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1 SYMPOSIUM ON INDIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION 7 1 W W 8 1 Proceedings DELHI SCIENCE FORUM
1
SYMPOSIUM ON INDIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL
DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
7 1
W W 8 1 Proceedings
DELHISCIENCE FORUM
A
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SYMPOSIUM ON INDIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL >DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION DECADE
NEW DELHI, 9 MAY, 1981
1
Delhi Science Forum Water WorldJ-55 Saket B-1, 2 floor, LSCNew Delhi-110017 J Block Saket
New Delhi-110017
DECEMBER, 1981
Published by
WATER WORLD and DELHI SCIENCE FORUMB-l, LSC, 2nd floor, J Block, SaketNew Delhi-110017.
Price Per Copy Rs. 50/-
Printed by Filmahal Enterprise at Sanjay Composers and Printers and Sanjivan Press, New Delhi.
CONTENTS
Pages
Foreward 1
Part I Background to the Symposium 5
Part II Conclusion of the Symposium 11-12
Part III Papers presented at the Symposium
List of Papers 15
Texts of Fapers 21-150
Part IV Presentation of Papers and Discussion 151-153
Part V Coverage in the Media and Reactions 155-155
Annexures
I List of Participants 157-161
II Text of Inaugural Address ' 162-164
• \
FOREWORD
'"THE symposium held on "India and the International Drinking Water Supply and•*• Sanitation Decade", generated considerable enthusiasm and support for the
programme of the Decade from the people from different walks of life. For the firsttime, all the sections involved in the sector, namely technologists, economists, socialworkers, leaders of public opinion, equipment manufacturers, consultants, researchorganisations, universities, State Public Health Engineering Departments, State Waterand Sewerage Boards, CPHEEO and a broad spectrum of non-official organisationshad assembled at a single forum and discussed the issues and problems involved. Thesymposium has proved itself a forerunner of the decadal activities in the country.
The discussions and conclusions of the symposium received wide coverageboth in the national press as well as AIR and TV. They have evoked a positive andwarm response from the Members of Parliament who have been urged to build up thenecessary political will both at the Centre as well as at the State levels for successfulimplementation of the programmes of the Decade. The main objectives of thesymposium that is, to stimulate interest in the activities of the Decade and helpgenerate a general awareness among the people, have thus been achieved at least tosome extent. However, we have still a long way to go and the objectives have to bepursued further with full vigour and concerted efforts.
There has been a persistent demand from all sections of the people for publi-cation of the full proceedings of the symposium together with full texts of the paperspresented at it. It has accordingly been decided to bring out this report on theproceedings of the symposium. In this connection, we are grateful to the Departmentof Science and Technology, Government of India for their financial assistance inbringing out this publication.
The report is broadly divided into five parts. Part I contains the backgroundto the symposium. Part II gives broad conclusions of symposium. The texts of thepapers presented and discussed at the symposium are given in Part III. Part IVconsists of the discussions that had taken place in the three sessions which weredevoted to the magnitude of the problem, resources and public participation andinstitutional arrangements, respectively. Part V gives the coverage in the media andthe reactions.
It is earnestly hoped that this publication will stimulate further thinking onthe issues involved, bring out the much-needed national consensus and commitmentfor the cause and actively involve the general mass of the people at all levels ofimplementation of the programmes of the Decade. We call upon the Central andState Governments in India to give these conclusions their utmost consideration.
Part IBackground to the Symposium
BACKGROUND TO THE SYMPOSIUM
THERE is an increasing realisation now in thedeveloping countries that access of safe water
supply to a large number of people must be pro-vided. The economic benefits from improving thequality and quantity of village water supplies isgenerally accepted. Moreover, it is also appreciatedthat provision of safe water is of prime importanceto public health and in combination with othersanitary measures is an essential prerequisite toeradicate many epidemic diseases.
In India, the awareness of the need to ensureadequate safe water supply became pronouncedbarely three decades ago. The Bhore Committee(1944) which was the first body to be appointedby the Government of India to review the positionon a national scale drew pointed attention to theimportance of safe drinking water supply. Alongwith other recommendations, they suggested thatthe target should be to provide safe water fordrinking purposes to the entire population within aperiod of 35 years with set priorities. The Govern-ment of India appointed another Committee,namely Environmental Hygiene Committee (1948)which suggested the preparation of a comprehensivePlan to provide water supply and sanitation facilitiesto 90 percent of the population within a period of40 years.
In 1954, the Government of India launched theNational Water Supply and Sanitation Programmeas a part of the First Five Year Plan with a view toprovide assistance to the State Governments and tospeed up the process of providing basic amenitiesto the people. Beginning from 1962, the UnionMinistry of Health undertook an assessment of therural water supply problem to have a right perspec-tive for launching the programme to meet theurgent needs of the scarcity and problem villageson a priority basis.
By 1972, the assessment was completed by theStates which showed that there were 1.53 lakhproblem and scarcity villages in the country whichhad to be provided with water supply on a prioritybasis. It is now estimated that the total numberof problem villages that would have remainedwithout provision of safe drinking water supply ason 31st March, 1980, will be about 2 lakhs.
Judging the water supply and sanitation situationin the world, particularly in the developingcountries, the United Nations Conference onHuman Settlements (HABITAT), held in 1976,recommended that "countries should set targets forcommunity water supply and waste disposal andformulate specific action programmes to attainthem, while evaluating the progress made at regularintervals". The U.N. Conference held at Mar DelPlata, Argentina, in March 1977, called that"action must focus on promoting (a) increasedawareness of the problems, (b) commitment ofnational Governments to provide all people withwater of safe quality and adequate quantity andbasic sanitary facilities by 1990, accordingpriority to the poor and less privileged and towater scarce areas, and (c) larger allocation to thissector from the total resources available for generaleconomic and social development". It was alsorecommended that the Decade should be designatedas 'International Drinking Water Supply andSanitation Decade' (IWSSD). India is a party tothese decisions and the thirtyfirst UN GeneralAssembly formally launched the Decade in Novem-ber, 1980. In India the Decade commenced fromthe current financial year from the 1st April, 1981.
The Symposium
The symposium on 'India and the InternationalDrinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade'was held at the India International Centre Audito-rium, New Delhi, on 9th May, 1981. It was jointlyorganised by the WATER WORLD and DELHISCIENCE FORUM. The aims and objectives ofthe symposium were :
— to help create a general awareness in Indiaon the launching of the Decade by theUnited Nations;
— to support and broaden the base of nationalactivities in India in connection with theDecade;
— to stimulate interest in the activities in Indiain connection with the Decade:
— to provide a platform to facilitate involve-ment of manufacturers of equipment andconsultancy institutions in the country;
— to provide a forum for voluntary agenciesand different workers who arc engaged in theWater Supply Sector for closer involvementin the Decade activities;
— to consider and facilitate public participationin the Decade programme.
More than hundred representatives from all thesections involved in the sector attended the sym-posium, namely technologists, economists, socialworkers, leaders of public opinion, equipmentmanufacturers, consultants, research organisations,Universities, State Public Health EngineeringDepartments, State Water and Sewerage Boards.CPHEEO and a broad spectrum of non-officialorganisations (See Annex I)
The symposium consisted of four sessions whichwere organised as below :
First Session — Inauguration of the sym-posium and considerationof the 'Magnitude of theProblem'
Second Session — Consideration of theresources position'
Third Session — Public participation and in-stitutional arrangements
Fourth Session — Concluding Session
The following were the Chairmen for differentSessions :
Session
First SessionSecond SessionThird SessionFourth Session
Welcome Remarks
Chairman
Shri P.R. Vyas BhimanShri P.S. RajvanshyProf. Ram Lai ParikhShri P.R. Vyas Bhiman
At the outset, Shri K.V. Krishnamurthy, Editor,WATER WORLD, extended a warm welcome tothe participants and briefly explained the signi-ficance of the aims and objectives of the symposium.He stated that there have been several instances ofspecially designated years and Decades organisedby the international comity of nations but they donot, however, arouse the sustained enthusiasm ona scale expected at the time of launching. TheDecade with which this symposium is associated istotally different—because it deals with the provision
of such a basic and essential element for the sheerphysical survival of human existence as water—water which transcends all divisions, political,economic, social, cultural, caste, creed, etc. Itencompasses all sections of the people in allcountries, both developing and developed. Itshould, therefore, be possible to obtain the greatestpossible mobilisation of all sections of the peoplein any country behind such a vital, elementary andessential human demand. Explaining the need forpublic participation, he stated that the planning ofthe water supply facilities is spread over such vastareas that it is impossible to conceive how a prog-ramme like this can be fulfilled without the involve-ment of all the people. If ever there is a need ofpotential for galvanising people's energy andenthusiasm, it is this. The Decade should, there-fore, be conceived in such a manner that it energisesor activates not only institutions in the Governmentbut also at all levels outside the Government. Heexplained that, in fact, this is one of the funda-mental reasons why this symposium was organisedin order to involve sections of people not so fardrawn into the activities of the Decade.
The Inaugural Address
The inaugural address was by Dr. K.L. Rao,Former Union Minister for Irrigation and Power.In the absence of Dr. Rao, the address was readby Shri V.V. Prasad, a member of the EditorialAdvisory Board of the WATER WORLD.
During the course of his address, Dr. Raoreviewed the progress in the country since indepen-dence in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector.He pointed out certain imbalances between watersupply and sanitation on the one hand and betweenurban and rural sanitation on the other. He calledfor rearrangement of priorities so that by the endof the Decade, specific and tangible results couldbe obtained in urban as well as rural India.
Dr. Rao called for abolition of'centage' chargeslevied by the department on works designed by thedepartment for clients. He emphasised the impor-tance of ensuring participation of the people in theSector not only in one or the other aspects likemaintenance or operations but in all the phasesincluding planning and construction—not only atthe State level or the Federal level but at the grass-root level in each district—nay in every village.He said that it is absolutely essential that the role
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of voluntary agencies in the implementation of theprogramme during the Decade should be streng-thened.
Another aspect that Dr. Rao touched upon wasin relation to the choice of technology. He saidthat we have to spread the services to all the sectionsof our population using low-cost technologies onwhich there is need for conducting research withan open mind and an innovative spirit. Some wayhas to be found in order to provide facilitiesappropriate to our economic, political and socialconditions, and it is here that he called upon theengineers and all other technologists working inthe field to evolve suitable and appropriate low-cost
technologies both in water supply treatment as wellas sanitation sectors so that our people can beginto enjoy the minimum human facilities required tolead a tolerably decent life.
Dr. Rao referred to the international climatewhich has never been more favourable than nowfor obtaining international financial assistance forthe sector from the developed countries. We must,therefore, not only prepare specific projects forobtaining financial assistance but we must also havea flexibility of approach and an open mind to re-ceive constructive suggestions and criticisms fromthe community of the developed countries. (Forfull text of the address (See Annex II).
Part IIConclusions of the Symposium
ConclusionsAs a result of the deliberations and discussions
on the papers presented, the following conclusionswere reached :
A) Magnitude of the Problem
(i) It was noted that the following targets wereadopted in India for achievement by 1991.
(a) Urban Water Supply 100%
(b) Rural Water Supply 100%
(c) Urban Sewerage/Sanitation—all class I cities with sewerage
and sewage treatment 100%
—all class II and other cities withsewerage and other methods 50%Overall urban sanitation 80%
(d) Rural sanitationsanitary toiltets 25%
These targets indicate a higher priority forwater supply vis-a-vis sanitation and, in sanita-tion, a higher priority for urban vis-a-vis ruralsanitation.
The Plan of Action adopted at Mar Del Platarecommended a hundred per cent coverage ofurban and rural population in respect of bothwater supply as well as sanitation, if possible.Hundred per cent coverage in water supply wouldnecessitate corresponding coverage in treatmentand disposal of waste water. As water supplyand sanitation have to develop in a coordinatedmanner, the possibility of hundred per cent cove-rage in sanitation (not necessarily water-bornesewage disposal) in urban and rural areas may begiven due consideration. The priorities may bereviewed and rearranged with a view to restoringa more balanced attention between water supplyand sanitation and between the urban and ruralsectors.
(ii) The targets in the Sixth Plan for watersupply and sanitation and those set for 1991 asobjectives of the Decade are expressed in percen-tage coverage of the population. If the targetsare fixed in physical terms, it appears that theeffort in the field of urban water supply during the
next decade should be about twice the effortduring the last decade and in case of rural watersupply, it should be about four times the perfor-mance in the last decade. Added the problem ofaugmentation, the magnitude will be much more.
(iii) Regarding assessment of coverage, thereis need to make an assessment of the present statusof coverage in order to serve as a bench markagainst which progress during the decade shouldbe evaluated and monitored. Monitoring andreporting systems should be set up at State leveland reporting to the Centre should be ensured ona uniform pattern.
(iv) The targets may be fixed and specific actionprogrammes formulated in such a manner thatprogress could be evaluated at regular intervals.
B) Resources
(i) In regard to the resources position, thesymposium considered the resources in the follow-ing sub-divisions :
(a) Financial;(b) Equipment and material; and(c) Manpower
(ii) The Decade's objectives by 1991 would notbe possible of achievement, unless there are largerfinancial allocations in the Sixth Plan for thissector.
(iii) Water supply and sanitation may be inclu-ded in the core sector like power, so that theseaspects receive priority attention in the matter ofresources and material allocations in the planningprocess.
(iv) Greater emphasis must be placed on thespecific preparation of definite project reports inaccordance with the international standards withdetailed financial and economic analysis to serveas an adequate basis for funding.
(v) Socio-economic studies must be initiated inorder to assess the existing tariff structure andevolve suitable charge policies to be adopted inmaking the water supply and sanitation schemes
11
self-supporting to the maximum extent possibleand to serve as the basis for the formulation of anational policy.
(vi) A thorough-going and in-depth studyshould be made of the equipment and materialresources required for the Decade in collaborationwith Public Sector as well as Private Sector agen-cies so that the manufacture of indigenous equip-ment and the production of key and essentialmaterials is planned in close relation to the pro-grammes and projects for implementation duringthe Decade.
(vii) R & D effort should be intensified parti-cularly in the development of alternative materialsand equipment in order to overcome the cons-traints in the sector caused by scarcity of indige-nous material and equipment.
achievement in practice. The movement for theprovision of drinking water facilities and santitationtouches upon the human requirements of allsections of population and, therefore, an effortshould be made on a truly national basis in orderto develop a broad-based movement to ensure thesuccess of this Decade.
(ii) Water supply sector should be effectivelycoordinated with other related activities likeIrrigation, Command Area Development, Integra-ted Rural Development, Health, Water Pollutioncontrol, etc.
(iii) Women and women's organisations shouldbe involved at all levels of decision making in theplanning, implementation, operation, maintenanceand monitoring of all schemes in the water supplyand sanitation sector.
(viii) In respect of manpower, an assessmentshould be made of manpower requirements atthe various professional and sub-professional levelsand intensive training programmes should beundertaken in order to provide necessary trainedtechnical manpower for implementation and main-tenance of the programmes.
C) Public Participation and InstitutionalArrangements
(i) It is necessary that the Decade should beconceived as a massive national campaign, asvisualised in the Mar del Plata Plan of Action.There cannot be any significant change in thetempo of progress unless the movement is broad-based involving not only technologists but alsothe leaders of public opinion in all walks oflifein the country. Coordinating Committees shouldbe established at various levels in the countrystarting from grass-root levels in the villages,districts, states and finally at the central level.Such committees should include not only represen-tatives of Government departments, both technicalas well as others but should also include represen-tatives of the public institutions, voluntary agenciesand leaders of public opinion in the country sothat the movement for the Decade gains a newdimension and a new import. Unless this is done,there is every likelihood that the Decade's object-tives would remain, though desirable, difficult of
(iv) A look back survey should be initiated,particularly in respect of rural water supplyschemes, in order to evaluate past failures and toincorporate remedial features in the planning offuture schemes. This survey should investigatefailures in respect of (1) sources, (2) pumpingmachinery, (3) power or diesel supply, (4) con-struction, (5) per capita levels of supply. Suchsurvey should be initiated in each State in thecountry.
(v) Manufacture of rigs should be considereda small-scale industry with a view to encouragethe manufacture of cheaper rigs.
(vi) Village and District Water Committeesshould be established in order to enable publicparticipation and to ensure close association ofpeople with the planning and implementation ofWater Supply and Sanitation schemes.
(vii) The Central Public Health and Environ-mental Engineering Organisation should be suitablystrengthened to enable it to cope with the increasedactivities in the Decade.
(viii) A National Water Supply and SanitationCommission should be established consisting ofthe concerned Ministers in all the States and theCentre to plan, implement, coordinate and monitorall the Decade activities at the national level.
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Part IIIPapers Presented at the Symposium
List of Papers
A. Magnitude of the Problem
1. India and International Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade
2. Rural Water Supply : Achievements,
Goals and Constraints
3. Problems of Rural Water Supply in India
4. Norms for Rural Water Supply
5. Quality Water
6. International Water and SanitationDecade—Is it a dream or reality ?
7. Sewage Treatment and Its Essenitals
9. Social and Epidemological Issues in
Rural Water Supply Programme
8. Rural Drinking Water Supply
10. Water Supply in Mewat Region of Haryana
11. Rural Water Supply in India
12. Report from Andhra Pradesh
13. Report from Haryana
14. Report from Jammu & Kashmir
15. Report from Karnataka
16. Report from Punjab
17. The Decade in Tamilnadu
18. Targets and Constraints in West Bengal
19. Report from Andamans
20. The Decade in Meghalaya
P.K. ChatterjeeM.M. Datta
P.K. Chatterjee
V. Venugopalan
Dr. Kanwar Sain
B.B. RauM.M. Datta
K. RudrappaK.L.L. Narasimhan
Gyan Sagar
P.S. RajvanshyS K. Mishra
Prof. D. Banerji
Col. B.L. Varma
Subhan Khan, R.K. Punjia, M.L. Sharma
Bhanu Pratap Singh
U.R.K. Murthi
M.M. Datta
G.M. Kanth
P.R. BellubbiM.V. Ramaswamy
Bhupinder Singh
R. KrishnaswamyS.A. Jagadeesan
S.K. Das Gupta
P. Arunachalam
B. Resources
1. Financing for Rural Water Supplyand Tariff Policy
2. Provision of Basic Services for the Urban
Poor
3. Imporatance of Tubewells in Programmeof the Decade
4. Mini Water Turbines for Water Supply in
Hilly Regions
5. Water Supply and Sanitation Decade-Training and Research needs
K.R. Qureshi
D.N. Basu
C.V. Vaidya
J.D. Maskara
G.L. Malik
D.R. Bhutani
T.N. Visweswara
Prof. KJ . Nath
C. Public Participation and Institutional Arrangements
1. Women and Problems Associated withWater Supply and Sanitation
2. Information Support for the Decade
Ms. O. Jean Chapman
S.G. BhatS.K. Kesarwani
D. Other Documents
1. Community Water Supply and Waste Disposal
2. Community Water Supply—Action Plan
3. Background papers presented on :
i) Magnitude of the problem
ii) Resources
iii) Public participation and institutionalarrangements
(Recommendations of the United NationsWater Conference 1977)
(Resolution—II of the United Nations WaterConference, 1977)
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Texts of Papers
A Magnitude of the Problem
India and International DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation Decade
By
P.K. Chatterjee* & M M. Datta**
TNDIA is the most populous country in the South-x East-Asia region, the second most populous inthe world and ranks as the seventh largest country,covering an area of 3,267,500 sq. km. The landmassof India rises from sea level in the south to theHimalayan heights in the north. The sub-continentlies between 8°.4' and 37".6' north latitude and68°.7' to 97°.25' east longtitude, with the tropic ofcancer dividing the country in two halves. It isapproximately 3,200 kms. from north to south andabout 2,500 kms. from east to west.
During 1975 India's population was about 621million of which 124 million (21.6%) was urban,distributed over 147 towns of over 100,000 popula-tion each, 185 towns between 50,000 to 100,000 and2309 towns with a population of less than 50,000each. The rural population of 480 million lives in575,721 villages, 55% of which has a population ofless than 500 each, and 44% of 500 to 5,000, andthe remaining 1% of the villages have a populationof over 10,000 each. The country is divided into22 States and UnionTerritories and has a densityvarying from 100 to 550 people per sq. km.
The National Water Supply and SanitationProgramme (NWSSP) was included as a part of theNational Five Year Plan of Development in 1954.The outlay and expenditure on Water and Sanita-tion Sector in the First Five Year Plan (1951-56)was only Rs. 49.00 crores (2.45% of total PublicSector Outlay of Rs. 1960.00 crores in the FirstFive Year Plan) and Rs. 11.00 crores respectively.Compared to that, the outlay and expenditure ofthis Sector during the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) was Rs. 970.68 crores (2.47% of total PublicSector Outlay of Rs. 39304.00 crores in the FifthFive Year Plan) and 781.50 crores respectively.
The tentative outlay as envisaged for this Sector inthe Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) will be of theorder of Rs. 3500.00 crores (3.89% of total PublicSector Outlay of Rs. 90,000.00 crores in the SixthFive Year Plan).
In terms of percentage of population, the follow-ing table indicates the coverage in Water Supplyand Sanitation Sectors in India as obtained in 1980.
