Tap water supply by 2023 polls? Can’t, says Karnataka CM

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has asked the Centre for more time in providing tap water connections to rural households after he is said to have inadvertently agreed to complete the enormous task by 2023, timed for the next Assembly elections.

According to sources, at a recent video conference, Yediyurappa was asked by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to complete the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) by 2023. The project’s deadline is 2024, but it was advanced for Karnataka that goes to polls in 2023.

The chief minister consented after which officials told him that the 2023 deadline was not realistic, the sources said.

“It is the well-considered view of the state government that Karnataka should be allowed the full mission period to complete the JJM target,” Yediyurappa stated in his letter to Shekhawat, a copy of which is with DH.

Under JJM, Karnataka is doubling down on its effort to provide functional household tap connections (FHTC) to all rural households. Of the 91.19 lakh rural households, 26 lakh have been covered and the remaining 65 lakh will be reached in the coming years.

Yediyurappa told Shekhawat that 23.57 lakh households are likely to be covered in the next six months. “While providing HTCs to the remaining 42 lakh households is doable in two years, in order to make them functional with the full-service level of 55 litres per capita per day the state will have to provide water from sustainable sources including from perennial rivers and reservoirs; and for that, the state would need time till 2024,” he explained.

Also read: Jal Shakti mission for water conservation kicks off in Karnataka

There are 60 ongoing multi-village schemes scheduled to end mid-2023 that will cover 2.8 lakh households with tap water connections, Yediyurappa said. Another 41 schemes would be taken up. These schemes are expected to be completed only by March 2024, the CM stated.

All these projects would still leave 30.3 lakh households whose coverage will take time, Yediyurappa said.

Meanwhile, the government has accorded administrative approvals for JJM projects covering over 27,000 households since February. In a recent order, the government has permitted single-bid tenders up to Rs 2.5 crore.

“There’s no illegality in single-bid tenders,” Rural Development and Panchayat Raj principal secretary L K Atheeq said. “JJM has led to a significant increase in the prices of pipes. So, we’re either getting no bids at all or single bids. Also, we’re implementing JJM on a war-footing. That’s why we’ve permitted it.”