Uttar Pradesh has become the first State to introduce a ‘warranty’ for the rural drinking water schemes with a mandatory 10-year Operations and Maintenance commitment under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Under the ‘Jal Arpan’ initiative, ownership and management of drinking water schemes have been formally transferred to Gram Panchayats across the country’s most populous State.
Subsequently, water quality monitoring has been expanded with 75 district level laboratories, one state level laboratory and five mobile NABL accredited labs, along with 72 in house labs at water treatment plants. A Citizen Charter under the Public Service Guarantee Act is being introduced to secure consumer rights related to water quantity, quality and service delivery.
As part of this, the construction agencies would work in coordination with the Gram Panchayats over for the next 10 years for sustainability of Har Ghar Jal or water-for-all scheme, senior government officials said.
The approach to involve the locals to take ownership of the initiative as major and as vital as the Jal Jeevan Mission project, he added.
sustainability approach
“Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath we worked out a long-term sustainability approach to deal with all operations and maintenance issues after the project rollout,” said Anurag Srivastava, additional chief secretary Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply department.
Under the O&M framework, executing construction firms will be solely responsible for operating and maintaining water supply systems for a decade, ensuring uninterrupted and reliable drinking water to villages.
“The firms are contractually bound to manage infrastructure upkeep, performance and repairs throughout the period,” Srivastava said.
“Previously several rural water schemes collapsed due to weak maintenance arrangements, huge and unpaid electricity bills and limited community participation. As a result, assets deteriorated quickly, leaving many villages without consistent water supply,” he said.
To check escalating power bills and rising operational expenses, the state has constructed 33,157 water schemes on solar power, cutting O&M costs by 52 per cent while improving system resilience and strengthening environmental sustainability, an official explained.
Published on April 24, 2026