‘Orange Brigade’ to Address Plumbing Issues in UP and Ensure Supply as Part of Jal Jeevan Mission

In order to assure trouble-free water delivery under the ambitious “Har Ghar Jal” program of the Center, the UP government has established a “Orange Brigade” to address plumbing difficulties in the state’s rural areas.

According to officials, in order to guarantee the effective execution of the plan before to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the state government has assigned two plumbers to each gram panchayat.

Plumbing-related problems will be handled at the doorsteps of the villages under the new plan. Two young people with plumbing training have been presented with orange-colored uniforms in each Gram Panchayat, and they will be on hand to help with any plumbing concerns in the villages that have been granted tap connections for clean drinking water supply, according to a government spokeswoman. The organizations working with Jal Jivan Mission have trained over 1.16 lakh youth who have been posted in their own village to ensure a regular supply of clean water to every household and to address plumbing issues, following the instructions of Anurag Srivastava, principal secretary Namami Gange, and the rural water supply department.

According to the UP government’s statistics, thus far 3,379 plumbers have been assigned to Azamgarh; 3,199 have been assigned to Sitapur; and 2,892 have been assigned to Gorakhpur. Hardoi (2,646), Gazipur (2,451), Gonda (2,415), Basti (2,370), Bareilly (2,386), Barabanki (2,299), Bahraich (2,069), Bijnor (2,246), Badaun (2,076), Deoria (2,370), Pratapgarh (2,444), Shahjahanpur (2,149), Siddharthnagar (2,272), Unnao (2,080) and Lakhimpur Kheri (2,325) are also covered by the brigade.

Maharashtra now trails UP with 1,11,22,327 functional household tap water connections (FHTCs), whereas UP has provided 1,12,97,534. According to Jal Shakti department officials, Uttar Pradesh has surpassed Maharashtra to become the second state to provide the second-highest number of water connections to rural regions. Bihar is now first on the list.

UP has made sure that lakhs of rural homes get over 40,000 water connections each day. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister, personally oversaw the scheme’s execution, they claimed.

UP’s Jal Shakti minister, Swatantra Dev Singh, stated: “Plumbers assigned at the village level would be guardians of Jal Jivan Mission. This method was created to make sure that people never have trouble accessing clean drinking water and that any problems are fixed right away. The plumbers will be able to find work as a result. We are also considering providing plumbers with a minimum guaranteed pay.