Drinking water supply is a State subject. Water Supply/ Water & Sanitation/ Public Health Engineering Departments and/ or parastatal organization of respective State Government/ UT Administration, is responsible for making provision of water supply and quality of water supplied in their respective State/ UT.

To make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to every rural household by 2024, since August, 2019, Government of India in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal. While allocating the funds under JJM to States/ UTs, 10% weightage is been given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants including Arsenic and Fluoride.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, while taking up schemes to make provision of potable tap water supply to rural households, priority is given to quality-affected habitations. Since planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply schemes in quality-affected habitations takes time, purely as an interim measure, States have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) to provide safe water to @ of 8-10 litre per capita per day for drinking and cooking purposes especially in Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations. Children being more susceptible to water borne diseases and contamination in drinking water, on 2^nd October, 2020, a special campaign was launched to make provision of potable tap water supply in schools, anganwadi centres, ashramshalas, etc. on priority basis. As a result, provision of tap water supply has been made to 8.44 lakhs (82.03 %) schools and 8.63 lakhs (77.22%) anganwadi centres.   

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, as per existing guidelines, IS 10500 is to be adopted for ensuring safe drinking water supply and States/ UTs have been advised to carry out testing of drinking water sources once in year for chemical and physical parameters and twice in a year for bacteriological parameters. To enable States/ UTs to test water samples for water quality, and for sample collection, reporting, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources, an online JJM – Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed. The State–wise details of water quality test reported through WQMIS is available in public domain on JJM Dashboard and can also be accessed at:

                                                    https://neer.icmr.org.in/website/main.php

This portal also provides automated alerts to concerned authorities in States/ UTs, if the water sample tested is contaminated, to initiate remedial actions. States/ UTs have also been advised to identify and train 5 persons preferably women in each village viz. ASHA workers, health workers, VWSC members, teachers, etc. to conduct water quality tests using FTKs/ bacteriological vials at village level and report the same on the portal.

As informed by Directorate General of Health Services, M/o Health and Family welfare, the number of cases of water-borne diseases such as Acute Diarrheal Diseases, Cholera, Viral Hepatitis – A, Viral Hepatitis – E and Leptospirosis reported is Annexed. The number of people died due to contaminated drinking water is not maintained by the Department.

This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written  reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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BY/AS

Annexure

Number of cases of water-borne diseases