Clearing the water
Context
In August 2019, Prime Minister launched Har Ghar Jal Mission and promised that rural households would be assured of piped, potable water by 2024. Since 2019, about nine crore households have their own exclusive access to piped water. Yet, for all this scale, it is unlikely that all of rural India will be connected by April 2023.
Priorities of the Mission
- Infrastructure- To develop an In-Village water supply infrastructure that can cater to the water supply requirement based on the water demand of the village.
- Capacity building- Empowering the village Gram Panchayat / Village Committee through capacity building.
- Technological Innovations- Technology interventions such as solar energy-based standalone water supply systems and the like to ensure that rural areas where climatic conditions pose challenges could develop water supply infrastructure
- Water Quality– The presence of groundwater contaminants across 18 states will be a major challenge for the mission to provide adequate water quality.
- Finances- Habitation settlement pattern varies from village to village and so will be the per capita capital cost. So finances need to be managed to make the mission a hit.
- Lack of awareness-Forest and tribal areas show aversion towards the project implementation and hence need awareness activities to welcome the water supply infrastructure.
- Sustainable Management- The success of the mission is dependent on its ability to address regional level issues along with sustainable management of water sources.
- Decentralized Planning– More diverse and decentralized planning along with local innovations in implementation can support effective and smart water supply systems.
- Water sensitive planning approach- Water sensitive planning approach should be used to address the infrastructure needs of the Mission.