Urban Water SupplyRural Water SupplyUrban SanitationRural Sanitation
82%30%27%2%
Though on Urban Water Supply front the pro-gress is not very discouraging, in the rural watersupply, out of 1.53 lacs problem villages (as identi-fied during 1972) about 40,000 villages had onlybeen covered by the various State Governments &UTs till the end of March, 1977. Coverage of pro-blem villages (1972 identification) during the lastthree years is as under :—
1977-781978-791979-80
Total
12.92220.92018.53552.377
Thus it is observed that about 92.377 problemvillages have been covered upto March 1980. Manyof the State Governments claimed that the originallist of problem villages did not represent the magni-tude of the problem, partly because of incompletesurvey and partly because of drought conditionssubsequent to 1972. It was decided to obtain infor-mation from all the States and Union Territoriesabout the problem villages as on 31.3.1980 satisfy-ing the criteria as laid down earlier. The details are
•Former Adviser (PHED), Ministry of Works & Housing, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and at present DirectorGeneral, Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority, Calcutta.
••Assistant Adviser, Ministry of Works & Housing, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
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now being received from the State/U.T. Govern-ments. In the absence of full particulars, it is esti-mated that the total number of problem villagesthat would have remained without provision of safedrinking water supply as on 31.3.1980 will be about2 lakhs.
Water supply and sanitation is a state subject.The Central Govt.. has from the beginning impres-sed upon the State Govts, UTs to give priority toprovide safe drinking water to backward areas pre-dominantly inhabited by the Scheduled Castes andTribes. In a recent study carried out by the Pro-gramme Evaluation Organisation of the PlanningCommission, it was revealed that 34% of the locali-ties inhabited exclusively by the poor (poor asdefined in the study "Those who belong to theScheduled Castes and Tribes and the landless agri-cultural labourers") only 16% had drinking waterpoints through pipes, borewells, tubewells anddrilled holes. As against this, 17% of the localitiesinhabited exclusively by the non-poor 19% had thewater points. Similarly the piped water points inthe localities of the poor were only 10% as against17% of the localities of the non-poor. Pipe waterprivate points were 3 times more in the localities ofthe non-poor as compared to the poor. The manyreasons why the poor have not benefited from thedrinking water facilities is that the points were faraway (point at a distance) or there were alternativesources close by. In the field of urban and ruralsanitation, very little has been done in the last 25years in the country. This shows concentratedefforts are urgently needed to improve water supplyand sanitation in the country.
In India, water supply and sanitation are statesubjects and planning and implementation are doneby the State Government. The Union Ministry ofWorks and Housing which exercises control throughthe Central Public Health and Environmental Engi-neering Organisation (CPHEEO) ensures coordi-nation, guidance and monitoring of plan activities.To secure a well integrated development, prioritiesand goal setting are decided between 'the Centreand the States, the Planning Commission operatingas the coordinating agency. In Rural Water Supplysector, State efforts are supplemented by resourcesin the Centrally Sponsored Accelerated RuralWater Supply Progamme since 1977-78.
The Planning Commission coordinates the pro-posals of all the Ministries and approves the poli-cies, programmes and allocation of funds to thedifferent Ministries and State Govts. for their pro-grammes.
The Department of Economic Affairs in theMinistry of Finance is responsible for allocation,distribution and reimbursement of financial assis-tance received from various foreign agencies underwater supply and sanitation programme of thecountry.
The following constraints affect the attainmentof National Water Supply and Sanitation objectives.
i) Lower priority in Development programme
Water Supply and Sanitation is not in the CoreSector. It is a part of the Social Services Sector anddoes not get due priority in the planning process.Due to restricted overall resources of the StateGovernments, if cuts are to be made in the plan out-lays, the Social Services Sector including the watersupply Sector suffers. Right from the inception ofthe First Five-Year Plan to date, the outlays forwater supply and sanitation sector have been verylow in relation to the overall plan outlays.
ii) Insufficiency of internal finance:
As the resources position at the State level isvery difficult, it always happens that the final planoutlay for the water supply and sanitation sectoris much lower than what was drawn up originally,power, irrigation, agriculture, which are in thecore sector get higher outlays.
iii) Inapporpriate financial framework :
Funds from external resources, such as WorldBank, bilateral aids, etc. as well as funds to be gene-rated from L.I.C. are all pooled in the country'splan resources and as such there is no additionalityto the plan, once the plans are finalised. The bene-ficiaries contribution to the water supply sector isalso very meagre, that too restricted in the urbanareas. Local Bodies and Panchayat institutions arefinancially too weak to be in a position to contri-bute for projects in the water supply and sanita-tion sector.
22,
iv) Insufficiency of materials :
More than 50% of the cost of water supply andsanitation projects go towards the cost materials,such as pipes etc. It has been the experience thatshortage of pipes and scaricity of cement for imple.menting the water supply and sanitation projectsin the country are two of the major constraints. Atpresent, even though there is adequate installedcapacities for the manufacture of pipes, most ofthe units manufacturing these items are working farbelow their installed capacity. The reasons are :
—shortage of power—shortage of raw materials—shortage of coal—industrial relations problem—shortage of wagons for the conveyance of raw
materials as well as finished products.
For some of the States which are implementingtime bound schemes, the matter was taken up withthe concerned Ministries for solving some of theproblems faced by the industry. Measures are alsobeing taken up by the Govt. of India and it ishoped that the present shortage of cement might beovercome within a short period.
Inappropriate organisational infra-structure
To meet the increased workload expected dur-ing the Decade as well as to obtain long term cre-dits from lending agencies on easy terms, it willbe necessary to have suitable organisational reformswhich have necessarily to be much different fromthe existing ones. Autonomous organisation withspecial powers to get loans from open marketsboth within and outside the country would beappropriate.
Judging the water supply and Sanitation situa-tion in the World, particulary in the developingcountries, the United Nations Conference on HumanSettlements (HABITAT) held in 1976 recommen-ded that safe water supply and hygienic wastedisposal should receive priority from Governmentsand international agencies. The U.N. Water Con-ference held at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in March,1977, called for the provision of clean water andsanitation for all during the decade 1981-90. It wasalso recommended that the decade should bedesignated as 'INTERNATIONAL DRINKINGWATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION DECADE
(IWSSD)' —India is a party to these decisionsand the 31st UN General Assembly formallylaunched the Decade, in November, 1980. TheInternational Conference on Primary Health Care,held at Alma Ata, USSR, in 1978, also empha-sised the importance of water supply and sanita-tion facilities to the health of people all overthe world. According to the W H O . 80% ofall sickness and disease in the Third World is attri-butable to contaminated water. The conferenceaccorded high pirority to the provision of adequatesupplies of safe water as well as basic sanitation.
India was represented at all these Conferencesand was a signatory to the resolutions.
The present levels of population coverage inthe water supply and sanitation sector in India areindicated below along with the recommendationsfor 1990 made by the Regional Consulation meet-ing held in November, 1979, and by the Conferenceof Chief Engineers held in February, 1980:
a) Urban Water Supply
b) Rural Water Supply
c) Urban Sanitation
d) Rural Sanitation
As obtainedin 1980
82%
30%
27%
25%
Targetset for1990100%
100%
80%
25%
A beginning has already been made in the coun-try by declaring country's intention to accord highpriority to rural drinking water supply in the SixthPlan period (1980-85). The target is to cover all theproblem villages with safe drinking water supply by1985.
The following actions were taken in India dur-ing the preparatory phase of the Decade.
A rapid assessment was undertaken of the statusof drinking water supply and sanitation in Indiajointly by the World Health Organisation and Gov-ernment of India and a clear picture emerged of thedimensions of the problem to be solved in the future.
A sector study was carried out covering thepresent status of water supply and sanitation sector,as well as future requirement of funds, materials
23
and man power for all the States and Union
Territories in India.
The Government of India, in collaboration withWorld Health Organisation, organized a Workshopduring November 1978, at New Delhi wherein mostof Chief Engineers of the States participated. Theworkshop discussed the preparedness of the Statesfor taking up the Accelerated Sector Developmentas well as steps needed to overcome constraints.A rough assessment was made of the projectedrequirement of funds for the Decade of aboutRs. 15,000 crores (based on the State Governmentindications).
In 1979, the Government of India informed tothe UNDP that the Technical Wing of the Ministryof Works & Housing, namely the Central PublicHealth and Environmental Engineering Organiza-tion (CPHEEO) will serve as an over all nationalco-ordinating machinery as well as the country'sfocal point in respect of activities connected withthe International Drinking Water Supply andSanitation Decade.
A Conference was held at Nagpur in 1979 ofState Chief Public Health Engineers to discuss theDecade Programme with special reference tominimum service in the sector, within urban andrural areas.
The Regional Consultation meeting held byWHO at New Delhi from November 26-28, 1979,was attended by Indian team consisting of Adviser(PHEE), Planning Commission, and Joint Secretary(Technical Cooperation), Department of EconomicAffairs, Ministry of Finance, Government ofIndia.
Realising the need to accept lower standards ofservice and keeping in view the decisions taken atthe Nagpur Conference in November, 1979.CPHEEO projected the requirement of funds forthe Decade Programme, to achieve the goals set, ataround.Rs. 10,900 crores, as under :
Rs. in Crores
(a) Urban Water Supply 2,475(b) Urban Sewerage & Sanitation 2,590(c) Rural Water Supply 4,228(d) Rural Sanitation 1,584
Total 10,877Say Rs. 10,900 crores
A conference of Chief Engineers (PH) andSenior Engineers was held at Trivandrum inFebruary 1980, where discussions centered aroundthe preparatory actions for international Decade aswell as requirement of materials and manpower forthe Decade Programme. The Conference resolvedthat the following coverage target for the Decademay be adhered to :
(a) Urban Water Supply 100%(b) Rural Water Supply 100%(c) Urban Sewerage/Sanitation 100%(d) Urban Sewerage/Sanitation 100% of
all class I cities with sewerage andsewage treatment and 50% in respectof class II and other cities with sewe-rage and other methods of sanitary dis-posal of human wastes. (Notes : Over-all coverage would be 80% by meansof sewerage or other simple sanitarymethods of disposal).
(e) Rural Sanitation 25% ormore to be covered with sanitary toi-lets.
A conference of Chief Engineers (PH) was heldin Ootacamund in May 1980 to discuss the plansfor the International Drinking Water Supply andSanitation Decade wherein it was decided thatCPHEEO in cooperation with WHO will prepareand circulate proformae in order to collect dataon uniform basis all over the country with a viewto enable the preparation of the National Docu-ment pertaining to the Decade Programme.
A set of 28 tables (Proformae) was preparedand circulated to all the States for collection andcompilation of data.
Four Indian consulting firms were engaged toassist some of the States and Union Territories inthe collection and compilation of data in the pres-
24
cribed proformae as well as to assist them in collect-ing adequate data for the preparation of the feasi-bility report of selected projects in each State/Union Territories which could be presented for ex-ternal financial assistance.
Four regional meetings were held in 1980 atChandigarh, Calcutta, Bangalore, and Panjim.These meetings were attended by Chief Engineersof the different States/UTs. in the region as wellas Secretaries, in addition to the representativesfrom CPHEEO and WHO. The discussions in thesemeetings centered around collection and compila-tion of data in the prescribed proformae within theprescribed time as well as collection of data forthe preparation of feasibility reports.
Guidelines for the preparation of projects accep-table for World Bank assistance were circulated toall the States/UTs.
A conference of Chief Engineers (PH) was held
at Hyderabad in December, 1980 and the DraftNational Document was discussed. At the conclu-ding session of the conference, a broad decisionon the preparation of the National Documenthas been taken and will be amended accordingly incollaboration with State Governments for presen-tation to the National Development Council.
Govt. of India has set up an Apex Committee(National Action Committee) to give guidance inthe preparation of the National Documents.
The Apex Committee on the InternationalDrinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, hasconstituted three working groups—one for the Re-sources Requirements, second for materials andequipment requirements and third for manpowerrequirements for the Decade Programme. Theseworking groups have to submit reports to theMember-Secretary of the Apex Committee, beforethe end of February, 1981.
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25
Rural Water Supply : Achievements,Goals and Constraints
By
P.K. Chatterjee* and V. Venugopalan**
'T'HE awareness of the need to ensure adequate
and safe water supply became pronounced
barely three decades ago. The Bhore Committee
(1944), which was the first body to be appointed
by the Government of India to review the posi-
tion on a national scale, drew pointed attention
to the importance of the safe drinking water sup-
ply. Along with other recommendations, they sug-
gested that the target should be to provide safe
water for drinking purposes to the entire popula-
tion within a period of 35 years with set priorities.
The Government of India appointed another
Committee, namely Environmental Hygiene Com-
mittee (1948) which suggested the preparation of
a comprehensive plan to provide water supply
and sanitation facilities to 90% of the population
within d period of 40 years.
In 1954, the Government of India launched the
National Water Supply and Sanitation Pro-
gramme as a part of the First Five-Year Plan
with a view to provide assistance to the State
Governments and to speed up the process of
providing basic amenities to the people. Starting
from 1962, the Union Ministry of Health under-
took an assessment of the rural water supply
problem to have a right perspective for launcing
the programme to meet the urgent needs of the
scarcity and problem villages on a priority basis.
A preliminary assessment in 1965 showed that
about one third of the rural population lived
in villages which suffered from water scarcity
and health problems such as cholera, guinea-
worm, etc.
By 1972, the assessment was completed by the
States which showed that there were 1-53 lakh
problem and scarcity villages in the country which
had to be provided with water supply on a prio-
rity basis.
The outlay for rural water supply in the last
27 years (1951-78) has been over Rs. 840 crores.
The Government of India have announced a deci-
sion to achieve the target of providing complete
coverage of all problem villages before the end
of the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1983). With this in
view, the tentative pian outlay for the VI Plan
(1978-83) has been fixed at Rs. 1,387 crores. Out
of this, Rs- 326 crores has been provided under
the Central Sector for the Accelerated Rural
Water Supply Programme to assist the States
• Adviser (CPHEEO), Ministry of Works and Housing, New Delhi.
*• Deputy Adviser (PHE), Ministry of Works and Housings, New Delhi.
26
with cent-per-cent grant far the problem and
scarciiy villages. The State Governments are also
required to take up problem and scarcity villages
even under the State Sector Revised Minimum
Needs Programme.
INDIA is one amongst the developing nations
which have made an impressive beginning to ach-
ieve the goals set up at Mar del Plata as well as
recommendations of the 31st U.N. General As-
sembly. With special emphasis laid by the Gov-
ernment and increased outlay for rural water sup-
ply one should expect to achieve the target of ser-
ving each and every villager with basic minimum
and safe water supply by 1990- Tt is also the
endeavour of the U.N- and International Agencies
such as, UNDP, WHO UNICEF, World Bank;
TLO and ESCAP to assist the member countries
in fulfilling the targets set for 1990.
The planners and decision-makers who are
aiming at fulfilling the targets set for 1990 in the
field of water supply should also have a look at
the major constraints in the implementation of the
programme. The major constraints in the deve-
lopment of the sector can be classified under the
following three major heads :
Ci) Funds and associated items;
(ii) Technical problems;
(iii) Organisation, planning and management.
(i) Funds and associated items :
A lot of problems are envisaged especially for
locally generated funds. The beneficiaries' contri-
bution in rural areas has been discouraging. As
the majority of the people are below the poverty
line in rural areas, contribution towards not only
capital cost but also towards annual recurring
expenditure becomes difficult. It also becomes
difficult to make rural water supply self-support-
ing as the tariff structure cannot be drastically
increased due to the people's inability to pay-
Raising loans from banks for the sector becomes
difficult as the rate of interest charges is very
high and the repayment period is short. The assis-
tance from international agencies suah as the
World Bank is limited though they are offered at
cheaper rates of interest with longer term of re-
payment. However, conditions imposed, such as
making water supply and sanitation sector to be
run on commercial lines and to make them self-
supporting, are difficult to be fulfilled in case
of rural schemes.
(ii) Technical problems
The following are a few items which act asconstraints:
(1) Lack of proper organisation to carry out
investigation; and prepare projects which
can be posed to lending agencies;
(2) Lack of adequate projects to utilize bilate-
ral assistance which is made available now
and then;
(3) Lack of development of appropriate tech-
nology in the sector as well as low cost
solutions !in the field;
(4) Lack of knowledge of software, such ascommunity participation.
(ii?) Organisation, Planning and Management
There is urgent need for:
(a) Setting up of Autonomous Water Supply
and Sewerage Boards in all the States
clothed with powers to raise finances
from the open markets;
(b) To overcome the deficiency in the sub-
professional and artisan level;
(See page 30)
27
Problems of Rural Water Supply in India
By
Dr. Kan war Sain*
T ACK of clean water supply lies at the root of amajority of illnesses in the third world coun-
tries. Shortage of clean water for washing givesconsiderable scope to skin and eye infections.Diarrhoea in combination with malnutrition isthe biggest killer of the third world.
Studies have shown that better' water andsanitation could cut most of the ailments byanything from 50 to 100 per cent. The WHODirector-General, Halfdan Mehler comments :"The ratio of hospital beds to population is farless important than the water taps to populationratio in achieving community health. Investmentin water is not just, humanitarian measure; itbrings immediate bankable savings" It has beenestimated that for just $ 3 per head, every man,woman and child in the developing world willbe able to get safe drinking water: the worldroughly spends" $ 100 per head on armamentsevery year. • • • • • • . '
. In India, paucity of funds and other compet-ing claims on available resources were responsi-ble for the slow growth of rural water facilitiesduring the last five Plans. Even after an expendi-ture of Rs. 622 crores, only 64,000 villages, cover-ing 10 per cent of the rural population, had safedrinking water supply facilities at the commence-ment of the Five-Year Plan 1978-83, and about alakh ..of problem, villages had not even the ele-mentary water supply facilities.. .The real begin-ning in tackling the problem of rural watersupply was made only from the Fourth Planonwards. In the Fifth Plan this was broughtunder 'Minimum Needs Programme' and outlays
were specially ear-marked for water supply inproblem and difficult villages. An assessmentsurvey undertaken in 197.1-72, at the instance ofthe Central Government, identified 152 lakh vil-lages as falling under the category of problemand difficult villages. The State Governments,however; felt that this earlier survey was incomp-lete and due to continuous drought in some areas,the water table had dropped down or the sourcesof water had dried up, thereby increasing thenumber of difficult villages. Accoiiding to thefigures- now made available by the State Gov-ernments, the number of these villages is about1.54 lakhs at the end of 1977-78 notwithstandingthe water supply made available to many such vil-lages after 1971-72. It is thus necessary that thesituation is correctly asses red so that a realisticplan could be' drawn up.
Low-Cost Solutions
Providing adequate water supply to the problemand difficult villages requires large investments. Assuch low cost solutions, are. essential to spread theinvestment to as many villages as possible- Theapproach, to start with, should be one well for thevillage so that the villages are assured of a defi-nite sources of safe water supply. Piped sup-plies are highly coatly and may be adopted onlywhere the less costly measures, such as tubewellsand sanitary dug wells, are impracticable onaccount of the geographic, and terrain conditions.The Plan provides Rs. 765 crores as outlay for theperiod 1978-83. With this outlay it may be pos-sible to cover most of the problem and difficultvillages and to augment water supply in such vil-
* Former Chairman, Central Water and Power Commission, Govt. of India,
28
lages where the supply is utterly inadequate orunprotected.
It will be realised that huge investments neces-sitate public participation on a large scale. Chea-per technologies would be necessary and newdrilling and pumping techniques will have to bediscovered. Also the programmes in this fieldshould involve, increasingly, the community itselfboth in the decision process and implementa-tion. Throughout Latin America, democraticwater committees choose sites; provide free labourand collect contributions for the important taskof maintenance.
In Bangladesh 50,000 (ubeweJls in a year arebeing installed with UNICEF help. Local indus-tries have grown up to make the pumps, and acomprehensive repair and maintenance networkwith village caretakers has been set up. Threequarters of the rural households are now within200 metres of a tubewell. Still problems remain.While everyone uses tubewell water for drink-ing, they still get water for washing from pollutedrivers and ponds-
Specific Action Programmes
With the Water Decade international andnational preparations are gathering pace. Far toomany countries, however, have yet to draw upspecific action programmes. Seven of the leadingUnited Nations Agencies have recently joined ina cooperative acton group to coordinate inter-national effort. Responsible representatives of theU.N. development programmes will help coordi-nate assistance for individual countries. Specialeffcris, however, will be needed to improve orga-nisation and training on national and local levelsby linking water supply with primary health-careand rural development-
Technologies and expertise exist to make the1990 target possible. It is, however, necessary thatlocal participation is ensured to mobilise andchannelize funds in the right direction. The thirdworld countries will have to divert more resourcesto rural areas which contain about two-thirds ofthe population but got only 17 per cent of theinvestment in water and sanitation in early seven-ties.
If one waits for the availability of vast amountsof international aid, the programmes will haveto wait for a very long time. Local and nationalresources supplemented by bilateral internationalfunds can provide the basis for rapid extensionof water supply to the people on a large scale.
In the developed countries like North Americaand Western Europe, the community has learntthe value of safe water supply. Although in thebeginning, the Federal and State Governments hadto subsidise the capital cost on providing suchservices, local communities are now willing tofinance such services through bonds as well aspay sufficient service charge for keeping the ser-vices going.
AS FREE AS AIR ?
