Nearly 80 per cent Indian households without piped water connection

One in every five or 21.4 per cent households in India has piped drinking water connections, as the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 76th round. The situation is worse in rural India, where just 11.3 per cent households receive potable water directly at homes. In urban India, 40.9 per cent households have piped water connections. The latest figures highlights the herculean task that lies ahead of the Centre which plans to provide piped water connection to every household by 2024 under the Nal se Jal scheme.

Around 58.3 per cent of households still rely on hand pump, tube well, public tap, piped water from neighbour, protected or unprotected well, and private or public taps. In rural areas, hand pumps, which accounted for 42.9 per cent usage, was the most relied principal source of drinking water. While hand pumps are the primary source of drinking water in rural areas (42.9 per cent), piped water was the primary source in urban India, as per the Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition.

Overall, 48.6 per cent rural households and 28 per cent urban households are without access to an improved source of drinking water throughout the year. Further, 11.3 per cent households do not get sufficient drinking water from their primary sources throughout the year.

The survey, conducted between July and December 2018, looked at the sources that provided drinking water to households for the past one year. It covered 27.1 crore households, with, on an average, had four family members.

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