The government has said that due to the Jal Jeevan Mission – Har Ghar Jal scheme, the number of habitations in the country affected by the excess arsenic in water has decreased sharply and the government has advised to install community water purification plants in these areas. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that at the start of the Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019 there were 14 thousand 20 habitations across 6 states were reported to be affected by arsenic. As per the reports by states on 25th July this year the number of arsenic affected habitations has reduced to 460 and these are only in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. He further added that provision of safe drinking water has been made in all these habitations also by respective states.