By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry is planning an ambitious Rs 6,000 crore project to provide piped drinking water supply at the Border Out Posts located on the icy heights of the Himalayas, in the Thar desert or in the remote Northeast in order to improve the working conditions of the troopers and officers posted at these locations.

Once approved, the project will be funded by the Home Ministry and implemented by the State governments in conjunction with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

According to the proposal, piped drinking water will be provided to Border Out Posts along Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.

These frontiers are guarded by forces such as the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force and the Sashastra Seema Bal.

The Border Out Posts guarded by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000 feet to 18,700 feet above sea level.

Likewise, the Border Security Force guards the frontier with Pakistan in Rajasthan where the deserts have hardly any water source.

In the absence of piped water supply, the personnel deployed in these difficult terrains are dependent on natural or local sources like springs, borewells or water tankers.

Carrying water is difficult in remote and inhospitable areas and porters are deployed to do the job in such locations, a Home Ministry official said.

The proposal has been discussed by the senior officials of the ministries of Home, Drinking Water Supply and the states that share the international borders, the official said, adding that efforts are underway to work out the project in its entirety following which approval will be sought from the cabinet.