In a major move, 7.19 crore tap water connections have been provided to rural households till date under Jal Jeevan Mission, Parliament was informed. Besides every rural home in Andaman & Nicobar Island, Goa and Telangana have also been provided clean tap water supply since start of Jal Jeevan Mission.

Since the start of the ministry, about 10,650 arsenic or fluoride affected habitations have been provided potable water.

Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria informed Parliament that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a flagship programme of the Central Government, priority has been accorded to quality affected habitations. “Priority has been accorded at the planning stage while compiling the village, district level water supply plans,” an official release said.

To involve and empower the community at the grass root level for monitoring the quality of water in their respective habitations, field testing Kits have also been distributed for which five women from every village are being trained for using these kits. This will facilitate early detection and identification of water-borne risks. So far, 4.7 Lakh women in 1.25 Lakh villages have been trained for water testing.