In terms of progress, Manipur is reported to be at 4th position in the country with 31.34% of household tap connections since the start of the mission and is a front runner in terms of annual progress securing 4th position currently.
TFM Desk
A team of seven members from National Jal Jeevan Mission headed by director Jal Jeevan Mission, visited Manipur from January 10 to 13, 2021. The team provided technical assistance by supporting the state to realise the goal of “Har Ghar Jal” under the flagship programme of Jal Jeevan Mission. The team identified the issues and challenges faced by the programme implementors in the state and at the same time shall be documenting the good practices for upscaling and replication in other regions pan-India.
The team visited Kakching, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Noney districts during the four-day long tour. They had interacted with the field level officials involved in the implementation of water supply schemes as well as gram pradhans, council head, Village Water Sanitation Committee (VWSC) secretary and members of Gram Panchayats/ VWSC who are the custodians of the infrastructure thus created under the programme, a release said.
The team also visited the state laboratory and district level laboratories of Thoubal, Imphal East and Imphal West. On the last day of the visit, Jal Jeevan Mission director Pradeep Singh, de-briefed the outcome of the site visit to commissioner (PHE), Devesh Deval, which was attended by the joint secretary PHE, chief engineer PHE and officials/ engineers of PHE from all districts. He also met the chief secretary, government of Manipur and apprised about the outcome of the central team visit.
The state aims to provide two lakhs Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) in 2020-21, out of which the state has already provided connections to 1.36 lakh houses at a rate of 457 household tap connections per day. Manipur has around 4.5 lakh households, of which tap water supply is available to 1.68 lakhs households. The state has provided 1.42 lakh tap connections since the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission. In order to achieve the target of 2020-21 the state needs to expedite the process in the last quarter of the year and should provide 675 tap connections per day. The state has planned for 100% FHTCs compliance by 2021-22 under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, aims to provide all rural households with tap water supply in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality by 2024. The Union government led by the Prime Minister is committed to providing all assistance to the state as potable water is the national priority.
In this scheme, the funds are provided by government of India based on the output in terms of FHTCs provided and the utilisation of available Union and matching state share. Given it, Union has allocated Rs 131.80 crore to the state of Manipur for the year 2020-21, according to the release.
The Union had provided funds under Jal Jeevan Mission to Manipur for freshwater household tap connections (FHTCs) to cover 1,185 habitations with 1,42,749 households. There is a need for convergence planning to be done by the state under various programmes like MGNREGS, JJM, SBM (G), 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, CSR Fund, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level and Village Action Plan (VAP) of every village is to be prepared for 5 years co-terminus with the 15th Finance Commission by dovetailing all such funds for carrying out water conservation activities to strengthen water source leading to drinking water security.
In terms of progress, Manipur is at 4th position in the country with 31.34% of household tap connections since the start of mission and is a front runner in terms of annual progress securing
4th position currently. As of now 59 GPs have become ‘Har Ghar Jal Panchayats’, 71 villages have become “Har Ghar Jal Gaon” and 109 habitations have become “Har Ghar Jal Habitation” respectively by providing 100% tap water connections, claims a government release.
Manipur though falls under high intensity of rainfall area, faces an acute shortage of water particularly during dry/ lean season. The team recommended taking up a pilot of sensor-based measurement and monitoring system in those villages where 100% FHTC has been achieved. Such systems will help to monitor the water supply in the village in a real-time basis. This information will help the department as well as VWSC to manage the water supply in a better way.
The release also said that the state has been working hard in implementing Jal Jeevan Mission amidst the challenges of rough terrain & climatic conditions, further compounded by the impediments caused due to COVID-19 pandemic. The works under JJM is in full swing in the state and the visit of NJJM team will provide impetus to the implementation of the programme in the state.