1,516 cities yet to submit water action plan under Atal Mission, says report – The Tribune

Of the 4,883 cities which prepared City Water Balance Plans (CWPB) under AMRUT 2.0 (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation-2.0), only 3,367 went on to submit City Water Action Plans (CWAP), leaving a gap of 1,516 cities.

The figures are part of the ‘Eleventh Report of the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs (2025-26)’ on the action taken by the government on the committee’s earlier recommendations on AMRUT, with special emphasis on urban drinking water.

The report examines the replies given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to the committee’s recommendations in its Seventh Report, presented in Parliament in December 2025. MoHUA’s action-taken replies were received by the committee on April 20, 2026.

The issue examined by the committee concerns two linked planning exercises at the city level under AMRUT 2.0. The City Water Balance Plan (CWBP) is intended to establish a picture of a city’s water situation, including its demand, supply, losses and potential for reuse. The City Water Action Plan (CWAP) is intended to take that assessment further by identifying interventions and projects needed to improve water security and sustainability.

The committee was informed that the preparation of both plans had been made mandatory for towns and cities. Yet the numbers showed a clear difference between the two stages. While 4,883 cities had filled their CWBPs, only 3,367 had submitted CWAPs. The committee described the gap as a concern for the implementation of AMRUT 2.0.

The difference was not uniform across the country. The report says Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland and West Bengal showed near-full compliance, while Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand lagged significantly.

For the committee, the concern went beyond the number of plans submitted. It said the shortfall could indicate delays, limited technical support or capacity gaps. It also raised a separate concern about the quality of the plans, pointing to variation in their scientific rigour and the reliability of the data being used.

That matters because these plans are supposed to provide the basis for deciding what a city needs to do about its water supply. The committee said weaknesses in the planning process could affect the effectiveness of AMRUT 2.0’s efforts towards water security and sustainability.

As per the report, MoHUA, in its reply, said AMRUT 2.0 provides for the preparation of CWBPs and CWAPs for all towns and cities. The ministry said the plans had brought greater structure and consistency to city-level water planning and had helped improve the baseline understanding of urban water flows.

Under the system described by the ministry, states and Union Territories have the power to select, appraise, prioritise and implement projects. A state-level technical committee (SLTC), headed by the secretary of the state urban development and housing department, provides technical support to the state high-powered steering committee (SHPSC).

For a programme built around city-level assessment of water demand, supply, losses and reuse, the gap between 4,883 water-balance plans and 3,367 action plans leaves one part of the planning chain incomplete. Parliament has now asked the ministry to close that gap, set a timeline for doing so and strengthen the checks on the quality of the information on which future urban water projects would be based.