Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Gandhi Jayanti announced a clear strategy to make the water of Maa Ganga Ji and other rivers pollution free. Recently interacting with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis over the Jal Jeevan Mission of the the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Prime Minister Modi revealed the development of large scale comprehensive infrastructure of water management and irrigation in the country.
देश में पानी के प्रबंधन और सिंचाई के व्यापक इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर के लिए बड़े स्तर पर काम चल रहा है।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2021
पहली बार जल शक्ति मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत पानी से जुड़े अधिकतर विषय लाए गए हैं। मां गंगा जी और अन्य नदियों के पानी को प्रदूषण मुक्त करने के लिए हम स्पष्ट रणनीति के साथ आगे बढ़ रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/eHxxLqhElQ
Prime Minister Modi said, “Work is going on on a large scale for the comprehensive infrastructure of water management and irrigation in the country. For the first time most of the water related subjects have been brought under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. We are moving ahead with a clear strategy to make the water of Maa Ganga Ji and other rivers pollution free.”
Groundwater management scheme Atal Bhujal Yojana which was launched by PM Modi in 2019 was mentioned as one of the schemes which the government was working on raising the ground water level in seven states.
PM Modi also spoke about the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana meant to attract investments in irrigation system at field level. He said the scheme was extensively focused on improving the pipe irrigation and micro irrigation. More than 13 lakh hectares of land was brought under micro irrigation.
Prime Minister Modi also talked about Mahatma Gandhi and Gram Swaraj and said that he used to say that the real meaning of ‘Gram Swaraj’ was to be full of self-confidence. And that, the Jal Jeevan Mission and the water committees are also a big proof of the commitment of the central government towards Gram Swaraj.
गांधी जी कहते थे कि ग्राम स्वराज का वास्तविक अर्थ आत्मबल से परिपूर्ण होना है।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2021
ग्राम स्वराज को लेकर केंद्र सरकार की प्रतिबद्धता का एक बड़ा प्रमाण जल जीवन मिशन और पानी समितियां भी हैं। pic.twitter.com/aVoMxZcAqg
According to the government website, “Jal Jeevan Mission, is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India. The programme will also implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting. The Jal Jeevan Mission will be based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission. JJM looks to create a jan andolan for water, thereby making it everyone’s priority.”
According to the dynamic Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard, as on this date, only 43.03% households in rural India have tap water supply. This, after 75 years of Independence.
As can be seen, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal are amongst those states where coverage is very low. On the other hand, Goa, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and Haryana have highest coverage of 100% households with tap water. Since the start of this mission, 26.20% of households have received tap water connection. That is over 5 crore households.
The vision of the Jal Jeevan mission is to provide and ensure that every rural household has drinking water supply in adequate quantity on regular and long-term basis at affordable charges and thus lead to improvement in living standards of rural communities.
