735 drinking water supply schemes of Uttar Pradesh now approved

Lucknow, November 12: To accelerate pace of implementation of Jal Shakti Mission, the National Jal Jeevan Mission has urged Uttar Pradesh to take measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households this year. In UP, there are 2.64 crore rural households in over 97,000 villages, of which 34 lakh households now have tap water supply.

The Jal Shakti Ministry said in a statement, “To accelerate the pace of JJM implementation, National Jal Jeevan Mission has urged the State to take necessary measures to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households in the State this year, for which the State plans to start water supply works in more than 60,000 villages by December 2021.”

The State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) of UP on November 11, approved proposals submitted by the State worth Rs. 1,882 crore for making provision of tap water connections in rural areas. These schemes will cover a population of 39 lakh in 1,262 villages of 33 districts.

Also Read | It is under Jal Jeevan Mission that Man-Merag village in Ladakh gets tap water connections

The Ministry said, “The National Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, has already released ₹2,400 crore grant-in-aid to Uttar Pradesh during 2021-22. In 2019-20, Central government had allocated ₹1,206 crore to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which was increased to ₹2,571 crore in 2020-21. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while approving this four-fold increase in allocation in 2021-22, assured full assistance to the State for making provision of tap water supply in every rural home by 2024.”