The Jharkhand government is planning to provide tap water connections to 9.5 lakh households by March next year after it received nearly four-fold increase in central grant under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Jal Jeevan Mission is a central government scheme that was launched in 2019 with an aim to supply water through pipes to about 18 crore rural households across the country.

“We are happy to receive the central grant of Rs 2,479.88 crore as this would give a boost to the mission. We have set a target of providing tap water connections to nearly 9.5 lakh households by the end of the 2021-22 fiscal and stay on course to provide water supply to all households before 2024. This huge investment in rural areas will create new employment opportunities, accelerate economic activities and also boost rural economy,” said state drinking water and sanitation minister Mithilesh Thakur after the grant was released on Tuesday.

The central grant under the scheme for Jharkhand has been enhanced from Rs 572.24 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 2,479.88 crore in the current fiscal.

An under-construction water reservoir at Khuntpani in West Singhbhum. Bhola Prasad

“The pace of construction of infrastructure for piped water supply in rural areas had slowed down a bit due to the Covid pandemic and delay in announcement of the schedule of rates. However, the rates were finalised in February this year. With the increase in grant, we will go all out in ensuring that the maximum number of houses get piped water connections before the end of the 2021-22 fiscal and achieve the target of providing drinking water to all households in the state by 2024,” said S.K Jha, chief engineer, project management unit, drinking water and sanitation.

In Jharkhand, out of 58.95 lakh households in 29,752 villages, only 7.72 lakh households (13 per cent) have received tap water connections.

On August 15, 2019, when the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched, only 3.45 lakh (5.85 per cent) households had a tap water supply. In 22 months, 4.27 lakh households (7.24 per cent) in the state have got tap water connections. However, in comparison to the national average of 23 per cent, the pace of providing water supply in Jharkhand has been slow.

In 2020-21, only 2.99 lakh tap water connections were provided in Jharkhand making it a big ask to provide connections to the remaining eligible 51.23 lakh households.

Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a letter to chief minister Hemant Soren earlier this month had emphasised the work of providing connections should start in all the villages so that the state can provide tap water supply to all rural households by May 2024.

The minister had hoped that the enhanced allocation will enable Jharkhand to expedite the implementation to achieve various planned activities under the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide tap water connection to every rural household.