Lok Sabha Question No. 3238 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-20
Subject: Quality of Drinking Water under JJM in Rural Households in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Navaskani K, Shri Selvam G, Shri C N Annadurai

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3238

ANSWERED ON 20/03/2025

## QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER UNDER JJM IN RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN TAMIL NADU

3238. SHRI SELVAM G: SHRI NAVASKANI K: SHRI C N ANNADURAI:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  measures taken/being taken by the Government under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to ensure the quality of drinking water supplied to rural households in Tamil Nadu;
- (b) the details of the testing facilities established for monitoring water quality;
- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to address contamination issues, particularly in fluoride and arsenic-affected areas;
- (d) the impact of JJM on the health and livelihoods of rural women and children;
- (e) the number of households where women have been relieved of the burden of fetching water due to JJM;
- (f)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  implement  JJM  in  water-stressed  and drought-prone areas along with the percentage of coverage achieved in such areas; and
- (g) whether any special assistance is provided/being provided by the Government to address the challenges in these regions and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal, is being implemented since August, 2019, in partnership with States, to make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to rural households. The Government of India supports the States including Tamil Nadu by providing technical and financial assistance. Under the  Jal  Jeevan  Mission,  as  per  existing  guidelines,  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards'  BIS:10500 standards are adopted as benchmark for quality of water being supplied through the piped water supply schemes. Drinking Water being a State subject, the responsibility of Planning, Approval, Implementation, Operation & Maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the Jal Jeevan Mission, is vested with State/UT Governments.

(b) As per the Operational Guidelines, States/ UTs including Tamil Nadu can utilize up to 2% of their  annual  allocation  of  funds  under  JJM  for  Water  Quality  Monitoring  &  Surveillance (WQM&S) activities,  inter-alia,  which  includes  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.  To  enable  States/  UTs  to  test  water  samples  for  water  quality,  and  for  sample  collection, reporting, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources, an online JJM - Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed. The State-wise details of water quality test reported through WQMIS are available in public domain on JJM Dashboard and can also be accessed at:

## https://ejalshakti.gov.in/WQMIS/Main/report

In order to empower the communities to monitor the water quality States/ UTs have also been advised to identify and train 5 persons, preferably women, in every village to conduct water quality testing using Field Testing Kits (FTKs) at village level and report the same on the WQMIS portal. So far, as reported by States/UTs on WQMIS, as on date, more than 24.81 lakh women (including 62,898 in Tamil Nadu) have been trained for testing water using FTKs.

As reported by States/UTs, as on date, there are 2,182 drinking water quality testing laboratories (including 113 in Tamil Nadu) at different levels viz. State, district, sub-division and/ or block level in the country. To encourage water quality testing to ensure potable drinking water supply, States/ UTs have opened water quality testing laboratories to general public for testing of their water samples at a nominal rate.

(c) As reported by States on JJM-IMIS, since the inception of JJM, 13,706 Arsenic affected, and 7,745  fluoride  affected  habitations  have  been  reported  to  be  covered  with  piped  water  supply schemes as on date. Further, there are 314 Arsenic and 251 Fluoride affected rural habitations in the  country  where  the  piped  water  supply  schemes  compliant  to  JJM  standards  are  yet  to  be commissioned. However, all these habitations (314 for Arsenic and 251 for Fluoride) have been provided with safe drinking water through CWPPs/ IHPs purely as an interim measure. Thus, all habitation in rural area of the country are provided safe drinking water free from Arsenic and Fluoride contamination.

(d) & (e) The World Health Organization (WHO) has done study on the potential benefits of the JJM, estimating that achieving its goals could save over 5.5 crore hours daily in rural areas, which are inter alia spent on collecting water, predominantly by women without the intervention of JJM. This  time  savings  translates  into  economic  benefits  and  an  improved  quality  of  life  for  rural families. Furthermore, the WHO has projected that providing safely managed drinking water to all households could prevent nearly 4,00,000 deaths from diarrheal diseases and 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) averted during the mission period. Adding to this, Nobel laureate Prof. Michael Kremer's research paper suggests that universal access to safe water could lead to a nearly 30% reduction in mortality among children under five years old, potentially saving 1,36,000 young lives each year.

(f) & (g) The allocation of JJM Funds has given a weightage of 30% for the stated under Desert Development Programme (DDP), Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Hill Area Development Plan (HADP) and special category hill states in terms of rural areas.  The year-wise details of Central fund allocated, drawn and utilization reported by the State/ UTs under JJM since 2019-20  to  2024-25  (as  on  17.03.2025)  for  making  provision  of  safe  drinking  water  through household tap water connection to rural households including in water stressed and drought-prone areas is at annex-I .

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## Annex-I referred to in reply to part (f) & (g) of Lok Sabha Unstarred question no. 3238 answered on 20.03.2025

Jal Jeevan Mission: Central fund allocated, drawn and reported utilization in 2019-20 to 2024-25

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

|          | Central Share   | Central Share   | Central Share   | Central Share   | State Share   |
|----------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---------------|
| FY       | Opening Balance | Allocated Funds | Released Amount | Expenditure     | Expenditure   |
| 2019-20  | 2,436.37        | 11,139.21       | 9,951.81        | 5,983.49        | 4090.79       |
| 2020-21  | 6,447.36        | 23,033.02       | 10,917.86       | 12,544.51       | 7,905.45      |
| 2021-22  | 4,825.92        | 92,308.77       | 40,009.77       | 25,326.67       | 18,226.18     |
| 2022-23  | 19,510.05       | 1,00,789.77     | 54,742.30       | 50,667.81       | 40,147.74     |
| 2023-24  | 23,584.58       | 1,32,936.83     | 69,885.01       | 82,295.58       | 69,219.37     |
| 2024-25* | 11,180.11       | 69,926.68#      | 22,341.74       | 27,333.70       | 33,616.09     |

Apart from this, RLBs/ PRIs have been allocated Rs. 2,36,805 Crore rupees under 15 th Finance Commission out of which 60% tied grants amounting to Rs. 1,42,084 Crore is to be spent on 1) Drinking Water Supply and 2) Sanitation.

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