Lok Sabha Question No. 535 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-28
Subject: Iron content in Drinking Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. Ricky Andrew J Syngkon

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 535

## ANSWERED ON 28.11.2024

## IRON CONTENT IN DRINKING WATER

## 535. DR. RICKY ANDREW J SYNGKON:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a)   whether  the  Government  proposes  to  provide  iron  filters  and  installation  of  iron  filtration systems  to  ensure  access  to  potable  water  in  the  regions  with  high  iron  content  in  water particularly in the State of Meghalaya;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof;
- (c)   the manner in which the Government is likely to support the local Governments in maintaining and monitoring these filtration infrastructure especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas having high iron content in the drinking water; and
- (d)  whether the Government is collaborating with State authorities in Meghalaya to conduct regular testing of water sources to monitor iron levels and if so, the plan to allocate dedicated funding for this purpose?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a) to (c) 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 i.e. at a service level of 55 litre per capita per day (lpcd), of prescribed quality (BIS:10500), on regular and long-term basis.

Water  being  a  State  subject,  planning,  designing,  implementation,  approval  and  operation  & maintenance  is  done  by  the  concerned  State.  The  Government  of  India  provides  technical  and financial assistance.

Under  JJM,  while  planning  water  supply  schemes  to  provide  tap  water  supply  to  households, priority  is  given  to  quality-affected  habitations.  While  allocating  the  funds  to  States/  UTs  in  a particular financial year, 10% weightage is given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants including iron affected habitations.

Moreover, in water quality affected habitations where planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply schemes based on a safe water source takes time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) in such habitations, to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8-10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meet their drinking and cooking requirements.

As  on  date,  the  State  of  Meghalaya  has  not  reported  any  habitation  with  iron  contaminant  in drinking water sources beyond permissible limit.

(d)    Under  JJM,  States/  UTs  can  utilize  up  to  2%  of  their  annual  allocation  of  funds  for  Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance (WQM&S) activities inter alia for 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. States/UTs have been advised to carry out testing of water quality on a regular basis at source level as well as delivery level and take the remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality.

In 2023-24, as reported by State Government on JJM-WQMIS portal, 51,836 water samples have been tested in water testing laboratories and 17,172 water samples tested using Field Testing Kits. Similarly, in 2024-25 (as on 25.11.2024), 27,610 samples in labs and 11,860 samples using FTKs have been tested so far.

*****