Piped water has been provided to to seven crore rural families in just three years

Ten crore rural households nationwide now have access to piped clean water, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday.

Seven crore of these connections were given in just three years, he said in a video message to the "Har Ghar Jal Utsav" organised in Panaji, Goa, as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The event, which was attended by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, also marked Goa being certified as the first state with every household connected to piped water.

The Prime Minister began by expressing his delight at three significant milestones that the country had achieved.

First, 10 crore rural households nationwide now have access to piped clean water; second, Goa became the first state to receive the Har Ghar Jal certification and also acknowledged that Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu became the first Union territories to accomplish the accomplishment; and third, 1 lakh villages all around the country gained ODF plus status.

In order to highlight the global water security challenge, he stated that water shortage might pose a significant barrier to the realisation of developed India's Viksit Bharat resolution. He also emphasised the necessity to prioritise a long-term strategy above a short-term, self-serving one.

The Prime Minister mentioned programmes like "Catch the Rain," "Atal Bhujal Scheme," the formation of 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district, river-linking, and "Jal Jeevan Mission" when discussing the government's multifaceted strategy to secure water security. According to him, there are now 75 Ramsar wetland sites in India, of which 50 have been added in the last eight years.

While praising the achievement of providing piped water to seven crore rural families in only three years as opposed to just three crore in the seven decades since Independence, the Prime Minister stated that "there cannot be a better beginning of Amrit Kaal."

He said that this was a manifestation of the same human-centered growth that he had previously discussed on the occasion of Independence Day. Furthermore, he said that "Jal Jeevan Abhiyan" is a programme administered "by the community, for the community," rather than merely being a government initiative.

He further stated that the "Jal Jeevan Mission" is powered by the "people's power, women's power, and the power of technology."