Guwahati: With an aim to fulfill the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide clean tap water to every household in the country, the Union government in New Delhi allocated rupees 5,601.16 crore grant to Assam under the national Jal Jeevan mission, a hopping increase from rupees 1,608.51 crore in 2020-21.
The Jal Shakti ministry has already released rupees 700 Crores to the State as the first tranche. Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while approving this four-fold increase in the allocation has assured full assistance to Assam government for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024.
At the time of Jal Jeevan mission launch (15 August 2019), only 1.11 lakh households out of a total of 63.35 lakh households in 25,335 villages of Assam had the supply of tap water. In the last 22 months, 6.88 lakh households have been provided tap water connections. Now the State has to provide tap water supply to the remaining 55.35 lakh households in the next three years. To achieve it, the government plans to provide tap water connections to 22.63 lakh households in 2021-22, 20.84 lakh in 2022-23 and 13.20 lakh in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Following the PM Modi’s vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, the motto goes with the agenda where no one is left out and every household in rural India gets the tap water connection. By now Goa, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar islands and Puducherry have achieved 100% household connection in both urban and rural areas.
Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma assured Union minister Shekhawat of speedy pace of implementation of Jal Jeevan mission in the State. It has already approved schemes for 41.9 lakh tap water connections and work orders for about 17.85 lakh tap water connections have been issued in 2021-22, informed CM Sarma. He also assured to closely monitor the progress of works ensuring tap water supply in all rural households.
Meanwhile, visiting Margherita in Tinsukia district on Saturday to hold discussions with senior officers of Coal India Ltd, Sarma commented that issues like pollution, environmental and forest clearances etc are involved regarding the resumption of mining activities in North Eastern Coalfields.
He also added that a tripartite meet between Union ministries of coal, environment, forest & climate change and State government would take place in New Delhi next month for a final decision over the matter. Sarma expressed hope that the coal authority would come forward by taking various steps such as contributing in compensatory afforestation and regeneration activities.
