Government of India is committed to make provision for safe & potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on a regular & long-term basis to all rural households in the country. Towards this end, the Government of India launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), to be implemented in partnership with states, in August 2019. Drinking Water is a state subject, and hence, the responsibility of planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the Jal Jeevan Mission, lies with State/UT Governments. The Government of India supports the States by providing technical and financial assistance.
Significant progress has been made in the country since the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, towards enhancing access to tap water to rural households. At the start of Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019, only 3.23 Crore (16.8%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States/ UTs as on 13.12.2023, around 10.58 Crore additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections under JJM. Thus, as on 13.12.2023, out of 19.24 Crore rural households in the country, approximately 13.81 Crore (71.77%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.
Further, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) being the nodal Ministry for urban affairs has informed that it has taken several initiatives towards sustainable management of water in urban areas through implementation of National Missions i.e., Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) & AMRUT 2.0.
AMRUT focuses on development of basic urban infrastructure especially water supply & access to tap connection to every household in 500 cities. Of the approved plan size of Rs.77,640 crore, a significant amount of Rs.39,011 crore (~50%) has been allocated for water supply sector. ULBs/ State may take up projects related to new augmentation/rehabilitation of water supply system; rejuvenation of water bodies for water supply, rainwater harvesting and recharge of ground water etc. So far, 1,348 projects have been grounded worth Rs. 42,987 crore including 1,048 completed projects worth Rs. 22,280 crore. Overall physical works worth Rs. 39,435 Crore have been completed with Rs. 35,650 crore worth of expenditure incurred. Through these projects & in convergence with other programmes, 187 lakh household water tap connections have been provided so far.
Taking it forward, AMRUT 2.0 covers all the statutory towns of the country to ensure universal coverage of water supply & make cities ‘water secure’. It envisages rejuvenation of water bodies, urban aquifer management, promote recycle & reuse and rainwater harvesting to augment freshwater resources. Through the approved water supply projects under AMRUT 2.0, 1.64 cr. new tap connections is planned to be provided.
The responsibility of implementation, inter alia including repairing or constructing streets or roads that get affected while laying water supply pipelines, of rural water supply schemes taken up under JJM lies with State/ UT Governments and the funds available under JJM may be utilized for the same. Further, to avoid any hardships to the villagers, States have been advised to take up rural water schemes in a way with minimum damages to infrastructure such as roads/ highways and to restore the roads/ highways immediately in case of damages done while laying of pipelines for water supply systems. Moreover, through operational guidelines of the Mission, States have also been advised to incorporate requisite penalty clauses in the contract documents so as to disincentivize the agencies to avoid delay in implementation of the Mission.