In the developing countries incomes from mostwater-supply systems, at present, hardly pay forthe interest cr ammortization of capital invest-ment. IP. fact, it is rare that such incomes supporteven the operation and maintenance costs. Thecommodity such as water which does not haveadequate selling value is unlikely to be an attrac-tive investment. On the other hand, no govern-ment, howsoever humanitarian or sociajistic itspolicy may be, can successfully supply to the peo-ple with essential services such as electricity,water and sewerage without any hope of repay-ment in some form or the other. The cost ofthe utility services must be reimbursed at least inpart it not in toto as each community is gadu-ally raised to a level of self-support. The mytho-logy that u commodity which costs money toproduce and to deliver can be as free as the airmust be rapidly expunged from the minds of boththe officials and the people. It is worth pointingout here that almost no where in the world iselectric power provided free.
To cover payment for water investment, pro-perty tax and levies from other sources have beenused. It is, however, rare that both capital char-ges and maintenance and operation cost are fullyprovided for. The position was summed up byEugene Black, he then President of the Interna-tional Bank for Reconstruction and Developmentin the following words :
29
"A steadily expanding supply of essential pub-lic utility service is a requisite of economic growthin underdeveloped countries today. Over the nextdecade many thousands of millions of dollars incapital for these services must be found. Thereis simply no practical way to raise this moneyunless a substantial part of it is generated bythe utilities themselves by adequate charge tothe users of these services."
As far back as 1961 the National Water Sup-ply and Sanitation Committee appointed by theMinistry of Health, Government of Tndia con-cluded : "The solution of sanitation problemsin Tndia wM require that local bodies should beencouraged to promote water supply and sewerageschemes as of self-supporting nature just as elec-tricity undertakings are provided and operatedThe method of financing should be patterned afterthe procedures and practices which have succee-ded and established themselves in the more ad-vanced countries with such modifications as aredictated by conditions in this country. The Com-mi'tee has, therefore, no misgivings of such aventure failing if pursued vigorously. A certainamount of initial education and leadership wouldbe necessary 'in order to wean the citizens andthe local bodies from their established conven-tional notion that drinking water should be pro-vided a1? a partial gift by the Government"
This writer also believes that people can and
do learn to pay for safe drinking water if onetakes pains to make the facts understood.
Public Participation
Public participation, in the matter of financingthe water-supply schemes as well as in their exe-cution is imperative if the Indian villages are tobe provided with adequate and safe drinking waterin a reasonable time. It is to be granted that theper capita income of the people living in Indianvillages is pitiably low and they cannot be expec-ted to contribute in a large measure towards thehuge investments required for such a project. But,notwithstanding this limitation, there is a wayand an important way whereby they can contri-bute towards this venture and that is their con-tribution in the shape of their labour. Such acontribution could partly be as 'shramdan' andpartly be on the basis of wage payment. Afterall the aim is to provide them with somethingwhich they need badly. Thi? has necessarily to beon a self-supporting basis. Unless people helpthemselves no one else can-
Whereas public participation is necessary inproviding this basic requirement, the use of localmaterials is never the less essential if the schemeis to be made economically viable and as suchin preparing plans for water-supply, care shouldbe taken to use local materials to the greatestextent possible even if some innovation in detailsof the designs and specifications is necessary.
Rural Water Supply: Achievements, Goals and Constraints
(From page 27)
(c) To organise training programmes for dril-
lers and technicians:planning for stepping up production of
materials and equipment in the country.
(d) To arrange advance level training for
managerial personnel and select areas such
as hydrogeology, geophysics, system ana-
lysis, etc.: and
(") To make an assessment of the materials
and equipment required for the Decade
Programme and to carry out advance
Project planning, programming and implemen-
tation are to be done so as to ensure the fullest
involvement and participation of the local author-
ities/communities concerned. Relevant decisons
for implementation and operation, maintenance for
the facil'ities must be agreed between the executive
departments, local government/panchayats.
30
Norms for Rural Water Supply
By
B.B. Rau* and M.M. Dutta**
TN the Draft Five Year Plan (1978-83) a provisionof Rs. 675 crores has been made under
the Revised Minimum Needs Programme (RMNP)to cover all the 1 lakh remaining problem villages(identified in 1972) by 1983.
Based on the cost of different types of schemes
approved both under the MNP and the Accelera-
ted Rural Water Supply Programmes (ARWSP)
for the different States during the last two years
and assuming a suitable mix of ground and sur-
face sources, the cost of covering the balance one
lakh problem villages as on 1.4.1978 comes to Rs.
1092 crores as detailed in Statement A. These
villages have been referred to in the following
paragraphs as first-priority villages. It is also seen
that because of the large number of villages and
the nature oi schemes needed, ihe ten States oi
Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jamtnu &
Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur;
Nagaland and Sikkim and the three Union Terri-
tories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Delhi and
Mizoram cannot cover all the villages by 1981
but would do so by 1983, if concerted efforts are
made from now on. All the balance 12 states
and three Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh,
Goa, Daman & Dili and Pondicherry can cover
all these problem villages by March 1981, if not
earlier as in the case of Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa
and Tamil Nadu provided requisite funds are
made available to the States UTS in time.
The following issues need due consideration
while fixing norms for rural water supply in the
country.
1. Criteria for defining problem villages
2. Number of problem villages
3. Type of coverage
4- RMNP classification
5. Sources of supply
6. Provision of House service connection
7. Rural Water Supply other than RMNP
8. Population
9. Per Capita rate of supply
10. Per Capita cost
1. Criteria for defining problem villages
In the survey conducted prior to 1972, 1.52
lakh villages were identified as problem villages
in respect of the availability of safe drinking
water in the following categories :—
* Adviser, Sanitary Engineering. South East Asia, UNDP Global Project Low-cost Water Supply and
Sanitation, World Bank, New Delhi.
'* Assistant Adviser (PHE), Ministry of Works & Housing, New Delhi.
31
(i) having no assured source within a distance
of 1 mile (1.6 Km or having no ground-
water source within a depth of 50 feet (15
meters).
(ii) the existing source of water supply is suscep-
tible to water-borne diseases like cholera or
infested with guineaworms making endemic
to these diseases.
(iii) the existing source suffers from excessive
salinity, iron or fluorides making them
- h a z a r d o u s to health.
When this programme was reveiwed by the
Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha, specific
norm for the hilly-tracks was also required to be
suggested for the no source villages. Jhe Ministry
of Works & Housing accordingly decided that a
norm of lift involving not less than 100 meters
be specified to define the no-source village in the
hilly-tracts- This norm is yet to be accepted.
These norms have been accepted by all the
States and are being adopted to categorise the prob-
lem villages for inclusion under the RMNP. How-
ever, some States like Maharashtra and Gujarat
have prescribed on their own a more liberal norm
of only 1 Km, ins-tead of 1.6 Km, for defining
the no-source village.
The funding of the. programme both the State
and the Central Sccior has been based so far on
the three prescribed norms. Based on the figures
furnished by Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is
estimated that on the basis of the liberalised norms,
the number of problem villages would be more
than double. The requirement of funds would
accordingly go up.
2. Number of Problem Villages
152, 475 problem villages were identified in 1972
and at the end of the Fourth Plan Rs. 653 crores
were roughly assessed as the need to cover all
those villages during the Fifth Plan Period. The
allocations for Rural Water Supply under MNP
for the different Slates during the Fifth Plan dis-
cussions were based on the requirements for
covering these problem villages only, but in actual
practice due to the non-follow-up of this Sector
schemes, many Stales utilised these funds on
villages other than those problem villages iden-
tified in 1972. Against the initial provision of
R;. 574 crores made in the Fifth Plan (1974-79)
only Rs. 272 crores have been utilised during
1974-78 under MNP and Rs. 38 crores during
1977-78 under the Accelerated Rural Water Sup-
ply programmes (ARWSP) initiated during 1977-
78-
After the Centrally sponsored ARWSP was
started during 1977-78 to supplement the provi-
sions under the MNP and accelerated the cov-
lage of these problem villages, it was observed
that 1.13 lakh of these villages were yet to be
covered as on 1.4.77 But the State Governments
reported that based on their more recent surveys,
the number of problem villages to bt covered on
1.4.77 was 3-40 lakhs and funds should be provid-
ed for covering these villages. While it is possible
in certain case; that this number has inflated to
get a larger share of the Central assistance, the
possibility of genuine increase cannot be altoge-
ther ruled out due to:—
i) genuine commission in the 1972 survey (asin the case of Rajasthan;). where the original listdid not include guineaworm infested areas simplybecause such a list based on medical statisticswas not available at that time though, it was wellknown that Rajasthan was one of the worst affec-ted States with this problem;
ii) gradual depletion of ground-water level due
to severe droughts during 1973-78 and consequ-
32
ently more villages fatting into the category of
'problem villages' during the period;
iii) inclusion of the number of hamlets apart
from the number of revenue villages as in the
case of Tamil Nadu; and
iv) adoption of liberalised norms as in the case
of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The allocations for the different States for
the Fifth Plan was based on the figures furnished
by the Centrally Sponsored Special Investigation
Divisions set up by the State Governments. The
guidelines for the MNP also stipulated that these
amounts be spent only on these problem villages-
However, as this programme was not in the
Central Sector, there was not strict adherence to
the original list.
However, afier the initiation of the ARWSP
during 1977-78 concentrated efforts were made by
the Ministry of Works & Housing (CPHEEO) to
get the base-line data of the problem villages as
idenitlified in 1972 and remained to be covered
as on 1.4.77 and on 1.4.78 and after detailed dis-
cussions with the State Chief Engineers (PH) and.
others, it was decided that first-priority villages
which should be covered first.
Now that the list of the specific villages are
known, it is possible to get at the specific require-
ments and ensure the coverage of these problem
villages on a priority basis am' /completely cover
them before the end of the P2 .̂ "^iod 1978-83.
It seems necessary to cover the urst-priority pro-
blem villages first and utilise the funds for the
other problem villages (second-priority problem
villages, only thereafter).
3. Type of Coverage
The Draft Plan States as under:
-Providing adequate water supply to the re-
maining problem and difficult villages requires
huge investment. Low-cost solutions are, therefore
essential to spread the investment to as many
villages as possible within a given time perspec-
tive. The approach should be one well for one
village so that the villages are assured of a defi-
nite source of water supply. Piped water supply
is highly costly and would be adopted only when
less expensive measures such as tubewells and
sanitary dug wells, are impracticable on account
or geographical and terrain conditions.
Though non-availability of a dependable source
within the specific distance was used as criterion
for the selection of problem villages, the selected
villages are being provided with one source on
an average for every 300 population (1971 Cen-
sus) for the following reasons:
D many of the problem villages have several
hamlets inhabited by schelulcd tribes, sche-
duled castes etc., the State Governments
have been pressing for individual sources for
the hamlets.
ii) some of the problem villages have high popu-
lations as in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa,
some of them even exceeding 15,000;
iii) non-provision of a safe source of water
within a reasonable distance, catering to a
reasonable population, has in 'the past dri-
ven people to resort to unsafe sources, thus
defeating the very purpose of the govern-
ment's undertaking to provide a safe water
supply system;
iv) covering one village taking the population
base is less expensive if it is done in one go
rather than in several instalments;
v) where equipment like well-drilling rigs are
to be used, the cost of transportation and
33
time involved in covering back to the same
village for a second time itself would be
exhorbitant;
vi) second round of coverage may not physically
take place for several dccade,s to cover sim-
ply because of the large number of villages
involved and
vii) as the single-source coverage will result only
in partial satisfaction, results--of physical
and health impact of the programme will be
negligible and the number of problem vil-
lage continues to be same in spite of the
inputs in terms of money. Provision of single-
source per' village will wipe out the number
of no source village in a much smaller time
frame and with smaller outlay.
A view is to be taken whether the coverage
during the Plan period should be only one source
a village irrespective of the population or pro-
vide the minimum number of sources in each
village depending upon the population as being
done at present in most of the States.
4. KMNP Classification
The provisions needed for covering the first
priority villages'(identified in 1972) be termed as
RMNP but the villages which are subsequently
identified but according to the same norms as
those of the fist priority villages should also be
eligible for this classification, only after the pri-
ority villages in a particular State are covered.
The provision for covering the second-priority
villages (after covering the first priority villages)
should also be entitled for the same benefits as
the RMNP so that the States who have covered
the first-priority problem villages faster such as
Orissa, are not discriminated against and enable
the national objective of covering all villages
with a safe water supply is achieved at the earliest.
5. Sources of Supply
Out of the 1 lakh first priority problem vil-
lages, about 4000 are in. hard-rock areas with
heavy overburden and 5000 in mountaneous and
boulder formations requiring heavy duty combi-
nation rigs. About 50,000 are in hard rock forma-
tions with small over burdens and could be tack-
led by the pneumatic rigs manufactured indige-
nously. Half of these could be covered before 1983
with the rigs already available with the States.
Additional rigs could be imported through the
UNICEF or Government funds and all these vil-
lages could be covered by 1983 by working the
rigs on double shift. About 6000 villages could
be served by spring and gravity sources. The bal-
ance 35,000 require treated water supply or
other types. All the 1 lakh villages could be cov-
ered by March 1983 by reorganising the existing
State Public Health Engineering Units/Depart-
ments and also adding the necessary infrastruc-
tural inputs in a few States/Administrations.
The different ways in which all these prob-
lem villages could be tackled depending upon the
type of source available, the population and the
location of villages involved a re :
i) Half-covered sanitary wells with pully arran-
gements,
ii) Fully-covered sanitary wells fitted with hand-
pumps;
in) Handpumps or power-pumps tubewells; and
iv) Piped water supply.
A properly covered sanitary well fitted with
a reliable hand-pump may cost from Ra. 15,000
to Rs. 25,000 depending upon the depth, diame-
ter and type of soil in which it is constructed while
a half covered sanitary well with pully arrange-
ment may cost from Rs. 13,000 to Rs. 23,000.
They need at least 2 seasons for completion and
34
invariably need decpending unless they are taken
well below the lowest ground-water level of the
area and at least below the first impermeable,
layer. In many States only dug-wells are provi-
ded leaving the cover and the handpump (ostensi-
bly to be taken up as a second stage but never
done). While mere dugwells may be cheaper and
possible in ordinary villages, they are not possi-
ble in problem villages (where ground-water4
level is deeper than 50 feet even according to the
very definition and usually get dry in the summer
season because of the lowering of the ground-
water table. It is presumed that all villages,
where such a measure is satisfactory, would have
been covered by now under the various normal
programmes like the Community Development
Programme during the last several decades and
they would not fall in the category of problem
villages yet to be covered. Another point to be
mentioned is that the water from these surface
wells is prone to contamination and sucih waters
are unsafe for 95% of the time. However, in
exceptional cases of inaccessible hard-rock areas
where phenmatic rigs cannot be taken to make
drilled tubewells which are cheaper) or where
large diameter wells are needed to give the re-
quired storage and seepage in the hard-granular
consolidated formations without any fissures are
weathered layers, covered sanitary wells fitted
with handpumps will have to be adopted. \\"
diameter tubewells with handpumps in alluvial
;ireas would cost from Rs. 3000 to Rs. 9000 de-
pending upon the total depth and lowest ground-
water level of the area and are very wC|ll suited
where good ground-water is available and small
population are to be covered.
4"m"6" diameter tubewells with handpumps in
kird-rock areas which could serve as a satisfac-
tory solution in a majority of the problem villa-
ges would cost from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000
depending upon the depth and the terrain of dril-
ling, accessibility of the area and the proximity
of the villages needing such bores. A 6" diame-
ter tubewell with powerpumps in hard rook areas
would cost from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 and
would be a better and more economical source
in more populated areas with copious ground-
water potential.
Where ground-water is not available or not fit
for use because it contains excessive chemicals
like chlorides, fluorides and iron, water has to
be necessarily piped to an individual or group of
villages from a distant good ground-water source
(including a 6" tubewell with powerpump in a
hard rock region or a surface water properly trea-
ted), the per capita cost of such schemes varies
widely from Rs. 100 to Rs. 400 depending upon
the distance accessibility, population, treatment
and type of terrain involved. The corresponding
figures for alternatives of the sanitary wells and
hand-pump tubewells would vary from Rs. 50 to
Rs- 100.
Ground-water sources are preferred to surface
sources a? the latter require treatment and need
more capital cost and greater skill in mainten-
ance. Gravity schemes are preferred to pumping
schemes as the Jater involve larger maintenance
costs and skilled supervision. Spring sources,
windmills, hydraulic rams, storage-catchments
are used in specific hilly and other regions where
these would prove econqmical. Main effort is to
see that each individual village or group villages
should be served most economically both in the
first-cost and maintenance and provide such a
service as expeditiously as possible, ensuring that
provision is made for the realisation of water
revenues from the potential beneficiaries where
possible, to maintain the services properly without
35
depending upon- the Government grants solely for
the purpose.. Piped Water Supply is provided only
where other measures indicated are either not fea-
sible or found uneconomical.
6. Provision of House Service Connections
In very small villages inhabited fu,Uy by poor
people, the question of house service connections
does not arise. But in large village with at least
15 to 25% of comparatively well-to-do persons
who could afford and would go in for house-ser-
vice connections, such a provision would facilitate :
i) raising some resources to maintain the sys-tem properly,
ii) maintenance of the system properly as dis-
ruptions are immediately noticed and got
attended to promptly; and
iii) the provision of colossal wastage of water
through stand-posts.
To rite an instance, in Punjab, the annual
maintenance of village water supply costs about
Rs. 10,000 and the villagers are prepared- to pay
Rs. 10 per month per house connection and
there are several villages with 150 to 200 house-
connections.. ..
7. Rural Water Supply other than RMNP
Due to several considerations, many State Gov-
ernments want to cover more villages other than
the first-priority problem villages even before
completely covering these first-priority problem
villages leading consideration of another category
of "Rural Water Supply other than the RMNP".
If this is agreed to, such a provision should ex-
ceed a specified percentage, say 10% of the
RMNP provision. The purpose of this provision
is to meeting any speaial requirements which the
State' Governments want to indicate looking to
their own special local problems without reducing
the resource or priorities needed for covering the
first-priority problem villages. Such a programme
already exists as <;RWS other than RMNP", in
certain States even now and the Draft Plan docu-
ment provides Rs. 90 crores for this item during
the Plan period 1978-83.
8. Population
- The Manual on Water Supply and Treatment
(2nd Edition) published by the Ministry of Works
& Housing, Govt. of India recommends that rural
water population expected 30 years hence. This
applies for generally to all piped wa'er supply
schemes to be implemented on routine basis.
But in the case of crash programme like the pre-
sent Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme,
it is renimendod that all the new schemes to be
included under the programme shall be designed
for a future popolation expected at the end of
the 10-15 years period but in no case should the
increase be more than 30 per cent of the present
population to economise the scheme. But very
often it was explained by the. Chief Engineers
that the estimated cost of the scheme while tak-
ing a design period of 30 years it makes hardly
a difference of 10 to 15% of the total estimated
cost. In view of this, it is recommended that
the design period should be considered as 30
years keeping in view the escalation of prices of
materials in future.
9. Per Capita rate of supply
The rate of 40 lpcd (liters per aapiia per
day) for villages where water is supplied thro-
ugh standposts and • 70 lpcd for villages where
house service connections are recommended in
the Manual of Water Supply and Treatment (2nd
Edition) published by the Ministry of Works &
Housing,.-Government of India.
36
An expert committee set up for the prepara-
tion of the above Manual on Water Supply
Treatment constandposts hand pump supply. A
breakup of the figure of lpod for rural water
supply schemes with standposts hand pump sup-
ply and a breakup of the usage of water in litres
per day Oped) is given below to clarify the posi-
tion.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Drinking
Cooking
Ablution
Bathing
Washing utensils
and house
Washing Clothes
Flushing
TOTAL
Rural
House service
connections
3
5
15
20
12
—
15
70
Standposts/
Handpump
3
5
10
15
7
—
—
40
While the population in many western coun-
tries do not use water for washing hands after
eating, for ablution purposes etc., the Indian
community requires a fairly large quantity of
water for such needs. It, is therefore, recommen-
ded that a design rate of 40 lpcd may be use-'
as maximum for the preparation of rural wat
supply schemes with the provision of stndposts/
hand pump supply.
However, for some water scarcity areas like
Western Rajasthan where entire economy depends
upon the cattle breeding, a suitable decision is to
be taken by the competent authority whether
provision of supplying drinking water to the cattle
can be clubbed with the drinking water supply
to the human beings. In this connection, it may
be noted that the National Water Supply and
Sanii ation Committee (1960-61) of the Ministry
of Health, Government of India also examined
the question of inclusion of cattle with a rural
population in the design of rural water supply
schemes and the committee felt that the source
could no doubt be designed to include the quan-
tity needed for the cattle population where it I
feasible and where ihe source is located near the
communiiy, in the shape of impounded lakes
conserved tanks, wells and the like. But it is extra-
vagant to design the treatment plant, conveyance
and distribution systems so as to provide also
for the cattle population. Conveyance of supply
of protected water from distant source, the Com-
mittee felt that it is uneconomic to make pro-
vision for cattle population in such schemes.
