New Delhi: The government has announced that there was no proposal to make access to potable water a fundamental right.
Any such proposal is not under consideration of the government, Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat informed the Lower House of the Parliament. However, Shekhawat said the government has initiated a scheme to provide piped water to every rural household. The government is going to spend substantially on the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Rs 3.5 lakh crore will be spent in the next five years under the newly formed Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide piped water (‘Har Ghar Jal’) to all rural households by 2024.
The Government is also actively considering the Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) programme as one of the interventions for sustainable management of water resources in the country.
Under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for water transfer from water surplus basins to water-deficit basins, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component and 14 under Himalayan Component) for preparation of Feasibility Reports (FRs).
