<span style="color: #222222;">Jammu and Kasmir Administrative Council has accorded sanction to the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission and road map to achieve 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply by December 2021 across the UT aligning it to the National Mission of Jal Jeevan. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The objective of the mission is to provide Functional Household Tap Connections to every rural household with priority to desert/drought-prone and border areas, schools, Anganwadi and health centres, etc. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />'' Under the mission, sustainability of the water supply system shall be ensured besides empowerment and development of human resources in the sector so as to meet the demands of construction, plumbing, water quality management etc. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">At present, 30.5 per cent of J&K's rural households have piped water connections compared to the national average of 18 per cent. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />'' The Council also accorded sanction to renaming of Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control Department as Jal Shakti Department and setting up of a Mission Directorate of Jal Jeevan Mission, J&K by merging Communication and Capacity Development Unit to look after JJM works and an Executive Committee of JJM for its assistance with creation of necessary staff. There will be an Apex Committee headed by the Chief Secretary and an Executive Committee headed by Administrative Secretary PHE and I&FC. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Similarly, at the District level, there will be District Jal Jeevan Missions. Administrative Council also approved the appointment of Financial Auditors at the provincial level to undertake an audit of the expenditure under JJM. Special cells will be set up by the Revenue and Forest Departments for speedy clearance of land/ forest cases related to Jal Jeevan Mission across J&K</span><br />'' <br />''