Northeast

Arunachal Pradesh plans to provide tap connection to all rural households by March 2023

The Centre has approved Rs 255 crore for the state under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2020-21, the Jal Shakti Ministry stated in a release issued on Tuesday.

ByIFP Bureau

Updated 2 Jun 2020, 11:07 am

The National Jal Jeevan Mission has approved the 100 per cent tap connection plan in rural Arunachal Pradesh
The National Jal Jeevan Mission has approved the 100 per cent tap connection plan in rural Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh plans to provide 100 per cent water tap connections to all households in rural areas by March 2023, as a part of the state Annual Action Plan, the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a release.

The state’s proposal to achieve 100 per cent household tap connections in the state has been approved by the National Jal Jeevan Mission, the ministry said.

The Centre has approved Rs 255 crore for the state under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2020-21, the ministry stated in a release issued on Tuesday.

States are given additional funds in the form of performance grants based on their achievement in terms of tangible outputs i.e. the household tap connections and commensurate financial progress.

Following it, in 2020-21, Arunachal Pradesh plans to provide 77,000 tap connections, the ministry said, adding while planning, thrust is given on covering households in aspirational district, quality-affected habitations, Sansad Adarsh Gramin Yojna villages, etc. on priority.

The state has 2.18 lakh total rural households, according to official data.

Problem areas in tap connection to all households

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Water availability in Arunachal Pradesh is not an issue, but the challenges faced in implementation are the tough mountainous terrain, sparsely located habitations and the harsh climatic conditions.

The plan to provide tap connections to 2.18 lakh total rural households

The state government has charted a detailed plan to cover all villages and habitations so that potable water reaches every rural household.

Jal Jeevan Mission provides a golden opportunity to the state to provide clean, potable water to its citizens in their houses, so that the burden of women and girls is lessened.

The state is targeting the ‘low-hanging fruits’ i.e. in the villages and habitations where piped water supply schemes already exist, so that remaining households could be provided with tap connections easily in least possible time.

Tap connection and priority areas

Arunachal Pradesh plans to immediately provide tap connections to all remaining households belonging to weaker sections of the society on priority.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the state was advised for taking up water supply works in villages on immediate basis to provide household tap connections, which will help in practicing social distancing, and will additionally help local people in getting employment and boost rural economy.

Involvement of rural community in water supply systems

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A clear roadmap has been prepared for the effective implementation of Village Action Plan (VAP) with the active participation of the rural community. Local community will play a pivotal role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems in villages to ensure long-term sustainability.

Local communities are encouraged to take responsibility of water supply systems in villages for regular upkeep and operation and maintenance. Skilling activities are planned so that unemployed youth could be trained in plumbing, masonry, fitting, electricity, etc. so that a pool of trained Human resources could be available at village level and could be engaged locally.

Sustainability of drinking water supply systems

Strengthening of existing drinking water sources for long-term sustainability of drinking water supply systems through convergence of various programmes like MGNREGS, SBM (G), 15th FC Grants to PRIs, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level is planned for judicious use of all available funds.

The state has been allocated Rs. 231 crore under the 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs during 2020-21; 50 per cent of this amount has to be mandatorily spent on water and sanitation.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, water quality testing laboratories at district and state levels are given priority. Community is being involved for surveillance of water quality.

Provision has been made to empower and engage with the community, for which action plan is prepared to incorporate the various planned activities like timely procurement of kits, supply of kits to the community, identification of at least five women in every village, training women for use of Field Test Kits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15, 2019 with the objective to provide functional household tap connections to every rural household of the country by 2024.  Being implemented in partnership with the states, the mission aims to enable every rural household has assured availability of potable water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) on regular and long-term basis so as to bring improvements in the lives of rural folks.

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Tags:

Arunachal PradeshItanagarJal Shakti Ministrytap connectionNational Jal Jeevan Mission

IFP Bureau

IFP Bureau

IMPHAL, Manipur

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