Multidisciplinary team visits Ladakh to speed up implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission

New Delhi: A multidisciplinary team from the National Jal Jeevan Mission comprising officials of the ministry and experts visited Ladakh to help in the implementation of the mission, the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Wednesday.Both the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh plan to provide tap water connections to every rural household by 2022. The JJM aims to provide tap connections to rural households by 2024.To help the UT administration, a multidisciplinary team from National Jal Jeevan Mission comprising officials of the ministry and experts visited Ladakh to help in implementation of Jal Jeevan mission and speed up the same, the ministry said in a statement.The team visited Stok village situated at an altitude of 3,500 metres and interacted with the locals including sarpanch, members of Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) along with officials of Public Health Engineering Department.The team assessed the potential of using the existing hand pumps to provide household tap connections with the local community to own, manage, operate and maintain to ensure regular and long-term water supply in their homes.Making provision for household tap water connections in the difficult terrain of Ladakh becomes more challenging owing to its sub-zero atmospheric condition as well as only 5-6 months working season, the statement added.It’s the endeavour of the mission to make use of advanced technology so that water supply in households during sub-zero temperature can be ensured, it added.Emphasis is given to build low-cost gravity-based water supply systems with low operation and maintenance cost. The distribution pipelines need to be laid underground to avoid freezing due to very low temperature and subsequent bursting,” it said.The UT is encouraged for conjunctive use of water by relying on both streams as well as ground water sources to make sure there is no shortage of water even during snowfall, it added.