JJM: J&K eyes FHTCs to 10.35 lakh households by 2022 end

VISHAL. Updated: 9/13/2020 11:36:11 AM Front Page

JAMMU: An old adage ‘Jal Hai To Kal Hai’ (Save Water For Tomorrow) and with a motive of providing tap water, Jammu and Kashmir Government under ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ is eyeing to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to over 10.35 lakh households by the end of 2022.
Jammu and Kashmir has been the leader in the country in conceptualizing piped water connection to every household and started planning much before the country thought of it and the plan also found mention in the address of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he had delivered on February 3, 2019 at Srinagar during his visit to the state (now UT).
“The Prime Minister on August 15, 2019, later announced ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ as a time bound programme to ensure ‘Har Ghar Nal se Jal’ in rural Households of the country by 2024,” official sources here told ‘The News Now’ adding that as a part of this exercise, more than 10.35 lakh household connections will be provided across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by 2022.
Sources said that in the first phase, by March 2021, 2,32,431 connections, in the second phase by December 2021, 3,83,181 connections and in the Phase-III, 4,19,454 connections by December 2022 thus the total target of 10,35,066 household connections has been fixed by the government under ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’.
Sources further said that by December 2022, 57 per cent of the households will be covered, 6637 villages and 285 blocks of J&K UT will be provided 100 percent Functional Household Tap Connections.
They further said that in the first phase, Reasi, Srinagar, Ganderbal, in Phase-II, Bandipora, Doda, Kulgam, Poonch, Samba, Udhampur, Pulwama and in Phase-II, Anantnag, Budgam, Baramula, Jammu, Kathua, Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri, Kupwara and Shopian will be covered.
“The Government of J&K seeks to make the UT, the first among UTs/States in India to complete the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and had set for itself the target of completion of Mission by December, 2022 much ahead of envisaged completion date of National Mission by December, 2024,” they said and added that the JJM seeks to provide every rural Household with drinking water supply of IS 10500 standards @ 55 litres per capita per day on sustainable basis at affordable charges.
The Operational Guidelines of the Mission were issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India in December, 2019.
“When the planning exercise for JJM was started in J&K, the coverage percentage of piped water supply in J&K was 30.5 per cent with 4.89 lakh registered connections out of total 16.02 lakh rural Households,” said a senior official in the Department of Jal Shakti.
He added, “this was against the national average of 18.33 per cent piped water supply (PWS) coverage. The Department during the the financial year 2019-20 made aggressive efforts in providing new connections and regularizing earlier connections by way of adding another 2.93 lakhs connections and thus making the total tally of PWS connected Households to 7.82 lakhs”.
However, as per the latest and extensive house hold a survey conducted by the department, the no. of actual rural Households increased from 16.02 lakhs to 18.17 lakhs. Notwithstanding increase in total number of rural Households in the baseline data, the coverage percentage of PWS in J&K registered increase from 30.5 per cent as on April 1, 2019 to 43 per cent on April 1, 2020.
“Out of utilization of funds under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) for drinking water and sanitation, 50 per cent of the funds under various schemes, more specifically MGNREGA, Finance Commission grants and DMDF have been earmarked for utilization in the water and sanitation sector,” said an official.
He said that these funds under MGNREGA, SBM (G), RKVY, PMKSY, CAMPA, DMDF, MPLADS, NRLM will be utilized in convergence for water conservation, groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting and spring shed management activities by involving communities at the village level to achieve the objective of long term sustainability and availability of drinking water.

Updated On 9/13/2020 11:39:04 AM


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