100 per cent piped water coverage by 2024: Jal Shakti Minister

Jal Shakti Minister has claimed that piped water coverage will increase 100 percentage in the next five years. The BJP-led government had merged various ministries dealing with water into one, in order to provide a holistic approach towards water conservation and management.

New Delhi:Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday, said the Central government has decided to increase the coverage of piped water to households from the current 18 per cent to 100 per cent by 2024.

Addressing a press conference here following a meeting with ministers from various states, Shekhawat said that formulation of a plan under 'Nal Se Jal' (water from tap) mission, to provide tap water to 14 crore households, is underway.

However, he insisted that water is a state subject as per the Constitution and sought collective efforts and a public movement to achieve the target.

"It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolution to provide drinking water to all by 2024. The plan is to provide piped water to every household in the country," he said.

"We want to work with states as part of cooperative federalism to deal with the issue of water shortage. We also need a public movement to make this mission successful," he added.

Shekhawat also said the health of water resources in the country had deteriorated and it has become a matter of concern.

"We need a holistic and integrated approach to address the issue. We need to keep it above politics," he said.

Shekhawat said Sikkim had 99 per cent coverage of piped water to households, while some states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand had below five per cent.

Read: No water supply in 849 unauthorised colonies: BJP