Srinagar, Oct 21: Despite India’s push to provide tap-water connections to every rural household, women in many villages of Kashmir continue to shoulder the burden of fetching water, highlighting the gap between infrastructure creation and reliable service delivery.

For generations, women and girls in Kashmir’s villages have walked to springs, streams and public water sources to meet their families’ daily needs. The hardship intensifies during winter, when freezing temperatures, snow-covered paths and slippery terrain make water collection particularly difficult. Irregular supplies, damaged pipelines and distant water sources add to their challenges.
The burden extends beyond physical exhaustion. Hours spent collecting water take away time from education, livelihoods, farming, childcare and rest. For women in households without dependable supplies, fetching water remains an unpaid responsibility that compounds their domestic workload.
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched in 2019, aims to provide functional household tap connections to rural homes, ensuring adequate quantities of prescribed-quality drinking water on a regular, long-term basis. However, Kashmir’s difficult terrain and harsh winters make reliable supply, infrastructure maintenance and timely repairs essential to achieving this goal.
A study by the University of Kashmir’s Centre for Women’s Studies and Research has highlighted the gender dimension of the problem. Conducted under the ICSSR-funded project Nari Shakti and Water Governance, the study covered more than 70 villages in Budgam, Pulwama and Kupwara.
The survey of 600 households found that women were responsible for collecting water in 550 households, accounting for 91.7 per cent. Around 83 per cent of surveyed households reportedly faced water shortages, while 95 per cent of the women surveyed reported physical and mental exhaustion associated with water-related work.
The findings underline the distinction between installing a tap and ensuring that water flows consistently. The Centre’s 2024 functionality assessment of the Jal Jeevan Mission, released in January 2026, found that although 98.1 per cent of households in surveyed villages had tap connections, only 86.5 per cent had functional connections. About 80.2 per cent received adequate quantities of water, while 83.6 per cent reported regular supplies.
These figures reinforce the need to measure the mission’s success through functionality, quantity, quality and regularity of supply, rather than connection numbers alone.
Implementation of the scheme in Jammu and Kashmir has also faced scrutiny. A J&K Assembly committee reportedly flagged alleged irregularities, weaknesses in monitoring, concerns over procurement decisions and the limited involvement of local elected institutions, renewing calls for greater transparency and accountability.
For rural women, however, the consequences are immediate and personal. When taps run dry, they must find alternatives, often regardless of the weather or their other responsibilities. Girls in water-stressed households may also be required to help collect water, potentially affecting their education, recreation and well-being.
Women’s participation in village water management is therefore crucial. Their involvement in Village Water and Sanitation Committees, monitoring local schemes and reporting disruptions can help ensure that projects respond to household needs. Community participation must be supported by effective administration and clear responsibility for operation and maintenance.
Reliable winter supplies, timely pipeline repairs, adequate electricity for pumping stations, protection of water sources and accessible grievance-redress mechanisms should be priorities. Authorities must also regularly verify whether household connections are functional and whether families receive water in sufficient quantities.
Ultimately, the success of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Kashmir should be measured not merely by the number of pipes laid but by the time and hardship it removes from women’s lives.
For Kashmir’s rural women, a tap is meaningful only when water flows reliably. Until that becomes a reality, the promise of household tap water will remain incomplete, and women will continue to bear the burden of securing one of life’s most basic necessities.