SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir tested 3,10,370 drinking water samples in laboratories during 2025-26, the highest annual figure recorded in the Union Territory in the five-year data period provided by the Centre, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The data, furnished by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in reply to Unstarred Question No. 1682, showed that JK’s laboratory testing rose from 1,97,360 samples in 2021-22 to 2,67,334 in 2022-23, before reaching 2,53,364 in 2023-24 and 2,66,547 in 2024-25. In the current financial year, 94,567 samples had been tested as on the date of the reply.
The figures were released as part of the Centre’s state-wise data on water quality testing under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)–Har Ghar Jal programme. The Government said drinking water is a State subject and the responsibility for planning, designing, approving, implementing and maintaining drinking water supply schemes rests with the respective State or UT governments.
Under JJM, States and UTs, including JK, use Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 10500 as the benchmark for the quality of water supplied through piped water supply schemes. The standards prescribe acceptable and permissible limits for various physio-chemical and bacteriological parameters.
The Ministry said an online JJM-Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) has been developed to facilitate reporting of water quality monitoring and surveillance, including sample collection and test reports. The State-wise testing data is available through the WQMIS portal.
The Centre further said States and UTs had been advised to implement piped water supply schemes based on alternative safe sources or bulk water transfer in villages facing water quality problems. It also said schemes under JJM are approved only after a Source Finding Committee of the respective government certifies that the identified source has sufficient yield to sustain the planned water supply.
A Concise Handbook for Monitoring Water Quality of Piped Drinking Water Supply to Rural Households, released in December 2024, recommends comprehensive testing at different points, including the source, treatment plant, storage and distribution stages, followed by remedial measures wherever required.
Across the country, Uttar Pradesh recorded 8,25,798 laboratory-tested samples in 2025-26, while the national data also showed substantial testing activity in several other States. The reply, however, did not provide a separate State- or district-wise classification of areas as potable, unsafe or contaminated, as sought in the parliamentary question.
