The Government said that 90 percent of all
rural households in the country will be covered by tapped water system
by 2022, as the focus now is shifted from the hand pump approach to the
surface water supply system. Briefing the media after a two-day
Conference of State Ministers in charge of Rural Drinking Water Supply
and Sanitation, Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said here
that at present only 35 percent households in rural India has piped
water system. He informed that while Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh
have more than 80 percent rural areas covered by tapped water supply, in
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar less than 10 percent areas are under the piped
water scheme, as the focus in these North Indian States are more on hand
pumps. Shri Ramesh said, due to absence of electricity in rural and
extremely backward areas, some States have demanded solar-energy based
drinking water system. He said that the Centre has already approved
installation of solar-based water system in 10,000 villages of 78
naxal-affected districts with an outlay of 540 crore rupees and the
project will be completed in 18 months. The Rural Development Ministry
has sought 230 crore rupees as grant from the Finance Ministry for this
project. The Minister said that naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in
Maharashtra has already 200 solar-water systems. He said, form 12th Five
Year Plan every person in rural India will get 55 litres of water per
day as against the current entitlement of 40 litres and the same is 135
litres per person per day in Urban Areas, which the Minister described
as biased in nature. Shri Ramesh said that from the 12th Plan, State
Governments can spend up to 62 percent of the funds on improving the
water quality, which is at present only 11 percent. He said, 60
districts have been selected including 20 in Uttar Pradesh to deal with
the problems of water borne diseases like Japanese encephalitis and the
diseases caused due to excessive arsenic, iron and fluoride in drinking
water in the States like West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam
and Karnataka.On the Sanitation Issue, the Minister said that Total
Sanitation Campaign will be changed to Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan and
Rs.9,500 will be allocated for the toilet construction in the Gram
Panchayats, nearly double the amount currently spent on individual
latrines.