Local unprotected sources should be made to
serve such needs for cat.le population. Here
again, exceptions may have to be made in spe-
cial casss, where local sources are not available
for human being or cattle and where the popula-
tion may not care to stay in the village and uti-
lise the schem-2 unless it met with the water scar-
city for the cattle as well Such special cases
may have to be dealt with on their merits de-
pending on the special local conditions
10. Per Capita Cost
Statement B indicates per capita costs of rural
water supply schemes wiiich were sanctioned
under Central Accelerated Rural Water Supply
Programme during 1977-78 at a particular point
of time in respect of some States and Union
Territories in the Country.
From the Statement it would be seen that
even in an individual State the per capita cost
37
varies from location to location depending upon
whether the scheme is based on piped water sup
ply or bore well/hand pump supply depending
upon the technical feasibility of the type of
scheme suitable for the location. To cover maxi-
mum number of rural population with the limi-
ted funds made available for rural water supply
.programme in the country it would be desirable
to select the most economical schemes to serve
the particular population either in single or in
groups giving preference to ground water sour-
ces and gravity supplies wherever possible.
The floating (steadily increasing) ceiling of
per capita cost is reasonable if all the problem
villages in all the States are equally distributed
with reference to source availability terrain, popu-
lation density etc. If a limit based only on hand
pump tube wells is kept, the States where such
schemes are not possible at all (bulk of prob-
lem villages in the hilly States and Rajasthan)
would be at a disadvantage and might be comp-
laining of undue discrimination.
38
Statement A
RURAL WATER SUPPLY PROGRAMMERequirement to Cover Problem VillagesRemaining to be Covered as on 1.4.1978
(Rs. crores)
SI. No State/UT
1 2
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Assam
3. Bihar
4. Gujarat
5. Haryana
6. Himachal Pradesh7. Jamtnu & Kashmir
8. Karnataka9. Kerala
10. Madhya Pradesh11. Maharashtra
12. Manipur13. Meghalaya14. Nagaland15. Orissa16. Punjab
17. Rajasthan18. Sikkim19. Tamil Nadu20. Tripura21. Uttar Pradesh22. West Bengal
Union Territories
23. A &N Islands24. Arunachal Pradesh25. Delhi26. Goa, Daman & Diu27. Mizoram28. Pondicherry
Grand Total
I-Priorltyproblem villages
No.
3
2615
670018050
19533233
10245
31914309
46572973872
10623185694
1721
981
3122430
14022316
127119036
571423
12573
227
85
100580
Population(lakhs)
4
34.813381
61.1017.59
41.21
17.42
22.78
17.8365.1421.4164.36
4-714.723.94
10.1410.0416 82
1.9620.256.73
86.0193.25
0.061.281.861.922.62
0.38
664.35
Requirement to
I-Priority (as
Outlay for78-83 under
RMNP as inti-mated to States
5
25.7014.18
46.40
47.87
26.69
19.86
31.5056 1511 2335.4677.40
5.912.424.26
23.6426.60
53.901.73
36.052.30
88.0020.00
1.203.562.983.325.220.42
675.00*
cover problem villages remaining to be coveredas on 1
Identified in
Demandof
States
6
143.00122.5027600100.11107.5085.00£
60.0056.71
190.20109.00
23.9026.4919.8689.29
111.00
472.958.70
19.39£
200.0080.69
2.1413.818.253.31
12.47
1.46
.4.78
1972)
Asassessed
7
58.7064.70
73.6733.50
75.00
49.0070.006.98
31.5490.0075.0020.7520.6615.247.62
40.00
60.005.59
13.0012.00
196.0043.97
1.509.008.001.568.48
0.63
1092.09
I & II priority(as reported in1978) as estimated.
8
92.64159.40107.63116.5075.0049.00
105.5030.5331.5490.00
101.5020.7522.2615.2448.5075.50
410.505.59
165.5015.50
474.0065.65
7.06 (235v)11.00
8.001.568.48
0.63
2314.96
* Inclcudes Rs. 0.30 crores for Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
£ State document (Five Year Plan 1978-83) have not been received yet.
39
RURAL WATER SUPPLY SCHEMESPer Capita Cost '.
Statement B
State
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar
5. Gujarat
6. Haryana
7. Himachal Pradesh
8. Jarnmu & Kashmir
9. Karnataka
10. Kerala
11. Madhya Pradesh
12. Maharashtra :
13. Manipur •
14. Meghalaya
15. Mizoram
16. Nagaland
17. Orissa
18. Punjab
19. Rajasthan
20. Sikkim [':.':
21. Tamil Nadu
22. Tripura
23. Uttar Pradesh
24. West Bengal
25. Andaman
26. Goa^ Daman & Diu
27. Pondicherry \
For PipedWater Supply Scheme
Rs. .. 88 i;
• ' r - J 3 5
66
—.- .: :. .
145
"• . 2 1 7
180
295
—
59 •
250
.. 145
406
340
390
; • 397
- ' • _
113
172
480
135
—
257
140
790
76
65
For Bore Well/Hand PumpsWater Supply Scheme
Rs, 3 2
—
—
81
—
—
— . ' • • . .
• • • • ' • • - —
56
• • - • . —
82 ' '/"•_;
- 9 1
—
—
—
54
• —
• —
—
• 7 1
66
—
' 2 0
—
• —
Average
Rs.58
135
66
—
145
217
. 180
295
66
59
]fl 160
140
406
.:- 340
390
••'-'. 397
54
113 •
172
480
' • • - 7 1
66
257
• 1 3 5
790
76
65
40
Notes: (1) Average based on costs of total schemes sanctioned during 1977-78 at a particularPoint of time, and not a weighted average.
(2) Incase of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal, Rbres/Hand Pumps areserving population more than 250 persons and hence lower rate/capita.
Quality Water
By
K. Rudrappa* and K.L.L. Narasimhan**
INTRODUCTION
\I/ATER is not technically a food, but it is anessential article of diet. It is required in the
body as a solvent and serves to regulate the bodytemperature. In addition it contributes in a vari-ety of ways to the enjoyment, safety and progressof human existence. Water is required for manypurposes in day-to-day life. Important of thtse are :
(i) Drinking; (ii) ablution and washing;
(iii) industries; and (iv) removal of offen-
sive and dangerous household and indus-
trial waste.
Water may create pollution problems and may
serve as a medium for transmission of several
diseases if not properly collected, treated and dis-
tributed. Many water-borne diseases are caused •
by using unsafe water.
There has been a continuous struggle to get
pure and safe water for human consumption.
Different methods of water purification used in
India in earsy days are described in the medical
lore in Sanskrit called "SUSRUTA SAMHITA"
and these date back to 2000 BC. Similar efforts
were also made in Egypt in early 15th and 16th
century. The quest for obtaining pure water has
made remarkable progress in the 18th century in
• Senior Supervising Engineer, Engineers India Ltd,New Delhi
•• Manager, Engineers India Ltd, New Delhi
Great Britain, France and Germany. However,
micro-organisms and sanitary quality of water
was identified only in 1853. Many biologists from
Europe and America made three more notable
contributions in this field.
They are:
1. The rapid sand filter was introduced in 1880
and 1890 and put on a sound engineering
basis;
2. Improvements made on studies of slow sand
filter;
3. Chlorination was initiated in early 20th cen-
tury.
The technology on isolation of micro-orga-
nisms and virus in water have been perfected in
recent years with the result that the pathogenic
type of micro-organism and virus and diseases
caused by these organisms should be identified
with authority.
Sources of Water and Quality
For convenience the sources of water avail-
able in hydrological cycle may be classified as (i)
rain waier; (ii) surface water; and (iii) ground
water.
Surface water includes:— (i) Rivers/streams;(ii) Natural ponds, lakes; and (iii) Impoundedreservoirs-
41
Ground water includts :— springs, shallow
wells, unfiltered galleries, tubewells.
The quality of water from these sources vary
from acceptable limits to rejection. They generally
contain physical impurities, chemical constitu-
ents and bacterial organisms. Of immediate con-
cern are the presence of some of the chemicals,
toxic substances and bacterial organisms in the
water.
Water may contain several bacterial groups
such as:
1. Natural water bacteria (non-pathogenic);
2. Soil bacteria (non-pathogenic); .
3. Intestinal bacteria (both pathogenic and non-
pathogenic).
Important among the "Natural water bacteria"
are those of genus of Peraudomonous. The Iron
group of bacteria are among the soil bacteria.
Among the organisms normally encountered in
the internal track of a human being are gram-
positive spore-forming anaerobic, gas producing
rods of genus Cjlostorium. These are noh-patho-
genic in nature. The genus Stimonella and genus
Shigelfa are among the pathogenic species.
Water Relation to Diseases
It has been proved and established that water
has an important role in the spread of communi-
cable diseases. The properties which make it irtT"
portant for water to transmit these disease are:
—It is ordinarily consumed as raw:
—In its normal course of circulation, it
comes in contact with great variety of
pollutants which are spread over in a vast
area.
Water has the following factors which influ-
ence the transfer of infection agents.
—The quick transfer of infective agentsfrom patient to the source and source tothe source and source to the consumer.
—Cold water tends to prolong the periodof Lheir survival.
—The dilution ra,tio of infective excreta to
the receiving water is usually very small,
so the concentration of micro-organisms
is large.
—Surface water source which is most ex-posed to faecal and industriajl contamina-tion are most frequently infected.
Water-borne Diseases
Water-borne diseases may be classified broadlyas (i) Specific and (ii) Non-specific.
: Specific diseases are caused by bacteria and
virus organisms present in the water. Some of
the important ones are cholera, typhoid fever,
dysentery, gastro-enteritis and virus causing infec-
tious hepatitis. In addition, water is also respon-
sible for spreading Guinea-worm disease, Ascaris
and Schistosomyasis. Some of the non-specific
diseases are Dental caries, Methemoglobinemia,
lead poisoning, etc.
Sanitary survey which includes a) Sanitaryfield survey and b) Sanitary defects from sourceto the consumable stage is listed below- It is be-lieved if these are rigidly observed, safe waterquality can be maintained.
A. Ground Water
a) Sanitary Survey
1. Character of local geology, size, topography
of catchment area, slope of the ground sur-
face.
2. Nature of soil and sub-strata
3- Slope of water table
42
4., Extent of drainage area likely to contribute
water to the well
5. Nature, distance and direction of local
source of pollution.
6. Possibility of surface drainage water enter-
ing- the supply and the wells taking effluent,
methods of protection.
7- Methods used for protecting the supply
against pollution by means of providing
sewage and industrial waste treatment and
proper disposal of treated wagte water.
8. Equipment, prevention and laboratory cont-
rol N-
b) Sanitary defects
Formation of caves, sink holes, abondoned
borings used for surface drainage or sewage
disposal near the water source. Defective
casings for the wells, wells located near
sewers, privies, septic tanks and other
source of contamination.
B. Surface Water Supply
a) Sanitary Survey
1- Nature of surface geology and its character
2. Character of vegetation, forest, cultivated
land including salinity and effect of irriga-
tion water.
~S. Methods of sewage disposal in the vicinty.
4. Character and efficiency of sewage treat-
ment works on watershed or water catchment
area.
5. Proximity and source of characteristic of
industrial waste
(•>. Adequacy of supply
7. Character and quality of raw water for coli-
form, organisms, algae, turbidity; colour
and objectionable mineral constituents and
toxic chemicals.
8. Measures taken to prevent fishing, boating,
swimming.
9- Type of water treatment suggested and theiradequacy.
10. Disinfection of water and adequacy of equip-
ment.
11. Plant operation & control.
12. Labortaroy control.
b) Sanitary defects
—Inadequacy of laboratory control;
—Inadequate control of the use of streams
for recreational purposes, discharge of
untreated domestic and industrial waste
water into the streams etc.;
—Improper & inadequate treatment plant
capacity;
—Bad plant operation & laboratory control.
C. Pumping Station and Collecting System
Sanitary survey includes :
1- Location and protection with reference to
the floods; and
2. Number and types of capacity of pumps in-
cluding reserve containing all equipments
etc.
D. Distribution system
a) Sanitary Survey
1 Adequacy of distribution system with refe-
rence to area and population;
2. Type of distribution—gravity or pumping,
3- Materials used in the distribution system;
4. Types of joints and their water-tightness;
5. Safe distance and levels from water mains
to sewerage system;
6. Disinfection procedure followed in laying of
new mains, repairing.
43
b) Sanitary defects
1. Cross connection in dual water supply sys-
tem;
2- Intermittent service resulting in reduced or
negative pressures;
3. Lack of adequacy of enforcement of plumb-
ing regulations designed to protect water
supply against possibilities of back flow;
4. Leaky pipes.
E. Storage Reservoirs
a) Sanitary Survey
1. Proper protection from trespassers, against
source of. pollution;
2. Hazards .of flood water entering the reser-
voirs;
3. Providing cover on top of the reservoirs;
4. Disinfection protection on new reservoirs or
after cleaning and repairs on existing re-
servoirs.
b) Sanitary defects
1. Locating the reservoirs on limestone area
etc.;
2. Use of unsatisfactory material of construc-
tion;
3. Improper arrangement to drain away roof
water.
F. Plant Control
The function of modern water purification plant
is to produce at all time, under all conditions
, water which is sanitarily safe, clear and palatable.
Water- purification requires careful control and
supervision by. competent personnel. The safely
of the whole community depends upon such con-
trol and vigilance- It calls for exercise of the
ability, knowledge, skill, resouroefullness; integ-
rity and reliability of the personnel. The treat-
ment plant control therefore requires
1. Competent personnel: 2. Standard protec-tion : 3. Plant cleanliness: 4. Analytical control.
5. Measurement of flow and chemical feed: 6. Ope-ration of equipment: 7. The storage and qualityof chemicals; 8. Plant maintenance; 9. Plant re-cords: 10- Plant safety.
Water Quality
The earlier standards of water quality were
restricted to freedom from turbidity, tastes and
odour. The present standards are altogether diffe-
rent for .safe water. It should be free from disease-
causing group of organisms. It should be physi-
cally attractive and must have a final chemical
content of such proportion as will be conducive
to health ]t is also necessary to remove or re-
duce certain metals and salts in water and change
their characteristics.
The standards of water quality that are nowadopted in., different parts of the world, relate tophysical and chemical limitations, toxic substan-ces, standards for bacteriological and radio activesubstances which are given below:
Physical & Chemical Characteristic EffectingPotability
S. No. Description Permissible Excessive
Limit Limits
1. Turbidity 5.0 rag/1 25.0 mg/1
2. Colour 5 (Units) 25 (units)3. Taste & Odour Not disagree- —
able4. Total hardness 300 mg/1) 600mg./l
(CaCosmg/l)5. Sulphate (So4)". 200 „ 400
6. Iron (Fe) 0.3 ,, 1.07. Manganese (Mn) 0.1 ,, 0.5 „8. Chloride 250 „ 600 „9. Copper (Cu) 1 ,, 3
10. Zinc (Zn) 5 „ 1511. Magnesium (mg) 50 ,, 150 ,,12. Calcium. (Ca) . 75 . „ 200 „13. Phenolic substance 0.001 ,, 0.005 ,,
(as phenol)14. pH 7 - 8 . 5 , , 6.5 & 9.2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Arsenic (As)
Chromium (Cr)
Cyanide (Cn)
Lead (Pb)
Selenium (Se)
Fluoride (F)
Nitrate (No,)
Toxic Substances
S. No. Substance Max. allowable
concentration
in mg/1
0.20
0.05
0.01
0.10
0.05
1.5
50
Standard of Bacteriological Quality
Average MPN of Coliform organism should be
Ies-j than I per 100 ml and should be nill in
chlorinated water.
Radioactive Substances
1. Alpha emitter — 10~9 microgram/ml
2. Beta emitter — 10~8 microgram/ml
Conclusion
The study cf statistical data on deaths, clue to
water-borne diseases through various decades in
the post independence period is required to be
made to establish the relationship between water
quality and death rates. This will establish the
importance of water quality management.
With the increase of the protected water sup-
ply and other public health measures to the pub-
lic, the general death rate is gradually decreas-
ing. It is, therefore important to provide protec-
ted water supply to the community. This measure
may, control the mortality rate to a considerable
extent.
References
1- Sri R.N. Biiallacharji—Water and Virus
infection. Alummiassociation Bulletin A.I.I.
& P.lf Cal. April 1%1 (Vol)
2. Dr. Ci.C. Ghosh—"Water supply past and
present" American Water Works, Engineer-
ing, 1057 Vol '61.
3. Sub-Committee of the Central Advisory
Water Committee London—"Report of
Gathering Grounds" (U.K.).
4. Sri K. Rudrappa- "Water and Diseases"P.H. Association A T . I . H . & P.H—Cai-1962.
45
International Water and Sanitation Decade:Is it a Dream ? Or a Reality ?
By
Gyan Sagar*
Status of Wafer Supply & Sanitation In UtterPradesh
The progress with regard to the provision ofdrinking water in rural areas of Uttar Pradeshis quite slow- This is mainly because of our de-cision to extend only the piped water systemsfor safe water. Till March 1980, only 1,00,561villages could be covered out of total number of1,12,624. As regards rural sanitation, practicallynothing has been done so far. The requirementof funds to cover just 50,000 villages with pipedwater supply works out to Rs. 1600 crores2 pro-posed to be spent in the 'International WaterSanitation Decade (1981-90). A provision of 120crores has been kept under 'sanitation'. But theavailability of such huge sums is a big question.In the central sector, provision of only Rs- 88crores8 exists for rural water supply in UttarPradesh for Sixth Five Year Plan (1978-83). Withwater supply largely covered, the sanitation isfar lagging behind in the urban areas. If ouraim is to achieve 100% of water supply & sani-tation expeditiously, conventional technology willhave to be replaced with more appropriate sys-tems.
Water Quality
Tap water is regarded as the best in the world,at least better than hand pumps and open wells.The argument which is generally put forward is
that open wells are subjected to contaminationeven when sanitary protection is given. This isbecause the dirty rope and bucket that goes in-side the well can impair the baaterial quality ofwater- As regards the hand pumps, many publichealth engineers hold the view that they usuallydraw water from the first layer of acquifer whichis generally polluted.
Piped Water
It flows through a closed system and drawswater from deep acquifers. In case of surfacewaters it is drawn after proper treatment. It istherefore argued that it should be safe. But it isnot true in general. Take the case of the recentfindings from two Prestigious Water WorksA & B. These water work£ supply water fromdeep tube wells as well as from the river aftertreatment Water samples were drawn from thedistribution network in Sept. 1980 and Jan. 1981respectively. In Water Works—A, 222 sampleswere examined out of which only 10 samples(4.5%) contained residual chlorine- No. of sam-ples falling within excellent and satisfactoryranges were 154 (70%). Total number of unsatis-factory samples reported were 60 (27%). The re-maining 8 (3%) samples fall in suspicious cata-gory. In Water Works B, where efforts weremade to carry out E—coli test as well, the situa-tion was still worse. Out of a total of 182 sam-ples examined, only 15 samples (8% contained
* S u p e r i n t e n d i n g E n g i n e e r . V I C i r c l e , U P . J a ) N i g a m , L u c k n o w
46
residual chlorine. Satisfactory samples reported
were 117 (04%), whereas unsatisfactory samples
were as high as 52 (29%). The remaining 13 sam-
ple,s (7%) fall in suspicious caiegory. 38 samples
(21%) contained E-coli that confirms faecal con-
lamination. If these results are examined on the
bas'is of the Water Supply Manual, it would be
seen that the bacterial quality of water obtained
from these Water Works is highly unsatisfactory.
According to the recommended norms, 100% of
the samples should have residual chlorine of
minimum 0.2mg- No sample obtained should be
unsatisfactory and at the same time all samples
should be E-coli free. It may therefore be pointed
out that piped water systems are also liable to
high degree of contamination. Mara6 writes:
"Some economists argue that piped supply of
water is beneficial, irrespective of its quality. Yet
there is evidence that intestinal disease has in-
creased after untreated rural water supplies have
been installed". Unfortunately, the supplies drawn
even from the purest source such as a deep tube
well gets contaminated during its conveyance in
the pipe lines. This is mainly because of the
leaky joints and the intermittent nature of water
supply, sucking in untreated water during sud-
den interruption in the water supply.
Hand Pumps
In case of hand pumps, water gets percola-
ted to deeper soil layers and thus gets filtered.
Safe water can be drawn even from the first
layer of aaiuifer if some minor precautions are
taken'. These are :
(i) Where sub soil water is subjected to direct
contamination such as from the open wells or
the bore hole latrines in case of which bottom of
the bore hole penetrates the sub soil water level,
a minimum distance of 7-5 metres should be kepi
from the source, (ii) Sanitary protection should be
provided consisting of puddle clay lining around
POT CHLORINATORSSecond Improvement First Improvement Or ig ina l
""I cork
tooomm StoneBoiost'.Grodol
'4mmSize of HoleMummSize cwith cork
to 10mmStone BafastPLASTIC BUCKET
2 0 0
,. 180—
No. 2HOLES WITH CORK
TOP PLAN BOTTOM PLAN
PLANS OF No. 1BOTTOM PLAN TOP PLAN
PLANS OFNo.2a3NOTE:- PERIODS OF EFFECTIVE CHLORINATION Scole: l.5.lmm-5mm
Wo. t • 60 lo BO OATS No 2 45 to 6O0flVS No 3 35to<5 OArSSlz« of Holti in oil Pott ore similar in Top And Bottom
Copoclty of PoH-No.1. 8Lilr«» NoS. 2 8 3 6 Litr«i
A B C A R E MIXTURES. CONTAINING' ' BLEACHUG POWDER fCOAflSE
SAN0+SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE
A ~l.5k88P»<v5ka..CS. 175gm«S.H.P
B . . 1.0 kg.B.Pt 30kg. C S + SOgmiSH.P
C •-750omt.B.Pt2.250ko.CS+37.5gni»S.H.P.
