Chief Minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday virtually launched the ‘Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai’ mission. It is part of Punjab government’s campaign to accomplish goal of 100% piped potable water supply in all the rural households of the state by March 2022, thus making Punjab the first state in the country to achieve this distinction.
The district-level function in this regard was organised at Bachat Bhawan wherein Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma was the chief guest.
Terming safe drinking water as Punjab government’s top priority, the CM said the incumbent government had spent an average of ₹920 crore annually on water supply and sanitation schemes. A total of ₹1,450 crore had been spent on rural sanitation and rural drinking water supply since March 2017, he said, noting that 99.5% of the rural habitations in Punjab today have access to piped water supply.
Piped potable water is being supplied to 23.71 lakh rural households (67.65 % coverage), 6 lakh of which were added during the Covid pandemic, he said. He further pointed out that Punjab has already been declared Open Defecation Free in both rural and urban areas, with ₹863 crore having been spent on construction of 5.75 lakh individual rural toilets.
