Operation of 8555 schemes by Gram Panchayats under Jal Jeevan Mission

Roadmap created by Public Health Engineering Department to complete drinking water schemes in Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 Deputy Chief Minister Shri Arun Sao reviewed the work of the Public Health Engineering Department Instructions given to officers to complete schemes within the timeframe as per target Accountability will be fixed, action will be taken against negligence and delay Raipur. May 23, 2026. Deputy Chief Minister and Public Health Engineering Minister Shri Arun Sao today reviewed the work of the Public Health Engineering Department. He held a meeting with senior departmental officials and field officers at the secretariat and reviewed the work of the Jal Jeevan Mission, drinking water schemes in Naxal-affected areas, and drinking water arrangements in the state during the summer. Officers from all districts of the state joined the meeting through video conferencing. Secretary of the Public Health Engineering Department and Director of Jal Jeevan Mission Shri Mohammad Kaiser Abdul Haque and Principal Engineer Shri K.K. Markam were also present in the meeting. Deputy Chief Minister Shri Arun Sao discussed the roadmap for the next two years to prioritize the completion of Jal Jeevan Mission works and instructed the officers to complete the remaining works of the mission with seriousness, activeness, and speed. He said that funds for the works by the central and state governments will be released only on the basis of the speed and completion of work at the ground level. The remaining works of the Jal Jeevan Mission have to be done with more focus and detail. He said that currently, drinking water supply is largely dependent on government arrangements. If the water supply system is inadequate or if there is any kind of obstruction, people have to face great trouble. For this, the department needs to work with foresight and anticipation. In the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Sao instructed to periodically inspect the drinking water system of every village and to provide immediate solutions in case of any problem. He asked to get the 'Har Ghar Jal' verified wherever the Jal Jeevan Mission works are completed and to hand over the responsibility of operation and maintenance of the schemes to the Gram Panchayats. He instructed all Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers of the department to discuss with the Collectors and keep a close watch on the progress of each scheme. He asked the Executive Engineers to actively cooperate and ensure the completion of the schemes within the stipulated time. Reviewing the state's drinking water system during the summer, the Deputy Chief Minister instructed to immediately repair faulty handpumps and to restore water supply by increasing the riser pipe in handpumps that have dried up due to the water level going down. He also said to dig new tubewells promptly if needed. Shri Sao instructed to ensure full preparedness to prevent water-borne diseases in view of the upcoming monsoon season. For this, he asked to stop the supply of dirty water, replace pipelines passing through drains, and regularly test the quality of water. Deputy Chief Minister Shri Sao asked the departmental officers to motivate people to conserve rainwater, plant trees, conserve and augment water sources, and practice rainwater harvesting. These are very important for adequate water availability in the future. He also reviewed the status of drinking water supply in the Naxal-affected districts in the meeting. He asked to speed up the work of Jal Jeevan Mission and ensure the availability of clean and safe drinking water even in inaccessible and remote forest areas. Various provisions of Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 were also discussed in the meeting. Additional Mission Director of Jal Jeevan Mission Shri Onkesh Chandravanshi and Superintending Engineer of Public Health Engineering Department Shri S.L. Pandey were also present in the review meeting. Target to complete 13,183 schemes in 2026-27 and 7352 schemes in 2027-28 Public Health Engineering Department officials informed in the meeting that the target has been set to complete 13,183 ongoing schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission in the current financial year 2026-27. Whereas 7352 schemes will be completed in 2027-28. Work on 22 and 48 group water supply schemes will also be completed during this period respectively. They informed that currently 7060 villages are reported as 'Har Ghar Jal', out of which 6018 villages have also been verified. 8555 single village tap water supply schemes have been completed and handed over to Gram Panchayats for operation and maintenance in the state. Officials informed that along with handpumps, drinking water is currently being supplied in the rural areas of the state through 30,624 single-phase power pumps, 15,616 solar-powered pumps, and 9385 tap water supply schemes. To ensure adequate drinking water supply during the summer, 19,807 faulty handpumps have been repaired immediately. For uninterrupted drinking water supply in villages and forest areas, 31,664 meters of riser pipe have been replaced in handpumps, and 20,788 meters of riser pipe have been extended.