Arsenic and iron in water: 30,000 rural habitations affected, 20,000 in two states

News:Ministry of Jal Shakti has tabled the data on water contamination in the Parliament.

Facts:

Key takeaways from the data:

• As of November 27,2019, 3.22% of the rural habitations across all states and UTs which accounts for 3.73% of the population were consuming drinking water with quality issues.
• Iron is the most common contaminant of drinking water followed by salinity, arsenic, fluoride and heavy metal.
• Rajasthan has the highest number of rural habitations affected by contamination overall.Most of these are affected by salinity in drinking water.
• West Bengal has the highest number of rural habitations affected by arsenic contamination followed by Assam.
• Further,Assam has the highest number of rural habitations affected by iron contamination followed by West Bengal.
• The States and UTs that are not affected by any of these contaminants include Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.

Additional information:

About Jal Jeevan Mission:

• Jal Jeevan Mission seeks to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections (HarGharJal) to all rural households by 2024. 
• The mission is being implemented by the Jal Shakti Ministry.
• The Mission focuses on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level.
• It implements source sustainability measures recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting.
• The Mission also seeks to converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across India.