Launching the Atal Bhujal Yojana in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Mod said, Atal Jal Yojana or the guidelines related to the Jal Jeevan Mission are big steps to deliver water to every household in the country by 2024.

He said, the water crisis not only affects citizens and families but also the nation and its development.

The Prime Minister said, only three crore out of 18 crore rural households today have clean piped water and the Government has aimed to provide the remaining 15 crore rural households with piped water in the next five years.

Mr Modi urged farmers to switch over to crops that use less water and exhorted people not to waste the precious natural resource in daily household needs. He called upon people to make a water action plan in every village and create a water fund.

Mr Modi said, there is a provision in the Atal Jal Yojana to provide more funds to those Gram Panchayats which will do the best work for water.

On the occasion, Mr Modi also named Rohtang passageway in Himachal Pradesh as Atal Tunnel to mark the 95th birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.