99.63% rural households in Punjab get tap water supply

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, April 12

As many as 99.63 per cent rural households in Punjab have got the tap water supply, courtesy the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

Of the total 34.4 lakh rural households in the agrarian state, 34.27 lakh have been covered with the potable water supply through taps, the government has confirmed.

With this, Punjab has gone way ahead of seven other northern states and union territories, including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. However, the border state is behind its immediate neighbour Haryana, besides Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, which have already achieved 100 per cent coverage of rural households with the tap water supply.

Sharing details, the Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Vini Mahajan, told The Tribune, “Punjab has achieved 51.21 per cent coverage of 17.62 lakh rural households with tap water in the past three years. Only 47.86 per cent coverage has been achieved till August, 2019.”

The official figures compiled till April 7 indicated that 16.79 lakh rural households, which accounted for 47.86 per cent, were covered with tap water supply in Punjab till August 15, 2009, while 76,000 more houses in villages were given tap water supply in 2019-20, 8.31 lakh in 2020-21, and 8.55 lakh rural households were covered with drinking water supply through taps in 2021-22.

While Haryana, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu have achieved 100 per cent coverage by providing tap water supply to all their 30.97 lakh, 2.63 lakh and 85,000 rural households, respectively, Uttarakhand remained the laggard state in the northern region with the minimum 9.31 per cent coverage of its 9.31 lakh of the total 15.18 lakh rural households getting tap water supply so far.

Among other northern states, Gujarat has achieved 94.53 per cent coverage with 86.76 lakh of its total 91.77 lakh rural households getting tap water supply, Himachal Pradesh 92.89 per cent with 16.05 lakh of the total 17.28 lakh coverage, Jammu and Kashmir 57.81 per cent with 10.61 lakh of the total 18.35 lakh coverage, Ladakh 29.59 per cent coverage with 13,000 of the total 43,000 coverage, Maharashtra 70.88 per cent with 103.54 lakh of the total 146.09 lakh coverage, and Rajasthan remained the second poor performing state in the north with the second lowest 23.93 per cent coverage of its 25.29 lakh of the total 105.69 lakh rural households covered with the tap water supply.

OFFICIALSPEAK

We have reviewed the progress of the northern states at a regional conference held recently. States have been urged to ensure tap water to each and every rural household under the Jal Jeevan Mission to fulfil the Prime Minister’s commitment of providing safe and adequate drinking water supply through individual household tap connections by 2024. — Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti

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