Drinking water from taps in Aadne Village of Vasai....

Drinking water from taps in Aadne Village of Vasai....

It was a busy monday morning devoid of  morning blues. I was on my way to Palghar to attend a review meeting held by the Hon'ble Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation,  Shri. Gulabraoji Patil.
The soft brilliance of the morning sunlight,  the cars speeding on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway and the trees on the roadside made me smile. I love going on field visits because one learns so much by seeing the actual implementation of projects in the districts and interacting with beneficiaries. 
The detailed review by the Hon'ble Minister  ended in the realisation of the fact that there was much to do. Maharashtra is one among the many states affected by seasonal drought and water scarcity. Palghar being a tribal district with undulated lands, difficult  topography, isolated and distant habitats has it's own local issues. So ensuring hundred percent success in providing drinking water to all households has to be planned meticulously. Overall too,  for the state as a whole, a lot of policy planning and strategy would be required for the implementation. Ultimately it is the people and the local communities who actually need to be involved in bringing about effective sustainable change in creating,  managing and maintaining drinking water. 
While a lot of thought has been given to create sources for irrigation and augment it, the Jal Jeevan Mission envisages provision of potable, piped drinking water to every rural home by 2024 with the lofty ideal of relieving rural women and girls  from the drudgery of fetching water for the family from long distances.
With the central and state governments contributing equally the ambitious project includes ten percent contribution by the village. 
Despite the challenges of Covid 19, Maharashtra has crossed the fifty percent mark in terms of achievement. This is mainly due to the projects which have been completed under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and the Chief Minister's Drinking Water Programme. Functional Household Tap Connections ( FHTC ) are now being given through retrofitting in these water supply schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission. 

My visit to a piped water supply ( PWS)  scheme in Aadne village of the Vasai block after the meeting was a great learning. To most of us Vasai is an urban extension of Mumbai however it also has many tribal villages.
The Panchayat Samiti Sabhapati had travelled all the way to be with me. She along with the Gram Sewak, Sarpanch and the villagers took me to the well which was the source of  the PWS. Solar energy is the best mode for power in remote areas and it was a pleasure to see that the pumping of the PWS was done through solar energy. I was introduced to Mr.Santosh Dudaaji Patil whose father had donated land for the well and pumphouse.  His eyes shone with pride as he shared that it was his father,  Shri.Dudaaji Patil who donated land for the well and the pumphouse. I was wonderstruck to hear that another villager, Mr.Baban Mithu Jadhav had donated land for the Elevated Surface Reservoir. On speaking to him I found out that he had worked for 27 years in Mumbai at Nilons and had also been the Sarpanch of the village. I was amazed by modesty and humility of both these persons who had shown such magnanimity by donating a portion of their land for the welfare of their village.
The scheme had provided water to 175 homes and the remaining would be provided soon. The Aadne Water Supply Scheme was to ultimately benefit 1825 homes. The ladies and the families of the homes we visited were happy that water was reaching their homes. They were all willing to contribute for the operation and maintenance.
Jal Jeevan Mission essentially aims at ensuring ten percent contribution from the community to ensure ownership of the scheme. Involvement of local village community or gram panchayats and user groups in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems in villages would ensure long-term sustainability to achieve drinking water security.
The Jal Jeevan Mission is a jan andolan, a people's movement reaching out to every rural household and ensuring that they get a  functional household tap connection providing 55 litres per capita per day. Seeing water flowing freely from the taps was very satisfying. As I sipped water from tap and left from the village the twilight had filled the sky with colours as joyful as those in my heart.