The Mizoram government is making massive efforts to implement the Centre’s ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in more than 700 villages and hamlets within the time frame and the scheme is already implemented in over 70 villages and hamlets, an official said on Thursday.
Of the total targeted 722 villages and hamlets, at least 78 villages have been provided with potable drinking water through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) under the Centre’s scheme, the official said.
JJM was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Independence Day in 2019.
The scheme aims at providing potable drinking water to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections by 2024.
The official said that a meeting of officials of state Public Health Engineering (PHE) department chaired by chief minister Zoramthanga was held on Thursday to review the ongoing implementation of the Centre’s scheme.
Deputy chief minister and PHE minister Tawnluia also attended the meeting, she said.
The meeting observed that Mizoram was one of the best performing states in the country during the fiscal 2019-2020 for which an incentive of Rs 28.18 crores was given by the Centre.
The meeting also observed that the JJM scheme could not be implemented expeditiously this year due to the spread of Covid-19, the official said.
According to officials of PHE department, a total target of 23,525 tap connections was set for Mizoram for the fiscal 2019-2020 and the Centre allocated Rs. 39.86 crore against the total requirement of Rs 88 crore to implement the scheme.
Of the 23,525 target, as many as 15,878 households in rural villages were provided with tap connections between January and March this year, which was more than 60 per cent of the total target, they said.
They also said that the Centre allocated Rs. 79.72 crore for the implementation of JJM to provide potable driving water to 31,963 households during the fiscal 2020-21 in Mizoram.
Functional Household Tap Connections were provided to 2,129 households between April and May this year despite the coronavirus induced lockdown, they said.