About 7.99 lakh households in Assam have tap water connections, rise of 10 per cent from 2019: Govt

NEW DELHI: About 7.99 lakh households in Assam have tap water connections, a rise of 10 per cent from 2019, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Saturday, as it allocated a grant of Rs 5,601.16 crore to the state to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while approving this four-fold increase in allocation, assured full assistance to the state for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry further said that Assam has already approved schemes for 41.9 lakh tap water connections and work orders for about 17.85 lakh connections have been issued in 2021-22.

With the allocation, the ministry urged the state to expedite the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, the statement said.

In Assam on August 15, 2019, at the time of launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission, only 1.11 lakh (1.76 per cent) households, out of a total of 63.35 lakh households in 25,335 villages, had tap water supply.

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In the last 22 months, 6.88 lakh households (10.87 per cent) in the state have been provided tap water connections, thus 7.99 lakh households (12.63 per cent) have tap water supply.

The state has to provide tap water supply to the remaining 55.35 lakh households in the next three years.

To achieve this task, Assam has planned to provide connections to 22.63 lakh households in 2021-22, 20.84 lakh households in 2022-23, and 13.20 lakh tap water connections in 2023-24.

The Jal Shakti Ministry this year allocated a grant of Rs 5,601.16 crore to Assam under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a four fold increase from Rs 1,608.51 crore in 2020-21.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has also released Rs 700 crore to the state as the first tranche.

Shekhawat has written a letter to the Assam chief minister, highlighting the challenges and important aspects related to planning and implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission in the state.

In his letter, the Union minister has expressed hope that the state government will make all out efforts to draw and utilize this enhanced allocation to achieve planned activities under the mission to provide tap water connection to every household in rural areas.

The allocation of the central grant to Assam under the JJM has been enhanced to Rs 5,601.16 crore.

With this increase in central allocation, unspent balance of Rs 123.78 crore and the state's matching share of Rs 636.10 crore, Assam has an assured availability of Rs 6,361.04 crore for water supply work in 2021-22.