The drinking water being supplied to the citizens in Telangana state is found to be 99.9 percent pure as against the national average of 88.7 percent. In a report released by the Central Jal Jeevan Mission on water quality, Telangana state stands top in the country. At the bottom of the list are Gujarat, Rajasthan, and West Bengal.
According to the report submitted in Rajya Sabha, as many as 61,78,426 samples were collected across the country. Tests were held in two categories – bacteriological contamination and chemical contamination. In 11.29 samples, contamination was found while 88.71 percent of samples were found free of contamination. In the entire country, 99.953 percent of tap water in Telangana state was found free of contamination.
Mission Bhagiratha, a flagship project of the Telangana government, is ensuring the supply of safe and protected drinking water through taps to every household. It was launched on August 6, 2016, by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The total budget allocation for the project was Rs. 43.791 crore. As part of the project, 150 water treatment plants are working round the clock in addition to numerous laboratories checking the quality of water. A total of 35,573 overhead service reservoirs, 62 pumping stations, and 27 intake wells were set up.
The efforts of the government resulted in the reduction of fluoride and arsenic content in water as per the reports.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao.