Jal Jeevan Mission: Progress, Challenges, and the Complexities of Providing Safe Water to Rural India
Access to clean water is a fundamental necessity, yet rural areas in India have faced longstanding challenges in accessing safe and reliable drinking water due to unequal distribution and inadequate infrastructure. The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, aims to address this issue by providing individual household tap connections to all rural homes by 2024.
Progress and Coverage
The JJM has made significant progress in the past five years, with 76.6% of the estimated 193 million rural households having tap connections as of May 2023. This represents a substantial increase from the 16.8% coverage at the scheme’s launch in 2019. Eleven states and Union territories have achieved 100% coverage, while seven fall below the national average. However, two states, West Bengal and Rajasthan, have less than half of rural households with tap connections.
Functionality and Challenges
While infrastructure expansion is crucial, ensuring the functionality of these tap connections is equally important. A government survey in 2022 revealed that 86% of tap connections were working on the day of data collection. However, only 62% met all three criteria for functionality: adequate quantity, prescribed quality, and regular availability. This indicates that infrastructure alone is not sufficient to meet household needs.
Groundwater depletion and contamination pose additional challenges. Over 80% of the water sources under the JJM rely on groundwater, which is vulnerable to over-exploitation and contamination. Additionally, the uneven distribution of rainfall in India leads to fluctuations in groundwater levels, exacerbating concerns about its reliability.
Sustainability and Measurement Gaps
Shifting to surface water sources and implementing comprehensive monitoring and measurement systems are essential for ensuring the sustainability of water supply. Currently, only 20% of villages have been granted ‘Har Ghar Jal’ status, indicating that all households have received water connections. However, measuring water supply at the village level does not provide insights into whether the water is reaching the end user.
Conclusion
The JJM has made significant strides in providing tap connections to rural households, but challenges remain in ensuring the functionality and sustainability of these connections. Experts emphasize the need to address groundwater depletion and contamination, implement more robust monitoring systems, and explore alternative water sources to meet the growing demand for safe and reliable drinking water in rural India.
