Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh said that Jal Jeevan Mission has completed piped drinking water schemes in 574 villages of the state in 100 days, giving big relief to women, as the campaign to provide tap water to every household is underway in the state on a war-footing.

“Along with providing tap water to every household, work is also being done to provide employment in every village. The department is also working on a plan to empower rural women by increasing their income while working from home,” Singh said while talking to reporters here on Tuesday.

“In 100 days, work on 63 schemes was completed in Bundelkhand. Against the target of drinking water connection in 50,000 houses, household tap connections were provided in more than 66,000 houses. Water supply with tap connections to more than 33,000 houses has also been started under the scheme,” the minister said.

Singh said that a total of 1,236 gram panchayats were going to benefit from 17 projects in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra of Vindhya region, and 2,961 revenue villages would be benefitted. The target has been set to provide more than 6.5 lakh Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in Vindhya region by December 2022 so that more than 40 lakh people could get pure drinking water through a piped drinking water scheme.

“In Varanasi, the restoration work was completed by cleaning and lining the 7.5 km long ‘Shahi Nallah’. The drains falling into the Yamuna at Panki in Kanpur and in Mathura were tapped and the construction of new STPs at Masani, Jaunpur and Baghpat was completed. Also, 34 drains have been tapped in Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Farrukhabad-Fatehgarh and Bareilly,” he said.

The Groundwater department has 50 digital water level recorders established across the state through the National Hydrology Project and gram panchayat-wise water security plans are being formed from the Atal Bhujal Yojana.

The minister said that 46,172 shallow tubewells were constructed under the Mukhyamantri Laghu Sinchai Yojana. A total of 62 projects were completed in different districts to prevent floods in the state. To stop the floods triggered by Ghagra and Sharda rivers in Lakhimpur Kheri, stud construction in Sitapur, and projects of anti-erosion work have been completed expeditiously in Bareilly, Moradabad, Bijnor, Rampur, Shravasti, Ghazipur, he said.

The work of the second phase of Umhat Pump Canal Project in 15 villages of Babina block of Jhansi and in Kanpur Dehat is ready for commissioning. A total of 104 state tubewells of Gorakhpur, Basti, Ayodhya and Devipatan, Jhansi, Kanpur and Banda divisions were modernised. Modernisation of the Amoura Pump Canal and Divisional Workshop of Rae Bareli at Ghazipur is also a 100-day achievement.

Through Har Ghar Nal Yojana, 7,56,522 people will be given employment in rural areas of the state. The villagers are providing employment on contract basis on posts like plumber, fitters, operators, caretakers and security guards.