First 'Pey Jal Survekshan' survey has covered 485 cities, says govt

The Union housing and urban affairs ministry on Thursday said the first "Pey Jal Survekshan" survey has covered 485 cities and captured more than 5.21 lakh household responses.

It said 46 cities or municipalities had a 100-per cent pass rate of samples taken from households and water treatment plants.

The results of the survey and awards for the best-performing cities and states would be released on March 5 at a ceremony to be attended by President Droupadi Murmu.

"Direct observation and assessments were carried out in 830 water treatment facilities, 941 water bodies, 1,044 used water treatment facilities and 2,005 parks were visited for assessing availability of rainwater harvesting structures," the ministry said in a statement.

Elaborating on the various categories under the "Pey Jal Survekshan Awards", Secretary in the ministry Manoj Joshi said based on the survey scores for access and coverage, and water quality and sustainability parameters, nine awards will be given to cities and nine to states based on their cities' performance.

"Special awards are being given to cities for good quality water bodies, reuse of treated used water and pioneers in sustainable water use," Joshi said in the statement.