COARSE SAND 1 to Smiti SIZEALL DIMENSIONS ARE IN MM
DESIONED BY_ GYAN SAGARSUPERINTENDING ENGINEER
VI CIRCLE UP JAL NIGAM LUCKNOW-7
47
STATEMENT
Results of bacteriological examination of water samples which were received
from co-ordinate, P.R.A.I. Scheme, Atari, Block Mall, Distt. Lucknow
SI. No. Date of Date ofcollection receipt
! and ino-i . cutation
Source of water(Hand Pump)
Colony Court PREEMPTIVE COLIFORM COUNTon Agar 648 hrs | 72 hrs
At 37°cRoom temp.
Quantity ofsample ineachT.T.
No. ofTest tube
50ml.
1
10ml.
1.0ml.
0.1ml.
Probableno. of
Col i formorganism
Mg./l. 'free
residualchlorine
Remarks
408/D — 8.10.80 H.P. of Raja Balbir 10 15Singh, Atari.
409/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Pt. Siva Ram, Innumerable
Atari.
410/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Raja Ram, 13 20S/o Sakhi.
411/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Kallu Yadav, Innumerable
Atari.
0 0 0 — 0 No Excellent
1 5 1 — 35
0 0 0 — 0
No Unsatisfactory
No Excellent
J_ _5 5_ — 180 No Unsatisfactory0 0 0
412/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Pt. Ram —do—Shanker S/o Badri
, Prasad, Atari.
•413/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Maiku, Atari —do—
414/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Madari Yadav, — do—S/o Thani, Atari.
10
1
10
50
5
50
5 —
5 —
5 —
180
180
160
No
No
. No
—do
—do
— do
(Contd. next page)
- i
SI. No. Date of Date ofcollection receipt
and ino-culation
Colony Court PRESEMPTIVE COLIFORM COUFTSource(Hand
of waterPump)
on Agar 648 hrs | 72 hrs" A t 37°CRoom temp.
Quantity ofsample ineach T.T.
No. ofTest tube
50ml.
1
10ml.
5
1.0ml.
5
0.1ml.
5
ProbableNo. ofColiformorganism
Mg./l.free
residualchlorine
Remarks
415/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Siya Ram 10 15S/o Raja Ram, Atari.
416/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Niranjan, 10 16Atari.
417/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Munni Lai 9 14S/o Sakhi, Atari.
418/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Ram Chandra InnumerableS/o Sakhi, Atari.
419/D 7.10.80 8.10.80 H.P. of Shiv Murti 12 18S/o Kanhyalal, Atari.
0 0 4 —
0 0 0
0 0 0 —
0 No Excellent
_L i. 5
0 0
0 0 0 —
No
No
—do-
—do—
— 180 No Unsatisfactory
0 No Excellent
the pipe in top 1.5 metres with the surroundingsoil carefully repacked, (iii) A pucca platformshould be provided round the hand pumps. ,(iv)In addition, drainage should be provided, (v)This should consist of a soadage pit located at aminimum distance of one metre from the handpump, (vi) A minimum cushion of one metreshould be kept between bottom of the soak pitand sub soil water level, (vii) For higher subsoil water level, platform may be raised and soaktrench may be provided instead of a pit- (viii)Where some sort of drainage system exists, adrain connection may be provided, (ix) In nonporous soils, underground drainage may be laidconsisting of small bore sewers8. This could bemore effective and it should precede piped watersupply
In village Altari, Lucknow District watersamples were tested from 12 hand pumps. (Resultsat statemenl A) It may be seen that water from6 hand pumps is excellent and from the remain-ing 6 is unsatisfactory. It has been found thatunsatisfactory quality of water was mainly dueto the direct contamination occurring through theannular opening in between the casing pipe andthe bore hole. This is due to the absense of pro-per sanitary protection.
Open Wells \
These wells are no doubt subjected to high.,contamination ithrough the unprotected rope andbucket system. However, the experiments9 con-ducted by the U.P. Ja l . Nigam with the PotChlorinator have shown that with the disinfec-tion of the well water, safe water supply can beachieved even in such cases where adequate mea-sures for drainage and sanitary protection of wellsdo not exist. Out of 61 water samples examinedwhere the Pot Chlorinator were suspended inwells, in village Kanchanpur-Matiyari, 55 samples(90%) were found to be satisfactory and the re-maining 6 samples (10%) were classified as sus-picious However, no sample was found unsatis-factory of the well, water after chlorinations.The residual chlorine was available in well
50
water at all times. An improved Pot Chlorinator
developed as result of further experimentation in
UNLCEF assisted 'Mali Sanitation Project' Luck-
nbw, can provide effective cholorination for 60-80
days-
Cos', s
In the plains of Uttar Pradesh the cost ofpiped water system varies from Rs. 200/- toRs. 250/- per capita at the present populationlaid. In ihe hard-rock and mountaineous regions,it may cost Rs. 400/- to Rs- 600/-. This doesnot however, include the cost of waste water dis-posal system. For hand pumps, the cost includ-ing the drainage facility varies from Rs. 15/- toRs. 25/- for plains and Rs- 50/ to Rs. 100/- forhard-rock, areas. The cost has been worked outon ihe basis of 200 people per hand pump. Thecapital cost of a Pot Chlorinator programme isnegligible. Considering 10% grant for construc-tion, the maintenance cost of a piped water sys-tem works out to something like Rs- 7.50 perhouse hold, per month. In case of hand pumps,Rs. 0.50 to Rs. 2.00 per house hold per morvihhave been reported based on three tier system ofmaintenance. For Pot Chlorinator programme,the cost per house hold per month may vary fromRs- 1.0Q to Rs. 2.00 only.
Uttar Pradesh is the only state that enjoys thelegacy of the piped water system. Other stateshave switched over to hand pump and sanitarydug well construction programme much earlier.Orissa has almost completed the first priorityscarcity villages in this way and other states in-cluding Bihar and West Bengal are also muchahead. j
International Water Decade
If in the International Water Decade, our aim
is to provide safe water and its sanitary disposal
for all the communities, our priorities need to be
redefined. In the first instance Pot Chlorinator
should be put to all the existing open wells and
spring collecting chambers. In the second place,
preference should be given to hand pumps and
sanitary wells particularly in the rural areas-"Piped Water Supply Schemes are highly costlyand would be adopted only when Jess expensive
measures such as hand pumps and sanitary dugwells are impracticable on account of geographi-cal and terrain condition" as stated in the DraftSixth five year plan 1978-83.
Appropriate Technology
India is a vast country with varying cultureand topographical features. More practical low-cost, labour intensive, self-reliant technologies withemphasis on maximum use of local resources—•both material and labour need be evolved. Ourtechnology policy l0 should largely dwell uponthese considerations.
Health Education
Much has been said about health education u
and human motivation but not all is practicedin the field. In the 'International Water Decade'this has to be pursued vigourously. Public opin-ion has to be mobilised regarding appropriateprocedures to ensure active participation of thecommunities in the programme.
Conclusion
In the past, great weightage has been givento the safety of drinking water against diseasesand thus the piped water systems were recommen-ded in general. A comparative study of pipedwater supply, hand pumps and open wells showsthat the age old belief that the piped water sup-plies are the safest is only comparatively safer.As for the open wells, its water can be madequite safe with the use of a simple device knownas Pot Chlorinator.
If the dream of the 'International water de-cade' i.e. to provide safe water and sanitationto all the communities by the year 1990, is to berealized, the priorities will have to be redefinedand we should take up chlorination of villagewells in a big way. Secondly, we should give pre-ference to hand pump and sanitary dug well
schemes over piped water supplies which are
highly costly. Thirdly, we must also insist on
drainage around the wells and hand pumps.
Fourthly, we should carry out a programme of
health education parallel with the development
of community water supply and sanitation in
order to highten people's awareness with respect
to health, seeking their full support in planning,
operation, maintenance and financing of the
above services. And lastly but not the least, we
should develop appropriate technologies in the
context of the existing socio-economic conditions1.
References
1. Targets And Achievements—April 1980,U.P. Jal Nigam.
2. State Has Big Water Plans—Northern India
Patrika, dated 10.8.80
3 Norms For Rural Water Supply—BB. Rauand M.M. Datta, published in Water WorldJan.—March 1980.
/4. Report of the State Hygiene Institute, Luck-
now Jan- 1981.
5. Manual On Water Supply And Treatment,"~ CPHEEO, Ministry of Works and Housing,
New Delhi 1976.6. Bacteriology For Sanitary Engineers, D .D.
Mara, 1974-
7. Bacterial Contamination of Water Mains—Gyan Sagar, published & presented in theSeminar at Institution of Engineers (India)Jan. 1-3, 1978, Gorakhpur, U.P.
8- Appropriate Technology For Water Supply& Sanitation, Technical and economic op-tions, John M. Kalbcrmatien, DeAnne S.Julius, and Charles G. Gunnerson, WorldBank/Dec. 1980.
9- Safe Water For Millions—Gyan Sagar, pub-lished in the Civic Affairs, May 1980.
51
10. An approach to technology policy for the B. Social Criteria in the design of ruralnation—Gyan Sagar—Civic Affairs, June water supply projects—Gyan Sagar—1980. published in Society For Training &
Development Journal, New Delhi Oct.11- A. A new approach to planning of rural 1979-
water supply—Gyan Sagar—published bythe Institution of Engineers (India) PH C. Towards Sound Management of RuralDivision Vol. 51 number 6, part 2 Feb. Water Supply—Gyan Sagar—published1971. in Prabandh, Lucknow Jan-March 1980.
52
Sewage Treatment and Its Essentials
By
P.S. Rajvanshy* and S.K. Mishra*
JAIPUR, a city of nations fame and pride, to day
envelopes about 10 lacs souls. It is flanked by
two major sewerage outfalls (North and South).
During the past couple of years it became very
e sential to treat the sewage and consequently a
full proof sewage treatment plant was commis-
sioned in the year 1977. This was implemented to
rcfovc risk to Public Health, to avoid foul smells
and objectionable sights and to prevent the pol-
lution of streams and wells. This was also the
aim to convert this sewage into the water which
may not contaminate any of the sources align-
ing in the vicinity.
In its conceptual design consideration for thefirst and the new waste water treatment facility,
\ -' —
LAYOUT CHART OF UNITS_
o.
I—(-->-•
'?*
,0~
• — . —
.':
**:n_•'4!
i Ti ] tr * '1—^— —
. A . | . 1 -
|
vscOE
,U(MNO CHANKEL
AC
ATOC
c p
TANK
6A5T DISTRlftUTION OAMHEL
VifcST SIDE. CtATC
EAST &1O8. GATC
AinAJlOH COHE
At^ATlOM TAHW OME*tf LOW CHAMMftU
FCEDING PIPfc
WA1.K WAV fiR
COHCRftTE PI
W45T * \Dl
MSPM
MIOP
trip
STOP
Sp
S&PH
PUMP SET
MAIN CONTROL
MAID SLUOC6 PUMP H
MAlKSUUOCt OILtVfi
SLUOGt THtCKMCK <"
S&COMDAKY
9LDM RftCO
EA&T StOB O
e PUMP HOUSE.
6tO
* Chief Engineer, Head, Public Health Engineering Department, Stale of Rajasthan.
** Chemist, Public Health Engineering Department. Rajasthan.
53
PHED, Rajasthan incorporated several innovat-ing features. One of these features was that bio-logical treatment be used with aerobic digestorattached with sludge thickner. This treatment unitlias been in full operation for approximately twoyears and this paper describes the facilities beingused and discusses some of the design and basicmechanism involved in every treatment unit.
Figure—J, shows the present plant layout, andreflects the complete sewage treatment and dis-posal cycle. The present design capacity in use is3 mgd w t̂h the total capacity for 6 mgd and leanhours (low measured was 1 mgd. Sewage receivesprimary treatment prior to biological treatmentprocess. After biological treatment the affluent isdischarged to Ihe Jal Mahal with the excess acti-vated sludge being thickened by gravity. The thic-kened sludge is digested and passed on to thedrying beds for final disposal as manure. Thedesign parameters have been appended as follows :
DESIGN SPECIFICATION
Unit : 1 Inlet Chamber :
Out fall sewer 1200 mm diameter with capacityof average D.W.F. 12 MGD.
Unit: 2 Screen Chamber :
Two chambers of 6 MGD capacity. Velocityof flow: Max. 076 mt/Sec. at peak flow.
Screen size: Coarse screen 3" opening, finescreen 3/4" opening.
Unit: 3 Grit removal plant :
Capacity: Ultimate DWF of 6 MGD velo. offlow: 0.772 Mt/Sec.
Specific gravity of grit particles 2: 3 Min. sizeof grit settling: 0.2 mm settling time: 65 Second.
Grit channels Four sub-channels of parabolicsection 2.286 meter wide at top and 0.6m at bottomwith depth of 0.85 meter.
Unit : 4 Aeration Tanks (42)
Proposed inlet BOD—450 mg/lit -do- outletBOD—10 mg/lit (eff.97.8%). Detention time in
the tank: 13.28 Hrs. proposed MLVSS concentra-tion: 2520 -do- M/SS -do- :4200Oxy. capacity 1.15 Kg./Kg. of BOD Oxy. transfercapacity of each 5 aerater 1.3 Kg/HP/Hr.
Capacity of aeration tank : 15.08 Million
(358660x42).
Proposed SVI : 50-100.
Volume of surplus sludge 2250 Kg./day.Proposed A/M ratio 0.1485.
Proposed solid retention time 20-24 day.Proposed surface loading rate :
525 kg/1000 cum.
Aeration tanks : 10.36 X 10.36x2.47 Mt.
Hopper bottom tanks :
10.36X 10.36+5.56x5.56X1M
Aeration cones : 1.8 mt. diameter high intensity
cones,
Reduction gear : Weather proof worm reduc-
tion gear heads from 960 rpm to 40 rpm.
Motors: 12.5 HP.
Unit : 5 Final Settling Tanks :
Surface overlow rate : 53750 lit/day/sqmt.
Detention period 21/25 He.
T. capacity of tank : 5.675 million It.
Sludge : 400 mm dia working under hydrostatic-
condition.
Unit: 6 Return Sludge pump house :
Pumping capacity : 6 MGD with 2 MGD
stand-by.
Unit : 7 Sludge Thickner :
Capacity : 186140 lit.
Size : RCC 6.1 circular tank with 3.96 meter
depth with hopper bottom.
Inlet : 200 mm dia C.I. pipe.
Outlet : 200 mm dia C.I. pipe with valve.
54
Unit : 8 Aerobic disgestors :
Detention time : 12 days.
Oxy. capacity 0.08 Kg. of Oxy per Kg. of BOD
removed.
Aeration tank : 10.97 x 10.77 x 2.47 MT
Hopper bottom tank :
(10.97X 10, 97-f 5.66x5.56)X 1 mm
Aeration cone :
Reduction gear :
Motors :
Unit : 9 Secondary sludge Pump House :
Pump capacity : 27.2 cum/Hr.
Rising-main : 150 mm dia CI pipe.
Unit : 10 Sludge drying beds :
Area : 4366 sqm.
Drying time 10 days.
12 Nos. S. drying beds.
size ; 22.87 X 17.62 meter.
Extended Aeration
Extended aeration is also termed as total oxi-
dation or aerobic digestion. Any treatment in
which water borne wastes of domestic or indus-
trial origin are aerated in the presence of floccu-
Jent cultures of micro-organisms, the so caUed
activated sludge (activated sludge processes use
recyled micro-organisms to oxidize the organic
compounds in the presence of molecular oxygen
to carbon dioxide, water and new cells) freely
suspended in the liquid. Most waste waters ame-
nable to treatment by the process containing in
inoculum of micro organisms and on aeration,
those adopted to the prevailing environmental
conditions will grow. A proportion these orga-
nisms will usually be found to clump together
•and the flocculated mass can be separated by sedi-
mentation. Quantities of the waste water then
can further be added, and the procedure is repea-
ted until a sufficient concentration of flocculant
activated sludge has been built up to permit
operation under continuous flow conditions. The
concentration usually required in the mixture of
sludge and waste water is within the range of
3500 to 5000 mg/1, A high mixed liquor suspen-
ded solids (MISS) concentration and extended
period of the aerations are essentials of this pro-
cess to seek a reduction of BOD over 98 percent.
This reduction is brought about by two fold con-
vers-.ons of organic matters. A part of it, is ren-
dered into biological sludge and a part is also
converted into carbon dioxide and water. Long
period of aeration leads to further mineralisa-
tion of biological sludge by endogenous respira-
tion and, therefore, it docs not require any more
treatment The essentials in this process are:
Sludge Age (days)
Residence time (Hrs)
Removal elliciency (%)
Reactor solid concentration
(Mg ML SS/l)
Recyle Ratio
Lb BOD (Loading)
Ft 3 days
10
15-30
85-98
3500-5000
0.7-1.5
0.025
Sewage purification and sewage works
Sewage is a water borne waste which contains
enormous variety of waste products of human,
animal, vegetable or mineral origin in dissolved
and undissolved form. A sewage contains solids
those sink, those float and those which neither
sink nor float. Efficient and successful sewage treat-
ment involves the healthy and proper functioning
of all operations. Each unit of treatment plant
ralies on the harmonious functioning of the pre-
vious one- Two treatment units are not alike.
Every unit differs in design, strength and quan-
tity (bow) of sewage it receives and the time pe-
riod of contact.
:.55
Preliminary Treatment
The sewage from the half of the city Jaipur is
led to this treatment plant by a 1200 mm dia.
Masonary sewer. The total quantity of the sewage
received by the treatment plant is about 3 mgd
with a maximum flow in the morning/evening
hours and minimum flow occurs during the lean
hours. Sewage carries with it papers, rags, sticks,
coarse, grit and other objects. If they are left
to pass to other units they could cause great deal
of trouble by blocking pumps, choking pipes,
valves and the desired oxidation of the organic
matters. The first step, therefore, is the removal
of these objects by screens of size 3" and 3/4"-
The bar screen has been set with the bars sloping
in the direction of the flow, and the angle with
the horizontal is 60°. Bar screens are cleaned by
hand. Alternatively, the cleaning of screens is
also done by substituting another set of screens
of the same size.
Grit Removal plant
Even where the sewerage system is nominally
separate, it is prudent to make provision for the
removal of grit, from the matter, though it is
composed of sand, brokeriglass, cinders crockery
and occasional small fragments of metal. Re-
moval of grit is based on the fact that grit is
heavier than the organic solids present in the
sewage. The specific gravity of quartz material
(sand) is about 2.65 and of organic matter ranges
from 1-0 to 1.2. Practically, a detention period
of 1 minute and a velocity of about lfps. have
been found to be most effective in removal of
grit. Theoretically this unit should eliminate inor-
ganic material larger than about 0.2mm. This
removal is effected by means of a small settle-
ment tank from which the grit is removed by
pump. The specific gravity of the grit material
though may vary but precisely it comes to 2.6. The
four parabolic channels with a depth 2.286 mater,
top width 0.6m and 0.85 m at bottom also play
(vital role in removing the grit from sewage. This
unit is equipped with mechanical device for re-
moving ths grit and washing it. The unit makes
a use of small detention tank (grit collector and
washer) where after being washed, the grit is
discharged by a conveyor. The so conveyed mate-
rial is dumped inio the trolly standing just below
it for final disposal.
Aeration tanks
This sewage is led through the channels to the
surface aeration system in which the surface of
the sewage in the aeration tank is agitated as to
encourage solution of oxygen from the air. The
reason and the advantage of agitation is that when
the water is comparatively quiescent, the surface
film exposed to the air becomes saturated with
oxyge" but this oxygen is not transferred to the
body of the liquid, whereas when the water is
agitated the surface film is rapidly replaced with
deoxygenated sewage, so that1 the process of aera-
tion-, is greatly increased- This is similar to that
phenomenon of heart exchange where heat is trans-
ferred rapidly through the surface if the liquid is
in motion. This whole of the process (aeration) in
this sewage treatment plant is accomplished in
aeration tanks.
The system of aeration in this plant involves
the latest technology. The mechanical aeration
system introduces oxygen into the liquid and the
activated sludge is kept in suspension by an agi-
tator rotating at or near the surface of the aera-
tion tank. Aeration cone consists of an inverted
rotating funnel (aerating wheel or one) shaped
agitator equipped with vanes on its upper surface,
surmounting on masonary uptake tube, situated
in the centre of each aeration pocket, circulation
and aeration are produced by the aeration cones
drawing liquid from the draught tube and spray-
ing (the effect of spraying also damps down foam-
ing which in some other processes has become a
serious problem) over the tank surface, entraining
56
and dissolving oxygen in the process- In this man-
ner the liquid in the tank is kept in motion sludge
is prevented from settling and the agitation of the
surface effects aeration. The intensity of aeration
can be controller! by varying either or both the
rotation speed of the cone and its degree of
imersion in the liquid. The rate of oxygen trans-
fer is affected by the nature of aeration device,
depth of submergence, temperature turbulance in
the tank, depth of the tank and the chemical
character of sewage. The concentration of acti-
vated sludge in the mixed iiquor has to be kept
3000-5000 mg/1. (suspended solids) and is so
adjusted that dissolved oxygen remains 2-3 mg/I.
