NEW DELHI: The Central government has released Rs 604 crore to Jammu and Kashmir under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), informed the Ministry of Jal Shakti on Tuesday.
“Central fund of Rs 2,747 crore has been allocated to the Union Territory in 2021-22 for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, which is nearly four times the allocation made during 2020-21,” the ministry said. It further said that the Jammu and Kashmir plans to become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ Union Territory by August 2022. “Out of 18.35 lakh, rural households in the UT, 10.39 lakh (57 per cent) households have tap water connections. Despite adverse weather conditions and challenges of transportation in many areas in this difficult terrain, water supply work is in full swing to make provision of tap water supply in villages.
Provision has been made for tap water supply to every rural household in two districts of Srinagar and Ganderbal and 1,070 villages,” the Ministry of Jal Shakti said. The Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi accords top priority to make provision of tap water connection in every rural household across the country under Jal Jeevan Mission as there is a massive increase in budgetary allocation to Rs 2,747.17 Crore in 2021-22, from Rs 681.77 Crore in the preceding year.
Jal Jeevan Mission is implemented in a decentralized manner following the ‘bottom-up’ approach, wherein the local village community plays a key role starting from planning to implementation and from management to operation and maintenance.