Parliament Question: Drinking Water Pipeline Maintenance, Drainage Audits and Water Quality Testing

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3327 ANSWERED ON 12/03/2026 DRINKING WATER PIPELINE MAINTENANCE, DRAINAGE AUDITS AND WATER QUALITY TESTING

3327. SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:

ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:

DR. BACHHAV SHOBHA DINESH:

MS. PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: a) the frequency of cleaning, flushing and maintenance of drinking water supply pipelines undertaken since 2014 in the country, State-wise including district-wise in Maharashtra;

(b) whether periodic technical reviews and audits of urban and rural drainage and sewerage systems have been conducted during the said period and if so, the details thereof, State-wise including district-wise in Maharashtra;

(c) the number of water quality tests conducted since 2014 including testing for bacterial and chemical contamination, State-wise including district-wise in Maharashtra and the instances where contamination exceeded permissible limits;

(d) whether the Government has reviewed lapses that led to major water contamination incidents including the Madhya Pradesh’s water tragedy recently and if so, the details and the findings thereof; and

(e) the corrective and preventive steps taken to stop recurrence of such public health disasters? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a) to (e) Drinking Water being a State subject, the responsibility of Planning, Designing, Approval, Implementation, Operation & Maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, replacement of drinking water infrastructure including cleaning, flushing and repair of pipelines, monitoring of water quality, and oversight of drainage and sewerage systems for both rural and urban areas including those under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), is vested with State/UT Governments. The Government of India supplements the efforts of the States/ UTs by providing financial, policy guidance and technical assistance.

Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation since August, 2019, to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household. Under JJM, as per existing guidelines, Bureau of Indian Standards’ BIS:10500 standards are adopted as benchmark for quality of water being supplied through the piped water supply schemes. As per the Operational Guidelines, States/ UTs can utilize Page 1 of 7up to 2% of their annual allocation of funds under JJM for Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance (WQM&S) activities, inter-alia, which includes setting up and strengthening of water quality testing laboratories, procurement of equipment, instruments, chemicals, glassware, consumables, hiring of skilled manpower, surveillance by community using field test kits (FTKs), awareness generation, educational programmes on water quality, accreditation/recognition of laboratories, etc.

Based on the information received from the State Government of Madhya Pradesh as of

22.01.2026 no rural areas were reported with sewage contamination in drinking water supplies.

In consultation with various stakeholders 'Concise Handbook for Monitoring Water Quality of Piped Drinking Water Supply to Rural Households’ has been released in December 2024 for guidance to States/ UT’s. This handbook recommended for a comprehensive testing of drinking water samples at various testing points such as source, treatment plant, storage and distribution points, and remedial action wherever necessary including measures such as cleaning of OHTs, check pipe line leakage, etc. to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality and to enhance public health.

Under JJM, to enable the States/ UTs for online reporting of water quality monitoring and surveillance including test reports of water samples for water quality, sample collection etc. for drinking water, an online JJM – Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has also been developed. The State–wise details of water quality test reported through WQMIS

are available in public domain and can be accessed at:

https://ejalshakti.gov.in/WQMIS/Main/report . The State-wise details of water quality testing reported by States/UTs on JJM-WQMIS is at annex-I. The district-wise details of water quality testing reported by Maharashtra is at Annex-II.

Further, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has informed that MoHUA supplements the efforts of States through policy guidance, financial support and technical advisories under missions and schemes such as AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 in urban areas. These missions support infrastructure strengthening, including replacement of legacy systems, promotion of 24×7 water supply with quality assurance, Drink from Tap (DfT) initiatives, online water quality monitoring, SCADA-based monitoring, community participation, and enhanced last-mile connectivity. Under AMRUT/AMRUT 2.0 and in convergence with States, 246 lakh urban water tap connections, and 182 lakh sewer connections have been provided, while 93,457.51 km of water pipelines and 26,995.61 km of sewer networks have been laid or replaced.

