Why in the news?
- The Union government plans to map all drinking water assets including pipelines created under its Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) on PM Gati Shakti, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based platform.
Jal Jeevan Mission
- Launched: 15 August 2019
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti
- Aim: To provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024, ensuring access to safe and adequate drinking water.
- Tagline: “Har Ghar Nal Se Jal”
- Funding: Centrally Sponsored Scheme
- Objectives:
- To ensure 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD) of potable water to every rural household.
- To improve water quality, especially in fluoride, arsenic, iron, nitrate, and salinity-affected areas.
- To promote source sustainability through recharge, reuse, greywater management, and water conservation.
- To build village-level institutions for operation, maintenance, and ownership of water supply systems.
- Implementation
- Decentralized approach – led by States/UTs and Panchayati Raj Institutions.
- Convergence with MGNREGS, Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), Atal Bhujal Yojana.
- Progress
- 14 crore+ rural households with tap water connections.
- 100% coverage: Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Puducherry.
- 4 lakh+ villages certified as Har Ghar Jal.
- Challenges
- Groundwater depletion and seasonal variability.
- Fluoride, arsenic, and nitrate contamination.
- Operation & maintenance at village level.
- Behavioral change and community participation.
- Significance
- Improves public health and reduces water-borne diseases.
- Promotes gender equity (reduces women’s drudgery).
- Strengthens local governance and community ownership.
- Contributes to SDG-6: Clean Water and Sanitation.
PM Gati Shakti Portal
- What is it?: The Gati Shakti Portal is a government digital platform designed to facilitate integrated, synchronized, and comprehensive planning for infrastructure development, primarily focused on multi-modal connectivity to drive economic growth.
- Aim: It aims to bring together 16 different ministries and state governments to coordinate the planning and implementation of projects across roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, and logistics infrastructure, with a focus on improving last-mile connectivity and reducing logistics costs.