7 Cr Rural Households Connected With Piped Water Facility Within 3 Years: PM Modi Hails 'Jal Jeevan Mission'

PM Narendra Modi said that India has crossed 3 important milestones pertaining to Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He also addressed the govt's focus on tackling water security concerns.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed the Union government's work in the success of the Jal Jeevan Mission as he mentioned that to crore crore rural households have been connected with piped water facility, out of these seven crore homes were connected with water supply within last three years.

In a virtual address at 'Har Ghar Jal Utsav' event in Goa, PM Modi stated that India has crossed three important milestones in its 'Amrit Kaal' period. "Today, 10 crore rural households of the country have been connected with the facility of clean water through pipes. This is a great success of the government to provide water to every household. It is also a great example of everyone's effort (sabka prayaad)," he said.

As per a statement by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Goa and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (D&NH and D&D) became the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified state and UT in the country where people have declared their villages as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ through a resolution passed by Gram Sabha, certifying that all households in the villages have access to safe drinking water through taps, ensuring that ‘No One is Left Out’. 

Addressing the event in the capital city of Panaji, the Prime Minister congratulated Goans saying that country and particularly the BJP-ruled state had reached an important achievement with ‘Har Ghar Jal’ declaration.

PM Modi said that the third achievement was related to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. "We had resolved to make villages ODF (Open Defecation Free) plus. Now more than one lakh villages in different states of the country have become ODF plus," he mentioned.

Emphasising on the importance of the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Prime Minister said that 7 crore rural households have been connected with piped water facility within 3 years. "This is not an ordinary achievement. In the 7 decades of independence, only 3 crore rural households of the country had access to piped water," he added.

Water Security Seen As Biggest Challenge Of 21st Century: PM Modi

PM Modi noted the concerns over water security saying that several institutions of the world are calling it the biggest challenge of the 21st century. "Lack of water can also hinder the achievements of the resolve of developed India. To deal with this big challenge, there is a need to work 24 hours with a sense of service and duty. Our government has been working for water security with this spirit for the last 8 years," he said.

He further emphasised that the number of wetlands in India have increased to 75. "Out of these, 50 sites have been added in the last 8 years. India is making all-round efforts for water security and it is also getting results in every direction," he said.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Indian government which was announced from the ramparts of Red Fort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019.

The mission aims to ensure potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality, and on regular and long-term basis to every rural household in the country by 2024. The program is implemented by the Government of India in partnership with states/UTs.