Gujarat will achieve cent per cent Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) within seven months
This reassuring projection has been made by Water and Sanitation Management Authority (WASMO) which aims to achieve tap water connectivity in all the 33 districts of Gujarat through the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Speaking to Vibes of India, Dr Jincy Roy, the Chief Executive Officer of WASMO, Gujarat said, “Our team is rapidly ramping up drinking water supply access in all districts.”
An Indian Administrative Service officer, Jincy said, “By September 2022 all the households will have access to piped drinking water supply in the state”.
The central government initiated Jal Jeevan Mission to assist, empower and facilitate rural communities across the country with drinking water supply in “adequate quantity of prescribed quality” on a regular and long-term basis at affordable charges. The goal of this mission is to provide each person 55 litres of water everyday per day in every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
Netherlands has also been working with the Indian government in rural water and sanitation in the context of the Indo-Dutch Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme. The Dutch assistance to Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) in Gujarat from 1988 to 1998 totalled USD 18.5 million. During this period, the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) had been the counterpart agency for all Dutch projects. Dutch institutional support to WASMO started on September 1, 2002.
WASMO is an autonomous organization, established by the Gujarat government in 2002. It is working towards drinking water security and habitat improvement by empowering communities to manage their local water sources, drinking water supply and environmental sanitation in the state. At the village level, WASMO is steering the technical aspect of JJM implementation.
Dr Jincy said that Pani Samitis (water committees), comprising 10 to12 members were created in Gram Sabha. They are trained in water quality testing, monitoring and surveillance using field test kits. Although they face geographical challenges in tribal areas and hilly terrains, they move ahead with constructive solutions.
The Gujarat Water Supply and Sanitation Board (GWSSB) of the Gujarat government and the Government of Netherlands implemented the Ghogha Regional Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Bhavnagar District.
This collaboration turned out be very productive. It is understood that 85 per cent rural households in Bhavnagar had already got tap water supply when the Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in August 2019.
The Bhavnagar model was replicated to ensure provision of tap water supply in 100 per cent rural households in six districts including Anand,, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Porbandar and Vadodara ― and more than 90% across 17 districts including Ahmedabad, Amreli, Banas Kantha, Bharuch, Dang, Gir Somnath, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kachchh, Kheda, Morbi, Navsari, Patan, Rajkot, Surat and Surender Nagar.
