Bigger states including Karnataka lags behind in providing piped water connection: Report

Bigger states including Karnataka lags behind in providing piped water connection to individual households in rural areas under Centrally sponsored Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) compared to smaller states, says a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Committee in its report tabled in Parliament expressed concern over the plight of bigger States like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for lagging behind in providing piped water connection as well as utilising the central funds for this purpose.

In Karnataka, of the total 97.92 lakh rural households, 45.44 lakh households have tap water connection as on February 2022, which 46.41 per cent . The national average household connection is 46.48 per cent, says the Standing Committee report on Water Resources headed by BJP Lok Sabha member Sanjay Jaiswal.

Of the total Rs 5,008 crore allocation of funds by the Jal Shakti Ministry to Karnataka since the inception of the JJM, a total Rs 1,045 crore utilised, which is 25 per cent of total allocation so far, said the report.

The NDA Government announced the JJM scheme in August, 2019 to provide piped water connection to every rural household by 2024.

In the whole country, out of 19.18 crore rural households total 8.96 crore(46.48 per cent) have access to clean potable water supply at their homes, says the report.

Haryana, Telangana, Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, D & N Haveli and Puducherry have achieved 100 per cent target of providing tap water connections to households, while Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have achieved more than 90 per cent household coverage.

The Committee, however, expressed concern over the plight of bigger states like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where water connections were below 40 per cent compared to their total households.

Even utilising the central funds, the bigger states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu lands behind as they utilized below 25 per cent of the total allocation.

The Committee said “under-utilisation of funds which clearly indicate lack of financial prudence and fiscal discipline, thus, adversely affecting the implementation and monitoring of the programme as a whole.”

The Committee suggested the Jal Shakti Ministry to impress upon these states to take appropriate steps for providing tap water connections to all the households in keeping with the target year fixed.

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