She said, "Measures have included programmes that have provided housing, electricity, cooking gas and access to water." Giving more details, the Finance Minister said that the current coverage of 'Har Ghar Jal' and 'Nal Se Jal' is 8.7 crore, out of which 5.5 crore households were provided tap water in the last 2 years itself.
Nearly six crore rural households have been provided tap water connection despite constraints imposed by the pandemic under the 'Har Ghar Jal' as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission since the scheme has been launched.
The President of India also lauded this scheme during his joint address to Parliament and said, "efforts made under 'Har Ghar Jal' and the Jal Jeevan Mission have brought about a huge difference in the lives of the people, with nearly six crore rural households provided tap water connection. It has hugely benefited the women, sisters and daughters in our villages."
The government is also working for rain water conservation, and special campaigns are being implemented for creation of rain water harvesting infrastructure and restoration of traditional water sources in the country.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti's flagship programme, 'Har Ghar Jal' under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has achieved a new milestone of 95 districts of saturation coverage, soon to be 100 districts.
"Of the 95 districts, 14 are from Punjab and 10 from Gujarat. In Gujarat, Patan district has become the 'Har Ghar Jal' district in January this year besides Dang, Junagarh and Gir Somnath. Before this, Anand, Botaal, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Porbandar and Vadodara have been provided with the piped drinking water connections so far. In these 10 districts, piped water connection has been provided to each of the 23,85,268 houses, taking the total to 83,21,000 houses, which in turn is 91 per cent of the state's total households, 91,77,000. When the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced in August 2019, Gujarat's 65,16,000 households were provided with drinking water supply," a statement from the Ministry said on Tuesday.
In Punjab, all rural households in 14 out of 22 districts have been provided with piped drinking water. Of those, eight districts have achieved this milestone in the first 25 days of 2022, it said, adding, before the inception of JJM, nearly 16,78,000 households in the state were provided with drinking water and now, the numbers have increased to 33,90,000 households out of a total of 34,40,000.
During presentation of the Union Budget 2022-23, Nirmala Sitharaman said that since 2014, the government has focussed on empowerment of citizens, especially the poor and the marginalized.
The Rs 10,180 crore assistance is a four-fold increase from Rs 2,522 crore allocated in 2020-21 with a mission mode approach adopted in Rajasthan, Union Jal Shakti Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, said in a statement.
In 2021-22, the state plans to provide tap water connections to about 30 lakh rural households. "Regular review is taking place to expedite the implementation of the mission in the state so that the state can catch up with other good performing states," the Ministry statement said.
Stating that there is no dearth of funds for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, Shekhawat reiterated that the Centre is providing all out support to states to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household of the country by 2024.
Despite lockdown and disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in the last 27 months, more than 5.44 crore rural households in the country have been provided tap water connections. As on date, more than 8.67 crore (45.15 per cent) rural households have tap water supply in their homes, the release said.
Apart from the funds under Jal Jeevan Mission, in 2021-22, Rs 1,712 crore has been allocated to Rajasthan as 15th Finance Commission tied grant for water and sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/PRIs. There is an assured funding of Rs 9,032 crore for the next five years i.e. up to 2025-26.
"This huge investment in rural areas of Rajasthan will accelerate economic activities and boost the rural economy. It will create new employment opportunities in villages," the government claimed.
This is the first tranche of the four to be released in this financial year. The other 17 States/UTs have been asked to send their proposals to the National Jal Jeevan Mission for release of funds.
Of the central funds allocated under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 93 percent is to be utilized on developing water supply infrastructure, 5 per cent on support activities and 2 percent on water quality monitoring and surveillance.
The Central funds are released by the Government based on the output in terms of tap water connections provided in the States/ UTs and the utilization of available Central funds and matching State share.
The States have to transfer Central funds released along with the matching State share to the single Nodal Account within 15 days of the release of Central funds. The States have to make provision for a matching State share and ensure that there is no shortage of funds to the implementing agencies and a proper expenditure plan is prepared so that expenditure is evenly spread throughout the year.
As part of the top priority being accorded by the Government, the budgetary allocation of the Jal Jeevan Mission has increased significantly to Rs 50,011 crore in 2021-22.
