57% households in Gujarat lack access to drinkable water through taps, reveals govt data

Despite claims of success under the “Nal Se Jal” scheme, a report by the Ministry of  Jal Shakti has revealed serious gaps in access to safe drinking water across Gujarat. According to the report, nearly 57% of households in the state do not have the access to drinkable water connection through taps.

According to the Functionality Assessment of Household Tap Connections (FHTC) report, only 47% of households in Gujarat have a functional tap water supply. The data also shows that several districts continue to remain completely or largely deprived of tap-based drinking water.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has ranked Gujarat 30th among Indian states in the Water Quality Index. The ranking takes into account factors like dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, pH, and coliform bacteria.

Districts such as Banaskantha and Dahod have reported zero percent  tap water coverage, while several others remain significantly below the national average.

​The capital, Gandhinagar, has recently reported cases of typhoid caused by contaminated water. The implementation of Nal Se Jal Yojana aims to provide tap water to every household. However, several other states, such as West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, are showing better performance in the Water Quality Index than Gujarat, as per the data.

Looking at the water quality index of the entire country, Gujarat's index has been 63%. 31.9% of households in the capital Gandhinagar and 49.1% of households in the  Ahmedabad receive drinkable water through taps.

From this, it can be estimated that people in most areas of Gujarat are drinking contaminated water, due to which water-borne diseases like typhoid are taking hold. In 19 out of 33 districts, less than 50% of households get drinkable water through taps.