The latest data sourced from the UP Jal Shakti Ministry showed that the state ranks fourth in the country in terms of providing functional household tap connections (FHTC) under the Jal Jeevan Mission - Har Ghar Jal initiative of the Centre.

According to the data, as on February 21, Bihar tops among states having provided 1.59 crore tap water connections, whereas Maharashtra is second with 1.07 crore and Gujarat comes third with 91 lakh connections to rural households.?

The statistics showed that tap water connections have been provided to altogether 81,87,394 rural households in UP to date. More than 8.30 lakh FHTCs have been provided in Bundelkhand region of the state. This includes tap connections to 96,553 families in Mahoba, 1.41 lakh in Lalitpur, 1.56 lakh in Jhansi, 90,829 in Chitrakoot, 1.02 lakh in Hamirpur, 1.13 lakh ?in Jalaun and 1.30 lakh in Banda, according to the data.

In the Vindhya region, functional household tap connections have reached more than 2.32 lakh families in Mirzapur and 1.15 lakh families in Sonbhadra, the data showed.

"More than five crore people in Uttar Pradesh have started getting pure drinking water through household taps, due to the efforts of the state government. UP has also strengthened its position among states by providing tap water connections to over 81 lakh rural families in the state," a Jal Shakti ministry official said.

The official said the Yogi Adityanath-led government has carried out the exercise of providing tap water connections in rural areas at a remarkably fast pace despite the Covid-19 pandemic.