Water Quality Assurance Deficiencies Jeopardise Jal Jeevan Mission Goals In Bhopal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Systematic deficiencies in monitoring, water quality assurance and scheme sustainability have jeopardised the Jal Jeevan Mission's core objective of providing sustainable and potable water to every household, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit report.

The report states that water quality monitoring was severely compromised by inadequate infrastructure.

The Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance (DWQM&S) framework, which provided a comprehensive mechanism for monitoring the quality of drinking water, was not adhered to, the audit report stated.

The report also pointed out that the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation for critical parameters like E. coli and total coliform was lacking in district and sub-divisional laboratories, and only partial testing was carried out. There were shortfalls in testing frequency; "The department could not ensure the beneficiaries of safe water supply," it further stated.

According to the audit report, the Jal Jeevan Mission implementation in Madhya Pradesh is at high risk of both scheme and source failure. The report attributed this to significant sustainability issues detected in both schemes and water sources. It added that beneficiary surveys of 629 households across 32 villages corroborated these findings, highlighting non-functional schemes and reliance on old sources, eroding community ownership and long-term viability.

Dharampura village in Jatara block of Tikamgarh district was covered by a single-village water supply scheme, which was Har Ghar Jal certified but was found non-operational for the last six months during the joint physical inspection, the report observed.

It further stated that there was piling up of garbage and cow dung around the dug well and tube well, which were water sources for the scheme.