PM Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day address at the Red Fort in New Delhi announced an outlay of Rs 3.5 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission for Centre and states to work together to provide water to every household.
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“Today from the ramparts of Red Fort I announce that we will launch Jal Jeevan Mission to provide drinking water to all. The state govts will work with the Centre. Rs 3.5 lakh crore will used for this mission,” the Prime Minister said.
Modi acknowledged that nearly half of India has no access to drinking water and that this was a serious deterrent in the country’s efforts to combat poverty. “However, it is also true that half the households in India have no access to drinking water. Half their day is spent in getting water. Therefore, we in our government gave a thought on ways to provide drinking water to all,” he said, adding, “This mission should not just be at the govt’s level. Just like Swachhta Mission this should a people’s mission.”
The Jal Jeevan Mission, under the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, will focus on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level, including the creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and management of household wastewater for reuse in agriculture. The Jal Jeevan Mission aims converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across the country, said officials.
Earlier last month, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that government has identified 1,592 Blocks which are critical and over exploited, spread across 256 districts for the Jal Shakti Abhiyan. Besides using funds available under various schemes, the government will also explore the possibility of using additional funds available under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for this purpose, she had said.
