The State government has accorded sanction for undertaking projects worth ₹2,313.11 crore in the second phase of the centrally assisted Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) rural water supply initiative.
In this phase, the government expects to provide 5.16 lakh functional household tap connections (FHTC) across the State. The government has also cleared a ₹61-lakh proposal for providing water supply to 611 Anganwadis and ₹2.85 crore for providing relief to regions that face quality problems in water supply.
With the announcement of the second phase, the State government has provided administration sanction for providing 21.65 lakh connections during 2020-21. In the first phase announced in August this year, the government had accorded sanction for providing 16.48 lakh connections in rural Kerala at an estimated cost of ₹4,343.89 crore.
KWA and panchayats
In Kerala, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is playing a lead role — with the participation of the panchayats — in implementing the centrally assisted JJM that envisages water connections to all rural households in the country by 2024.
The Kerala government has set a target of 49.65 lakh FHTCs by 2024. So far during 2020-21, 1.30 lakh connections have been issued in the State, according to the KWA. During 2021-22, the target is 12 lakh connections and in 2022-23, 6.69 lakh connections. The target for 2023-24 has been set at 9.54 lakh connections. JJM guidelines require local bodies to bear 15% and beneficiaries 10% of the infrastructure cost.
