Jal Jeevan Mission to create smart eco-system to measure, monitor water supply in rural areas

In a bid to harness initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India and Make in India, the Jal Jeevan Mission has decided to create a smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement on Sunday.

In a bid to harness initiatives like Atmrbhar Bharat, Digital India and Make in India, the Jal Jeevan Mission has decided to create a smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the Ministry, the Union government's flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission being implemented in partnership with states aims at providing functional household tap connection to every rural household of the country by the year 2024.

"The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, the supply of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of water of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis. The mission focuses on 'service delivery', rather only on infrastructure creation," the statement said.

It said that India is one of the most vibrant IoT eco-systems in the world, with various supporting enablers making it conducive for compes looking to serve global demand beyond national boundaries.

The Central government has introduced different policies and initiatives to leverage the benefits of these disruptive IoT technologies in multiple sectors, it added.

"In accordance with the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, Gram Panchayats at the village level is to manage drinking water supply. Thus, Gram Panchayat or its sub-committee, Village Water and Station Committee/ Pa Samiti are required to function as a 'local public utility' for drinking water management, water service delivery, greywater treatment, and reuse, and take care of operation and maintenance of in-village water supply infrastructure for assured drinking water supply on regular basis, collect user charges for delivery of water supply services," the statement said.

"To facilitate states and Gram Panchayats or its sub-committee, PaSamiti, an automated system for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery is necessary. This necessitates the use of modern technology for measurement and monitoring of the water service delivery and to capture and transmit service delivery data automatically for ensuring the quality of service," it added.

The Ministry said that Prime Minister had announced that in the next 1,000 days, all villages will be connected by fibre optic network. It said that telecom connectivity has reached almost the entire country.

"IoT strategies are increasingly used to monitor water quantity and quality. Recent technological advancements and declining costs of mobile data, hardware, and software provide an opportunity to digitise water supply infrastructure in rural India," the statement said.

It said that digitally-enabled water supply infrastructure will help in near real-time monitoring and evidence-based policymaking and added that digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to help the Gram Panchayats as 'local public utility'.

"National Jal Jeevan Mission has constituted a Technical Expert Committee to prepare a road map for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery system in rural areas. The committee has eminent members from academia, administration, technology, and specialists from the water supply sector," the statement said.

The Ministry further said that the National Jal Jeevan Mission and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology planning to conduct an ICT Grand Challenge. It said that the purpose of the ICT grand challenge is to bring an innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a 'Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System' to be deployed at the village level.

"The mission, in partnership with State Governments and sector partners, has started facilitating a sensor-based water supply system on a pilot basis in various villages. Gujarat has begun navigating the sensor-based rural water supply systems in 1,000 villages spread across five districts. The other States have also started pilot projects," the statement added.

( With inputs from ANI )