Tap connections under Jal Jeevan Mission surpasses 50% of rural population in Uttar Pradesh

The Jal Shakti Ministry has congratulated the state government of Uttar Pradesh for reaching the milestone of surpassing the 50% mark for providing clean drinking water through tap to its rural population. The achievement is considered a substantial one as the state has a population of about 24 crore and taking the water tap to every rural household under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is a herculean task.

In reaching the feat, the UP government has connected 1,33,25,752 rural households with a tap to supply potable water under ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojana’ of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Until now about 8 crore village dwellers have benefitted from the national scheme. Uttar Pradesh wants to provide clean tap water to more than 2.66 crore rural households. The target is to be obtained by 2024.

The most backward regions of the state have shown some good results in Har Ghar Jal. In the seven districts of Bundelkhand, 11.8 lakh rural families now have access to clean water. Mahoba district is on the top in Bundelkhand as almost 92% of the rural families in the region get water tap connections. Similarly, in the Vindhya region, over 4.75 lakh rural families get the Jal Jeevan Mission benefit.

Coming to the 27 districts of Purvanchal, 4.81 crore people from over 80 lakh rural families now have supply water connections. In the Western Uttar Pradesh, more than 63 lakh families now have water connections under Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply Department has launched the “Ek Nal, Ek Ped” campaign in Uttar Pradesh. This scheme is being implemented from July 01 and will continue until July 07 wherein each family that is getting a water tap connection under Jal Jeevan Mission will also get a plant sapling that will help in afforestation and expansion of green cover in the state. The department expects about 5 lakh families to participate in this campaign and about 5 lakh trees to get planted by July 7.

A bid to defeat water borne ailments

The absence of supply of clean drinking water has caused a high disease burden among the rural population in Uttar Pradesh. Diseases like typhoid, bacillary dysentery, diarrhea, encephalitis, malaria, dengue, filariasis and others have dominated the UP landscape and Har Ghar Jal component under the Jal Jeevan Mission is expected to raise the health profile of the state in days to come.  On the national scale, more than 64% of India’s rural households have been connected to tap water connections till date.