Jammu and Kashmir: Every rural household to receive piped water by Dec 2021

Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu along with its Administrative Council approved the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and the plan to achieve 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply by December 2021 across the region, aligning it to the country's mission.

The mission aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to every rural household especially to the desert, drought-prone, border areas, schools, Anganwadi and health centres.

The Jal Jeevan Mission will ensure the sustainability of the water supply system along with the empowerment and development of human resource in Jammu and Kashmir, in order to meet the demands of construction, plumbing and water quality management.

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The National Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide every rural household of the country with piped water supply by 2024. Currently, 30.5% of J&K's rural households have piped water connections compared to the country's average of 18%.

A special focus will be laid under the mission to provide FHTC to the remaining 11.12 lakh rural households out of 16.02 lakh in J&K according to Integrated Management of Information System (IMIS) data of JJM.

Efforts to align with the National mission

In order to align the activities of the department with the National Mission of Jal Jeevan, the Administrative Council agreed to rename of Public Health Engineering, Irrigation & Flood Control (PHE, I & FC) Department as ''Jal Shakti Department''. 

The department also plans to set up a Mission Directorate of Jal Jeevan Mission in Jammu and Kashmir, by merging Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) to monitor the JJM work. It also approved an Executive Committee to assist the JJM.

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Hierarchial approach

An Apex Committee will be headed by the Chief Secretary, and an Executive Committee will be headed by Administrative Secretary PHE, I & FC. In the same manner, at the District level, there will be District Jal Jeevan Missions.

The Administrative Council also approved to appoint Financial Auditors at the provincial level to conduct an audit of the expenditure under the JJM, to hire Consultants for the Project Appraisal Committees, and to appoint Third Party Technical Monitors.

The Revenue and Forest Departments will set up special cells to ensure swift clearance of land and forest cases related to the Jal Jeevan Mission across Jammu and Kashmir.

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JJM to be conducted in phases

In order to achieve 100 per cent coverage under JJM in a phased manner by December 2021, the PHE Department has conducted a detailed exercise and prepared a District Water Security Plan through the District Water and Sanitation Mission headed by its Deputy Commissioners.

In the initial phase, seven districts namely -- Poonch, Reasi, Samba, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Shopian and Pulwama will be covered for 100% piped water supply by June 2020. In the second phase, seven more districts will be covered by June 2021 and the remaining six districts shall be covered in the third phase ending December 2021.

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(Representative image)