By the Editor
Water is one of the most precious natural resources and necessary for every form of life. About 70 per cent of the human body is composed of water the depletion of which will automatically lead to sickness and ultimately death. Hence access to pure drinking water is a basic human right. Human reckless activities are greatly responsible for damages to the environment and so water sources gradually dwindle which may lead to catastrophic consequences. People need sufficient quantity of potable water for survival and so also for agricultural purposes as well as for industries. Wetlands, rivers, lakes and ponds are a sight to behold which add attraction to tourism. In brief, it can be rightly concluded that water is the elixir of life. Successive governments have undertaken numerous steps and measures to bring potable water within easy reach of the people. In spite of best efforts, yet the problem persists due to various reasons like the increasing population, growing urbanisation, rise of industries, lack of proper planning and human neglect. Because of inadequate supply of drinking water, people are left with no alternative but to travel far to fetch it or to buy from the water-suppliers which is a common sight nowadays during dry season in urban centres and suburbs as well. Maintenance and preservation of water sources is a must and punishment should be meted out to offenders, which is indeed a criminal act.
In order to save time and energy, the central government has announced Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2019, assuring universal coverage of drinking water by 2024. Under this Mission, steps are being taken that piped water will reach every household in the states. The government’s sincere attempt can be realised from its fulfillment right from the start itself whereby about one lakh households are being provided with tap water every day till the target is fully achieved. The quantity of potable water required per person per day has been calculated to be 55 litres. Total budget estimate for the implementation of the mission is Rs 3.60 lakh crore, out of which the central government’s share is Rs 2.08 lakh crore and the remaining amount Rs. 1.52 lakh crores will be borne by states. For a start in 2019-2020, Rs 10,000 crore and in 2020-2021, Rs 23,500 crore were provided for implementation of the Mission. The result was that about 2.20 crore rural households benefited so far.
In order to achieve complete success of the Mission, tentative timeline for each state was fixed and the year 2022 is for Meghalaya along with few others. Children, the future of the nation, are most vulnerable to water-borne diseases. Therefore, priority for tap water connections are schools, Anganwadi centres, health care centres, etc. Despite Covid-19 pandemic which initially hampered work, progress has been subsequently made and it is gaining momentum.