Union Jal Shakti Ministry advises Haryana to monitor water supply in real time

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 18

The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has advised the state of Haryana to identify sources of convergence and invest in sensor-based IoT technology for real-time monitoring and measurement of water supply under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

This was during a meeting held by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation of the Ministry (DDWS) of the Ministry to discuss the Jal Jeevan Mission Annual Action Plan (AAP) of States for 2021-22.

Haryana presented its AAP Jal Jeevan Mission via video conferencing charting its plan of action for the financial year 2021-22 as well as the saturation plan for the state.

The state government was advised with regard to the Plan, and tilo emphasise on well-placed Information, Education and Communication (IEC) strategies to instil behavioural change amongst public.

During the meeting the Haryana government reiterated its commitment to achieve the JJM target by November 1, 2022, much ahead of the national deadline.

November 1 marks the Haryana Day—the day the state was carved out from Punjab.

The JJM plans to provide piped drinking water to every rural household by 2024.

A month-long exercise of taking up the Annual Action Plan of States/ UTs under Jal Jeevan Mission is done by a committee chaired by Secretary, DDWS and with members from different Central Ministries/ Departments and NITI Aayog to do a rigorous scrutiny of the proposed Annual Action Plan (AAP) prepared by States/ UTs before finalizing the same.

Thereafter, funds are released to the states by the Centre throughout the year. 

For Haryana, the Committee advised the state to work on water sources sustainability as with increasing tap connections at household level the load on water requirement has to be accounted for. 

There is an urgent need for grey water management and behaviour change among people so that water, which is a limited resource, is used judiciously.

Needless to say that in peak summer water scarcity is left the most and the increasing cases of Corona pandemic is forcing people to wash hands frequently which has put pressure on water supply at all times to fight the disease.

Haryana State has 31.03 lakh rural households, out of which 26.93 lakh (86.8%) rural households are provided with tap connections as on March 31, 2021.

During the meeting the state government informed that it plans plans to provide 4.09 lakh tap connections in 2021-22. The JJM gives a lot of emphasis on water quality surveillance and monitoring.

It mandates that in every village five persons especially women to be trained for use of Field Test Kits, so that water can be tested in villages. Public Health Engineering Department/ Rural Water Supply department of States are ensuring supply of safe drinking water to rural homes and monitoring water quality on regular basis by testing in the laboratories.