All rural households to get potable water by 2022: Amarinder

CM added that 50% of these households already had individual water connections

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said the state was all set to provide 100% potable piped water connections to all rural households by 2022. He added that 50% of these households already had individual water connections.

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In a video conference with Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the CM said as of April 1, 2020, of the 1,634 habitations in which ground water was impacted, 477 had been provided potable water, and the state was committed to covering all rural households with piped water supply connections by March 2022, in line with the target of the Punjab government even before the conceptualisation of Jal Jiwan Mission (JJM) by the Centre.

To further boost the state’s efforts, the CM sought reduction in GST on treatment plans as well as purification media from the current 18% to 5%, to make JJM schemes sustainable in the long run. He pointed out that media in the water treatment plan needed to be replaced every 2-3 years.

Amarinder urged the Union minister to recognise the 1,449 Kandi belt villages as ‘hill area’ to reduce the beneficiary contribution from 10% to 5% for construction under JJM. He said the state government had been repeatedly raising the subject with the Centre for the past two years, but no action had been taken yet.