Mission Bhagiratha: Telangana's Drinking Water Revolution

With an aim to provide piped water supply to 91 lakh households in rural &urban areas across the state, the Telangana government launched the flagship project Mission Bhagiratha on a war footing. As part of the project, safe, treated and abundant tap water for every household is provided duly treating the surface water drawn from the rivers  Krishna, Godavari and major reservoirs. The project also caters to the needs of the State. 

The project is made possible by setting up a grand network of pipelines in various sizes, spanning over 1.50 lakh kilometres, a staggering length that can encircle the globe approximately four times.  The existing drinking water infrastructure is integrated with this project.

At an estimated cost of over Rs 43400 crore, Mission Bhagiratha supplies safe drinking water every day to the entire state. This makes Telangana the only state in the nation to provide adequate safe drinking water to every household free of cost. 

The project also allocates up to 10 per cent of water for industrial use which in turn will create employment and catalyse economic growth.

Moreover, Mission Bhagiratha also made history by achieving Fluoride free safe drinking water in Telangana, which was once infamous for having a large number of fluorosis affected people due to consumption of fluoride contaminated groundwater.

According to information shared in Lok Sabha, the number of fluoride affected habitations in the State has dropped from 967 in 2015 to zero at present. 

The project is further expected to help restore the groundwater level to its original state by shifting the usage of water for drinking from groundwater to surface water.

On the other hand, the project has helped create new employment opportunities and caters to the need for local jobs in the field of construction and other sectors.

With this mission, Telangana has become a role model for Union Government's Jal Jeevan Mission. Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, hailed the project and the Telangana government in the Lok Sabha saying that the initiative has ensured that there's not even a single household in the state where women and girls are forced to walk for kilometres to collect drinking water. The sufferings of women for decades ended with Mission Bhagiratha. The time consumed in fetching water is drastically reduced, thereby enabling women to do other productive and economic activities. Further , the project has brought down the disease burden and improved health standards.