Growing water demand, coupled with limited water resources, has underlined the need for an efficient water supply network. The government’s flagship programme, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), is attempting to build such a network in rural India. It is actively working to provide tap water connections to rural households under the mission, along with other important objectives. In an interview with Indian Infrastructure, Dr Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, discusses the developments under the JJM and its impact, focus areas and key challenges. Excerpts…
What has been the progress so far under the JJM? How do you assess the mission’s impact in changing the rural water landscape?
The JJM, launched by the Government of India in 2019, has been a transformative initiative aimed at ensuring safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections. The mission’s vision extends to every rural household across the nation, bringing the essence of “Har Ghar Jal” to life. As we delve into the milestones achieved and the ongoing progress, we see that the mission has set new benchmarks in rural water supply, with an aim to provide 55 litres per capita per day of potable water to every rural household. As of August 12, 2024, more than 150 million rural households, accounting for approximately 78 per cent of the total, have tap water connections. This was merely 32.3 million (16.75 per cent) at the time of the JJM’s launch on August 15, 2019. Eight states, namely, Goa, Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, and three union territories (UTs), namely, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Puducherry, have achieved “Har Ghar Jal” status, ensuring that every household in these regions has a functional tap connection. Further, 16 states/UTs have covered over 78 per cent of their rural households. Incidentally, all states/UTs have crossed 50 per cent coverage.
The mission has brought transformational change in rural society by ensuring equality in access to quality water to every household in sufficient quantity on a regular basis. There have been several studies on the impact of the JJM on the socio-economic fabric of rural India. A report released by the World Health Organization revealed that providing tap water to every rural household through the JJM could prevent 400,000 diarrhoeal deaths. This can lead to economic savings of approximately Rs 8.47 trillion. Moreover, the mission’s alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 underscores its contribution to global efforts for universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation by 2030.
What are the department’s current key focus areas? What key initiatives have been taken in the last one year?
The department’s current key focus areas include expanding coverage to achieve “Har Ghar Jal” status nationwide, improving water quality, ensuring sustainable water supply systems, emphasising source sustainability and guiding states/UTs in putting up a robust and sustainable operations and maintenance (O&M) system. The key initiatives undertaken by the department include:
Women empowerment and community involvement
The JJM has empowered over 2.46 million women to play a crucial role in water quality monitoring. Besides this, women are defying gender discrimination by taking up roles such as pump operator, engineer and mason. The mission is also a community-centric initiative, a “Jan Andolan” with a bottom-up approach. As such, 514,000 village water and sanitation committees (VWSCs) have been formed, and 512,000 village action plans (VAPs) have been developed to ensure community participation in water supply management.
Digital initiatives and O&M checklist
Geographic information system (GIS)-based mapping and internet of things (IoT)-based devices have been implemented for efficient monitoring and management of water resources. Further, a checklist has been shared with states/UTs to ensure compliance at all necessary levels, focusing on the sustainable O&M of village-based water supply schemes and detailing periodic activities needed to guarantee their long-term functionality.
Awareness generation
Multiple campaigns have been organised to raise awareness about clean water and sanitation, water conservation and other related aspects, with the Jal Shakti Abhiyan-Catch the Rain (JSA-CTR) and Stop Diarrhoea Campaign being major ones. JSA-CTR, a multipronged approach to conserving this precious resource, is already operational throughout the country.
Good governance
The JJM dashboard now has a section called “Citizen Corner”. It seeks to enhance transparency and awareness by allowing citizens to obtain information about the nearest water testing laboratories and their fee structures for chemical and bacteriological tests. They can book tests at these labs, and if the quality is unsatisfactory, lodge complaints with the district water supply department and seek redressal.
Other important initiatives include documentation and releases, skilling, capacity-building workshops, disaster management, and community and youth engagement.
How has been the experience of coordinating/collaborating with states?
Our experience of coordinating and collaborating with various states has been overwhelmingly positive and productive. Each state presents unique challenges and conditions, as they did not start from the same baseline with respect to water infrastructure. There is also a need to augment and mobilise the capacity of each state/UT to enable them to take up such a massive task in a short span of time.
A significant factor in this success has been the strong political will, dedicated funding and commitment demonstrated by state governments. In states such as Uttar Pradesh, which began with lower coverage, substantial progress has been made through focused efforts and community engagement.
The mission’s success highlights the collective efforts of state governments, local communities and various stakeholders. Regular training programmes and workshops have played a crucial role in this process. These initiatives have facilitated knowledge sharing and capacity building, ensuring a uniform approach to implementing the mission across states. Regular review meetings are conducted with states and UTs, providing them with handholding support to ease processes.
What are some of the key challenges being faced? How do you plan to address these?
Geographical and climatic variations pose significant hurdles. From the arid regions of Rajasthan to the flood-prone areas of Assam, each region requires specific solutions. The department is guiding states/UTs in implementing innovative water conservation techniques such as rainwater harvesting, watershed management and groundwater recharging to ensure sustainable water sources. Additionally, water quality issues have also been a major challenge. In some areas, high levels of contaminants may be found, and addressing this requires rigorous and frequent testing. To this end, the department has ramped up efforts by setting up over 2,164 water quality testing labs and training close to 2.5 million women to use field test kits (FTKs). During 2023-24, a total of 10.8 million samples were tested using FTKs, while 7.5 million samples were tested in labs.
Another challenge is sustaining community engagement. Initial involvement is crucial, but maintaining long-term participation is equally important. We are addressing this by forming VWSCs and developing detailed VAPs to outline water supply schemes and maintenance schedules. Furthermore, source sustainability is one of the most important challenges, for which we are harnessing technology-based solutions for real-time measurement, ground-level monitoring and water budgeting.
In sum, by leveraging technology, enhancing community engagement and ensuring rigorous water quality monitoring, we are effectively addressing these challenges to achieve our mission goals.
What are your views on the role of technologies/digitalisation in achieving mission targets?
The JJM has embraced technology and data-driven decision-making to ensure efficiency in implementation and performance evaluation. By leveraging modern tools such as GIS and IoT-based real-time monitoring systems, we are able to optimise processes effectively. The implementation of GIS technology facilitates the visualisation of water infrastructure and supports precise resource management. This technology has been utilised for mapping and is being integrated with the PM Gati Shakti portal, incorporating data from various state governments as layered information. This integration has significantly enhanced the service delivery of the programme.
The JJM has a robust and efficient dashboard, which consists of an integrated management information system (IMIS) providing relevant, real-time information, including updates and progress reports. Moreover, there is a water quality management information system that facilitates the monitoring and management of water quality through comprehensive data collection, real-time analysis and reporting mechanisms. Moreover, for technological solutions, a technical committee under the chairmanship of the principal scientific advisor to the Government of India has been set up. This committee examines and recommends various innovations and water-related technologies submitted by government, autonomous and private entities for providing potable tap water supply to every household. As of August 12, 2024, 32 innovative projects (24 related to water and eight related to sanitation) have been recommended by the committee.
What will be the department’s top priorities over the next one to two years?
Going forward, the department will continue to focus on expanding the reach of “Har Ghar Jal” to ensure every rural household has a tap water connection, continuing rigorous water quality testing and expanding the network of testing labs. It will also strengthen community participation through continuous training and capacity-building programmes. It will further leverage technology to improve the monitoring, management and sustainability of water supply systems. Moreover, there will be emphasis on implementing innovative water conservation techniques to ensure long-term water security in the face of climate change and population growth. The department will also take effective measures for groundwater recharging and conservation to ensure source sustainability.