Rs 4,000 cr spent under Jal Jeevan Mission but water shortage persists in Himachal
Lalit Mohan
Dharamsala, June 24
The people of the state are facing an acute shortage of water during the ongoing summer season though about Rs 4,000 crore has been spent on various supply schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission of the Union Government. The Jal Jeevan Mission was implemented in the state from 2019 to March 2024 with a target to provide at least 70 litres of tap water per person per day to every household.
Sources say that the state is suffering from an acute shortage of water despite such a massive investment under the Jal Jeevan Mission. About 60 per cent of the money spent under the mission was used for purchasing supply pipes. They add that during the previous BJP government, about Rs 2,200 crore of the total project cost of Rs 4,000 crore was spent on purchasing water pipes under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Faulty design of the projects under the mission that laid emphasis on laying water pipes to people’s houses without the augmentation of supply sources has aggravated the problem during the summer months. The sources say at many places in the state, the number of water connections has increased manifold though sources have not been augmented, leading to reduced supply.
Most of the water projects in Himachal are dependent on natural streams in the hills. Water discharge into these projects reduces during the summer. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Jal Shakti Department should have designed projects based on deep bore wells and perennial water sources so that the problem of reduced discharge from natural streams could have been taken care of. The sources say that the augmentation of water sources has been done in a few projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission and as a result, the problem of water shortage persists during the summer in most parts of the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the charge of Irrigation and Public Health Department, blames water shortage on the faulty design of the supply schemes. He says, “The Jal Jeevan Mission was implemented in the state during the stint of the previous BJP government. About Rs 2,200 crore was spent on purchasing pipes without first augmenting water sources. The pipes were purchased and dumped in various offices and stores of the department. It was during the past one year that we have used and laid most of these pipes to the houses of people. The work on the augmentation of water sources under the mission is still to be done.”
Agnihotri says, “The Jal Jeevan Mission was to be implemented in the state till March 2024. All states, including Himachal, have sought its extension as the work on many water supply schemes has not been completed due to the monsoon disaster last year. The state is yet to receive funds under the mission from the Union Government for the last quarter of 2024.”
He says that the problem of water shortage in many parts of the state is also due to frequent power cuts and low voltage. As a result, the motors used to pump water from sources do not work properly, forcing the department to resort to rationing in many parts of state, he adds.
Faulty design to blame
- A faulty design of the projects under the mission that laid emphasis on laying water pipes to people’s houses without the augmentation of supply sources has aggravated the problem during the summer months
- At many places, the number of water connections has increased manifold though the sources have not been augmented, leading to reduced supply
