Lok Sabha Question No. 2704 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-22
Subject: Investment in Water Supply and Sanitation
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Rajeshbhai Naranbhai Chudasama

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2704

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.12.2022

## Investment in Water Supply and Sanitation

## 2704.  SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) the level of investment in water and sanitation in the country;
- (b)  the  total  percentage  of  population  having  access  to  improved  water  and  sanitation  in  the country by the end of October, 2022;
- (c)   whether  number  of  innovative  approaches  to  improve  water  supply  and  sanitation  have yielded desired results;
- (d)  if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)   if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a)  &  (b)  Water  supply  and  sanitation  are  State  subjects.  To  supplement  the  efforts  of  States, Govt. of India provides technical and financial assistance.

To make provision of potable tap water supply to every rural household of the country by 2024, Government of India in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal, since August, 2019, with an estimated outlay of Rs. 3.60 lakh Crore. As on 19.12.2022, out  of  19.36  Crore  rural  households  in  the  country,  10.75  Crore  (55.54%)  households  are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.

Further, as reported by States/ UTs, as on 12.12.2022, out of 16.97 lakh rural habitations in the country, 13.07 lakh [77%] have provision of potable drinking water with more than 40 litre per capita per day (lpcd), 3.64 lakh [21.5%] rural habitations with less than 40 lpcd with sources at a reasonable  distance  and  0.26  lakh  [1.5%]  rural  habitations  are  reported  to  have  water  quality issues in drinking water sources.

To make rural areas of the country open defecation free (ODF) by providing access to toilets to all rural households, Govt. of India had launched for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in 2014. Under  the  programme,  during  the  period  from2014-15  to  2019-20,  a  total  amount  of  about Rs.1.09  lakh  crore  (Central  plus  State  shares)  has  been  utilized.  Under  SBM  (G),  10  Crore individual household toilets have been constructed and as reported by States/ UTs, 100% rural

households have access to toilets. Further, to sustain the ODF status of villages and to cover all villages  with  Solid  and  Liquid  Waste  Management  by  2024-25,  SBM  (G)-2.0  is  under implementation in partnership with States, with an estimated outlay of Rs. 1.40 lakh Crore since April 2020.

In addition, to ensure water supply and sanitation services in villages, 15 th  Finance Commission tied grant amounting Rs. 11,698.37 Crore [42%] for 2022-23 is made available to RLBs/ PRIs as on 19.12.2022.

(c)  to  (e)  Under  JJM,  provision  has  been  made  for  technological  interventions  such  as  solar energy based stand-alone water supply systems for scattered/ isolated/ tribal villages, Community  Water  Purification  Plants  (CWPP)  based  on  Arsenic,  Fluoride,  Iron  and  other contaminant  removal  units  in  groundwater  contaminated  areas,  cold  deserts/  hard  rock/  hilly/ coastal areas, use of technology such as smart metering, geo-tagging of assets, etc. in planning and monitoring for efficient implementation.

National  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  in  partnership  with  the  Ministry  of  Electronics  &  Information Technology (MeitY) launched a 'Smart water supply measurement and monitoring system' for water supply in rural areas via an ICT Grand Challenge. As on date, sensor based IoT system has been implemented at 118 different locations across the country, on pilot basis to measure and monitor  drinking  water  supply  on  real-time  basis.  IoT  based  AI/  ML  driven  sensors  used  for online water  quality parameters  detection  in subsurface  and  drinking  water.  Further,  in partnership with Invest India, Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), an innovation  challenge  to  bring  innovative,  modular,  and  cost-effective  solution  to  develop portable water quality testing devices, is underway.

To bring focus on water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), thus to improve public health, a nation-wide Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) has been launched on by using field testing kits as well as water quality testing in laboratories. The data is uploaded, analyzed and in case of quality issues, local authorities are alerted to take up immediate remedial action.

To  bring  transparency  and  effective  monitoring,  a  'JJM  dashboard'  has  been  created,  which provides State/ UT, district and village-wise progress as well as status of provision of tap water supply to rural homes. The dashboard can be accessed at: https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx

A  Technical  Committee  under  the  chairmanship  of  Principal  Scientific  Advisor  (PSA)  to Government of India has also been set up to examine and recommend various innovations and water & sanitation related new technologies, which can be used in providing potable tap water supply to every home. So far, the committee has considered 184 innovative technologies and 165 R&D proposals and has accepted 25 innovative technologies and 8 R&D proposals for funding.

This Department under SBM (G), had organized a Start- up Grand Challenge to scout innovative technologies and scalable solutions for solid and liquid waste management challenges in rural areas.  In  this  initiative,  372  technologies  had  applied,  out  of  which  43  were  selected  for  final presentation and top 6 were selected and awarded during the Swachh Bharat Diwas celebration on 2 nd October, 2022.

*****