The advantage claimed for this system are :
1. Low hor;e power requirement
2- Low maintenance
3. Low cost.
The very important part of this unit is the
maintenance of recirculation ratio. The ratio of
re-circulation represents the volume or re-circu-
lated flow to the raw sewage fiow. 0.5 to 1.5 are
common in treating domestic sewage but ratios
upto 10 are employed to the strong industrial
waste. The re-circulation is from the undcr-flow
of the final settling tank.
Final Settling Tank
From the aeration tank the sewage flows to a
final circular settling tank whose storage capacity
is 5675000 lit. The detention time allowed is 2.3
hours. Sedimentation is employed to remove the
smaller organic solids in the sewage- The aerated
sewage enters at the centre and flows to the
periphery fo form a sort of influent wcjll at the
centre by means of a pipe through the body of
the tank or more appropriately it is more or less
an upward [low through a central riser from a
pipe entering under the tank. A circular baffle
provides a satisfactory distribulion to the flow.
This baffle is perforated. Machanical equipment
for sludge removal, scraper has been provided to
concentrate the sludge to hopper. Sludge is re-
moved from the tank by pumping.
Sludge Thickener
Twenty percent of the settled sludge is pumped
to a gravitional thickner while about eighty per-
cent of the same meets the sewage entering aera-
tion tanks. The unit operates very much like a
settling tank. The feed solids entering in the
middle are distributed radially and the sludge
soLds are collected as under flow. There are
three zones in such a thickner- Clear zone: Top
liquid escaping over the weirs. Feed zone:
Uniform solid concentration to the point of
sludgt. By thickening the volume of sludge going
to the aerobic digestor is reduced and the thickner
over flow is returned to the f.s.t- inlet. Here thick-
ening means the concentration of solids to less
than 15 per cent solids. It is practical to produce
the sludge with 6 to 10 percent of solids by thick-
ening.
This sludge is then onwards passed on to the
acrob'c digestor.
Aerobic digestors
Waste biolog-ical sludge so produced is stabi-lised by simply reserving aeration in four aera-tion basins. The basic reaction of the aerobicsludge stabilisation is :—
Aerobic CO,Complex organics =organisms H2O
This aerobic stabilization process has the
advantage of a complete food chain and a very
mixed and varied ecology including same anaero-
This aerobic stabilization process has the ad-
vantage of a complete food chain and a very
mixed and varied ecology including some anae-
robic and facultative organisms. This results in
a very non-fragile ecology and thus the aerobic
stabilization process is less susceptible to be
upset than the other processes. These have been
designed to eliminate all sludge disposal prob-
lems and to allow only inert solids to escape
57
over the ; drying beds. Deweterability ' is ' tremen-
dously effected by it. • • • ; ) : i " " ; l ; v m i
Drying Beds >; 1 ; : t l T -3""1?-
i;. ..The ultimate disposal of sludge^ i^,ofterj.f^icili
tated by removing enough of the Jiquid portion
so that the sludge behaves as a solid. The remo-
val of water from sludge in, drying beds takes,places
in two steps. The : water diains,..qul of ,.the ;slu;|ge
into the sand and accumulates .into,the draiosjito
out. A considerable, fraction of..the j^ateris,jdiajned
by settling of, the solid: and general compaction
followed by the formation of.,channels..'thabifooii
ther the process of dewatcring.. Further dewaterl
-in'gnoccu'rs':by'evaporation. This, is•.accomplished
b^juils .drying 'beds. They consist simply of shale
:ldwl'pGlids>; with 'isand^ bottoms and. tile drains;
Sludgers flumped to these beds at a depth of .6-12
infchfejckndi the -time required for the sludge to
llewatersto a?ilifitable consistency ranges :from-10-15
d8y3: iTrlec^dryi-ng beds are rectangular jn shape
,v*i!fh3llov/)1suWounding walls; The design-specifi-
aid.by WPCE 1959 as 1.75-2.5
rr;capita, while British experience
dictates bed<area "between 3.5 to 5-5 sq ft./capita.
MeMlc-a'deijuatelyiit iis considered to be 0.84 sqni
of- drying bed-for every 7. persons of contributory
! i . >The physico chemical character of Ra^ sewage, effluent and l̂udge : , ,,
TABLE—I• I J D 1 • • - ' '
The composition of Raw sewagej effluent and Sfifdge given in the table. The values recorded for• i j
sludge composition include five years observations from the year 1976 to 1981.
Particulars
Colour Order
Minimum
Brown^gray Little
Maximum >
Very seldom Offensive
Total Alkalinity (as caco) mg/1
Chloride (pascl) mg/1
Total settleable solids (30 mts.) ml/1
Total solids mg/1 ,
Total volatile solids mg/1
Total desolved solids mg/I
Total suspended solids mg/I
BOD5mg5/l
COOmg/1
D.O.mg/1
7.3
488
192
2
1270
390
910
340
250
680
0.1
8.2
716
336
10
2225
1015
1310
900
600
1540.
0.0
58
TABLE—II
Percentage, purification,,efficiency, of the plant
Particulars Influent., Max.
Effluent ,, Max. ISS
Designspecification
BOD6mg/l 250. . , 600 - ,,. .. 7 15
Suspended solids Mg/1 340 900 15 30
Percentage Reduction in.BODg is of theorder of 95% to 97.5%
20
30
20450
(influent & 10 foreffluent)
TABLE—III. / . : ' . .
• 1
Fertilizing Value of Sewage Sludge in Comparison to the Detailed and other Indian Manures
Per cent by weighton dry basis.
Total Nitrogen
Total Phosphorus
Total Potassium
Sewage sludgeDesired value Actual values
5-7 3.5-4.0
3.0-4.3*
2-4 1.5-2.5
0.1-0.6 0.3-0.6
FM**
0.5
-.2
0.5
EPA-1959Farm yard Manure.
Compost
1.2-1.5
1.0-1.2
1.4-1.6
• i
The plant has been in operation aince Septem-ber, 1978. On tnc basis of the operating expe-rience today, it is intersting to examine that theobtained results confirm the design specifications.BOD removal is to the extent of 95 to 97.5%(Table-Il) The effluent is more of exceilent qualitywith a minimum and maximum BOD5 7 and 15respectively- Though design requirement is 10against the influent BOD5 450 mg/1. The maxi-mum BOD5 is obiviously an overloading of theplant but substantial lover effluent BOD5 value
is achieved. The final product, sewage sludgedried on the beds contains substances of consider-able fertilizing value such as nitrogen, phospho-rous, potassium, Hunus, and organic growth pro-ducing substances. As is known that it condi-tions the soil and helps to retain moisture, itcan be used as a filler for true fertilizer, as a com-post too. From Table III, it is revealed that se-wage sludge provides maximum and potant por-tion of nitrogen to the farm. The cost evaluationso far made comes to be about Rs. 80 per tonne.
59
on the basis of the nutrients it possesses, but may
be more if blended with other soil conditioner.
Gypsum, which is the requirement of most of the
Rajasthani soils may one of the blender- Farm
yard manure (Gobar Khad) and compost (stabi-
lized sold waste) contain very less nitrogen and
phosporus in comparison to sewage sludge.
Fortification with phosphoric acid and ammo-
nia may result into more economic returns. The
resulting picduct is yet to be assessed. It has
been experienced that people line-up to purchase
sewage sludge to truck it a,t their own during the
seasons. As such it is beneficial.
Maintenance Cost
The expenses incurred annually in the main-tenance of sewage treatment plant are given hereas under:
Electricity charges Rs. 4,80,000/-Labour salary & Wages Rs. 3,00,000/-Miscellaneous expenses Rs. 60,000/-
Total annual maintenancecost:— Rs. 8,40,000/-
Revcnue Return
Revenue return of sewage sludge has been eva-
luated to not only to give a coverage to the ex
penses incurred in maintaining the plant but pro-
ves to be an asset to the income. Annually the
production of sewage sludge is about 10,000 cum
which @ Rs- 80 per cum yields Rs. 8,00,000 an-nually.
Effluent which is 2.9 mgd and is passed on to
Jalmahal for onwards use as irrigation water,
economically adds about Rs. 96,000 per annum.
In total i he revenue return comes to be Rs.8,96,000/-. The total maintenance costs Rs-8,40,000/- per annum can be very well met. with-in the returned assets.
The economic U£e shall be furthered when the
plant runs to its full capacity of 6mgd. The re-
venue shall just be doubled to estimated and even
if electricity charges arc substracted, the net bene-
fit accounts for a gross saving of Rs. 4,80,000
annually.
The economic use shall bz furthered when the
with the invaluable efforts to safe guard the
nation's health and therefore, bulk of domestic
waste water which was once held responsible to
cause lot of nuisance and hazard to public health
and its environ, to day is free frqm any danger.
But conversely for a state which is already under
so many economic strains this facility with returns
is of vital importance. Therefore, the contribution
in the field of public hcaith & hygience rendered
through this venture is of course far beyond the
limitations of any cnonmic compulation.
CONCLUSION
The system to date has been capable of meet-
ing a process effluent guarantee of 10 mg/1,
BOD 6.There was no evidence of filamentous growth
and associated problems and no major system
design problem could be noticed. Efficiency deter-
mining factors have revealed that there is no
undue economic penalty and rather number of
benefits can be ascribed to the operation of thisplant.
60
Social and Epidemiological issues inRural Water Supply Programme
By
D. Banerji*
Introduction
W ATER supply programmes involve consider-able investment of resources. Allocations of
invostment in such programmes are determinedby three major considerations:
1. Improving access of people to water andimproving the quantum of water supplyfor drinking, cooking, washing, etc.
2. Offering water to people which is per-ceived by them as cleaner or estheticallybetter than what they have been gettingearlier.
3. As a measure to reduce the incidence ofwater-borne diseases in the community.
Much remains to be done in determining arational basis for allocation for rural water sup-ply programme on the basis of assessment ofthe above types of considerations. Because ofsuch shortcomings, it has also not been possibleto relate allocations for rural (or for that matterurban) water supply programmes with othersectors of plans for social and economic develop-ment. More often than not, allocation of resour-ces for community water supply schemes aremade on an ad hoc basis. The need for accessto water and the need for getting estheticallyclean water supply have to he determined forindividual communities on the basis of theweightage given by these communities to suchneeds.
Even if one keeps aside the question of thevalue attached to the access, the quantity and
•Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and CommunityHealth, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067.
the esthetic aspects of water supply to a commu-nity, one has to contend with important epide-miological, ecological and sociological issues re-lated to community water supply in rural India.These are very briefly discussed in the subse-quent paragraphs.
Social Issues
It is always assumed that a water supply sys-tem that is offered to a community by governmentor other agencies from outside is good. So confi-dent are the personnel of these agencies aboutthe "superiority" of their programme that theyhave often ignored even to study the systemwhich had been existing earlier. To make matterworse, they also let loose hordes of "educators"to educate people to accept what is handed downto them by these agencies. Improvement of thehealth status is a major argument given by sucheducators in favour of acceptance of a new watersupply scheme. Often this is the case and oftenthere is little problem in getting acceptance of ascheme within a community. Sometimes, evenif there is no actual improvement in health sta-tus, people accept the new scheme on the basisof the "education" given to them by educators.On occasions, however, some people stick to theold system because they have problems with thenew scheme. For instance in the course of a nine-year study of nineteen villages (1), it was obser-ved that many villagers did not like the tasteof the water from the shallow tubewells and sothey used water from these tubewells only fordrinking purposes and they continued to usewater from the village ponds for cooking andwashing utencils and clothes. This example isbeing given here to underline two issues:
61
1. That there ought to have been commu-nity studies about social perception andsocial values about water use beforeimplementing another water supplyscheme .
2. Before people are "educated" or forcedto give up use of pond water, the agencyconcerned should have convincing datato show superiority of using water fromshallow tubewells.
Another set of social issues concerning a watersupply scheme relates to the distribution ofwater outlets (taps), quantity of the water sup-plied and regularity of water supply. In thesharply stratified rural society, the lower classesoften get fewer taps, often at the fag end of thesupply system. The queues at these taps aremuch longer and this generates various kindsof social tensions, sometimes culminating infights. Worse still, when the supply systembreaks down due to various reasons (e.g. failureof electricity supply), these people have to fallback on the old source of water supply. Asthese sources get further contaminated becauseof even greater neglect, drinking of water fromsuch sources exposes the people to even greaterhealth hazards.
Eqidemiological Issues
Public health engineers are familiar with theecological consequences of not having an ade-quate drainage system along with a potablewater supply system. How this deterioration ofthe environment affects the health status havenot been adequately studied by epidemiologists
When even giant municipal corporations ofthe metropolitan cities of India are unable toprovide protected water supply in adequatequantity to the cities, it is reasonable to assume
that the conditions are much worse when itcomes to supplying protected water to ruralpopulations. Further, even if it is assumed thatthe water supplied by a rural water supplysystem is "protected", the epidemiological im-pact of such schemes on incidence of water-borne diseases of various kinds has not beensystematically studied. For example, how farhas the provision of protected water supply tourban slum populations influenced the incidenceof water-borne diseases? Even if a villager getsadequate amount of protected water supply forhis various uses, how does that influence thedisease incidence in an environment of filth,dirt, flies and insects and under appalling con-ditions of personal hygiene and housing? Thematter becomes even more complicated when thewater supplied is only "partially" protected orwhen the quantity of water supplied is limitedand is erratic in frequency.
Most often epidemiologists have failed toanswer such questions, yet, huge investmentsare being made on water supply schemes ofvarious kinds. It may, however, be emphasisedthat it is not being argued that there should beno rural water supply programmes. It is beingargued that allocation for water supply wouldbe made on the basis of a better understandingof sociological issues and on the basis of a betterappreciation of the health outputs of the invest-ment along with the output in terms of limitingthe needs of a community for water for variousdomestic purposes.
Reference
1. Banerji, Debabar (1981): A long Term Study ojNineteen Indian Villages: Volume I—Cultural, Social,Economic and Political Background of Health Culture,New Delhi, Centre of Social Medcine and CommunityHealth, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
62
Rural Drinking Water Strategy
By
Col. B.L. VERMA*
T HE International Water & Sanitation Decadewill see an outlay of around 12,000 crores in
the coming 10 years. The United Nations havepledged to provide safe drinking water to everyman, woman and child by 1990 (for some oddreasons cattle have been left out). The provisionof water in the rural areas, according to esta-blished UNICEF philosophy will be through ahand pump programme. At the rate of at leastone hand pump per village, the programme willrequire an outlay of 1,500 crores. The Pro-gramme is well conceived and on the face of ita genuine solution to the problem of provisionof safe drinking water. It, however, suffers froma few shortcomings:
(a) The programme is being carried outin isolation, independent of other deve-lopment programmes, thereby raisingthe overall cost of the programme;
(b) It cuts across the grains of integratedrural development;
any other culture. Let us then work on thefollowing lines:
Develop water resources in totality
Consider various demands on this com-modity
Allot priorities of necessity the first priorityhas to be drinking water.
It will be seen that in this programme, wateris not being fragmented. Once resource isdeveloped, the water will be distributed accord-ing to priorities. This will bring down thecost on drinking water programme and makethe money for rural development last longer.
The water resources development may takethe shape of surface water harnessing mini re-servoirs, tanks, dug wells, or bore wells forharnessing ground water. In fact, more oftenthan not it will be conjunctive use of water
(c) It siphons all the money spent on theprogramme into urban economy;
(d) It generates no employment potentialin the rural areas;
(e) It has an adverse cost benefit ratio.
Water is a commodity that is required tosupport any process of devlopmnt of humanactivity. Water is required for drinking, bathing,washing, sanitation, cattle, industry, agriculture,horticulture, sericulture, aquaculture, or name
• Head of the Water Resources Development Depart-ment, Action for Food Production, New Delhi.
Presently most of the funds set apart forrural development are being spent to supportthe infra-structure of the agencies created towork in the rural areas. If the concept of integ-rated rural development is accepted in princi-ple, the entire working in the rural areas mustbe integrated and be achieved through a com-mon development agency, and multiple ruraldevelopment agencies all trying to work inisloation and at cross purposes generally be dis-mantled.
What we need for the programme of drinkingwater in the rural areas is a fresh look, anintegrated look, of which this programme formsa component in total development.
63
Water Supply in Mewat Regionof Haryana
By
Subhan Khan*, R.K. Punjia**M.L. Sharma***
TECHNICALLY water is not a food but anessential component .of diet. Its supply has
become a critical factor in public health andeconomic development in most parts of theworld, as water and health are closely connec-ted. World Health Organiation has estimatedthat 80 per cent of the world diseases andillness is.ijue to contaminated water. Contamina-ted drinking' water can cause intestinal andparasite infection directly. Stagnation of watercan provide an environment for the carriers ofthese diseases. Lack of water results in a poorstandard of personal hygene which in turn leadsto the transmission of infection by means ofunwashed hands, crockery, dirty clothes etc.etc. Much of the water associated diseases inIndia are related to polluted drinking water.
The global significance of water found ex-pression in the United Nations Water Conferencein March, 1977 and by the Thirtieth WorldHealth Assembly in May, 1977 which proposedthat the Decade 1981-1990 be celebrated as theInternational Drinking Water Supply andSanitation Decade. It is hoped that every bodywill be provided with safe drinking water andsanitation facilities by the end of decade.
Mewat Region in Haryana
Mewat region in Haryana forms the southerntip of Haryana state bordering Rajasthan andbounded by Gurgaon tehsil on north, Alwardistrict on west, Bharatpur district of Rajasthanon south and Palwal tehsil of Faridabad t dis-trict on east. This is a triangular area divided
• CSIR Fellow.** Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and;**• Prof, and Head, Department of Sociology,
Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar (India).
into four NES blocks, i.e. Nuh, FerozepurJhirka, Hathin and Punhana. These blocks fallin tehsil Ferozepur Jhirka and Nuh of old dis-trict Gurgaon. The area is inhabited pre-dominantly by Meos,, an agricultural Hinducaste converted into Mohammadohs.
Hydrological Aspects of the Region
In Mewat region two types of alluvium i.e.clayey and sandy, are found extensively. TheAravali ridges divides this two types of alluvium.Clayey on the western side and sandy on theeastern side. These are wide spread pans ofKankar which occurs at various depths rangingbetween 2.4-3 meter and 42 to 97 meters i.e.shales and quartizes. In most of the area, theunderground water is saline at, shallow depth.However, at the foot of hills certain sweetwater pockets are available. The spring levelvaries from 40 to 80 feet. The discharge oftubewells is between 5000 to 8000 gallons perhour.
Sources of Water in the Region
There are 531 villages in the region. Out ofwhich 490 villages are inhabited with popula-tion of 4,05,701 persons as per 1971 census.According to the Government of India in theyear 1972 all the villages were problem villagesin .respect of the availability of safe drinkingwater, in the following categories .
(i) having no assured source within a dis-tance of 1.6 km or having no ground-water source within depth of 15 metres.
(ii) the existing source of water supply issusceptible to water borne diseases likecholera or infested with guinea- wormsmaking endemic to these diseases.
64
(iii) the existing source suffers from' ex-cessive salinity, iron or fluorides mak-ing them hazardous to health.
Hydrological aspects discussed earlier revealthe state of affairs. The position has improvedover the time. Piped water supply facilitieshave been provided in 62 villages by the year1971. By the end of March, 1980 the numberof villages having- facility of piped watersupply increased .to 113 i.e. 23.06 per cent oftotal ' inhabited villages with population of85964 persons i.e. 21.19 per cent of the totalpopulation of region under reference. Wells con-stituted the only source of drinking water forinhabitants of 421 villages upto 1977 (statementA). Still this source is most commonly used forthe purposes of drinking water, even in majorityof villages of the water is brakish. As there is nopotential canal in the area, ponds are the mainsources of water supply to six of the villages.
Condition of Sources of Water in the Region
Community wells are the main source ofdrinking water supply. These wells are builtnearby the villages by the village communityor philan-throps. Almost all the wells are un-covered and majority of them are in bad shape.It was observed during the survey that in 75per cent of the village wells birds and lizardshave dug their holes in' the side walls. Manya time the decomposed body of these birds andreptiles are being taken out in the drawingbucket/pot. There is no protection from dirtand dust. Even instances were quoted by thevillagers about falling of small domestic animalsin the wells. The only way of cleaning thewater of well, in case an animal falls or anyperson commits suicide by jumping in well, isto pluck the water outlet in the well and drawout whole water. Use of Potassium permagnateor any other Chemical is not liked by thevillagers.
STATEMENT A
Distribution of Villages of Mewat Region by distance from the drinking water source: 1977.*
Tehsil
Nuh
Fero-zepurJhirka
Total
Distancein Kms.
Within village1-2
3-5
Total
Within village1-23-5
Total
No
235
1
29
33——
33
62
Sources
Tap
%
8.91.9
0.4
11.2
14.3——
14.3
WellNo.
2149
—
223
18513—
198
421
• %
32.G3.5
—
86.1
80.15.6
— .
85.7
TubewellNo. ' <?o
1 0.4— —
— —
1 0.4
_
— —— —
— —
1
OtherNo. %
5 1.91 0.4
— . —
6 2.3
_
— —— —— —
6
TotalNo.
