Punjab Govt to ensure 100 per cent piped potable water for all rural households by March 2022

Ludhiana: Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday virtually launched the ‘Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai’ mission as part of Punjab government’s campaign to accomplish the goal of 100% potable piped water supply in all the rural households of the state by March next year, thus making Punjab the first state in the country to achieve this distinction.
The district-level function in this regard was organised at Bachat Bhawan, here today, in which Deputy Commissioner Mr Varinder Kumar Sharma was the Chief Guest. Punjab Youth Development Board Chairman Mr Sukhwinder Singh Bindra, PMIDB Chairman Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka, PLIDB Senior Vice Chairman Mr Ramesh Joshi, Backfinco Vice Chairman Mohd Gulab, ADC (Development) Mr Sandeep Kumar, besides several others also attended this event that was broadcast live through video conferencing.

Deputy Commissioner Mr Varinder Kumar Sharma informed that they have set a target of providing piped drinking water to every household of district Ludhiana by March 31, 2022. He informed that till date, 69% households (2,14,526) of district Ludhiana have been provided facility of tap connections.

Terming safe drinking water as Punjab government’s top priority, the Chief Minister, through video conferencing, said the incumbent Congress government had spent an average of Rs 920 crore annually on water supply and sanitation schemes, as against a mere Rs 219 crore expended by the previous SAD-BJP Government just spent  Rs. 219 crore. A total of Rs. 1450 crore had been spent on rural sanitation and rural drinking water supply since taking over in March 2017, he said, noting that 99.5 percent of the rural habitations in Punjab today have access to piped water supply. Potable piped water is being supplied to 23.71 lakh rural households (67.65 % coverage), 6 lakh of which were added during the Covid pandemic, he said. He further pointed out that Punjab has already been declared Open Defecation Free in both rural and urban areas, with Rs. 863 crore having been spent on construction of 5.75 lakh individual rural toilets.