GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI
DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3458
ANSWERED ON-10/08/2023
CONTAMINATION OF DRINKING WATER
3458. SHRI JUAL ORAM:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the contamination of drinking water is increasing in various parts of the country;

(b) if so, whether the Government proposes to use latest technologies for purification of drinking water in many parts of the country; and

(c) if so, the details thereof along with the achievements made by the Government in this field till date?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) to (c) “Water” being a State subject, planning, approval and implementation of drinking water supply schemes, lies with State/UT Governments. Water Supply/ Water & Sanitation/ Public Health Engineering Departments and/or parastatal organization of respective State Government/ UT Administration, are responsible for making provision of water supply and ensuring quality of water supplied in their respective State/UT.

Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal, since August, 2019, in partnership with States, to make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to every rural household. Under JJM, while allocating the funds to States/ UTs, 10% weightage is given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants. Fund released to States/ UTs under JJM can also be utilized for taking up schemes in quality-affected habitations including Arsenic andFluoride-affected, on priority.

Under JJM, States/ UTs have been advised to plan and implement piped water supply schemes ased on alternative safe water sources for the villages with water quality issues. Since, planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply scheme based on a safe water source may take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) especially in Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8–10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meettheir drinking and cooking requirements.

2

As reported by States/UTs, the number of drinking water quality-affected habitations, has reduced

over the years. Since launch of JJM, out of 57,539 quality-affected habitations as reported on 1^st August, 2019, safe drinking water has been made available in 40,314 habitations, including all the 14,020 Arsenic and 7,996 Fluoride affected habitations. As is evident from these statistics, there is a significant decrease in water quality affected habitations in the country for drinking water supply.

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, as per existing guidelines, Bureau of Indian Standards’ IS:10500 standard is to be adopted for ensuring safe drinking water supply. States/UTs have been advised to carry out testing of water quality on a periodic basis, i.e. once in a year for chemical and physical

parameters, and twice in a year for bacteriological parameters and take remedial action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality. As reported by States/UTs, as on date, there are 2,087 drinking water quality testing laboratories at different levels viz. State, District, sub-division and/ or block level in the country. To encourage water quality testing to ensure potable drinking water supply, States/ UTs have opened water quality testing laboratories to general public for testing of their water samples at a nominal rate. States/ UTs have been advised to identify and train 5 persons, preferably women, in every villageto conduct water quality testing using Field Testing Kits (FTKs)/ bacteriological vials at village level and report the same on the WQMIS portal. So far, as reported by States/UTs, more than 22.56 lakh women have been trained for testing water using FTKs.

Since launch of JJM, year-wise, testing of water quality samples in the laboratories has increased from around 40 lakhs samples in 2018-19 to more than 62 lakh samples in 2022-23. Similarly, testing of water quality using FTKs has increased from around 11 lakh samples in 2018-19 to 1.07 crore water samples during 2022-23.

For technological solutions, a Technical Committee under the chairmanship of Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India has been set up to examine and recommend various innovations and water-related new technologies, which can be used in providing potable tap water supply to every home. The States may take up appropriate water treatment system depending upon techno-economic feasibility.