A total of 315 water supply schemes of Rs 9,544 crore were approved under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for Jharkhand, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said here on Friday.
These schemes will provide tap water supply to about 8 lakh rural households in 4,424 villages of the state.
On August 15, 2019, at the time of launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.45 lakh (5.83 per cent) rural homes in Jharkhand had tap water supply.
In 28 months, despite Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown disruptions, the state has provided tap water connection to 6.73 lakh (11.38 per cent) households.
“As on date, out of 59.23 lakh rural households in the state, 10.18 lakh (17.20 per cent) are getting tap water supply in their homes,” the Ministry said in a statement.
Under Jal Jeevan Mission, there is provision for constitution of State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) for consideration and approval of schemes to be taken up for making provision of tap water supply to rural households.
The SLSSC acts as a State level Committee to consider water supply schemes/ projects, and a nominee of the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Government of India is a member of the committee.
This year, Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat allocated Rs 2,479.88 crore, which is four-fold increase from last year’s allocation.
Shekhawat, while approving the four-fold increase, assured full assistance to the state for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024.
So far, Rs 512.22 crore has already been released to Jharkhand to ensure that there is no dearth of money for speedy implementation of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme.
With the physical progress of mission works with commensurate financial progress in the state, further funds will be released to the state.
The Union Government is committed to provide all assistance to the state to ensure every rural household gets tap water supply in their homes.