Over 50 pc of Indian households get tap water supply in their homes

New Delhi [India] August 19 (ANI): The government recently revealed that the flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission has yielded remarkable results after three years of its inception. The programme has successfully provided more than 50 per cent of households with tap water supply in their homes.

As per a government press note, Goa, Telangana, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, and Haryana have already attained 100 per cent home connectivity. Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar have more than 90 per cent coverage and are rapidly approaching the ideal of 'Har Ghar Jal.'"India is experiencing the biggest water crisis in its history and about 600 million people lack access to clean water. However, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aim of providing clean drinking water to every rural household, the country has reached the milestone of 50 per cent of rural households having access to tap water connections," said the 2019 NITI Aayog report.

Jal Jeevan Mission will also implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, and rainwater harvesting. The Jal Jeevan Mission is based on a community approach and includes extensive information, education and communication as key components of the mission.

"Women and young girls bore the brunt of arranging water for everyday household needs. Women, particularly in rural areas, often go for miles to get water from the nearest source. There is enough data to demonstrate that school attendance among girls was much lower during the summer when repeated travel was required due to increasing water demand," said the press note.

India's primary user of water stock is agriculture. Around 80 to 90 per cent of the drinking water needs in rural India are met by groundwater resources.

The major concern is that groundwater levels in India dropped by more than 60 per cent between 2007 and 2017, and that about 90 per cent of the extracted water is used for agriculture.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a 100-day campaign, which was begun by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on October 2, 2020, to safeguard children's health and wellbeing by supplying clean tap water in schools and Anganwadi centres across the nation.

"In just 16 months, drinkable tap water has been made available to 8.46 lakh schools (82 per cent) and 8.67 lakh (78 per cent) Anganwadi centres across the nation for drinking, cooking, handwashing, and bathroom use. In schools across the nation, 93,000 rainwater harvesting facilities and 1.08 lakh grey water reuse structures have been developed. Jal Jeevan Mission makes use of technology to ensure service delivery, transparency, accountability, and efficient use of resources," stated the press note.

Each water supply asset developed as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission has a geo-tag. When developing a single village project to locate drinking water sources and build an aquifer recharge structure, hydro-geo morphological (HGM) maps are used.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Government of India which was announced from the ramparts of Red Fort by the visionary Prime Minister on August 15, 2019. The mission aims to make provision potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on a regular and long-term basis to every rural household in the country by 2024. The program is implemented by the Government of India in partnership with States and Union Territories. (ANI)