Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has asked States to share the burden for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, launched to provide piped drinking water supply to every household in the country by the end of 2024, with the spirit of cooperative federalism.
The Centre would allocate 50% of funds meant for the programme to States by tying up with external borrowing and assistance from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Mr. Shekhawat said at the regional review meeting of southern States here on Monday. Jal Jeevan would be the largest drinking water supply programme in the world with an estimated spending of about $5.5 billion over the next four-and-a-half years.
Representatives of all southern States — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — and Union Territory Puducherry participated in the meeting organised by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation of the Jal Shakti Ministry and Mission Bhagiratha Department of Telangana. Stating that implementation of the programme was challenging due to short time fixed for its completion, the Union Minister said a three-pronged strategy in mission mode would be followed to make it a success.
“The amount of work involved in taking piped drinking water to every household in less than five years will be four times that of drinking water works done during the last 70 years,” he said, adding that the programme had the potential of transforming the lives of people, developing health of the society and improving GDP growth.
Stating that the focus of the programme would also be on reusing waste water generated by the programme for agriculture and other needs, Mr. Shekhawat suggested the States to integrate their ongoing schemes with the Centre’s mission for better results. On the increasing contamination of groundwater water, he said it could be tackled with community participation by implementing conservation and recharging measures. Telangana Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi urged the Centre to extend funding to States for implementing drinking water programmes as capital grant.
Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development of Karnataka, N. Nagambika Devi said they were implementing Jala Dhare scheme on the lines of Mission Bhagiratha in build-operate-transfer mode. Commissioner PR&RD of AP, M. Girija Shankar suggested increasing per capita supply of piped water to 70 litres a day under Jal Jeevan from 55 litres contemplated now. Ministers E. Dayakar Rao (Telangana), K.S. Eshwarappa (Karnataka) and P. Anil Kumar (AP) and officials from all the participating States were present.
