New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS): Once totally insurgent infested, two villages situated on India-Myanmar border in northeastern state of Manipur have now got regular water supply under Central government's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) project.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh inaugurated two water supply projects for these two villages -- Khangbarol and Khengjoy in Khengjoy sub-division of Chandel district -- under the JJM, Ministry of Jal Shakti said on Sunday.

Khangbarol village in Chandel district, an aspirational district in Manipur is situated 69 km away from district headquarter. The village lies about 30 km from the Indo Myanmar border. There are 82 households in the village. The water supply system has been designed keeping in mind the projected population of about 1,000 till 2041.

With an estimated cost of Rs 60 lakh, this gravity based water supply system ensured tap water connection to all 82 households with a present population of about 450. There is a perennial source of water from "Khangbarollok" located at a distance of six km away from the treatment site.

As the source is located at a higher elevation than the treatment site, a gravity based water supply scheme was taken up.

Khengjoy village is situated at 60 km away from district headquarters. The village is about 20 km from the India-Myanmar border. The newly inaugurated water supply system caters to the water needs of 73 families by providing tap water connection.

Now, the operation and maintenance of the scheme is with the Village Water and Sanitation Committee as envisaged under the JJM to ensure regular and long-term supply of potable water in rural areas.

In spite of Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry said, the officials of Public Health Engineering Department had worked hard to ensure tap water reaches every rural home in these far-flung villages.

A mid-term review of implementation of JJM in Manipur was held recently, wherein Manipur state officials presented the progress to the national JJM team. In order to assess the progress of implementation of the mission in states or UTs, a mid-year review is underway through video conferencing, wherein all states and UTs are presenting the status of tap water connection to rural homes as well as the institutional mechanisms in place for universal coverage.

Manipur has around 4.5 lakh households, but only 30,379 households have tap water connections. During 2020-21, the state aims to provide two lakh Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC).

During the current year, state is planning for 100 per cent coverage of one district and 15 blocks and 1,275 villages. State has planned for 100 per cent provision of household tap connections by 2023 under JJM.

In 2020-21, an amount of Rs 131.80 crore has been allocated to Manipur, out of which Rs 32.95 crore has been released to the state. Since Manipur has been allocated Rs 177 crore under 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs and 50 per cent of it is to be used for water supply and sanitation, the state has to plan for utilizing this fund for rural water supply, grey-water management and most importantly for ensuring long-term operation and maintenance of water supply schemes.