Easy access to tap water

Determined to provide tap water to every household across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the government is ‘expected’ to meet the target by August this year under the Jal Jeevan Mission.In all 20 districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a target has been set to provide tap water to every household by August 2022. A total of 10.39 lakh i.e. 57 percent houses have been provided the tap water connections so far after hard efforts of two years.J&K has provided 4.67 lakh new tap water connections in the last two years. Srinagar and Ganderbal districts comprising 11 blocks, 383 panchayats and 1070 villages have covered 100 percent of tap water connections.On August 15, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Red Fort announced the Government of India’s ambitious project Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual functional household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.100 percent tap water connections have been provided to 23160 rural schools, 24163 rural Anganwadi centers and 3324 rural health centers.In addition, 1612 gram panchayat buildings have been covered under piped water supply.5774 water committees have also been constituted in Jammu and Kashmir for the active participation of the local community in the planning, monitoring and successful work of Jal Jeevan Mission.They added that the Center has allocated 2747 crores during the year 2021-22 which is almost four times as compared to the previous year 2020-21.J&K has planned to achieve the target of Har Ghar Nal, Har Ghar Jal by August 2022. In its second phase, the Union Territory government has set a target to cover 11 districts, comprising 153 blocks, 1952 panchayats and 3254 villages, with 4.93 lakh functional household taps. .In the final phase of this mission, they said that 121 blocks, 1660 panchayats and 7 districts with 2623 villages will be covered with 3.12 lakh household tap connections.To ensure quality water supply, 97 water testing laboratories have been established in J&K.They further said that the government lays emphasis not only on regular tap water supply but also on water quality, adding, “the work on tap water supply is in full swing to the villages in spite of adverse weather conditions and transportation challenges in many locations even in the inaccessible areas,” they added.The Union Territory Government is committed to capacity building, testing and monitoring of tap water connections and water quality management in every household.