ITANAGAR, July 27 (PTI): There was a time when women of Soi village in Leparada district of Arunachal Pradesh were required to reach the stream flowing near it at the crack of dawn to get clean water for their families. As those who reached late had to be content with turbid water, reaching the stream in the early morning hours was a challenge for the women.
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But the age-old practice has thankfully changed after the launching of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
“The JJM has made life easy for housewives like us. Thanks to it, we can now get clean water in our houses,” says Nyami Basar of the village.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the mission on August 15, 2019 with the aim to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024.
The state government has provided functional household tap connections (FHTC) in almost all the villages of the district under JJM, ending the daily hardship of fetching water which was faced by the women, she added.
Leparada district was created by bifurcating Lower Siang district in 2018. It has an approximate population of 25,000 odd people residing in Basar, Tirbin Sago and Dari circles covering 81 villages.
According to the official data, 93.3 per cent of the district’s area has been covered under the mission.
“There are a total 3211 households in the district. The target was to provide 1,781 FHTCs under JJM of which 1,662 were provided till July 12 this year. The remaining 119 will be completed by October next,” PHE and water supply department executive engineer Bomi Nyorak said.
Besides, 408 FHTCs were sanctioned under National Rural Drinking Water Programme and another 914 were provided in the district so far as per the budget, the official said.
“The district has achieved the third rank among the fastest moving districts in the achievers category for the period from October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, under the Jal Jeevan Survekshan by the union ministry of Jal Shakti,” Nyorak said.
The lawmaker from the area, Gokar Basar said that unlike other water supply programmes JJM has become a people’s movement in the district.
“The villagers have developed a sense of ownership of the water supply assets through community mobilization. The villages have also adopted a resolution for protection of the catchment area of the water source, which is very important for sustainability of the water supply schemes,” Basar, a BJP MLA said.
Claiming that the district has achieved 94.89 per cent in FHTCs, he attributed the success of the JJM in the area to the pro-development mindset of its people.
“People have been cooperative and so far there have been no issues in the donation of land and water sources for the implementation of a project. This was the main reason for successful implementation of the JJM. The credit also goes to the entire PHED team for their relentless efforts in the implementation of the project,” Basar added.
Chief minister Pema Khandu said on July 17 that JJM will be fully implemented in Arunachal Pradesh in 2023, a year ahead of the national target of 2024. He assured that the state government will extend full support in covering the left out villages under the mission within this year.
