According to reports, the Narendra Modi government is planning to make piped water availability one of the big focus areas in its second term. To know the actual situation on the ground and the challenges, CNBC-TV18’s Kevin Lee has put together the numbers and data.

The government at the recent Niti Aayog meeting announced ‘Nal Se Jal’ (Water from Tap) scheme or Jal Jeevan Scheme, where it aims to provide water to every household through pipes in five years by 2024. Currently, about 18 percent of India has access to piped water.

Budget

Government has consolidated all schemes under Jal Shakti ministry and there is a chance of budgetary allocation for water infrastructure. In FY19, the budget allocation was $2.5 billion.

Current status on the ground

Around 89 percent of urban households and 53 percent of rural households have piped water connection. However, connections don't mean water is available. This only means that the infrastructure is in place.

Challenges

Only about 15-38 percent of D1 to D7 cluster households have water connections, while 48 percent of rural households still rely on hand pumps for water and just about 50 percent of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar households have piped water connections. Even though 70 percent of Maharashtra households have water connections, the state is still affected by droughts.