This marks a substantial leap from August 2019, when only 3.23 crore rural households (just 16.7 per cent) had access to tap water, the minister of state for jal shakti, V Somanna said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The centre has sounded an alarm over the likely impact of El Niño on India's 2026 southwest monsoon, warning that 315 districts across 12 states could face significant rainfall deficits during the crucial kharif cropping season.