Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada district has achieved 75% of its target under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), a central government initiative aimed at providing safe and adequate piped drinking water to every rural household.
Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Narwade Vinayak Karbhari stated that the district had set a target of providing drinking water connections to 90,388 households under the JJM. So far, 67,406 water supply connections have been provided across nine taluks in the district.
The scheme was rolled out considering a population of 14,47,760 living in 3,34,185 houses in the district. Out of these, 2,43,797 houses already had connections either through respective gram panchayats or by the house owners themselves. Under the JJM, only 22,982 remaining connections need to be provided, the CEO said.
The JJM scheme is being implemented in the district in three batches. Officials revealed that the total estimated cost of implementation is Rs 573.92 crore, covering 700 works. In the first batch, 458 works were taken up, while 134 and 108 works were taken up in the second and third batches, respectively. The district has achieved 93.8% work progress after spending Rs 517.5 crore. Out of 700 works, 657 have been completed.
In addition, seven new multi-village drinking water schemes are being implemented in the district to provide drinking water to villagers in 144 gram panchayats. These schemes are being implemented in Moodubidire, Ulayibettu, Ilanthila, Kutrupady, Alankaru, Alike, and Ullal-Kotekar.
