Shillong, March 10: Minister in-charge Public Health Engineering (PHE) Marcuise N Marak on Friday said he would aggressively monitor the implementation of funds sanctioned by the central government for providing drinking water to the people of Meghalaya.

After chairing his first meeting with the top officials of the department, Marak told reporters that they have apprised him of the position of the department and that he has decided to immediately review the functioning of the department on Saturday.

When asked, the PHE minister said that the state has been getting funds from the Government of India, which is investing to provide drinking water facility in the state while asserting that this needs to be implemented properly so that for the next 30 years the state will not have any problem.

“Therefore, I will monitor aggressively and I will personally inspect the projects wherever the projects are being constructed and I will make sure our Meghalaya state in terms of PHE department whatever money the central government is giving is implemented properly,” he assured.

On the issue of scarcity of water supply, Marak said, “I will try to find out what is the reason behind the scarcity. Of course, as you are aware most of the catchment areas are drying up. Maybe because of that also the scarcity is there. Otherwise if the department is having problems in bringing water to the people, if that is also there I will check and ensure it is implemented properly.”

He also assured to ensure proper implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission which is to provide functional water taps to every household in the state.