2 months ago
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A parliamentary committee has said that the objectives of the Jal Shakti Ministry’s flagship ₹8.69-lakh-crore Jal Jeevan Mission — that aims to supply accordant and potable h2o proviso to each agrarian households — volition stay “unfulfilled” if sustainable sources of h2o proviso are not found.
This comes aft an authoritative successful the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation — an limb of the Ministry — told the committee that contempt taps nether the strategy having been installed astatine galore places, determination was an “...issue of h2o availability owed to shortage of sources” and that successful immoderate places “...water sources were being exhausted wrong a twelvemonth oregon two”.
This prompted the committee to observe that “...the nonsubjective of providing h2o for the adjacent 25-30 years nether JJM volition stay unfulfilled owed to deficiency of root sustainability”. Sources see rivers, lakes, ponds oregon immoderate earthy pool.
The committee recommended that the Ministry instrumentality ‘source to tap’ schemes, nether which the full concatenation of h2o proviso specified arsenic the root of water, tank, supply, were accounted for. There are 6.83 lakh sanctioned schemes nether the JJM.
The committee “note(d) with concern” that determination was nary accusation from the States connected however galore of these schemes were ‘source to tap’. The sheet said it was “...of the presumption that to support a semipermanent dependable proviso of harmless drinking water, root sustainability is of paramount value different assets created nether JJM volition travel to naught aft extinguishment of disposable sources”.
Govt. motion for extension
The Union Cabinet past week approved extending the JJM programme to 2028 and allocated further funds to conscionable its target. A property enactment from the Ministry had noted that the programme’s absorption volition alteration “...from infrastructure instauration to work delivery, supported by drinking h2o governance and organization ecosystem for sustainable agrarian piped potable h2o supply”.
As of January 2026, the programme, which promised a minimum magnitude of regular potable h2o to each agrarian household successful the country, was estimated to person spent ₹3.6 lakh crore since 2019 with the Centre pitching successful ₹2.08 lakh crore.
The programme, primitively envisioned to execute 100% sum by 2024, has been stuck astatine astir 81% since 2025. As The Hindu has antecedently reported, covering the remaining 20% requires much wealth than has already been spent truthful far. The outlay for the strategy has present accrued to ₹5 lakh crore, and the Centre’s stock from present connected until 2028 volition lone beryllium astir ₹1.5 lakh crore.
“To this end, a azygous nationalist integer framework, namely ‘Sujalam Bharat’, shall beryllium instituted, nether which each colony shall beryllium assigned a unsocial Sujal Gaon/Service Area ID digitally mapping the implicit drinking h2o proviso strategy from root to tap,” a Ministry connection said.
From the baseline of 3.23 crore (17%) agrarian households with existing pat h2o connections successful 2019, much than 12.56 crore further agrarian households person been provided with pat h2o connections truthful acold nether JJM.
