New Delhi, Aug 22 The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to provide 100 per cent tap water connection to all the households in the state by 2023 under the Centre's Jal Jeevan mission.
Sharing the details, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said the state government has set the goal even after receiving very high rainfall in the current monsoon season, leading to many of the drinking water supply installations dependent on surface sources facing the fury of natural calamities in terms of flash floods, cloud bursts, landslides and erosions.
The Ledum multi-village water supply project feeding potable drinking water to the Bilat circle, Oyan-Sille Circle and Ruksin headquarters covering 19 villages with population of 21,287 under East Siang District was one of the projects damaged badly due to sudden cloud burst at its catchment area.
Intake work which is situated at 1,500 feet above sea level and at a distance of 7 km from the last motorable road point was hit hard.
The main pipe line (DI 250 mm diameter) was also damaged at various river crossings. Going by the gravity of the damages, the Ministry said it would have taken weeks to restore the water supply system, but the motivated youth of Bilat circle, about 70 of them, came forward to help the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in the restoration works.
"The department had to use the services of elephants in retrieving the DI pipes that were scattered and buried under the silt or debris along the river bed while providing the skilled manpower and materials.
"The result of participation of the people in the restoration effort saw that the resumption of drinking water supply to the entire villages was ensured in 3 days," it said.
Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation in partnership with states with the objective to provide functional household tap connections to every rural household of the country by 2024.
The goal of the Mission is to enable every rural household to get potable water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day on a regular and long-term basis so as to bring improvement in the lives of the people living in the rural areas.
The Ministry said water availability in Arunachal Pradesh is not an issue, but the challenges faced in implementation are the tough mountainous terrain, sparsely located habitations and the harsh climatic conditions.
However, it said, the state government is making all efforts to cover all villages and habitations so as potable water reaches every rural household.
( With inputs from IANS )
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