Davangere tops state in providing 24X7 drinking water to villages

Davangere district has emerged on top in supplying round-the-clock drinking water to rural areas under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the entire state.

Of the 92 villages where 24x7 water supply system has been implemented in the state, 51 villages, including human habitats such as tanda and camps, are in Davangere district alone. The villages are getting potable water 24 hours a day.

Districts like Shivamogga - 12 villages, Hassan - 8 and Mandya- 6 are in the remaining top slots.

Karnataka Sustainable Rural Drinking Water Supply Programme funded by World Bank, and active participation of the officials and involvement of community have helped Davangere to outscore the other districts.

From August 6 to August 13, 51 villages in six taluks of the district have declared that they receive 24X7 water facility. Zilla panchayat has set a target of bringing 100 villages under this facility by year-end.

A team of World Bank representatives had visited the villages in the district thrice, inspected them and expressed appreciation. This model is being implemented in Assam. Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Gitte Madhav Vittalrao has been invited to Assam to share this success.

The Central government announced the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in 2019 to systematically supply drinking water to rural areas. Under the scheme, every rural household should be given 55 liters of water daily. 

Speaking to DH, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Gitte Madhav Vittalrao said that this had reduced wastage of water by 25%. Earlier, when water was supplied for a few hours of the day, people used to pay attention to storing it. They used to store water in buckets, plastic drums and containers. When water was supplied again the next day, they used to spill the stored water. Due to this, drinking water was going down the drain. People have given up the habit of storing it since there is continuous water supply.

He also made it clear that all the 51 villages have been given water quality test kit and the staff must test water before supplying it to people. If the situation demands, they can send the water samples to the laboratory on the premises of zilla panchayat office in Davangere. The test result will be sent in an hour, he explained. The focus is more on sustainability of this in the declared 51 villages.