In India’s Water-Stressed Villages, Modi Seeks A Tap for Every Home

The pipes are constructed, the taps are placed, and the village tank is being built — all positive indicators that Girja Ahriwar will have water at her doorstep and will finally be free of a lifelong burden.

Ms Ahriwar, a mother of three who lives in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has to put jerrycans in the queue at 5 a.m; every day. Some days it would take 5-6 hours, and she had to stay there to avoid others from moving the can.

India is halfway through an ambitious plan to deliver safe drinking water to all 192 million homes in 600,000 villages by 2024. Hundreds of thousands of contractors and labourers are installing more than 2.5 million miles of the pipe as part of the US$ 50 billion projects, which about 18,000 government engineers are overseeing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s quest to give water to every family combines two of his political strengths: his understanding of the day-to-day difficulties faced by hundreds of millions of Indians and his inclination for bold answers. Mr Modi, who grew up in an impoverished village, has spoken openly about his mother’s struggle to get water. When the Jal Jeevan Mission began in 2019, about one-sixth of India’s households had access to clean water. Almost everyone now has one.

The initiative pumps treated water from sources such as dams over ten miles in areas where groundwater is overexploited. Villagers are also taught how to evaluate water quality and how to recycle and reuse wastewater as well. Automated pressure and quality sensors are being installed in pilot projects.

Source: IBEF