The problem of sanitation services and lack of potable water for rural people in Maharashtra is going to be solved soon as the World Bank has signed a $165 million credit to the state.
The WB credit will be utilized by the Maharashtra Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme. Currently, only about 50% of the rural households in Maharashtra have access to tap water and about 37% have domestic toilets.
Christened as Jalswarajya-II, the programme will be implemented between 2014 and 2020 and is directly aligned with the Central Government’s Clean India Campaign and the National Rural Drinking Water Program. The Jalswarajya-I had helped 6.7 million people to get healthy potable waters and 61% of the gram panchayats to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) areas in 2003-09.
Jalswarajya-II will help improve the quality of water and sanitation services in about 40 peri-urban villages and increase access to safe drinking water in about 580 water-stressed and water quality-affected villages, covering about one million people in 12 selected districts.