NEW DELHI: Concern runs deep in the government that single-minded focus on water-related projects under MGNREGA can lead to rushed works without commensurate respect for technical requirements of the job hurting the cause of conservation of the vital resource as summer sets in and monsoon approaches.As the job scheme resumed after easing of lockdown Monday, the Centre has asked the states to focus on irrigation works and the like because they afford better distancing to labourers than other activities, as is required during the corona pandemic.Given the directives, the water works are likely to be taken up in more numbers than in the past. But it has also increased the chances of hasty execution.It is realized that water works will have to be matched by a more skilled execution of the job. A faulty execution may end up hurting the water table and also the health of seasonal rivulets while saddling the expectant regions with non-functional tanks, sources said. Quality of assets under the job scheme has been an issue since the advent of MGNREGA.Driven by the worry, Union ministries of rural development and Jal Shakti are set to share with states a list of “do’s and dont’s”.A key concern revolves around digging up of faulty farm ponds. “They have to be dug up in a place where the water collects, it has to be according to the natural gradient and not against it. Only then will water flow to the pond,” underlined an official.Similarly, work on rejuvenation of rivulets has to be as per the sensitive technical requirements. “If the earth is dug wider or deeper than required, the hydrological level of rivulets will be disrupted and will seriously damage the rivulet,” sources said.“We will soon remind the states about such concerns,” an official said.