Lucknow, Apr 9 (PTI) Households in 24,576 villages across Uttar Pradesh have 100 per cent access to clean tap water, an official statement said on Wednesday.

This has brought access to clean drinking water to nearly 4.86 crore villagers through 79,44,896 new connections.

According to the statement, Mirzapur district has emerged as a frontrunner in this initiative, with 1,769 villages now fully covered.

The Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply Department continues to spearhead this effort, working towards ensuring safe drinking water reaches every rural household across the state.

Beyond providing clean water, the Rural Water Supply and Namami Gange Department is also generating employment within these villages.

In each of the 24,576 villages, five women are engaged in facilitating household tap connections (FHTC), while an additional 13 individuals are being trained and employed as plumbers, fitters, and electricians.

This initiative is creating livelihood opportunities for 18 people per village, benefiting thousands across the state.

Mirzapur leads the state with 1769 villages now having 100 per cent household tap water access, followed by Gorakhpur with 1372 villages. Kushinagar has achieved full coverage in 693 villages, while Hardoi and Prayagraj have reached 651 and 639 villages respectively.

Lalitpur boasts 603 fully covered villages, with Ghazipur at 579, Deoria at 574, Shahjahanpur at 567, and Basti rounding out the top ten with 553 villages, read the statement. PTI CDN NB NB