Bhubaneswar: As severe heat wave prevails in the entire State, Department of Panchyatiraj and Drinking Water has been actively trying hard to provide drinking water across the State.
Sushil Kumar Lohani, Principal Secretary Panchayatiraj and Drinking Water is continuously monitoring the Drinking Water Supply Program.
According to data reflected in the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard, 73.12 per cent of total rural households in the State provided with tapped drinking water supply connection so far.
Out of total 88.68 lakh households in the State, 64.85 lakh households have functional tap connection which is 73.12 percent. Till now, 23.84 lakh (26.88%) rural households are yet to be provided with tap water supply connection.
Similarly, more than 38,213 villages out of 46,422 villages have been connected with piped water supply connections till now, with an achievement of 82.32 per cent.
Odisha has performed better than a few major States like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Kerala.
As many as 18,668 villages in the State have been provided with 100 percent tap water supply coverage, which means all households in these villages have functional tap water supply.
As per the data, mineral-rich Keonjhar district tops in the list in the State where over 99.59 percent of households have a tap water supply, followed by Nuapada (98.83 percent), Bhadrak (95.20 percent), Deogarh (89.73), Boudh (88.50), and Jharsuguda (85.75).
Similarly, 82.96 percent of total households in Dhenkanal district have been provided with tap water connection while it was 80.90 percent in Kendrapara, 79.86 percent in Balasore, 78.29 percent in Sundergarh and 77.36 percent in Rayagada.
Malkangiri district was at the bottom of the list where only 52.56 percent of total rural houses have tap water connection. It was preceded by Bolangir (53.94 percent) Gajapati (57.85%), Jagatsinghpur (58.15%), Sambalpur (58.53%), and Nayagarh (60.76%).
A total of Rs 4,869.07 crore has been utilized with 50:50 sharing by both State and Centre in Odisha during the last financial year while an expenditure of Rs 4316.43 crore was made during 2022-23.
The Government of India had launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), being implemented in partnership with States, in August 2019. Drinking Water is a state subject, and hence, the responsibility of planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the Mission, lies with State Governments.
