Guwahati: Assam is on course to become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ state with all homes poised to get clean tap water by 2024, according to officials.
During a review of the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission in Assam on Wednesday, Vini Mahajan, secretary, department of drinking water and sanitation (DDWS) appreciated the progress made by the state in providing tap water supply to rural homes.
Assam chief secretary Jishnu Barua and state finance secretary Samir Sinha were present during the online review meeting, also attended by DDWS officials.
“Assam is well on track to achieve the target of providing clean tap water supply to every home by 2024, and the Centre is providing full assistance to the state to achieve the goal,” Mahajan said.
In her opening remarks, she said, “Jal Jeevan Mission is a decentralised, demand-driven, community-managed water supply scheme which aims to improve the lives of rural people by providing clean tap water supply to every home. She appreciated the work carried out by the state in the past six months.”
Speaking on the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Mahajan said, “While the districts have self-declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF), this is not a one-time effort. Efforts under the programme are being made to bring about social and behaviour change for sustainability of the ODF status of villages at all times.”
At the announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15, 2019, only 1.11 lakh (1.76 per cent) households out of 63.35 lakh households in the state had access to a tap water supply.
In about 28 months, 17.46 lakh households in Assam have been provided with clean tap water.
In the last six months alone, a clean tap water supply has been provided to more than 8.5 lakh households.
The Assam chief secretary, while presenting the state’s performance said, “Good progress has been made if we look at the point from where we started with just one per cent tap water coverage in the biggest north-eastern state.”
“We progressed well in the last six months. As the state started on a low base, it took time to streamline the procedure for implementation of the programme. Now the remaining work will be carried out expeditiously,” Barua said.
