UP govt provides 1.21 lakh tap water connections to rural households on PM's birthday

Nearly 1.21 lakh tap water connections were provided to rural households of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday, according to an official.

"Under the 'Har Ghar Jal Scheme', as many as 1,20,821 households in rural areas were provided tap water connections in the state, while about 2.59 lakh tap water connections were delivered across the country, creating a 'record' countrywide for single-day distribution of tap water connections," the government statement read.

Out of the 2.59 lakh tap water connections provided in the country, Uttar Pradesh provided over 1.20 lakh alone out of 2.59 lakh tap water connections provided in the country.

"Andhra Pradesh provided as many as 30,643, Karnataka 25,377, Tamil Nadu 18,671, Maharashtra 17,649, Madhya Pradesh 16,609 connections on September 17. Uttar Pradesh conducted about 40% distribution of the tap connections made across the country," according to the Jal Jeevan Mission data."On the occasion of PM Modi's birthday, the government had set a target of providing tap connections to 51,000 families in UP. Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply Department created a record by providing clean drinking water to two and a half times more families than the target and have dedicated the achievement of giving maximum tap connections in a day to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the statement further read.

The official said that the record of providing door-to-door tap connections was achieved in UP by ensuring distribution in small districts as well.

Among districts, Deoria topped by giving 4,212 connections in a single day, followed by 4038 in Gorakhpur, 3,748 in Lakhimpur Kheri, 3,651 in Mahoba and as many as 3,523 in Mirzapur, as per the official data.