launching other works.
Home and PWD Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said that expenditure has been made earlier too on health infrastructure from DMF funds. These initiatives have yielded fruitful results. This fund will again prove to be very useful in preventing corona infection. The remaining amount can be sanctioned for the works which are of the urgent nature. Addressing the meeting, Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey said that the administration has done a good job in the prevention of corona infection in Durg district. Taking rapid decisions and working on infrastructure, effective action was taken towards the prevention of corona infection. Looking ahead to the possibility of the third wave, there is a need to constantly update the resources. For the purpose, complete assistance will be provided through DMF. PHE Minister Guru Rudra Kumar said that the better use of MLA funds and DMF has strengthened the infrastructure to fight the corona infection across the state. “We have continuously worked in this direction and further preparation will be very useful”, he said. Durg MLA Arun Vora tabled the main demands of the area. He said that some proposals have been made through DMF, which will provide considerable relief to the citizens on issues of basic importance like education and health. Vaishali Nagar MLA Vidyaratan Bhasin said that the vaccination process will continue for a long period and accordingly construction work can be started from the DMF heads at the vaccination sites so that people do not face problems in the rainy season.
Bhilai MLA Devendra Yadav raised the issue of drinking water in the Bhilai Township. He said that despite repeated calls by him and the district administration, the BSP management did not make the required improvement in the drinking water system of Bhilai Township. Collector Dr Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure said that the BSP management has been told to upgrade the technology of the filter plant and take immediate measures that lead to expected results. On Tuesday, the administration conducted a re-test of drinking water and the quality improvement has been witnessed. At present, BSP is seeking water from Gangrel and its effect would be seen in the coming three days. BSP management has been directed to provide 100 percent pure drinking water to the citizens without delay. Guardian Minister said that the officers of the Environment Board should also be sent on the spot and investigate the matter. Collector Dr Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure informed in detail about the work done so far from the DMF fund. He said that works worth Rs 133 crore have been proposed so far, most of which have been completed. Out of 3475 sanctioned works, 352 works are in progress. District Panchayat President Shalini Yadav, Durg Municipal Corporation Commissioner Rituraj Raghuvanshi, District Panchayat CEO Sachchidanand Alok, Risali Municipal Corporation Commissioner Prakash Sarwe and other officials were present in the meeting.