India, Feb. 12 -- The Government of India has issued a release:

Ground water quality testing and analysis is conducted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments on a regular basis through their established laboratories for various quality parameters/contaminants like Electrical Conductivity (EC), Fluoride, Nitrate, heavy metals etc.

Further, under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) being implemented by the M/o Jal Shakti in partnership with States with an aim to provide safe drinking water to every rural household of the country, Bureau of Indian Standards' BIS:10500 standards have been adopted as benchmark for quality of water being supplied. Moreover, under JJM, as reported by States/UTs, as of February 2026, there are 2,870 Water Quality Testing Laboratories (which covers ground water sources as well) functioning across the country.

Also, an online JJM - Water Quality Management Information System (JJM-WQMIS) portal has been developed for efficient monitoring and reporting of sample collection, testing and surveillance of drinking water.

Additionally, in order to empower the communities to monitor the water quality, State/ UTs have also been advised to identify and impart training to 5 persons, preferably women, in every village to conduct water quality testing using Field Testing Kits (FTKs) at village level. Thus far, around 24.80 lakh women have been trained across the country, out of which around 8 lakh women are actively updating their reports on the WQMIS portal.

'Water' is a State subject and the responsibility of taking initiatives to mitigate ground water contamination and to provide safe drinking water to citizens lies primarily with the state governments. However, to complement the efforts of the state governments, several steps have been taken by the Central Government to address these issues. Some of the important ones for are mentioned below:

The information was provided by THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI SHRI C R PATIL in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.