In addition to this, the 15th Finance Commission tied-grants of Rs 26,940 crore will also be available to the PRIs for 'water and sanitation' services. In 2021-22, more than Rs 1 lakh crore is planned to be invested on ensuring tap water supply to rural homes. It is expected that this kind of investment is likely to continue over the next three years to achieve the goal of 'Har Ghar Jal'.
The measures include adopting a latest technology named Helibound to map the water reservoirs pan India, bringing in a law on Right to Way for rivers, rejuvenating traditional water resources across the nation and planning to bring the unsung heroes who have done credible job in enhancing ground water level in their villages on one platform.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Shekhawat informed that his ministry is now contemplating to bring in a law on Right of Way for rivers in India to ensure their smooth flow.
"It's sad that encroachments are coming up on rivers. So we are thinking to bring in a policy on Right of Way, so that rivers have their own paths and ways. The encroachments on rivers result in two major losses. Firstly, the water from river fails to reach other water bodies, and secondly, the river takes its own toll when it rains heavily which leads to huge losses.
"So we have found that rivers need to have Right of Way and we are contemplating to bring in a law on the same so that there is a clear cut policy in this direction," he said.
The minister said that he is very much inspired by Israel's model on water conservation.
"Israel's model is quite inspiring when it comes to water harvesting. It is one country which has set up an example by making itself self-sufficient on water related issues, despite getting only 10 per cent of India's average rainfall.
"They have tackled each issue of water smartly. While the average rainfall in India is 1068 mm, the average rainfall in Israel is just 100 mm," the minister said.
The minister said that primarily, his ministry is working on four key areas.
"The first issue is of water harvesting and water retention. The total water retention is quite less in India. However, our under ground water capability is quite huge with tremendous scope, but it is not used properly, rather it is over exploited.
"Secondly, we should use water judiciously. As per the present statistics, we use 6 per cent water for industry, 5 per cent for drinking and domestic purposes, while 89 per cent is used for agriculture. We need to balance the supply chain and demand side for judicious use," Shekhawat said.
In fact, the average water consumption in India while producing one kg of rice is 5,600 litre. In many places, it goes up to 8,000 litre. However, China produces the same quantity of rice with 350 litre of water.
Same is the case with sugar in Maharashtra where 80 per cent water is consumed by sugar cane farming.
"The states will have to change their policies. What we need to look into is that what we can afford should be grown," he said.
The minister said that he will like to appreciate the states of Haryana, Maharashtra and Punjab for introducing ambitious and inspiring policies to save water.
"The Punjab government brought in the 'Paani Bachao, Paisa Kamao' scheme, under which the farmers are getting monetary benefits for lesser use of tubewell.
"In Haryana, the government has asked the farmers to grow maize and corn instead of rice, promising them 100 per cent procurement. 18,000 hectare of land has been transferred to grow maize and corns.
"Similarly, in Maharashtra, drip irrigation has been made compulsory, and the government will give money if the farmers save 70 per cent water losses in sugarcane farming," Shekhawat said.
The government needs to reduce water on agri consumption to be successful, he added.
Reuse of water is the third goal, he said, adding that "we need to learn the art of water reuse. Israel reuses its water from industrial affluence and domestic sewage output for underground water recharge and other purposes."
Fourthly, the minister said, technology should be used to minimise water use for agriculture and irrigation purposes.
Also, one should reduce non-revenue water which is total loss of water which happens from the time you get water from its source till the time you get your bill, he said.
"In case of electricity, it is called as T&D. However, in water, it is called non-revenue water which is 45 per cent on an average in India while it is just 10 per cent in developed countries. However, there are a few cities in India such as Jamshedpur where this figure is just 10 per cent," Shekhawat said.
According to the minister, "The biggest challenge being faced by our ministry is that there is no audit of water, there is no price for water and there is no availability of ground water data.
"Hence we have decided to have the Helibound technology. This will be a programme to map underground water reserves across India. We have already surveyed one million square km and 1.5 million square km more will be surveyed in the next two years. Under this technology, a helicopter does cent per cent mapping of the 300 metre sub surface level from wherever it passes."
The new technology will help attain satellite availability of data for water reservoirs in each village, while giving the underground water status there, he said.
"In fact, we have already crossed a bottleneck by ensuring that each and every person starts discussing water and understands its significance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi through his speeches have brought in a national awareness on this issue," Shekhawat said.
By Archana Sharma