As informed by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, incidents of vomiting and diarrhoea were reported on 28.12.2025 in Bhagirathpura area (Ward No. 11, Zone-4, Assembly Constituency Indore), resulting in 22 reported deaths due to acute diarrheal disease and hospitalization of 459 persons. The State Government provided ex-gratia assistance of ₹2 lakh to the dependents of each deceased and ensured free medical treatment to affected persons in Government and private hospitals. Following the incident, the Indore Municipal Corporation, Health Department and Public Health Engineering Department initiated a joint response including hospitalization of serious cases, door-to-door surveys, distribution of ORS packets and chlorine tablets, suspension of water supply through pipelines and borewells, provision of water tankers, and testing of water samples at NABL-accredited laboratories. The State also issued Standard Operating Procedures for Urban Local Bodies and launched the “Swaccha Jal Abhiyan” from 10 January 2026. The Page 2 of 7matter is sub judice before the Hon’ble High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore, which has appointed Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta (Retd.) as a one-man Commission of Inquiry to examine the cause of contamination, public health impacts, adequacy of response, preventive measures, and responsibilities of concerned officials.

Drinking water contamination in urban areas is generally attributable to vulnerabilities in distribution systems and their interface with sewerage and sanitation infrastructure. Although urban drinking water is required to conform to BIS IS 10500 standards, deterioration in quality may occur due to infrastructure-related, operational, environmental and maintenance factors across transmission, storage and distribution systems, including leakages, pipe bursts, defective joints, cross-connections with sewerage and drainage systems, ageing infrastructure and corrosion, intermittent supply and negative pressure, stagnation and prolonged retention of water, and inadequate maintenance of storage or sewerage systems. To address such risks, MoHUA has issued advisories to strengthen water quality monitoring, including community participation under AMRUT 2.0, and has published the “Manual on Water Supply and Treatment Systems (Drink from Tap)” in March 2024. In January 2026, States were further advised to undertake comprehensive assessments of vulnerable areas and ageing infrastructure, identify sewer-water line crossings, and conduct digital mapping of water and sewer networks using geospatial databases created under AMRUT/AMRUT 2.0.

***** Page 3 of 7Annex-I Annex-I referred to in reply to Lok Sabha unstarred Question No. 3327 answered on 12.03.2026 State-wise details of water quality testing reported by States/UTs No. of samples tested in lab No. of samples with chemical contamination No. of samples with bacteriological contamination Sl.

