SRINAGAR: As many as 15,66,716 households across Jammu and Kashmir have been provided tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission, up from 5,75,466 households recorded with such connections as of August 15, 2019, according to the Jal Shakti Department.
The figures were provided in the Legislative Assembly in response to an unstarred question submitted by MLA Sunil Kumar Sharma. The department said the connections cover 6,251 villages across J&K, comprising 19,24,646 households.
In the Jammu division, 8,07,668 of 10,74,322 households across 3,511 villages have tap water connections. The corresponding figure for Kashmir is 7,59,048 out of 8,50,324 households across 2,740 villages.
Among the districts, Jammu has 1,26,179 households with tap connections, followed by Baramulla with 1,29,507, Kupwara with 1,29,664 and Anantnag with 1,23,564.
In Doda, 1,00,781 households have tap connections against a total of 1,27,358 households, while Kathua has 1,04,372 connections out of 1,39,436 households. Rajouri has 90,853 connections among 1,35,612 households and Poonch has 84,971 among 1,07,048 households.
The department said 1,469 water supply schemes under the mission had been physically completed across J&K. Of these, 1,379 had been made operational, while 90 remained to be commissioned.
According to the Government, the pending schemes require minor connection or commissioning works in some cases, while some schemes were affected by damage caused during recent floods.
On the target for reliable and regular piped drinking-water supply during the current financial year, the department said this would depend on completion of the water supply schemes sanctioned under the Jal Jeevan Mission and the release of funds by the Government of India and the J&K administration.
The department said the Government of India had extended the Jal Jeevan Mission until December 2028 and stated that all villages in J&K were expected to receive reliable and regular piped drinking-water supply upon completion of the mission.
The district-wise figures show that Ganderbal has tap connections for all its 41,551 households, while Srinagar has connections for all 10,407 households listed in the annexure. In Bandipora, 41,586 of 46,337 households have connections, while Shopian has 42,234 connections against 45,091 households.
The department also furnished information sought on funds utilised under the mission during the last three financial years, but the year-wise financial figures are not included in the material provided with the Assembly reply.
