Jal Jeevan Mission: 15 crore rural households provided tap water connection, says govt

New Delhi: More than 15 crore rural households have been provided tap water connection till now, according to official data.

In a statement, Union Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil praised the achievement, saying "this golden milestone has not only given a gift of pure water to countrymen but also uniquely improved their quality of life".

The data stated that 77.65 per cent or 15,00,27,135 rural households have been provided with tap water connection since the Jal Jeevan Mission's (JJM) launch in 2019.

The mission has significantly advanced its objectives through collaboration with states, Union Territories (UTs) and development partners.

Under the JJM, all rural households have to be provided with a connection till the end of this year.

The states and UTs that have achieved 100 per cent coverage are Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to the data.

Several other states are nearing this milestone, with coverage in Bihar at 96.08 per cent, Uttarakhand at 95.02 per cent, Ladakh at 93.25 per cent and Nagaland at 91.58 per cent.

In total, 2.28 lakh villages and 190 districts have "attained" the 'Har Ghar Jal' status, with 100 districts and more than 1.25 lakh villages "certified" as 'Har Ghar Jal', the statement said.

The JJM has also established 5.24 lakh Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) and developed 5.12 lakh Village Action Plans (VAPs) to outline water supply needs, cost estimates and implementation schedules.

Ensuring water quality is a critical component of JJM's success. The initiative has set up 2,163 laboratories for water sample testing and trained over 24.59 lakh women to use Field Testing Kits (FTKs), the statement said.

Safe drinking water is now accessible in all arsenic and fluoride-affected habitations, with rigorous measures in place to maintain the reliability and sustainability of potable water supply.

Beyond household connections, the JJM has made substantial strides in public facilities, with 88.91 per cent of schools and 85.08 per cent of anganwadi centres now receiving tap water.

The mission's impact is particularly notable in aspirational districts, where access to tap water has surged from 21.38 lakh households at launch to 2.11 crore households, as of July 23, 2024, it said.