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Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the deadline for the completion of the Jal Jeevan Mission till March 31, 2026, in the larger interest of the public.
Gehlot said that in the initial days, the pace of the mission was very slow due to the lockdown from March 2020 to July 2020. Even in 2021, the work of the mission was partially affected from March 2021 to July 2021 due to COVID-related circumstances. In his letter to Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Gehlot wrote that the demand for the components of the project has increased significantly due to the ongoing work of the missionacross the country. The demand especially of steel, DI and HDPE pipes has increased rapidly. As a result, there has been instability in the supply of components, and it has slowed down the progress of JJM projects. The Chief Minister said that Rajasthan is the largest State in the country in terms of areaand it has very odd geographical conditions and scattered settlements. Twothird part of the State is desert and the southern area is hilly. Earlier the time limit for the projects in such difficult areas was 30 to 48 months, but now it has been reduced to 12 to 24 months. Due to this, it has become very challenging now to achieve the target. Gehlot through the letter apprised of the possibility of completing the work within 24 months is very less of big projects such as Parwan Akawad Water Supply Project of Baran, Jhalawar and Kota, Rajasthan Rural Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project (Phase-II), Narmada Canal based project in Barmer district, Project for supply drinking water from Chambal River to 648 villages of Chittorgarh, Isarda-Dausa Drinking Water Supply Project, Naunera Water Supply Project and Water Supply from Chambal River. The Chief Minister said that there has been an unexpected increase in the prices of many items due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Difficulties are being faced in the implementation of these works. Looking at all these situations, Chief Minister Gehlot has requested the Prime Minister to extend the deadline of the mission till March 31, 2026, so that each family can get benefit of this mission. Started in August 2019, Jal Jeevan Mission is aimed at providing safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India. According to the central government, only 3.23 crore households were connected to supply water till 2019. Since the inception of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, 9.40 crore households have been connected with the supply water facility. Around 1.5 lakh villages in 107 districts in the country have benefitted from Jal Jeevan Mission. 17.39 lakh schools and Anganwadi Kendras are connected with the drinking water supply. For drinking water management in villages, 4.82 lakh water committees are constituted. Around 9.69 lakh women in villages are trained, to check the quality of water. More than 4 lakh villages have the facility to test the water quality at the local level. (ANI)
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