Access to Potable Water in India

Portable water that is drinking water has always had restricted access for developing countries and is looked upon as a sign of development. In cities, it may not be such a great issue and is taken for granted but for many villages, portable water access is still a far away dream. (Know about water scarcity and India)

As per census-2011, Report, 30.80% of the Rural Households in India have access to tap water and 70.60% of the Urban Households of the country are covered with tap water supply.

National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) provides technical and financial assistance to the States to provide safe and adequate drinking water to the rural population.

The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has also prepared a Strategic Plan for coverage of rural households with Piped Water. Under the Plan the following timelines have been laid out:

By 2017,

To ensure that at least 50% of rural households are provided with water pipeline connections;  at least 35% of rural households have piped water supply with a household connection; less than 20% use public taps and less than 45% use hand pumps or other safe and adequate private water sources.  All services meet set standards in terms of quality and number of hours of supply every day.

By 2022,

Ensure that at least 90% of rural households are provided with piped water supply; at least 80% of rural households have piped water supply with a household connection; less than 10% use public taps and less than 10% use hand pumps or other safe and adequate private water sources.

The data of various states with regard to access of households with Water pipeline connection in rural and urban areas, as per the Census 2011 is;

Census -2011  Rural  & Urban Households with access to Piped Water Supply
SL	State	Rural Households	Coverage with Tap Water	Urban Households	Coverage with Tap Water
1	Jammu & Kashmir	14,97,920	55.70	51,71,68	87.90
2	Himachal Pradesh	13,10,538	88.70	1,66,043	95.50
3	Punjab	33,15,632	34.90	20,94,067	76.40
4	Chandigarh	6,785	95.20	2,28,276	96.80
5	Uttarakhand	14,04,845	63.90	5,92,223	78.40
6	Haryana	29,66,053	63.60	17,51,901	77.50
7	Delhi	79,115	59.40	32,61,423	81.90
8	Rajasthan	94,90,363	26.90	30,90,940	82.60
9	Uttar Pradesh	2,54,75,071	20.20	74,49,195	51.50
10	Bihar	1,69,26,958	2.60	20,13,671	20.00
11	Sikkim	93,270	82.60	35,761	92.10
12	Arunachal Pradesh	1,95,723	59.30	65,891	84.20
13	Nagaland	2,84,911	51.80	1,15,054	35.70
14	Manipur	335752	29.50	1,71,400	56.30
15	Mizoram	1,04,874	41.40	1,16,203	74.40
16	Tripura	6,07,779	25.20	2,35,002	54.00
17	Meghalaya	4,22,197	28.70	1,16,102	77.60
18	Assam	53,74,553	6.80	9,92,742	30.20
19	West Bengal	1,37,17,186	11.40	63,50,113	55.60
20	Jharkhand	46,85,965	3.70	14,95,642	41.60
21	Odisha	81,44,012	7.50	15,17,073	48.00
22	Chhattisgarh	43,84,112	8.80	12,38,738	62.50
23	Madhya Pradesh	1,11,22,365	9.90	38,45,232	62.20
24	Gujarat	67,65,403	55.80	54,16,315	85.60
25	Daman & Diu	12,750	84.80	47,631	72.60
26	D & N Haveli	35,408	42.50	37,655	50.30
27	Maharashtra	1,30,16,652	50.20	1,08,13,928	89.10
28	Andhra Pradesh	1,42,46,309	63.40	67,78,225	83.50
29	Karnataka	78,64,196	56.40	53,15,715	80.40
30	Goa	1,24,674	77.80	1,98,139	90.20
31	Lakshadweep	2,523	31.00	8,180	16.90
32	Kerala	40,95,674	24.50	36,20,696	34.90
33	Tamil Nadu	95,63,899	79.30	89,29,104	80.30
34	Pudducherry	95,133	95.00	2,06,143	95.40
35	A & N Islands	59,030	77.50	34,346	97.90
	India	16,78,26,730	30.80	7,88,65,937	70.60

Table source- Census 2011

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