Lack of ‘sustainable water sources’ will thwart Jal Jeevan Mission: panel

The targets of the Jal Shakti Ministry’s flagship ₹8.69 lakh-crore Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to ensure consistent and potable water supply to all rural households, will remain “unrealized” if sustainable sources of water supply are not found, a parliamentary committee has said.

This came after an official from the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, an arm of the Ministry, told the committee that although taps had been installed at many places under the project, there was “…a problem of water availability due to scarcity of resources” and in some places “…water resources were depleted within a year or two”.

This led the committee to observe that “…the target of providing water for the next 25-30 years under the JJM will not be met due to lack of resource sustainability.” Sources include rivers, lakes, ponds or any natural pool.

The committee recommended that the Ministry implement ‘source to tap’ schemes where the entire water supply chain – source, tank, supply – is taken into account. There are 6.83 lakh approved plans under JJM.

The Committee “notes with concern” that there was no information from States as to how many of these plans were ‘sources to be tapped’. “…the panel is of the view that resource sustainability is of paramount importance to maintain a long-term stable supply of safe drinking water, otherwise the assets created under the JJM will come to naught upon depletion of available resources,” it said.

Government nod for extension

The Union Cabinet last week approved the extension of the JJM program to 2028 and allocated additional funds to achieve its target. A press note issued by the Ministry stated that the focus of the program will shift from “…infrastructure creation to service delivery supported by drinking water governance and institutional ecosystem for sustainable rural piped drinking water supply.”

As of January 2026, the programme, which promises a minimum amount of daily drinking water to every rural household in the country, is estimated to have spent ₹ 3.6 lakh crore since 2019, with the Center spending ₹ 2.08 lakh crore.

Originally projected to reach 100% coverage by 2024, the program has remained around 81% since 2025. Hindu As previously reported, covering the remaining 20% ​​requires more money than has been spent so far. The scheme’s outlay has now risen to ₹ 5 lakh crore and the Centre’s share from now until 2028 will be only ₹ 1.5 lakh crore.

The ministry statement said: “For this purpose, a uniform national digital framework called ‘Sujalam Bharat’ will be created and under this framework, each village will be issued a unique Sujal Gaon/Service Area ID that digitally maps the entire drinking water supply system from source to tap.”

From a baseline of 3.23 crore (17%) rural households with existing tap water connections in 2019, more than 12.56 crore additional rural households have been provided tap water connections under JJM so far.