Subscribe
As of July 31, 2024, states and Union territories reported that around 118 million additional rural households have received tap water connections, V Somanna, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti (water resources), said in the Rajya Sabha August 5, 2024. When the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced on August 15, 2019, 32.3 million (17 per cent) rural households had tap water connections, he noted.
As a result, out of 193.2 million rural households in 583,000 villages across the country, over 150.3 million (77.8 per cent) households in about 580,000 villages have tap water supply in their homes. Additionally, as of July 31, 2024, around 231,000 villages have been declared as Har Ghar Jal, Somanna stated.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) from 2017 to 2019, all willing un-electrified households in rural areas and all willing poor households in urban areas across the country were provided with electricity, said Shripad Naik, the Union Minister of State for power, to the Rajya Sabha.
States also issued certificates confirming 100 per cent household electrification, he added. Subsequently, some states reported households that were left out and un-electrified. As a result, 23,29,074 households were electrified.
The SAUBHAGYA scheme and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana were concluded in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
To address the projected electricity demand by 2031-32, the Central Electricity Authority has conducted generation planning studies, according to Naik.
The study results showed that by 2032, the country will need a coal and lignite-based installed capacity of 283 GW to meet the base load requirement, compared to the current installed capacity of 217.5 GW. In light of this, the Government of India plans to establish an additional minimum of 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-32.
The Government of India has allocated a total of Rs 10,560.84 crore to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) over the last five years (FY 2019-2020 to FY 2023-24). This amount has been distributed by NMCG to various agencies for the execution of projects aimed at rejuvenating Ganga and its tributaries under the Namami Gange programme, as stated by Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, in the Rajya Sabha.
As per Annual Report submitted by 36 states / UTs for the year 2021–22, under Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, to Central Pollution Control Board, the total municipal solid waste generated in the country was 170,339 tonnes per day, of which 1,56,449 TPD was collected, 91,511 TPD was processed / treated and 41,455 TPD was landfilled, Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for environment, forest and climate change, told the Lok Sabha.
To combat air pollution in the country, the government initiated the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019. Drawing from international experiences and national research, the NCAP aims for a 20-30 per cent reduction in particulate matter levels by 2024. The target has been updated to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in PM10 levels or meet the national ambient air quality standards (60 µg / m3) by 2025-26, according to Singh.
The CPCB has identified 131 cities, including those exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards for five consecutive years. Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been developed and are being implemented in these 131 non-attainment / million-plus cities, including nine cities in Punjab (Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Khanna, Gobindgarh, Dera Bassi, Pathankot / Dera Baba and Naya-Nangal), to enhance air quality, Singh mentioned.