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| National Jal Jeevan Mission the team visits Manipur, Photo Credit: Epao.Net |
NEW DELHI (Lampe):- A team of 6 members from the National Jal Jeevan Mission is on a visit to Manipur from 10th to 13th January 2021. The team intends to provide technical assistance thereby supporting the State realize the goal of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ under the flagship program, Jal Jeevan Mission. The team aims to identify the issues and challenges faced by the program implementors in the State as well as document the good practices for upscaling and replication in other parts of the country.
The team will be visiting Kakching, Thoubal, Bishnupur, & Noney districts during the four-day long tour. They will be interacting with the field level officials involved in the implementation of water supply schemes as well as Gram Pradhans and members of Gram Panchayats who are the custodians of the infrastructure thus created under the program. The team will also be holding meetings with the Chairperson of District Water & Sanitation Mission/ Deputy Commissioner to brief them about the progress and seek their intervention for speedy implementation of the program. On the last day of the visit, a de-brief of the session is also planned by the team.
Manipur State has around 4.51 lakh rural households, out of which tap water supply is available to 1.67 lakh (37%) households. The State aims to provide 2 lakh Functional Household Tap Connections in 2020-21. The State has planned for 100% tap water connection coverage by 2021-22 under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship program announced by Prime Minister in August 2019, which aims to provide all rural households with tap water supply inadequate quantity & of prescribed quality by 2024. Union Government is committed to providing all assistance to the State as the provision of potable water is a top priority. Under the program, funds are provided by the Government of India based on the outputs in terms of tap water connections provided and the utilization of available central and matching State share. Centre has allocated Rs 131.80 Crore to Manipur in 2020-21.
There is a need for convergence planning to be done by the State under various programs like MGNREGS, JJM, SBM (G), 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs, CAMPA, Local Area Development Fund, etc. at village level and Village Action Plan (VAP) of every village is to be prepared for 5 years co-terminus with the 15th Finance Commission by dovetailing all such funds for carrying out various activities to ensure drinking water security.
Manipur though falls under high intensity of rainfall area also faces an acute shortage of water particularly during dry/ lean season of February - May every year. Manipur has primarily an agrarian economy, with significant hydroelectric power generation potential. The mismanagement of water has severely depleted the water supply and degraded water quality in Manipur. Scarcity, overexploitation, and pollution are the key areas of concern regarding water management. With proper recharge structures and watershed management, infiltration rate can be increased which will help in better groundwater recharging.
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