The Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide safe drinking tap water by 2024, has begun transforming lives in various parts of the country. In the Umla village in Leh in the Union territory of Ladakh, households located in the harsh mountain terrain received tap water supply for the first time under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Umla, which is home to just 25 families, is now the 12th village that has access to tap water supply even in sub-zero temperatures. While speaking to ANI about the development on Monday (November 29), a villager informed, “Earlier during winters, we had no option but to fetch water from streams by breaking ice layer.”
Ladakh: Umla becomes 12th village of Leh that now has tap water supply in each of its 25-odd households even in sub-zero temperature, under Jal Jeevan Mission
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2021
“Earlier during winters, we had no option but to fetch water from streams by breaking ice layer,” a villager said y’day pic.twitter.com/cNkPxlBR5M
Earlier on Gandhi Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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 Ministry of Jal Shakti, Prime Minister Modi revealed the development of large scale comprehensive infrastructure of water management and irrigation in the country. According to the dynamic Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard, as of November 30, about 44.66% of households in rural India have a tap water supply.
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 the highest coverage of 100% of households with tap water. Since the start of this mission, 27.82% of households had received tap water connections. That is over 5.34 crore households.
