New Delhi, Apr 3: The Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria expressed his pleasure and congratulated the officials as Jal Jeevan Mission crossed the 4 Crore mark in providing new functional household tap connections (FHTC) to rural households. As on date, over 38 per cent of the rural population has been covered in total.
Out of total rural population that has been covered, 21.14 per cent of households have been provided with tap water connection since launch of the Mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Until now 58 districts, 711 blocks, 44,459 Panchayat and 87,009 villages have ensured 100 per cent coverage of FHTC. Minister Kataria has been continuing his official work through the digital platform despite testing positive for COVID 19. The minister was diagnosed with corona virus last week and was admitted in a hospital for treatment.
Kataria was also apprised about the successful pilot project for effectively monitoring water supply in villages, that has been executed in 5 states of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, using the Internet of things (IoT) technology-based sensors. This has been done in collaboration with Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT) and Tata trusts. The villages spread across the five states, covering various Agro-climatic zones, were particularly identified for the pilot.
The success of the pilot project has motivated states to actively deploy the technology. Several States, including Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, and Arunachal Pradesh, have already rolled out tenders for IoT-based remote monitoring systems ranging from 500 villages to several districts. Further, states like Sikkim, Manipur, Goa, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand have started the process to roll-out the technology.