Jal Jeevan Mission quenches thirst in UP's Bundelkhand

Jhansi: The Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, implemented on a mission mode by the Yogi Adityanath government in the drought prone Bundelkhand region is transforming the lives of the people in this particular region of Uttar Pradesh. Purva, one of the arid villages in the Bundelkhand region is now witnessing a rapid transformation following tap water connectivity. The Jal Jeevan Mission Scheme is a part of the Centre’s “Har Ghar Jal Yojana”.

In the first phase, we have covered Bundelkhand and Vindhyachal. At the cost of Rs 18,000 crores, the project covers 20 lakh households. The cost of the project is equally shared by both the state and the Centre.

It was pointed out that Bundelkhand, with 13 economically disadvantaged and less-developed districts, has been largely dependent on agriculture. Even as agriculture remained the mainstay for the region’s economic development, recurring droughts continued to disrupt the progress. Officials indicated that things have improved considerably following the implementation of the “Jal Jeevan” scheme.

Talking about Purva, the officials pointed out that nearly 3,000 people live in this village. Yet only a handful of pumps were available for the villagers. And often, these hand pumps got defunct. “Today the availability of clean drinking water is a reason for cheer,” an official said. Arti, a resident of Purva, recalled that the children often “fell ill due to the contaminated drinking water”. She said: “I am happy that our children will now be able to lead healthy lives.”

The aim of the Jal Jeevan Mission is to provide domestic tap connections to about 2.63 crore families by 2024 in Uttar Pradesh. Fifty-five litres of water are expected to be supplied to every household under the Har Ghar Jal Yojana scheme on a daily basis. This will cost Rs 50 per family. Under the Jal Jeevan scheme, the tap water facility has been provided to 1.60 lakh families till September 2023.

Mr Anurag Srivastava, principal secretary, water resources, said that Bundelkhand was targeted as it “is the most water-stressed district”. The project, started in 2020, was nearing completion, he said.

It was claimed that in villages like Mahoba, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Banda and Jhansi of Bundelkhand, people “could not get their daughters married off due to the acute water crisis”. The situation apparently changed after the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.