by Akhter Ruqaya
Despite near-universal piped water coverage in Jammu and Kashmir, governance gaps, infrastructure fragility, and climate stress mean reliable drinking water remains elusive for many households
Access to safe drinking water is one of the most basic indicators of human development and public welfare. In Jammu and Kashmir, the expansion of villages covered under piped water supply over the past three decades reflects both steady infrastructural progress and persistent challenges that continue to shape everyday life.
Long-term data on villages covered under piped or potable water supply from 1990 to 2023 reveal a clear upward trend, but also expose periods of stagnation, disruption, and unequal outcomes that explain why water scarcity remains a lived reality for many households despite impressive numerical gains.
In the early 1990s, Jammu and Kashmir had just over six thousand villages covered under piped water supply schemes. Between 1990 and the late 1990s, coverage increased gradually from around 6,016 villages to roughly 6,460 villages. Progress during this phase was modest and uneven, constrained by difficult terrain, scattered settlements, limited fiscal space, and weak technical capacity in rural areas. Many schemes relied on gravity-fed systems and single water sources, leaving them vulnerable to seasonal variation and infrastructure breakdowns. Coverage, in practice, often meant limited hours of supply or dependence on shared standposts rather than reliable household access.
The early 2000s witnessed a prolonged phase of stagnation. From 2000 to 2006, the number of villages covered hovered close to 6,500, with a noticeable dip around 2005. This period exposed systemic weaknesses in the sector. Ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance budgets, unreliable electricity for pumping stations, and heavy dependence on fragile springs and streams left many villages officially recorded as covered but practically underserved. Institutional fragmentation between departments responsible for water supply, power, and rural development further weakened service delivery. The emphasis during this phase remained on physical coverage rather than system sustainability or service quality.
A visible shift begins after 2007, when coverage starts rising more decisively. The number of villages with piped water supply increases from about 6,697 in 2007–08 to over 8,000 by 2010–11. Momentum strengthens further after 2011, crossing 10,000 villages by 2012–13 and exceeding 11,000 by 2013–14. This phase reflects renewed policy attention to rural infrastructure, higher budgetary allocations, and improved implementation capacity. Drinking water supply began to receive greater prominence within broader development planning, although village-level coverage still remained the dominant metric.
The most rapid expansion occurs after the mid-2010s. Villages covered rise sharply to nearly 13,000 by 2016–17 and cross 14,000 by 2018–19. This acceleration coincides with a strategic shift in national policy towards piped water supply and household-level access, most notably under the Jal Jeevan Mission, launched in 2019 under the Har Ghar Jal initiative. The emphasis moved from simply declaring villages covered to providing functional household tap connections. In Jammu and Kashmir, this resulted in a rapid scaling up of infrastructure, with new pipelines, pumping stations, and treatment facilities across districts.
The data, however, also show a sharp disruption around 2019–20 and 2020–21, when the number of villages recorded as covered drops abruptly to about 11,462. This decline coincides with a combination of factors, including administrative restructuring following the reorganisation of the state, changes in reporting frameworks, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns disrupted construction activity, delayed project completion, and constrained institutional capacity across departments responsible for water supply. Supply chains were interrupted, and field-level monitoring weakened, leading to delays in commissioning and certification of schemes.
A strong recovery follows after 2021–22, with coverage rebounding to over 14,500 villages and reaching approximately 16,264 villages by 2022–23, remaining stable in 2023–24. This surge reflects intensified implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission works, accelerated fund utilisation, and renewed administrative focus on drinking water security across Jammu and Kashmir. On paper, the region now appears close to universal coverage.
Yet, despite this numerical expansion, the region continues to witness frequent protests in villages over drinking water shortages. This paradox is striking in a region endowed with abundant natural water resources, including snow-fed rivers, glaciers, springs, and perennial streams. In many areas, households still depend on water tankers, private sources, or long-distance collection, especially during lean seasons. This exposes a critical gap between infrastructure creation and service delivery. “Functional” tap connections often do not translate into regular, predictable supply.
The challenge today lies less in the physical availability of water and more in governance, management, and system resilience. Leakages, ageing pipelines, single-source schemes, inadequate storage capacity, and frequent power disruptions routinely interrupt supply. Operation and maintenance remain underfunded, while local institutions often lack the technical capacity to manage increasingly complex systems. Climate change has further compounded these challenges by reducing spring discharge, altering snowfall patterns, and increasing variability in water flows. At the same time, rising population, urban expansion, and changing consumption patterns have placed additional pressure on existing infrastructure.
Going forward, policy must move decisively from coverage-driven targets to service-oriented outcomes. Jammu and Kashmir requires a drinking water strategy that prioritises source sustainability, diversification of supply, regular water quality monitoring, and climate resilience. Strengthening operation and maintenance budgets, creating dedicated technical cadres at the district level, integrating power and water planning, and institutionalising community participation in water management are essential. Without addressing these governance and capacity gaps, expanding infrastructure will remain a statistical achievement rather than a dependable improvement in everyday life across the Union Territory.
(The author is a Research Scholar at the Department of Economics, University of Kashir. Ideas are personal.)
