70 pc urban households have access to safe drinking water, 42 pc have sewerage facilities: Govt informs Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India], December 18 (ANI): Around 70 per cent of urban households have access to piped water supply and around 42 per cent have access to sewerage facilities as of today, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed Parliament on Monday.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore mentioned that 1.87 crore new serviced tap connections for water supply are provided through the AMRUT scheme.
He was listing the impact of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
In the sewerage sector, there are 2.94 crore sewerage connections/septage facilities in 500 cities, the reply mentioned.
The minister mentioned that the number of households in statutory towns as per the 2011 census was around 6.70 crore, and around 49 per cent of households were connected with tap connections.
"As on date, as reported by the States under AMRUT, 1.87 crore new/serviced tap connections are provided through AMRUT and in convergence with state schemes. Presently, around 70 per cent of urban households have access to piped water supply," the minister told Rajya Sabha.
In the sewerage sector, in AMRUT cities, states reported 1.47 crore sewerage and septage coverage in 2015, which is around 31 per cent.
"Further, as reported by the states till 2018, 18.84 lakh and till 2023, 1.47 crore of new/serviced sewerage connections/ and septage facilities were added/serviced in these cities. This has resulted in 2.94 crore sewerage connections/ septage facilities in 500 cities. Presently, around 42 per cent of urban households have access to sewerage/ septage facilities," the minister mentioned.
Asserting that AMRUT has impacted the lives of women in many positive ways, the minister stated women can now utilise their time in more productive pursuits and it has led to a decrease in effort for them in fetching water.
The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched on June 25th, 2015, in selected 500 cities (covering around 60 per cent of the urban population) and towns across the country to provide piped water supply and increase sewerage coverage in these cities. Further AMRUT 2.0 was launched in October 2021, focusing on providing functional tap connections in all statutory towns and sewerage and septage coverage in 500 AMRUT cities. (ANI)