New Delhi: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday said that the depleting groundwater level, overexploitation and deteriorating quality of water are major challenges in providing clean drinking water.
India has 16 per cent of the world population, but only four per cent of its freshwater resources. Depleting groundwater level, overexploitation and deteriorating water quality and climate change, etc are major challenges to provide potable drinking water, Mr. Shekhawat was quoted in an official statement.
The union minister was chairing a conference of state ministers on Jal Jeevan Mission here, which was attended by state ministers, in-charge of drinking water from 17 states, principal secretaries and secretaries.
The objective of the conference was to discuss the implementation of the newly announced Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide individual household water tap connection to every rural household in the country by 2024, the statement said.
Mr. Shekhawat appealed to all the states to generate maximum community participation in the form of ‘Jan Andolan’ to achieve the target of a functional household tap connection by the year 2024.
Citing successful models from across the country, he encouraged all the states to plan for recharge and reuse of greywater generated from households for agriculture and irrigation purpose.
The Jal Jeevan Mission is set to be based on various water conservation efforts like point recharge, de-silting of minor irrigation tanks, use of greywater for agriculture and source sustainability, the statement said.
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The Minister of State (Jal Shakti) Rattan Lal Kataria highlighted that drinking water is a basic requirement and water supply has been placed at the centre of the development agenda for the government, it added.
Mr. Kataria requested all states to empower the grassroots governance institutions to take charge of the mission activities in their villages. Various state ministers discussed state-specific issues and were assured of central government assistance for smooth implementation of the mission.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
