Puri, a city in Odisha, became the first city in India to accomplish tap water connectivity for 24 hours, including 100% household connections.
Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister, inaugurated the Sujal-Drink from Tap Mission to supply quality drinking water, which would be suitable for consumption from the tap. It would serve more than 2.5 lakh people of the town. The initiative was launched under the Jalsathi programme in collaboration with women self-help groups (SHGs) of Mission Shakti. The Sujal Mission has been proposed to ensure the quality tapped drinking water is being provided for over 1.5 million people in more than 15 urban areas.
The Odisha government is also working on providing safe drinking tap water to 16 more towns, including Rourkela, Cuttack, and Berhampur. The plan is to benefit nearly 4 million urban population.
Since the marquee, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), was launched in 2019 by the Central government, the state government's scheme comes in the backdrop of 41.14% of rural houses equipped with tap water supply.
Patnaik said that Puri has now entered the elite group of global cities such as London, Singapore, and New York in providing quality potable water from municipal taps during the day. By March 2022, the state government has planned to cover each urban area of Odisha, making it the first state in India to do so, providing quality drinking tap water to each home, similar to the developed countries like England, USA, Japan, etc.
