Every house in Vindhya-Bundelkhand should get tap water by August: CM Yogi

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set a target to provide tap water to every household in the Vindhyachal and Bundelkhand by August.

In a high-level meeting on Monday, the Chief Minister reviewed the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission and Namami Gange project and called for intensified efforts to provide clean drinking water to every citizen.

“With the resolution of ‘Har Ghar Nal-Har Ghar Jal’, a grand campaign is going on to provide pure drinking water to 2.65 crore rural families of the state. Before the start of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 5.16 lakh families had access to pure drinking water from the tap. Due to continuous efforts, today the dream of pure drinking water has come true for more than 1.30 crore families. A total of 59.38 lakh connections have been provided in the financial year 2022-23 alone. Remaining houses should also get piped drinking water in a phased and time-bound manner,” Yogi said.

The state government has already provided access to pure drinking water to more than 1.3 crore families, with Mahoba district poised to become the first district in the state where every house will have tap water. The Chief Minister has instructed officials to install 50,000 tap connections every day to ensure that the Jal Jeevan Mission is completed by March 2024.

The Chief Minister also stressed the importance of increasing awareness about the cleanliness of rivers and ensuring that non-compliant or non-functional sewage treatment plants are made operational immediately. He also called for trained plumbers to be deployed in every village to complete the work in a timely manner and with quality.

“Pure drinking water was a dream for the Bundelkhand and Vindhya region. Today this dream is coming true. Both these areas are on top priority. With continuous efforts, Mahoba is going to become the first district in the state, where every house will have tap water facility.

Achieve the target of providing tap water connection to every house in Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Banda, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and the whole of Vindhya-Bundelkhand region in the next 2 months,” he said.

The success of national schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission depends on the performance of Uttar Pradesh, which is a big state with a big responsibility, said the Chief Minister. Rainwater harvesting should also be encouraged in villages as a good model for water harvesting for the country.