No. State 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 * 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 1 A&N Islands 992 1,152 984 1,172 2,617 52 36 208 100 21 58 34 14 92 11 2 Andhra Pr. 3,64,606 6,14,014 6,99,999 6,86,179 6,63,247 14,829 14,246 11,928 1,390 16 25 24 38 46 - 3 Arunachal Pr. 26,007 29,178 39,238 22,271 8,604 68 - 16 - - 1 4 1 - - 4 Assam 2,16,323 1,69,108 2,97,405 2,70,466 1,82,239 16,510 4,289 6,531 3,692 1,724 292 272 960 588 43 5 Bihar 2,02,493 2,32,425 1,60,783 2,74,547 1,23,932 7,859 5,381 7,519 19,044 91 - 4 2 22 - 6 Chhattisgarh 68,935 1,11,208 1,23,175 1,60,891 92,110 1,875 2,364 1,457 690 88 7 12 5 7 - 7 DDNH - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 Goa 8,571 8,881 10,336 13,660 7,244 11 47 30 21 44 2 3 - - - 9 Gujarat 2,39,232 2,57,489 1,53,057 71,204 2,74,720 16,253 24,840 14,170 4,420 5,547 2,549 1,529 819 266 121 10 Haryana 96,910 82,725 69,702 60,757 25,240 397 3,689 1,275 259 71 497 12,657 5,507 1,348 325 11 Himachal Pr. 2,66,754 1,98,497 2,20,428 2,41,458 2,47,714 12 24 51 17 6 5 63 82 8 5 Jammu & 12 Kashmir 1,97,360 2,67,334 2,53,364 2,66,547 2,88,443 710 252 255 52 17 786 555 151 42 126 13 Jharkhand 1,49,724 1,95,314 2,14,431 2,18,562 1,89,297 1,354 11 222 18 12 - - 19 3 34 14 Karnataka 1,59,533 2,22,732 2,66,532 3,21,759 2,22,867 12,518 20,233 24,917 17,261 11,662 - 10 4,670 2,574 507 15 Kerala 2,41,787 4,55,436 6,36,043 7,00,732 3,19,541 58,515 70,262 80,836 12,839 6,897 1,69,764 2,40,629 2,77,151 47,260 26,102 16 Ladakh 5,359 5,480 7,706 10,229 8,259 129 89 122 94 91 44 2 80 7 - 17 Lakshadweep 3,483 4,778 6,880 7,897 3,356 96 117 181 72 8 15 25 61 171 37 18 Madhya Pr. 3,44,612 6,37,637 5,74,409 5,74,798 4,38,445 1,832 2,438 2,032 701 419 264 277 635 133 90 19 Maharashtra 69,215 3,93,623 6,42,396 5,87,570 5,18,349 3,340 21,936 28,421 23,257 12,176 3,819 13,817 18,336 15,982 11,601 20 Manipur 17,413 22,373 17,413 19,508 5,315 2 2 25 - - - - - - - 21 Meghalaya 7,104 32,805 51,836 40,657 34,880 4 15 53 108 146 42 19 94 180 264 22 Mizoram 18,930 37,306 29,224 21,908 7,537 390 473 485 135 141 428 1,401 1,792 1,143 250 23 Nagaland 4,308 12,747 7,947 6,751 1,258 402 45 172 21 35 - - - 5 - 24 Odisha 2,16,816 2,37,965 2,60,445 2,72,406 2,24,265 10,971 9,032 6,309 4,017 2,430 222 127 38 34 5 25 Puducherry 942 997 818 287 - 8 18 97 23 - 3 7 43 17 - 26 Punjab 14,930 24,616 33,107 67,481 64,388 815 2,351 560 630 724 36 168 128 - 57 27 Rajasthan 1,11,407 1,41,441 1,98,476 1,80,063 63,557 33,486 38,405 34,222 13,675 5,465 89 203 180 51 34 28 Sikkim 6,252 7,689 15,527 17,297 6,097 5 11 20 93 5 18 1,183 595 3,420 1,824 29 Tamil Nadu 3,46,263 6,71,421 8,48,706 9,07,742 8,74,438 3,514 355 215 130 13 165 29 5 3 - 30 Telangana 2,23,180 2,46,089 2,91,673 2,85,183 2,57,864 508 90 2 3 2 2 2 - - - 31 Tripura 30,939 19,572 50,701 82,287 53,303 2,341 2,078 3,986 407 33 70 21 22 33 47 Page 4 of 7No. of samples tested in lab No. of samples with chemical contamination No. of samples with bacteriological contamination Sl.

