Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Hardip Singh Mundian has demanded immediate release of pending funds to the tune of Rs. 111.13 Crore for Punjab under Jal Jeevan Mission so that the prestigious projects started to provide canal water to villages affected by water quality can be completed on time. Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil gave assurance of early release.
Mr. Mundian was addressing a two-day conference on ‘India 2047: A Water Secure Nation’ being held in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He said that the Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led State Government is making continuous efforts to provide clean drinking water to the people of the state and has achieved major goals in this direction.
Mr. Mundian, while mentioning the challenges faced by the state before Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil during the conference, said that for the last few years, uranium, arsenic, selenium have been found in the groundwater of the state beyond the required limits. Due to this, work is underway on 15 surface water projects at a cost of Rs. 2200 Crore to provide canal water to the affected villages, which will provide clean and safe water to 25 lakh rural residents.
These projects are currently being completed in phases. The Government of India should immediately release the necessary funds for their timely completion. The Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Minister said that the Punjab Government had achieved the target of providing 100 percent drinking water to the rural population of the state through taps under the 'Har Ghar Jal' mission in April 2023 itself.
Punjab is the fifth state in the country to achieve this target, while the entire country achieved this target in March 2024. Now the Punjab Government's target is to provide 24-hour drinking water to the rural population. Divulging details of the unprecedented work being done by Punjab, Mr. Mundian said that Punjab had set up a grievance redressal center in 2009, in which 1,38,331 complaints were received till January 31, 2025 and out of them 99.70 percent complaints were successfully resolved.
He further said that the state has implemented IOT for high-level monitoring of water supply schemes through a technological system and SCADA projects have been adopted to monitor water supply schemes. Stating that the participation of the society, especially women, is important for maintaining the water supply infrastructure well, the Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Minister said that efforts are being made in this direction in the state, such as the government has made it mandatory to have at least 50 percent representation of women in the (GRWSC) Gram Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committees.
The Minister said that the participation of all citizens is required to fulfil the goal of making India a 'water secure nation' so that clean and potable water is available for future generations. The Punjab Government is continuously working to fulfill this mission. Apart from Union Ministers, officials and Water Supply and Sanitation Ministers of various states, Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation Neelkanth S. Avhad was also present in the conference along with the Punjab Cabinet Minister.