Mega push for ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ to reach the target within year

Source: The post is based on the article “Mega push for ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ to reach the target within year” published in The Hindu on 22nd February 2023

What is the News?

Jal Jeevan Mission might not be able to achieve the target set for it of 100% tap water coverage for households by 2024, but the government is confident that it will come close.

This would mean nearly doubling the current coverage of 57% under the scheme launched in 2019 to about 90% by 2024.

What is the Jal Jeevan Mission?

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The budgetary allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission has been raised by 27% for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) to ensure that there is no delay in the programme due to a paucity of funds.

What are the challenges faced by the Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM)?

Rise in Metal prices: Many of the tenders for JJM had become economically unviable after the Russia-Ukraine war led to a rise in metal prices. But this crisis has been overcome now.

State-level problems: There are states like Ladakh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Sikkim where the coverage is in the range of 50-75%. These states will achieve the target by 2024.

– But the bottom five states with coverage of less than 40% include Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

– Among these states, Rajasthan with 32% tap water coverage is relying heavily on groundwater presently, a strategy not considered sustainable.

– West Bengal is dealing with the problem of contamination. So their focus is a lot on treatment and supply.

Operation and Maintenance: For this, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has asked states to come up with a plan and decide on a mix of user charges and government subsidies for the upkeep of the drinking water infrastructure.