Every JK rural household to have piped water by Dec 2021

The Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Council which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor G.C. Murmu approved the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and the roadmap to achieve 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply by December 2021 across the region aligning it to the National Mission of Jal Jeevan.

The objective of the mission is to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to every rural household with priority to desert, drought prone,border areas, schools, anganwadi and health centres. Under the mission, sustainability of the water supply system will be ensured besides empowerment and development of human resource in the sector so as to meet the demands of construction, plumbing and water quality management.

Under the National Jal Jeevan Mission, every rural household of the country will be connected with piped water supply by 2024 with an aim 'Har Ghar Nal Se Jal'. At present, 30.5% of J&K's rural households have piped water connections compared to the national average of 18%. Special focus will be laid under the mission to provide FHTC to remaining 11.12 lakh rural households out of 16.02 lakh in J&K as per Integrated Management of Information System (IMIS) data of JJM.

In order to align the activities of the department with the National Mission of Jal Jeevan, the Administrative Council accorded sanction to renaming of PHE & I&FC Department as 'Jal Shakti Department' and setting up of a Mission Directorate of Jal Jeevan Mission, J&K by merging Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) to look after JJM work. It also okayed an Executive Committee for helping the JJM.

There will be an Apex Committee headed by the Chief Secretary and an Executive Committee headed by Administrative Secretary PHE and I&FC. Similarly, at the District level, there will be District Jal Jeevan Missions.

The Administrative Council also approved the appointment of Financial Auditors at the provincial level to undertake audit of the expenditure under the JJM; hiring of Consultants for the Project Appraisal Committees; and appointment of Third Party Technical Monitors. Special cells will be set up by the Revenue and Forest Departments for speedy clearance of land and forest cases related to the Jal Jeevan Mission across J&K.

To achieve 100 per cent coverage under JJM in a phased manner by December 2021, the PHE Department has carried out a detailed exercise to prepare a District Water Security Plan through the District Water and Sanitation Mission headed by the concerned Deputy Commissioners. In the initial phase, seven districts viz. Poonch, Reasi, Samba, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Shopian and Pulwama will be covered for 100% piped water supply by June 2020. In the second phase, seven more districts will be covered by June 2021 and the remaining six districts shall be covered in the third phase ending December 2021.IANS