Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of rural drinking water supply projects in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts of Uttar Pradesh through video conference on Sunday.

An official statement said these projects will provide household tap water connections in all rural households of 2,995 villages and will benefit about 42 lakh population of these districts. Village Water and Sanitation Committees/ Paani Samiti have been constituted in all these villages, who will shoulder the responsibility of operation and maintenance. The total estimated cost of the projects is ₹5,555.38 crore. The projects are planned to be completed in 24 months.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said that during the last one and half years from the start of Jal Jeevan Mission more than 2 crore 60 lakh families have been provided piped drinking water connection to their homes across the country.

He added that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, easy water access at the comfort of homes helps in the reduction of many diseases like cholera, typhoid, encephalitis caused by dirty water to poor families. Modi also said that despite having a lot of resources, Vindhyachal or Bundelkhand regions have become regions of deficiencies.

He said, “Inspite of having several rivers, these regions were known as the thirstiest and drought-affected regions and forced many people to migrate from here. Now water scarcity and irrigation issues will be resolved by these projects and it signifies rapid development.”

Development projects

Outlining the development works in the region, Modi pointed to the provision of free cooking gas cylinders, electricity supply, solar plant at Mirzapur, completion of irrigation projects and solar projects on uncultivable land to provide steady extra income to the farmers.

Referring to the Swamitva Scheme, Modi said that verified ownership deeds for residential and land properties are being delivered to the owners leading to stability and certainty of titles. This is leading to an assurance against unlawful encroachment of the property of the poor segment of society and improving the possibility of using the property as collateral for credit.

Modi also said that the District Mineral Fund has been established so that there is no dearth of funds for tribal regions. In Uttar Pradesh, ₹800 crore have been collected under the fund and more than 6,000 projects have been sanctioned.

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