24315
1
259
21813—
231
490
93.8- 5,8
i , - ••>
04:lot)
: ' • " i , :
94.4 '5.6
—
100
100
*Source: Economic Census 1977, Village Amenities, District Gurgaon, pp. 28-29;
65
Condition of ponds is much deteriorated.None of the ponds is cemented and has propersanitation measures. Animals and men are veryclosely associated as far as the drinking waterfor both is concerned in six villages. In halfof the villages, drinking for animals and bath-ing for men is from the pond itself. Watercatchment area of the ponds is village commonland or water from village area or both. Rainis the main source of pond water. Only in acutescarcity times water is diverted from distantplaces to this region for meeting the demandof drinking water for both men and animals.
Socio-economic and Cultural Aspects of Sanita-tion and Hygiene
Contamination begins from the source ofwater itself. Village wells are mostly in badcondition not because the people are poor butbecause of lack of sense of common responsi-bility. Common man does not feel involved incommunity works.
People use buckets, mudpots and leather con-tainers for drawing water from well. They usesunhemp or coconut rope for drawing water.Both the drawing pot and rope are not seenfrom hygeine point of view. Ladies generallyrub the soil on the drawing pot and do notwash it before lowering in the well. The nearbysoil rubbed on pot, if it does not contain fecalmaterial, it certainly contains dung contents.Similarly the rope takes inert material with itand pours it in the well water.
The most dangerous common practice in ruralareas is to ease near by the source of water.They clean their hands either on the bank ofpond or near the village well. The diseaseparasites and germs are introduced veryfrequently in the water source. In case of pondthe water catchment area is washed off inrainy season and contaminated water accumu-lates in it. Washing of clothes and bathing onbank of water source is another insanitary habitof people. In some villages the community haspractised social ostracism for such actions andvillage factions fade away the communityefforts.
As animal has been the backbone of ruraleconomy in rural community, both, man andanimal, live in close association. Animals are
taken to pond for watering. They deficate andurinate in pond water. Thus water is pollutedheavily. Children take bath in ponds along withanimals and are subjected to many communi-cable diseases. Situation is worst in the villageswhere pond water is being used for drinkingand household purposes. Population of suchvillages is subjected to zoonotic diseases.
Personal hygiene is least attended to byrural people. Traditional moorings, like, 'SherKe Mauh Kisne Dhoia', are very much pre-valent. Not to talk of bathing and cleaningclothes, majority of the children do not washtheir face. Parents are unaware of personalhygiene which lead to many diseases and there-by occurs economic as well as health loss. Thevicious circle of, poor hygeine-ill health and eco-nomic loss-poor work efficiency-lesser produc-tion-lesser money for development, is a commonphenomena in this region.
Remedy of the problem lies in various aspectsbut the most important is the supply of safedrinking water through piped water supply.
Status of Water Supply in Mewat Region
Water supply is a state subject. Governmentof Haryana has made concerted efforts inachieving the objective of 'safe drinking waterfor all'. But the existing status of water supplyin this region warrants for acceleration of theprogrammes Statement-B clearly reveals thatwith the completion of water supply projects inexecution, 43.29 per cent of villages with 48.87per cent of population would get safe drinkingwater. State Public Health Engineering Depart-ment has prepared estimates for rest of the vil-lages under the auspices of Mewat DevelopmentBoard.
Financial Requirements
Supply of piped water is a costly affair. Al-though the state is spending a good amount forthis purpose, the financial resources are meagerin comparison to the need of hour.
Per capita cost of schemes is Rs. 274/- andRs. 285/- for Nuh and Ferozepur Jhirka tehsilsrespectively. Projects under execution needfinancial resources amounting to Rs. 194.60
66
STATEMENT B
STATUS OF WATER SUPPLY IN MEW AT REGION*
Sr. DescriptionNo.
NuhTehsil
FerozepurJhirkaTehsil
Total
1. Total number of villages.
2. Inhabited villages
3. Population (1971)
4. Number of villages provided with watersupply (31.3.1980)
5. Population provided with water supply (1971)
6. Number of villages for which water supplyschemes are in progress (1.5.1980)
7. Population to be covered by water supplyprojects in progress (1971)
8. Number of villages for which estimates havebeen prepared.
9. Population for which water supply estimateshave been prepared.
10. Unattended villages
11. Unattended population
Figures in parentheses denotes per-centages to total number of unhabited villages and totalpopulation of the region.
289
261
2,25,933
65(13.30)
68,882(16.97)
53(10.79)
52,909(13.10)
31(6.32)
25,384(6.26)
112(22.90)
78,758(19.41)
242
230
1,79,768
48(9.80)
43,277(10.66)
46(9.40)
33,055(8.14)
52(10.79)
46,743(11.52)
84(17.20)
56,693(13.97)
531
491(100)4,05,701(100)
113
1,12,159
99
85,964
83
72,127
196
1,35,451
*Source: Statistical Abstract of Haryona, 1979-80 and Rural Water Supply Project of Mewat Area,Public Health Engineering Department, Haryana.
lacs besides Rs. 99.37 lacs already allotted forthe purpose (Statement-C). State is the only fund-ing agency. The beneficiaries contribution hasbeen discouraging. As the majority of thepeople are below poverty line, their contributionis only in giving 'Samlat' (common) land for thepurpose. It is also difficult to make rural watersupply self supporting as the tariff structurecannot be drastically increased due to thepeople's inability to pay. State is facing finan-cial difficulties in providing safe drinking waterto all Mewaties by 1990 as the financial re-
sources needed amount to Rs. 10 crores.
Conclusion and Suggestions
Progress made in the region is quite satis-factory. The region under reference is themost backward region in the state. Naturalbiases in terms of brakish under ground waterand kankar in the soil have contributed much tothe problem; Sanitation and hygiene aspects arebeing neglected because of the ignorance,
67
illiteracy and traditionalism. Major problem oe-ing faced by the state is financial shortage tomeet the expenditure, besides materials. Itis hoped that State would achieve the tragetset for the Decade to provide everyone with saledrinking water and sanitation by 1990.
4. Need to include women in decision makingrelated to site and nature of source to be deve-loped. They bear the direct burden of collectingwater and often have the responsibility of main-taining sanitary facilities and household environ-ment.
1. International organizations like UN WHOUNICEF etc. should come forward to help thedeveloping countries.
2. A comprehensive survey of the socio-cul-tural and economic conditions of the peoplemust be carried out before denning the overallpolicies and plans.
3. Local government and community participa-tion in programme is essential. It may need in-creased investment in terms of preparatory timeand costs but would lead to success and longlasting effects.
5. Imparting sanitation education, related tothe dissatisfaction in the community with presentconditions and its motivation to improve thequality of life; arguments relevant to theirframe of reference; integrating message withfolk lores and local proverbs and; use of com-mon-sense arguments.\6. Upgrading the present sources of drinkingwater supply by improving their structureappropriately.\
7. Developing appropriate technology andundertaking the national production of equip-ment.
STATEMENT C
FINANCIAL OUTLAY AND REQUIREMENTS*
Sr.No.
Description NuhTehsil
FerozepurJhirkaTehsil
Total
1. Estimated cost of projects in progress withnumber of villages
2. Funds allocated to projects at Sr. No. 1
3 Funds required for completion of projectsat Sr. No. 1
4. Estimated cost and number of villages to beserved by water supply.
5. Per capita cost of schemes as given in Sr.No. 1
6. Estimated cost and number of villages to beserved by water supply.
Rs. 191.95lacsNo. 53
Rs. 60.13lacs
Rs. 131.82lacsRs. 74.43lacsNo. 31Rs. 274/-
Rs. 265.43lacsNo. 112
Rs. 102.02lacsNo. 46Rs. 39.24lacs
Rs. 62.78lacsRs. 142.43lacsNo. 52Rs.285/-
Rs. 198.74lacsNo. 84
Rs. 293.97lacsNo. 99Rs. 99.37lacsRs. 194.60lacsRs. 216.86lacsNo. 83
Rs. 464.17lacsNo. 196
*Source: Public Health Engineering Department, Haryana.
68
Rural Water Supply in India
By
Bhanu Pratap Singh*
U NTIL the advent of independence (1947),rural water supply was a neglected subject.
The villagers had to depend on tanks, ponds andopen wells for all their water supply needs andwhere no source of water supply existed, theyhad to trek long distance in search of water.After the attainment of independence some stategovernments initiated a programme of ruralwater supply and achieved a small measure ofsuccess.
During the initial stages of the first FiveYear Plan, provision of water supply and sanita-tion schemes in the states was met out of thefunds provided for community developmentworks. It was in 1954 that the central govern-ment stepped in by providing some funds foraiding the states in the execution of rural watersupply and sanitation schemes. The new pro-gramme, captioned "National Water Supply andSanitation Programme" was launched in 1954under which 50 per cent grant-in-aid was givenby the central government for implementationof rural water supply schemes. The other 50per cent of the cost of the schemes was met bythe state governments with some nominal con-tribution by the local beneficiaries.
In the early sixties, the Government of Indiarealised the needs for making correct assess-ment of the problem of rural water supply andas a prerequisite for plannig, set up specialinvestigation divisions in every state. Thesedivisions were assigned the task of investigatingand preparing a list of problem villages in re-spect of drinking water supply. The final com-pilation of the results of the survey indicatedthat there were about 1.53 lakh villages in the'problem' category where water supply schemeshad to be taken up on priority basis. The 'pro-
* Former Minister of Rural Reconstruction, Govern-ment of India.
blem' villages come under the following cate-gories:
(i) villages which have no source of watersupply within a mile radius or within adepth of 50' from ground level;
(ii) villages in cholera endemic areas; and
(iii) guinea-worm infested areas, and wherewater supply has high content ofchlorides, fluorides, iron, etc.
The emphasis on rural water supply pro-gramme underwent radical change with thecommencement of the fourth Five Year Plan(1969-74). On the basis of assessment report of1972 indicating that the 'problem' villages werearound 1.53 lakhs, rural water supply was takento be one of the components of 'Minimum NeedsProgramme' in the Plan. The Government ofIndia launched a programme, called 'AcceleratedRural Water Supply Programme' in 1972 witha view to providing speedy relief to the peopleliving in 'problem' villages. Under this specialprogramme, around Rs. 40 crores were spentduring 1972-74 and cent-per-cent grant-in-aid was given by the Central Governmentfor rural water supply schemes executed in'problem' villages.
During the fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79),attempts were made to provide a source of safewater in the problem villages already identifiedby the states. It was estimated that about 40,000'problem' villages were provided with watersupply by March 1979 under the NationalWater Supply and Sanitation Programme. Thismeant that 1.13 lakh villages had yet to belifted out of the category of 'problem' villages.Therefore, the Government of India launchedthe Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programmefor the second time in 1977 under which aboutRs. 100 crores were distributed as grant-in-aid
69
during the years 1977 to 1979. Under this cen-tral sector programme, a sum of Rs. 60 croreshas been allocated during the year, 1979-80.It has been reported that around 43,000 vil-leges have been provided with safe watersupply during 1977-79 and it has beenestimated that around 33,000 villages wouldhave water supply facilities during the currentfinancial year. It will thus be seen that from1951 to 1979, investment to the tune of Rs. 650crores has been made for rural water supply.
The declared policy of the Government is toprovide complete coverage with the scheme ofsafe water supply in all the problem villagesbefore the end of the Sixth Five Year Plan.With the present rate of investment in therural water supply sector, both by the Centreand the States, it will be possible to achievethis goal by March, 1983.
With the completion of rural water supplyschemes in problem villages in 1983, it wouldbe government's endeavour to provide each andevery village with protected water supply by1990. The United Nations have declared 1981-90as 'International Decade on Water Supply andSanitation' and the Government of India, likeother developing countries, have agreed toachieve the goal which has been set by theUnited Nations in their conference held in MarDel Plata in 1977. It is estimated that aroundRs. 6.000 crores would be required to providecomplete coverage to all the villages by 1990.Appropriate measures will have to be taken tomuster resources to this extent by the coopera-tion of the government and the people.
Plan Outlays On Rural Water Supply (1951-79)
Rs. in (millions)60 (only NWSSP)280
670* (including allprogrammes)
121.5**90.8
100.3***1645****5740 (a)14580 (b)
First PlanSecond PlanThird Plan
Annual Plan 1966-67Annual Plan 1967-68Annual Plan 1968-69Fourth Plan 1969-74Fifth Plan 1974-79Sixth Plan 1978-83
REFERENCE
•Out of this, Rs. 163.3 millions was allocated toNWSS
** " Rs. 66 2*** " Rs. 62 8
****State Plan — Rs. 1250 millionCentrally sponsoredaccelerated rural W.S.Programme; — Rs. 340 millionCentral assistance — Rs. 55 million
(a) The Fifth Plan ended in March 1978 and the SixthFive Year Plan sarted in April 1978. During 1977-78, a sum of Rs. 40 crores was allotted for thecentral scheme of Accelerated Rural Water SupplyProgramme.
(b) A provision of Rs. 326 crores in the central sector,viz. Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programmeis also included in this amount. A sum of Rs. 60crores was allotted in 1978-79, and another Rs. 60crores have been provided for expenditure during1979-80.
70
State-wise position
Andhra Pradesh
By
U.R.K. Murthi*
Introduction
I NDIA is mainly an agricultural country.Majority of people live in villages. According
to 1971 census, roughly 82% of the total popu-lation live in Rural Areas.
Andhra Pradesh is one of the major states ofthe Union having an area of nearly 2.77 lakhsq. kms. with a total population of 43.50 millions(1971 Census). About 81% of the entire statepopulation i.e., about '35.10 millions live inRural area. There are 27,221 Revenue Villages.According to a survey conducted prior to 1971,there are 63,801 villages including settlements,hamlets, Harijanwadas and colonies. The aver-age rainfall in the State is 92 cms. It is normallyabove average in Coastal Districts and belowaverage in Rayalaseema and part of the Telen-gana Regions.
Area Under Study:
The State can be divided into 3 main regionsnamely:1. Coastal Belt consisting of (9) Districts.
2. Rocky Region of Rayalaseema consistingof (4) Districts.
2. Deccan Plateau of Telengana Consisting of(10) Districts.
The table givengrowth ofYearRural inLakhsUrban inLakhsTOTAL(in Lakhs)
belowpopulation in the
1951
256.95
54.20311.15
1961
297.09
62.74359.83
gives theState.
1971
351.00
84.03435.03
trend in
1981
417.63
96.78514.46
It is estimated that about 25% of the Urbanpopulation in our country are provided withProtected Water Supply facilities.
Provision of safe and adequate drinking waterto Rural Areas is given considerable priority andimportance by the Government of AndhraPradesh for over a decade and a half now. Theprogramme of providing drinking water facili-ties to villages by means of open wells and pro-tected water supply schemes was started in theyear 1962-63.
During the early stage of the programme i.e.,upto 1968 Rural Water Supply Schemes con-sisted mainly of Open Wells. Due to failure ofmonsoon for consecutive seasons and due todrought conditions that prevailed in the State,the water table has gone down considerablyresulting in drying up of a number of OpenWells. So in the later years, the other twovarieties of schemes viz., Bore Wells and P.W.S.Schemes have been given priority for solving therural drinking water problems;
Out of the above, 63,801 villages, etc., indica-ted in the 2nd para, 51850 villages includingsettlements etc., have been provided with mini-mum drinking water facilities by the end of5th Five Year Plan i.e. 31.3.1978.
TheByByBy
average is as follows:P. W. S. SchemesBore WellsOpen Wells
Total
561... 14601... 36688... 51850
* Chief Engineer, Rural Water Supply & Administration,Hyderabad.
Thus, there are still 11,951 villages whichare yet to be provided with drinking waterfacilities at the begining of Vlth Plan. It is pro-posed to provide at least 2 bore wells/open wells
71
per village as minimum drinking water facili-ties for all the above villages during the sub-sequent Plan Periods.
PROBLEM VILLAGES:
Government of India have formulated anaccelerated Rural Water Supply Programmeunder Central Assistance with the objective ofproviding Drinking Water to all the needyvillages (Problem Villages). Certain guidelineswere formulated by the Ministry of Works &Housing (G.O.I.) to identify the problemvillages. According to those guidelines, the num-ber of problem villages identified upto 1972were 2893. A further number of 2849 problemvillages including settlement were identified inthe re-survey conducted during the year 1977.Thus, the total number of problem villages (in-cluding settlements) stands as on 1.4.1977 at5742.
During 1977-78, 569 villages were taken upfor execution at an estimated cost of Rs. 334lakhs, for which an amount of Rs. 150,00 lakhswas allocated by Government of India. Out ofthe 569 villages, 281 villages were coveredduring that year. Bore wells utilised the entireamount of Rs. 150.00 lakhs. In addition to thisA.R.W.S.P., 60 villages were covered underState R.W.S.P.
As on 1.4.1978 the number of problem villages(including settlements) comes to 3,464. During1978-79, 577 problem villages were proposed inaddition 351 spillover villages of 1977-78 pro-gramme. The estimated cost of the schemes forthese 928 villages is Rs. 1019 lakhs. An amount ofRs. 347.00 lakhs was provided by Governmentof India. The entire amount was spent covering198 villages (28 villages with M.P.W.S. Schemes,10 villages with P.W.S. Schemes, 160 villageswith 4 Bores) Thus, remaining villages to becovered as on 1.4.1979 are 5,266.
Bore Well Programme:
The programme of drilling of bore wells forproviding drinking water to Rural Areas wasstarted in the year '68 initially with 4 fast drill-ing rigs supplied by UNICEF in Anantapur Dis-trict. Later on it has been increased to 26
UNICEF Rigs. The department has got 64 Nos.,of Rigs today.
During this year 126 Taluks in the State havebeen affected badly under Drought Conditionsand requires immediate provision of drinkingwater facilities. Hence it is proposed to engageprivate rigs also to tackle the situation. Theseprivate agencies can drill about 1650 bores permonth which requires about Rs. 1.00 crores permonth.
ACHIEVEMENTSCUMULATIVE FIGURES
Year
PlanPeriod
1968-721972-731973-741974-751975-761976-771977-781978-791979-83
No. ofsuccesful. bore -
wells
1,8804,4858,219
12,32016,30119,04121.98127,37144,880
Finan-cial
outlay(in lakhs)
315.63416.13643.99699.44
1173.281490.261885.453115.45
Popu-lationcovered
(in lakhs)
4.711.2120.5430.0840.7547.0054.9568.02
112.20
Villagescovered
17,000
• Programme
"All the remaining villages/hamlets withminimum drinking water facilities i.e., 2bores wells/open wells per each village.
TASK AHEAD:
Bore Wells with Hand Pumps:
In respect of bore wells a target was lixed todrill about 6,000 bore wells during 1979-80 (in-cluding under C.A.P.) with an estimated cost ofRs. 4.30 crores covering about 3,000 villagesbenefiting population of about 15 lakhs. During1979-80 i.e., from 1.1.79 to 31.8.1979, 1934 boreshave been drilled with departmental Rigs out ofwhich 1717 are successful and 217 are un-successful. (As on 31.8.1979, 31443 drilled out ofwhich 26754 successful and 4674 unsuccessful)in addition to the above 1300 bore wells' havebeen drilled by Private Agencies (from 1.4.79 to31.8.79).
72
In the remaining plan period i.e., 1980-83 nis proposed to drill about 12,000 bore wells inthe remaining villages with an aim of providingminimum drinking water facilities at an esti-mated cost of Rs. 9.00 crores benefiting a popu-lation of 29 lakhs.
Maintenance:
The deep well hand pumps are provided forthe bore wells from the drilling is completed. Inthe beginning double guide hand pumps wereprovided. Since its performance was found tobe very poor, the subsequent development of"SHOLARPUR TYRES" pumps were introducedin the year 1975. The results of this type alsofound to be not fruitful, and as such anotherimproved variety called "INDIA MARK II"Hand Pumps was introduced in the year 1977and the same is being used at present which isfunctioning well.
According to the orders of the Governmentthe Gram Panchayats were made responsible formaintenance of bore wells. This arrangementdid not work out well as there used to be re-peated complaints that most of the bore wellswent out of order as the Gram Panchayats wereunable to attend to the repairs for one reason orother. As such, the Government examined theissue broadly, and decided that the maintenancebe attended departmentally. Accordingly orderswere issued entrusting the maintenance of handpumps to the Rigs Organisations who are in-charge of drilling programme also. The depart-ment has taken up the maintenance programmewith effect from 1.10.1976 with UNICEF assis-tance.
Under this arrangement, there is one JuniorEngineer in every district exclusively inchargeof maintenance programme with an assistant inthe cadre of "Hand Pumps Mechanic". At Blocklevel one pump mechanic is there for every 50pumps. It was also decided by the Governmentto bear 50% of the maintenance cost and torecover the balance 50% cost from the concern-ed Gram Panchayat at the rate of Rs. 100/- perannum per bore well and deduct it at sourcefrom the enhanced per capita grants to theGram Panchayat and the same is to be adjustedto the concerned Zilla Parishad. The following
amounts were provided so far on this pro-gramme.
1. 1976-77
2. 1977-78
3. 1978-79
4. 1979-80
Rs. 20.00Rs. 37.57Rs. 37.57Rs. 57.930
lakhs
The UNICEF was approached for the follow-ing assistance:
1. 10,000 Sholapur Design conversion heads.2. 500 complete pumps incorporating the
Sholapur Design with improved cylinder.
