Ensure 100 per cent household tap connections in Maharashtra: Deputy CM Eknath Shinde to officials

Deputy CM Eknath Shinde chaired a meeting of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department on Thursday.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed officials to ensure that every village in the state is provided with clean and safe drinking water, along with sustainable sanitation. He stressed the importance of achieving the goal of 100 per cent household tap connections under the ‘Har Ghar Jal' scheme and also urged that efforts be made to secure special funds from the Central Government for the Marathwada Water Grid Project, an ambitious initiative aimed at ending drought in the Marathwada region.

A review meeting of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department was chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai on Thursday.

Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil, Principal Secretary to the Deputy Chief Minister Naveen Sona, Principal Secretary of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department Sanjay Khandare, Member Secretary of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran Abhishek Krishna, Director of Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission Campaign E Ravindran, and Commissioner of Groundwater Survey and Development Agency Vijay Pakhmode were also present at the meeting.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 20,000 households have been provided with direct tap water connections, benefitting approximately 8 million families in the state. The Deputy Chief Minister instructed the officials to take immediate action to provide tap water connections to the remaining households.

The Marathwada Water Grid project is crucial for ending the region's water scarcity, and Deputy Chief Minister Shinde emphasised the need to pursue special funding from the Central Government for this project. During the meeting, he also spoke to Union Minister for Water Resources, CR Patil, via telephone to discuss the Marathwada Water Grid project.

During the meeting, the Deputy CM also reviewed the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission Rural. He directed the Water Supply and Sanitation Department to focus on the construction of public toilets in rural areas, alongside the provision of toilets in households. Shinde reiterated the goal of achieving 100 per cent tap connections under the ‘Har Ghar Jal' initiative within a 100-day campaign, and further directed officials that tap water connections should be provided for drinking water in schools and anganwadis as well.