No. State 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 * 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 32 Uttar Pradesh 99,006 3,16,618 6,23,246 10,67,899 7,87,478 15,104 13,356 5,553 2,018 1,881 290 945 2,490 1,430 758 33 Uttarakhand 71,203 93,407 1,19,958 1,25,553 97,380 14 22 63 49 64 55 29 43 34 1,212 34 West Bengal 3,41,587 4,67,718 5,74,096 6,82,526 4,21,105 1,19,115 1,64,989 1,51,202 1,31,806 55,960 63,255 83,319 67,058 50,794 23,242 Total 41,72,176 62,19,775 75,00,041 82,68,247 65,15,089 3,23,039 4,01,496 3,83,135 2,37,042 1,05,789 2,42,803 3,57,370 3,81,019 1,25,693 66,695 2025-26*: As on 09.03.2026 Source: JJM-IMIS Page 5 of 7Annex-II Annex-II referred to in reply to Lok Sabha unstarred Question No. 3327 answered on 12.03.2026 District-wise details of water quality testing reported by Maharashtra S. State No. of sample tested in lab No. of samples with chemical No. of samples with bacteriological no. contamination contamination 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 * 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 1 Ahmednagar 1,130 11,978 23,277 24,936 25,454 - 29 246 119 81 2 90 315 418 498 2 Akola 195 2,998 5,240 3,538 5,491 72 603 431 145 102 14 116 97 29 68 3 Amravati 167 8,415 20,052 18,341 15,250 16 213 124 141 82 - 17 158 205 88 4 Beed 795 6,678 12,320 12,985 14,681 23 54 133 110 56 90 540 1,110 1,226 936 5 Bhandara 3,400 8,918 26,295 25,719 10,840 353 1,553 5,209 3,656 652 339 846 2,392 1,011 167 6 Buldhana 682 11,003 13,861 10,060 6,511 124 902 743 288 75 - 206 235 160 91 7 Chandrapur 5,404 25,413 32,701 13,432 13,015 117 1,365 1,117 67 17 100 222 765 106 109 Chhatrapati 8 Sambhajinagar 959 4,087 11,085 11,997 10,156 28 297 573 490 390 205 507 1,334 1,085 607 9 Dharashiv 2,136 4,252 5,055 8,513 9,166 58 44 36 61 126 127 251 354 451 503 10 Dhule 3,803 13,472 10,525 11,648 9,933 18 16 19 40 43 24 116 74 109 103 11 Gadchiroli 424 8,675 37,230 19,883 19,787 - 122 674 185 45 15 157 651 246 163 12 Gondia 2,426 11,598 23,590 17,331 15,587 93 168 571 151 86 33 181 309 346 195 13 Hingoli 1,992 6,469 5,547 5,325 3,753 90 679 822 526 391 167 356 254 361 101 14 Jalgaon 1,875 8,345 20,023 24,066 20,993 10 129 243 265 147 8 50 212 217 232 15 Jalna 1,813 3,659 6,455 7,736 6,170 215 412 640 372 228 49 284 283 159 208 16 Kolhapur 4,067 19,350 24,362 26,024 27,441 66 120 70 54 38 94 295 330 364 312 17 Latur 2,315 2,954 5,255 3,198 5,589 198 208 336 177 89 216 254 472 242 189 18 Nagpur 1,222 10,019 30,050 27,487 15,017 2 927 3,355 4,515 1,793 60 146 427 507 288 19 Nanded 6,639 16,638 19,976 24,224 17,786 909 5,754 4,769 5,146 2,883 1,336 2,012 2,174 2,787 1,792 20 Nandurbar 3,743 15,412 31,042 32,932 30,234 6 177 137 118 94 115 326 392 538 613 21 Nashik 4,886 28,188 26,484 33,930 26,248 238 1,965 639 882 682 73 274 514 583 540 22 Palghar 132 6,073 15,450 14,348 10,583 - - 10 9 26 - 24 47 68 118 23 Parbhani 1,515 3,057 4,369 5,327 4,806 156 331 286 326 268 84 211 350 427 331 24 Pune 4,116 18,426 33,258 22,078 27,584 179 583 756 343 334 111 3,670 991 633 582 25 Raigad 1,823 13,654 22,698 14,543 14,649 - 83 89 12 196 - 225 265 84 73 Page 6 of 7S. State No. of sample tested in lab No. of samples with chemical No. of samples with bacteriological no. contamination contamination 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 * 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26* 26 Ratnagiri 523 10,033 20,785 21,546 19,210 - 2 9 7 3 2 28 217 295 139 27 Sangli 4,465 19,569 23,822 24,692 19,960 33 83 209 180 53 225 664 767 884 664 28 Satara 221 35,533 36,804 34,208 33,133 - 454 513 161 42 1 105 119 147 79 29 Sindhudurg 1,546 10,282 18,431 12,833 7,175 12 23 134 61 9 24 461 889 556 208 30 Solapur 3,278 25,045 28,535 29,349 30,175 221 2,827 2,608 2,965 2,513 284 912 764 643 629 31 Thane 72 4,136 5,914 8,676 8,553 - 31 37 32 28 - 26 39 34 21 32 Wardha 328 5,422 9,949 4,272 3,512 29 1,070 1,370 175 53 - 9 42 14 46 33 Washim 1,019 2,477 4,305 2,353 3,041 74 180 172 55 19 21 37 164 78 109 34 Yavatmal 104 11,395 27,651 30,040 26,866 - 532 1,341 1,423 532 - 199 830 969 799 Total 69,215 3,93,623 6,42,396 5,87,570 5,18,349 3,340 21,936 28,421 23,257 12,176 3,819 13,817 18,336 15,982 11,601 2025-26 *: As on 09.03.2026 Source: JJM-IMIS Page 7 of 7