Agartala, 27th August 2026 : Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Thursday said that nearly 80 per cent of households in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas have been brought under piped drinking water supply, while the government is implementing innovative solutions to overcome water scarcity in the state’s hilly regions.
The Chief Minister made the statement while responding to a concern raised by Tipra Motha Party MLA Ranjit Debbarma during the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Tripura Legislative Assembly.
Debbarma drew the attention of the House to the drinking water crisis in several parts of the ADC area and urged the government to take urgent steps to ensure regular water supply to the affected population.
He also mentioned a road blockade in the Mungiakami hill area, during which Minister Kishor Barman was reportedly stranded, and called for the water-related grievances of local residents to be addressed without delay.
Replying to the MLA, Dr. Saha, who also holds the Drinking Water and Sanitation portfolio, said the government was aware of the difficulties faced by people in certain locations. He pointed out that providing water in hilly areas remains challenging because conventional groundwater sources are not available everywhere and deep tubewells cannot be installed at several locations.
To overcome these challenges, the government is adopting alternative and innovative methods of water harvesting and supply, particularly in remote ADC areas. According to Dr. Saha, water from canals and waterfalls is being utilised wherever feasible to meet the drinking water requirements of people living in the hills.
The Chief Minister also highlighted the progress achieved under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). He said that when the programme was launched in 2019, piped water coverage in rural Tripura stood at only around 3.26 per cent.
The situation has changed considerably, with approximately 6.69 lakh households out of 7.50 lakh families now having piped water connections, taking the state’s coverage to around 86 per cent, he said.
Dr. Saha said the government has set its sights on achieving 100 per cent coverage and is taking a series of measures to connect the remaining households and villages.
He further stressed that the state and Central governments are working together to ensure that drinking water reaches every village and household in Tripura.
In the TTAADC region, the average coverage of households with piped water supply has reached around 80 per cent the Chief Minister informed the Assembly.
