Assam: CUBE Begins Inspection of JJM Schemes in State

Jal Jeevan Mission, Assam has achieved 81% (i.e. 58.45 lakh) Functional Household Tap Connections along with several other social initiatives. It may be mentioned here that Assam has implemented this program at a very unprecedented scale, scope and ambition. The effort has been to cover nearly 75 Lakh Rural Households, across 25000 plus villages across the State, utilizing the implementation via 8000 plus contractors and by spending Rs. 19,550 Crores so far – and all this in less than five years has been nothing short of a herculean task.

Assam is implementing over 27,000 piped water supply schemes (PWSS) across the state, of which around 15,800 have already been completed. Out of which 13,500 Nos of schemes have been handed over to Water User Committees (WUCs), which consist of community members responsible for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the schemes. This handover process ensures the long-term sustainability of the projects. The remaining completed schemes will be handed over after the completion of trial run period.

While it has changed the Rural Drinking Water Landscape within a short time, there have been some challenges in terms of Project delays and suspected Quality issues(if any) given the scale of work being implemented and also varied capacity of contractors in some parts of the State. Therefore, the State Government intends to analyse and address the above issues thereby, ensuring Potable Drinking Water to every Rural Household.

In this connection, a temporary Standstill Period have been initiated to review the Quality and timelines of ongoing projects in view of the reasons mentioned. During this period, it is critical to reassess the projects before they are fully handed over to the community, ensuring all stakeholders benefit from high-quality Infrastructure.

In this context, a team from Centre for Urbanization, Buildings and Environment (CUBE) which is a joint initiative of IIT Madras and Govt. of Tamil Nadu, has arrived in Assam to professionally evaluate the implemented works and submit a report to the Govt. with their observations and suggestive course corrections (if needed). These observations will provide insights and data for better decision-making by the State authorities so as to ensure sustainable and long-term supply of Drinking Water to the Rural population of Assam.

A total of 10 Nos of Inspection Teams from CUBE comprising of 20 Nos of people have started evaluating the set standards of work from 2nd Nov, 2024 across all Districts of the state. The Teams are interacting with various stakeholders as well as beneficiaries of the villages.

It is expected that as many as 200 schemes will be evaluated by the team during this special inspection drive. The Team is expected to submit a detailed report on the condition of the work completed under Jal Jeevan Mission Assam, within 15 days of completion of the field survey. It may also be mentioned here that a similar social survey is also expected to be initiated with a similar competent agency.

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