(a) whether clean drinking water is available with difficulty in the rural areas of the country;
(b) if so, the measures taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) whether any scheme is being formulated for drinking water arrangement through the pipeline in the dark zone areas of the country including Bundelkhand; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) As reported, as on 05.12.2019, 81.27% rural habitations having 76.61% population are provided with 40 litre or more per capita per day (lpcd) potable water and 15.52% rural habitations having 19.67% population are provided with less than 40 lpcd potable water whereas 3.21% rural habitations having 3.72% population is having water sources with quality issues.
(b) Drinking water supply is a State subject. Government of India (GoI) supplements the effort of States/ UTs for providing potable water in rural areas by providing financial and technical assistance. The following major steps have been taken by GoI for improving piped drinking water supply to every rural household:
i.) An amount of ?31,569.77Crore was made available to States for this purpose during last five years.
ii.) National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) was launched in 2017 to provide safe drinking water to 27,544 identified Arsenic and Fluoride affected rural habitations.
iii.) During the current year 2019-20, Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), a time-bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign was launchedwhich aims at making water conservation a ‘Jan Andolan’ through asset creation and communication campaign.
iv.) To meet the domestic needs of every rural household in future, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has been launched which aims at providing potable water through Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) at service level of 55 litre per capita per day (lpcd) by 2024.
(c) & (d) Under JJM, there is a provision of drinking water arrangement to every rural householdsincluding dark zone areas of Bundelkhand through Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) by the 2024with an outlay of Rs. 3.60 lakh Crore.
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