House panel sets deadline on potable water

Dismayed that adequate and safe drinking water for remote areas of the country could not be provided despite a massive investment of Rs 1.65 lakh crore since independence, a Parliamentary Panel has sought the government to fix a timeline for availability of potable water in all rural parts. In its second report presented in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Committee on Estimates on Evaluation of Rural Drinking Water Programme, pertaining to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, also recommended that the Government fix the norms of potable water availability for semi-urban and rural areas, and timeline by which it will be made available.