MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)
(a) As per information provided by States / UTs on online portal Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry, there are total 17,14,528 rural habitations in the country. Out of them; 13,09,567 rural habitations are fully covered (getting 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) or more potable drinking water); 3,34,592 habitations are partially covered (getting less than 40 lpcd) and 70,369 habitations are quality affected (where quality of drinking water is affected with at least one water contaminant like Arsenic, Fluoride, Iron etc.) Hence, still there are about 23% rural areas in the country where the population is getting unsafe drinking water or less than the required present norm. The state wise details of coverage of rural habitations as on 08.08.2016 are at Annexure – I.
(b) & (c) Water is a State subject. However, this Ministry supplements the efforts of the State Governments for rural drinking water supply by providing technical & financial assistance through Central Sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) as per the budgetary allocation for the same. This Ministry by organizing various workshops, exhibitions and field visits shares / showcases various technologies / best practices to officials of States for benefitting them in implementation of Rural Water Supply Schemes. In addition to this, the Ministry through a high level expert committee suggest various innovative technologies to the States for selection by them as per their requirement. Also, in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), this Ministry had got prepared Hydro-Geo-Morphological (HGM) Maps (Ground Water Prospect Maps) and distributed to all the States. These maps can be effectively used to drill down to correct locations both for production wells as well as artificial ground water re-charge sites.
The Ministry has prepared a strategic plan to provide safe drinking water to 90% of the rural population of the country through piped water supply schemes by the year 2022 subject to availability of funds. States have been advised to prioritize coverage of all arsenic & fluoride affected rural habitations with surface water based piped water supply schemes as the permanent & sustainable solution. States have also been advised to set up Community Water Purification plants as a short-term measure to provide at least 8-10 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of safe water for drinking & cooking purpose in all remaining arsenic & fluoride affected rural habitations by March, 2017.
(d) The funds allocated to various States for the last three years and current year is given at Annexure – II.
(e) The Government of India has directed all States/UT to take the following measures to solve drinking water scarcity in rural areas:
i. To take up water conservation measure.
ii. To take up source sustainability measures including water recharging and rain water harvesting.
iii. To use perennial sustainable surface water source
iv. For proper O&M (Operation and Maintenance)
v. Extensive IEC (Information Education & Communication) for promoting reduce & reuse of water and taking household connection on paying connection charges and water tariff.
vi. To accord priority for piped water supply.
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