Parliament Question: Status of Har Ghar Jal Scheme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 753 ANSWERED ON 24/07/2025 STATUS OF HAR GHAR JAL SCHEME †753. SMT. DELKAR KALABEN MOHANBHAI: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) the current status of the “Har Ghar Jal” scheme being implemented across the country; (b) whether tap water supply has been provided to all targeted households, if so, the details thereof and if not, the challenges faced therein; (c) the steps being taken by the Government to maintain / ensure the quality of drinking water in various parts of the country, particularly in areas affected by arsenic, fluoride or other contaminants; (d) whether the Government is running any special programme to reduce leakage and water wastage in drinking water supply; and (e) if so, the details thereof particularly in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA) (a) Since August 2019, Government of India in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal to make provision of potable water to every rural household of the country through functional tap water connection. At the start the Mission, only 3.23 Crore (16.71%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. With concerted efforts from both Centre and States/UTs under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal around 12.43 Crore additional rural households have been reported to have been provided with tap water connections. Thus, as on 21.07.2025, out of 19.36 Crore rural households in the country, more than 15.67 Crore (80.94%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes. (b) No, as informed by States/UTs, the challenges being faced in the implementation of the Mission to provide tap water supply to all targeted households are lack of dependable drinking water sources in water-stressed, drought prone and desert areas, presence of geo-genic contaminants in ground water, uneven geographical terrain, scattered rural habitations, delay in release of the matching State share in some States, lack of technical capacity with implementing agencies, Gram Panchayats and local communities to plan, manage, operate & maintain the water supply schemes, rising price of raw materials, delay in obtaining statutory/ other clearances, etc. Page 1 of 2(c) Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance (WQM&S) has been given the utmost priority, as it is essential for ensuring the supply of safe drinking water, timely identification/ evaluation of water borne health risk and for taking preventive/ remedial measures such as proper and regular disinfection. 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. BIS specifies ‘acceptable limit’ and ‘permissible limit in the absence of alternate source’ for various physio- chemical and bacteriological parameters for drinking water quality. Under JJM, while planning water supply schemes to provide tap water supply to households, priority is given to habitations affected by chemical contaminants including Fluoride and Arsenic. States/ UTs have been advised to plan and implement piped water supply schemes based on alternative safe water sources for the villages with water quality issues. As per the extant Operational Guidelines, States/ UTs can utilize upto 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. To enable States/ UTs to test water samples for water quality, and for sample collection, reporting, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water, an online JJM – Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed. A ‘Citizen Corner’ was also developed on the JJM Dashboard. The corner included display of water quality test results in the public domain to further create awareness and build confidence among people about the quality of water supplies through the PWS in rural areas. 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 officials and their parastatal organizations. The handbook recommended for a comprehensive testing of drinking water samples at various testing points such as source, treatment plant, storage and distribution points and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality. (d) and (e) For peri-urban/big villages in water-scarce areas, in order to save the precious fresh water, States/UTs including UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are also being encouraged to plan new water supply scheme with dual piped water supply system, i.e. supply of fresh water in one and treated grey/ waste water in another pipe for non-potable/ gardening/ toilet flushing use. Moreover, the households in these areas are to be encouraged to use the faucet aerators that save a significant amount of water, in multiple taps they may be using inside their house. In some of the IEC/Social Media Campaigns, focus has been on arresting leakage and water wastage across rural India. ***** Page 2 of 2