Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to Union Water Minister Gajendra Shekhawat exhorting him to use more steel in the Jal Jeevan Mission, the government’s push to ensure that all rural households have piped water by 2024.
In a letter dated July 16, Mr. Pradhan said that steel could play “an important role” in the mission as its “corrosion resistant nature” made it an ideal material for transporting potable and industrial water. Steel pipes also reduced leakage by minimising joints and were low maintenance. It could also be used in tankers, water treatment plants, and save on transmission and distribution losses, the letter underlines.
The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has been contemplating a proposal to use steel pipes to transport water from dams to farmer fields. Traditionally, this has been done through canals but over the years, the system has proved inequitable, prone to pilfering and leakage, and not useful for the majority of farmers.
