Chennai: Tamil Nadu has achieved 1.05 crore (83.94 per cent) tap water connections out of the 1.25 crore households in the rural areas in 2024 but 50 per cent rural households in the selected districts were not supplied with sufficient quantity of water. Besides, the majority of the taps were outside the house in contravention to the guidelines of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) launched in 2019 to provide an adequate supply of drinking water to rural areas.

At the start of the mission, only 21.76 lakh households had tap water connections, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for the year 2023-24 released on Tuesday noted. The report noted that no baseline survey was conducted to confirm need assessments for inclusion in the village action plan and the District Water and Sanitation Mission did not conduct the prescribed number of meetings during 2019-24 which impacted the implementation of the scheme.

Test-check of JJM works sanctioned in Ramanathapuram district revealed that in one selected block, out of 12 works taken up in September 2021, eight were cancelled prior to commencement. The remaining four works were halted subsequently due to objections raised by the local community. In another instance, despite requests from the local community not to construct open wells as the groundwater in the designated area was salty and non-potable, three open wells were constructed. These wells ultimately remained unused by the village panchayat.

The in-village components were not taken up in synchronisation with the works executed by TWAD Board resulting in infrastructure created not being used owing to non-completion of source works, non-availability of water sources. There were lapses in tendering procedure for JJM works and issues were noticed in execution of works by TWAD Board such as delays in site identification, non-obtaining of permissions from line departments and delayed

With regard to the supply of the prescribed minimum quantity (55 lpcd) of water under JJM, the CAG noticed that in the test-checked districts, none of the habitations in Nagapattinam district were supplied with 55 lpcd of water. Although Coimbatore district reported 100 per cent achievement, only 8.67 per cent of its habitations were supplied with water in accordance with the prescribed quantity norms.

The report in its recommendations said the government should direct the implementing agencies to take up works only after need assessments and should also ensure that estimates are prepared after taking into account the actual requirements. The Government should ensure effective synchronisation in works executed by the implementing agencies so as to avoid delays in utilisation of assets created in the in-village components.

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