Under the Central government’s Jal Jeevan Mission, in 2020-21, a total of 20.69 lakh rural houses in Rajasthan will get tap water connections. This was stated by the Union Jal Shakti Minister on Wednesday, during a mid-term review meeting of the scheme. He further mentioned, “This year, there is a plan to provide tap water to 100 per cent rural households in Churu district. Rajasthan is planning to provide 100 per cent tap water connections to all rural households by the year 2023-24. There are about 1.01 crore rural houses in the state, out of which 88.57 lakh do not have domestic tap connection”.
55 litres of drinking water for each person per day
This review meeting outlined the need for analysing the existing piped water supply (PWS) schemes in 44,641 habitations, where till date, not a single connection has been initiated. It was also urged to examine the schemes in 20,172 villages, where there are no tap water connections available. The state authorities have chalked a plan to provide safe drinking water to the remaining 1,545 fluoride affected habitations having a population of 8.74 lakhs, by December 2020.
Under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY), the state was ordered to focus on the universal coverage of water scarce areas, aspirational districts, ASC/ST dominated villages and other villages. Taking it further, the state officials on Tuesday, presented the status of planning and implementation of the mission in Rajasthan, before the National Jal Jeevan Mission body through video conferencing. During the span of 2020-21, the Centre has allocated 2,522 crores to Rajasthan, under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Funds worth 389 crores have already been handed to the state, under the National Water Quality Sub-Mission, to provide safe drinking water to certain habitations where water quality was sub par. The Jal Jeevan Mission aims at providing 55 litres of drinking water, per person per day, through tap water connection to every rural home by 2024.
With inputs from IANS
