Principal Correspondent
Kohima, Mar 22
Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Birender Singh today asserted that one of the most fundamental responsibilities for any government is providing clean and safe drinking water and sanitation to its citizens.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the Week Long National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness Week coinciding with World Water Day as the chief guest at NBCC Convention Hall here this afternoon, Singh said the Central government led by Prime Minster Narendra Modi is committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all Indians, but faced with a growing population of over 1.21 billion people, it is a huge challenge.
“It is estimated that a staggering 60% of the people living in rural areas of the country does not have access to sanitation facilities,” he said adding that lack of sanitation is not only a matter of embarrassment but also a subject of serious concern with far reaching consequences.
“Lack of sanitation directly impacts health indicators leading to malnutrition and various diseases,” he said. The Minister, however, maintained that progress has been made in rural sanitation coverage in the country from as low as one per cent in the beginning of 1980s to remarkable 22% as per the 2001 census. He also expressed that with the launch of Swacch Bharat Mission in October 2014, the sanitation coverage in the country has accelerated and is showing a steady upward trend.
“As per the latest National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report, the rural sanitation coverage in the country stands at 40.6 per cent,” he said.
He said that Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has an enormous task aiming to make the country free of open defecation by 2019.
“For achieving total sanitation coverage, we need to build 11.11 crore individual household toilets and 1,14,315 community sanitary complexes in the next five years.
He also announced that at the central level the subsidy for construction of toilets have been increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 12,000 for each individual household in rural areas, while the subsidy for developing community sanitary complexes is Rs. 2 lakh.
He said the Central Government on its part is doing everything to realize this objective, but “we need the active support of the state governments as sanitation is a state subject”.
Stating that around 85% of the rural population does have access to safe drinking water sources, he said the challenge lies in providing drinking water facilities in quality affected, hilly and desert areas of the country.
He said the Ministry has covered considerable ground with regard to providing drinking water to the people.
Presently, he said that Centre is pursuing that every house hold has access to piped water supply which will ensure better health to the citizens.
The latest NSSO figures of 2012 show that access to improved sources of water by rural households has increased from 84.2% to 88.50%, he said.
Expressing concern that most of the drinking water consumed in the country is sourced from ground water sources, he said with increasing extraction of ground water in many parts of the country, especially due to demands from industry and agriculture, water levels are going down and availability of ground water is depleting in many years.
“The most important task is to make the people aware of the various issues in water and sanitation and bring about a behavior change regarding safe and rational use of water and adoption of safe sanitation practices in their lives,” he said.
“We need to make the people aware that building and using toilets would benefit them in a number of ways and has a direct impact on the well being of their children and family,” he said.
“We can achieve the goal of sanitation and safe drinking water for all only if we create widespread awareness on these issues,” Singh added.
Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ram Kripal Yadav, who also graced the occasion as guest of honour, said that despite the average rainfall of the State being above the National average at 2000mm, the people of the state are facing problem of drinking water.
Assuring that Centre would extend all possible support to conserve and preserve through proper water management system during rainy season, rain water harvest projects and check dams, he asked the state government to work out long term projects which would be funded by the Centre.
He also urged the gathering to play a vital role in achieving the target of Swacch Bharat and Drinking Water. Joint Secretary Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, GoI, Satyabrata Sahu, IAS also exhorted the gathering.
Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang today said that the State Government is contemplating to adopt ‘Water Policy’ to ensure that water is used efficiently and shared equitably.
Making the announcement in his welcome address during closing function of the weeklong National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness Week held at NBCC Convention Hall here this afternoon, Zeliang expressed the hope that the policy will also address issue of sustainability and ensure protection of the ecosystem.
Assuring the Government of India (GoI) that the state will do its best to provide safe and adequate drinking water to its citizens and also do best to achieve the goal of Swacch Bharat by 2019, the CM however said that in order “to achieve this noble goal, we look forward with expectation that the GoI will continue to extend liberal support and assistance to us along with active hand holding”.
Along with the rest of the country, Nagaland has also drawn up action plan for achieving the goals of providing clean and sustainable drinking water and sanitation to every citizen, the Chief Minister during the closing ceremony of Week Long National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week here this afternoon.
He said that so far, 1140 villages out of 1530 villages and habitations in the State have been covered under the unique institution of ‘Communitization’ of rural water supply systems introduced by the State Government since 2002.
He said that in order to ensure the quality of water, the state has also set up water testing laboratories, in all the 11 districts of the State.
Like all other hilly states, he said Nagaland also faces unique problems and challenges in the pursuit to ensure water security for every household in the State. He said that the gradual and continuous depletion of discharge at water sources, frequent damages to the pipelines and other assets due to landslides, road construction works, high cost of schemes due to high transportation costs and laying pipelines along the hilly terrains etc are some of the problems.
He said that for small and remote habitations, the government is looking at other options lie ‘installation of deep tube wells, clubbed with iron removal plants and rain water harvesting structure. He said that recently through the initiative of the GoI, the state has made the Ground Water Prospect Maps available to all important stake holders, who are involved in ground water exploration.
Stating that the status of coverage of individual households with toilets in rural areas in the State stands at 62%, Zeliang said that in line with the Government of India (GoI) ‘Swacch Bharat’ programme, the State has also made significant progress, especially in the Information Education and Communication (IEC) campaign.
He said the key issue involved is changing the attitude and behavior of the people towards hygiene, and to make it a people’s movement. “We are amongst the best performing states in the Total Sanitation Campaign upto 2012-13, where as many as 90 villages have been given the prestigious Nirmal Gram Puraskar award. During 2014-15, we have further recommended 41 villages for the award, which is under process in the Ministry, he added.
Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker Chotisuh Sazo, a horde of parliamentary secretaries, bureaucrats and school children attended the function.
On the Occasion, 11 villages, one each district of the State were awarded for being the cleanest village under Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committee with cash of Rs. 10,000 and citation. The award recipients are: Dimapur – Nihokhu Village, Kiphire – Pungro village, Kohima – Rüsoma village, Longleng – Tamha village, Mokokchung – Longpha Village, Mon – Totokchingkhu Village, Peren – Old Tesen Village, Phek – Losami village, Tuensang – New Pangsha, Wokha – Yikhum village and Zunheboto – Rotovi Old.
Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar chaired the function while Secretary PHED Anenla S. Longchari, IAS tendered the vote of thanks. The occasion was marked by skit on Water and Sanitation by Dreamz Unlimited Dimapur, folk song by Kohima village and puppet show by SRCC New Delhi.