3. 20 Diesel Pick-up vans for Mobile Units.
4. 120 Motor Cycles.5. 300 Bicycles.
But in the plan of action, it was agreed uponby the UNICEF for supply of the following:
1. 13 Nos. Jeep P.C. 260 D (Diesel Pick Ups).
2. 500 Pumps (India Mark II) complete.
3. 2,000 pumpheads.4. 4,000 conversion heads.5. 13 sets of tools for mobile terms.6. 13 sets of tools for district level work shop.
The following is the statement of supplies sofar effected by the UNICEF (By 31.8.1979).
1. 13 Sec. Jeep P.C. 260 D (Diesel Pick Ups).2. (a) 200 Nos. Pumps (India Mark II) com-
plete with G.I. Pipe connecting roadsand cylinders,
(b) 505 Nos. Pumps (complete).
3. 3676 Nos. Pump Heads (India Mark II).
4. 1,000 Nos. Sholapur conversion heads.
5. 13 sets of tools kits.6. 13 sets of tools for district level workshops.7. 13 sets of special tools;
PROTECTED WATER SUPPLY SCHEME:
Protected Water Supply Schemes are those inwhich treated water is pumped to an elevatedreservoir and from where distribution to various
73
parts of the villages is done through pipe bygravity. These were originally taken up underthe State Plan only since 1963-64 to 1978-79.305 schemes were sanctioned so far. Out ofwhich 42 schemes are continued under S.P.F.Programme leaving the balance of 263 schemes.During 1973-74 172 PFS schemes were sanction-ed. During 1974-75, under Accelerated RuralWater Supply in backward areas, 418 PWSSchemes including 42 spill over schemes ofNormal Plan were sanctioned at~ an estimatedcost of Rs. 372.04 lakhs.
During 1977-78, Government of India havegiven an assistance of Rs. 1.50 crores withwhich 82 schemes approved under other pro-grammes, which could not be completed forwant of funds, and 121 Mini P.W.S. Schemeswhich supply Protected water at a single pointin the village, were sanctioned. During the year1978.-79, Rs 3.49 crores have been allotted byGovernment of India. 135 PWS Schmes costingRs. 5.08 crores and 200 Mini P.W.S. Schemescosting Rs. 1.60 crores have been cleared.
PWS Schemes costing Rs. 5.08 crores and 200Mini P.W.S. Schemes costing Rs. 1.60 croreshave been cleared.
The total No. of PWS Schemes sanctionedunder various programmes i.e., Nomal/LIC/SPF/CAP upto 1978-79 is 1007 of which 618schemes were completed as on 31.3.1979 leaving388 schemes'as spill over'schemes as on 1.4.1979.During 1979-80, 1738 schemes (100 mm andMini PWS—PWS) to a tune of Rs. 1.23 crorescovering 1356 villages have been finalised andforwarded to the GOI for approval. An amountof Rs. 1.25 crores has been released to the stateduring 1979-80.'
Netherlands Government agreed to give assis-tance, to provide protected water supply schemesto 171 Fluoride Affected villages at a cost ofRs. 11.55 crores the execution of which will betaken up during 1979-80. Excess Fluoride indrinking water will cause disease which causesthe people to be physically handicapped andhence, there is need for protected water supplyin these villages. These schemes will be com-pleted by 1982-83.
74
A Master plan for providing drinking waterto all the vilages in the state has been preparedwith a total cost of Rs. 450.00 crores. ThisMaster Plan is programmed to be executed in aspan of 10 years under two phases of five yearseach as follows.
Master Plan for Providing Water Supply toRural Areas in A. P. Phase A: During Sixth
Five Year Plan (1978-83).
Rs.incrores
1. State Plan
1. Providing 2 bore wells or openwells to 11.951 villages and ham-lets
2. To provide water supply to 2,615problem villages and their hamlets.
a) 220 villages (537 including ham-lets) fed by canal water to beprovided with PWS Schemes
b) 1008 problem villages to be pro-vided with full pledged PWSSchemes
16.00
7.00
53.00
c) 721 problem villages to be pro-vidde with Mini P.W.S. Schemes. 6.00
d) 666 problem village to be pro-vided with drinking water supplyby means of bore wells or openwells. 10.00
3. a) 736 villages in Coastal Areas tobe provided with PWS Schemes. 12.75
b) .76 villages to be provided withthe PWS Schemes under M.N.P. 2.25
Grand Total 107.00
II Foreign Aid :
324 villages having population more than5000 and annual income more than Rs. 50,000'-to be provided with full fledged PWS Sche-mes with World Bank Loan. 27.00 27.00
(See page 76)
Haryana
By
M.M. Datta*
T HERE are (5731 inhabited villages in theState of Haryana with a population of
82.64 lacs according to 1971 census. Out of these4180 villages with a population of about 56 lacsare identified in 1972 as problem villages.
The problem villages are denned asunder:
(i) having no assured source within a dis-tance of 1 mile (1.6 km) or having noground-water source within a depth oi50 feet (15 meters).
(ii) the existing source of water supply issusceptible to water-borne diseases likecholera or infested with guineawormsmaking endemic to these diseases,
(iii) the existing source suffers from excessivesalinity, iron or fluorides making themhazardous to health.
National Water Supply and Sanitation Pro-gramme for providing safe drinking water sup-ply and sanitation in the rural areas in thecountry was launched during the year 1954. In
the beginning, all rural water schemes weredesigned for a supply rate of 5 gallons per headper day. From 1962 onwards this norm hasbeen changed and water supply scheme inrural areas in the State is provided at the rateof 10 gallons per head per day.
Piped water supply facilities were providedin 921 villages including 50 hamlets with a 1971census population of 14 lacs upto 1976-77. Dur-ing the year 1977-78 water supply facilitieswere extended to another 111 villages with apopulation of 1.54 lacs (1971 census) and during1978-79, 123 villages were provided with watersupply benefiting a population of 1.35 lacs (1971census). During the year 1979-80 (upto 30.9.79)another 64 villages were provided with watersupply benefiting a population of 0.78 lacs (1971census). Thus upto 30.9.79, 1219 vilages with a1971 census population with 17.67 lacs wereprovided with drinking water supply facilitiesin the State.
Progress of allocation and expenditure onrural water supply schemes under Central Ac-celerated Rural Water Supply Programme and
TABLE 1
Central Accelerated Rural Water Supply ProgrammeRs in Lacs
Allocated Released Expenditure Incurred
Year Works Monitoring Total&
InvestigationUnits
Works Monitoring Total&
InvestigationUnits
Works M & IUnits
Total
1977-78 140.001978-79 197.001979-80 211.89
(upto 30.9.79)
5.005.00
145.00202.00211.89
140.00197.0085.00
5.005.00
145.00202.0085.00
142.31220.2787.32
0.892.19
143.20222.4687.32
* Assistant Adviser (PHE) Ministry of Works & Housing. New Delhi 110011.
75
Minimum Needs Programme during 1977-78,1978-79 and 1979-80 (upto 30.9.79) is shown inTable 1 and Table 2.
TABLE 2Rs. in lacs
Year
Minimum Needs ProgrammeAllocated Expenditure Incurred
1977-781978-791079-80
(upto 30.9.79)
200.0045.00600.00
225.65433.39248.17
Five drilling rigs are available with the StateGovernment for drinking water supply arrange-ments. An additional drilling is in the pipelineof supply under UNICEF Programme.
One World Bank assisted scheme entitled"Haryana Irrigation and CAD Project (WB) in-cluding Village Water Supply Component" is inoperation in the State.
Village W/S Component under this pro-ject has an estimated cost of Rs. i0.06 croresand covers 175 problem villages under 25schemes. Out of these, 42 schemes, covering 112villages are based on Canal water source and 10schemes, covering 63 villages are based on a
tubewell source. The population (as per 1971Census) covered under this project is 3,13,000.The project was started in Dec, 1978 and isscheduled to be completed by August, 1982, Sofar, Rs. 4.50 crores have been allotted to theseschemes and 36 problem villages have been pro-vided with drinking water supply. Under thisproject the W/S schemes have been designed fora W/S allowance of 10 gallons/capita/day andthere is no provision for private connections andinternal distribution system.
The project has well defined physical andfinancial targets spread over a span of 4 yearsand these are closely monitored by the reviewunits.
Haryana Irrigation and CAD Project, PhaseII is under finalisation as reported by the StatePublic Health Engineering Department. ThisPhase II project is contemplated to be takenup under external assistance from World Bank/Bilateral Assistance Programme as intimated bythe State Public Health Department.
This Project is under consideration. This pro-ject will include a village W/S Component ofRs. 15.50 crores. In this Project 175 problemvillages are envisaged to be covered. This pro-ject is likely to be taken up during 1982 andlikely to be completed in a period of 4 years.
Phase B : To be taken up during seventh Plan(1984-89).
I State Plan:
1. Provision of bores for failure & col-lapsed bores during five years (5500 25,000) 18.00! ,
2. Provision of PWS Schemes to 2500villages having population morethan 2000 126.00
3. Providing 4000 bores to cover bal-ance one million population. 3.00
4. Fluctuation of rates. 23.00
Total 170.00II. Foreign Aid :
1. Providing PWS Schemes to 2402villages having popultion more than2,000 .115.00
2. Fluctuation of rates. 15.00
Total 130.00
GENERAL ABSTRACT
Phase A :
During Sixth Plan Period (1978-83)
I State plan 107.00
II Foreign Aid (WorldBank Assistance)
III Fluctuation of rates
Total:
27.0016.00
150.00
Phase B :
During Seventh Plan Period 1983-88)
I State Plan 170.00
II Foreign Aid 130.00
Total: 300.00
Grand Total of Phase A and Phase B 450.00
76
Jammu & Kashmir
By
G.M. Kanth*
TO many people it may appear that the occupation of Pakistan and China) and spreadState of Jammu and Kashmir, the nor- over 6,715 villages, as per 1971 census, was as
thern-most state of the country, has no parti- under:cular rural water supply problems, blessed asit is known to be with numerous rivers, snow-fed nullahs, springs etc. This proves a misnomerto a large extent to those who have studied theproblem in greater depth.
Villages Population (Rural)
The State can be divided into three distinctphysical regions:
(i) Jammu(ii) Kashmir(iii) Ladakh
Total
3540
2940
235
6,710
17.8919.700.97
38.56
lacs
Lacs
(i) The Jammu region towards the southwhich has, besides certain plain stretches,extremely inaccessible and remote hillyareas criss-crossed by broken country.
(ii) The valley of Kashmir which of courseoffers abundant surface sources (in someareas) during the summer months butwhere it is an agonizing problem forthe rural population to fetch even meagrerequirements of water in extreme andinclement weather conditions duringwinter months when all paths becomeslippery because of snow and frost, theproblem being worst in respect of poou-lation perched on hilly and sloping areas.
(iii) The scarcely-populated but extremelyrugged terrain of the Ladakh area to-wards the extreme north.
The rural population of the State in the threeregions (excluding the areas under the illegal
• Executve Engineer, Water Supply Master PlanDivision. (J. & K. Public Health Engg. Deptt.)Srinagar.
Hardly any attention was paid to the pro-vision of protected drinking water supply inrural areas of the State prior to independenceand subsequently even during the period endingthe 4th Five Year Plan. The total plan alloca-tions on this sector during the entire planperiod ending 3/1974 was of the order of Rs.10.20 crores. The corresponding figures of cover-age ending the above period were 725 villages(10.80%) with a population of 7.74 lacs(20.07%).
A lot of emphasis was, however, paid to therural water supply programme during the 5thFive Year Plan beginning from 1974-75 onwardsand an amount of Rs. 17.46 crores was spent onthis sector during the plan ending March, 1978.This excludes the assistance amounting to Rs.152.80 lacs (1977-78) and Rs. 200.00 lacs (1978-79) under the Centrally-sponsored acceleratedrural water supply programme (ARP) whichwas revived by the Government of India in theyear 1977-78, and subsequent financial outlaysduring the 6th Plan. This enabled the Depart-ment to achieve an additional coverage of 790villages with a population of 6.35 lac souls end-ing 3/79. The cumulative coverage ending
77
March, 1979 is thus 1515 villages (22.58%) witha population of 14.09 (36.54%), related to 1971census.
The proposed outlay on the rural water sup-ply sector during the 6th plan period is pro-posed as Rs. 25.00 crores (excluding assistanceunder the ARP) which would take the cumula-tive coverage ending 6th plan period to 2,149villages with a population of 15.79 lac souls(related to 1971 Census) i.e. 32.0% and 40.95%respectively.
The above figures indicate that a lot ofground has yet to be covered under the pro-gramme even though the allocations have beensubstantially increased during the recent years.A rough estimate indicates that as much as Rs.171.00 crores would be required to cover theremaining villages at the 1978 price level. Theproblem is thus of gigantic proportions keepingin view the limited resources of the State Gov-ernment.
During the Year 1976-77, the State Govern-ment introduced a new system of "District LineAdministration" under whihc the priorities oftaking up new schemes have been entrusted tothe District Development Boards. All engineer-ing development activities in the districts arecontrolled by the District Superintending Engi-neers at the district level who work in close co-ordination with the District Development Com-missioner (the Deputy Commissioner). The Dis-trict Superintending Engineer also looks afterthe three disciplines of civil engineering viz.Roads and Buildings, Irrigation and PublicHealth Engineering, but is, however, answerableto the respective Chief Engineers for technicalguidance, plan formulation and monitoring. Theidea is to introduce planning at the grass rootlevel and ensure effective participation of thepeople's representatives.
The people do not, however, contribute anything either in terms of money or labour to-
wards the implementation of the drinking watersupply programme in the state. The entire pro-gramme is being executed by the State Govern-ment through the aegis of the Public HealthEngineering Department. All the schemes arebeing improved from time to timt and maintain-ed by the Deptt. itself. Even the nominal re-venue levied from the limited private pipe con-nections in the rural areas is being collected bythe Department. The maintenance charges arebeing heavily subsidised by the State Govern-ment out of its revenue grants at present. Thisis because of the economic status of the ruralpeople coupled by the age-old tradition of waternot having been ever charged during the periodthe State was under the Maharaja's rule. Thisthinking is, however, fast changing with thepassage of time and Government is eager toenhance the water tariff both in the urban andrural areas in a phased and gradual manner.
While formulating the schemes, preference isgiven to perennial surface sources like springs,nullahs and rivers. Spring waters do not nor-mally need any treatment but surface watersare generally treated by adopting conventionalmethods of treatment including coagulation,filtration and disinfection, adopting regionalgravity schemes wherever possible. Tube wellsserve as a primary source for water supply inthe boulder-rich strata in the Jammu region.On the other hand, harnessing of ground waterhas been hampered in some areas of the Kashmirvalley because of the presence of marshy andmethane gases imparting taste and odour pro-blems to the ground water. Accordingly the pro-vision of water through installation of handpumps has not found much favour with therural communities.
The supplies in rural areas are regulated atthe Service Reservoirs where from the pipe dis-tribution system emanates to carry water tothe village population, usually on intermittentbasis by adopting 2 to 4 hours supply in themornings and in the evenings, mostly throughpublic stand posts. Water supply is not normallymetered in the rural areas.
78
Karnataka
By
P.R. Bellubbi* and M.V. Ramaswamy*•
WATER IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE.
It is abundant and yet frequently scarce.
Water supply has become a critical factor inpublic health and economic development in mostparts of the world, particularly in the develop-ing countries. The global significance of waterfound expression in the United Nations WaterConference in March 1977 in Mardel Plata,Argentina where delegates from about 135 coun-tries discussed the role of water in the world.
This conference unanimously adopted a reso-lution recommending "that where human needshave not yet been satisfied, National Develop-ment policies and plans should give priority tothe supplying of drinking water for the entirepopulation and the final disposal of water etc."
The above resoultion was endorsed by theThirtieth World Health Assembly in May 1977which proposed that the Decade 1930-1990 bedesignated as the International Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade.
Karnataka State is situated in the southernpart of Indian Peninsula and predominantlylocated between the latitude 12°—38 to 18°—30"and longitude 74°—3 to 78°—32". It has an areaof 1,92,203 sq. kilometres. Its average popula-tion density is 182 persons per sq. kilometre.The State is having a moderate climate withmaximum temperature 40° C minimum 15 C.
The State is broadly classified into the Maidan(plain area), the Malnad (Hilly area in Western)
* Managing Director, Karnataka Urban Water Supplyand Drainage Board. Bangalore.
•* Environmental Engineer, Karnataka Urban WaterSupply and Drainage Board, Banagalore.
Ghats) where rainfall is more than GO" and thenarrow strip of coastal area. The rainfall ismainly from the South West monsoon fromJune to September and a small portion fromNorth East monsoon in October and November.
The major rivers in the State are Cauvery,Hemavathy, Shimsha, Tungabhadra, Krishna,Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Arkavathi andKabini. The ground water situation is almostsatisfactory and this provides the main sourceof domestic supply in most parts of the State.In areas where river water sources are not avai-lable ground waters have been tapped throughlakes, open wells, dug wells and bore wells. Theyield from bore wells are good in most areas.The quality of ground water is generally goodexcept in certain areas.
The Karnataka State has a population of 29.23million according to 1971 census arid its corres-ponding urban population is 7.10 million includ-ing Bangalore City. The projected urban popu-lation excluding Bangalore City in 1981 is 6.73million and in the year "2001 it will be 10.09million.
POSITION OF WATER SUPPLY IN THESTATE IN THE PAST
In the Karnataka State, previously the MinorIrrigation and Public Health Engineering Branchof the Karnataka Pubic Works Department waspromarily responsible for planning and execu-tion of Urban and Rural Water Supply andSewerage Scheme on behalf of the local authori-ties. The responsibility for the operation andmaintenance of the Urban systems was howevervested in the Municipal Committees.
Among the cities in the State, Bangalore Cityhaving developed into a metropolis, an auto-
79
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300
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3 3
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r»•o•o•o
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-o
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YEARS
EXPENDITURE INCURRED BY P.H.E. ENGINEERINGWING OF PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT OF
KARNATAKA STATE
•EXPENDITUREINCURRED BYTHE KUWS&QBL
Bar diagram showing the expenditure on Urban Water Supply & Sewerage (1961 to 1979)
nomous body was established during 1964 calledBangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Boardexclusively to look after the increased demandsof water supply and sewerage facilities to thecitizens of Bangalore metropolitan area. ThisBoard has already constructed and commission-ed the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme Stage I(30 MGD) during 1974. It has now taken up theconstruction of Cauvery Water Supply SchemeStage II, which caters additional 30 MGD ofwater to the Bangalore City. In addition, theBoard is maintaining the Arkavathi Scheme i.e.,Thippagondanahalli and Hesaragatta reservoirs.The total supply to the city at present is of theorder of 64 MGD for assessed population ofabout 20 lakhs. This Board is also incharge ofwaste water collection through a net work oisewers, its treatment and disposal to the en-vironment.
The population has been increasing steadilydue to improved economic and ndustrial condi-tions while provision of basic amenities like
water supply and waste water disposal is notkeeping pace with the population explosion.The enoromous task of providing water supplyand sewerage facility to all the areas of theState, was vested with the Public Health Engi-neering wing of State P.W.D. The cost ofschemes has to be met in proportion by theconcerned local body and Government. Thefinancing of these huge schemes could not bemet out of general finances of the State only.It was found necessary to obtain financial assis-tance from Public by floating debentures, rais-ing loans from financing bodies like L. I. C.,HUDCO, etc.
Bar diagram showing the expenditure onurban water supply and sewerage for the years1961 to 1979 is depicted above.
. Attempts by the Civic authorities individuallyto raise loans in the open market to financelocal water supply projects did not attract en-couraging responses. This necessitated the for-
80
mation of an autonomous water supply andsewerage Board in the State. Hence the Kar-nataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Boardwas established during 1975.
The Board is attached to the Housing andUrban Development Department of Governmentof Karnataka. The Karnataka Urban WaterSupply and Drainage Board is responsible forplanning, design and execution of water supplyand sewerage works in all the urban areas ofthe State excepting Bangalore MetropolitanArea.
In addition, the Board is also executing de-posit contribution works of the civic bodies andIndustrial Complexes for which the entire costof the schemes are met by the respective agen-cies. At present there are 44 such schemes(each scheme estimated to cost more than Rs.50,000) costing Rs. 55.3 million. They are undervarious stages of progress.
The Karnataka Urban Water Supply andDrainage Board has at present jurisdiction over242 towns and cities covering a population of5.56 million (excluding Bangalore City).
STATUS OF URBAN WATER SUPPLY
Water Supply has been provided to 216 localauthorities out of 242 under the jurisdiction ofthe Board covering a population of 52.21 lakhsi.e., 94.46% of population is covered.
During the seven year period (1971-78) thethe percentage increase in urban population isabout 30%. Under Urban Water Supply thereare two categories of works:
(i) Piped Water Supply for Towns with popula-tion of less than 20,000
This category of schemes are being executedwith 10 percent local contribution and 90 per-cent State funds.
There are 181 towns with population of 1.90million under this category of which protec-ted water supply has been provided to 151towns, covering a population of 1.54 million. 26water supply schemes are under progress.
KARNATAKA STATEURBAN WATER SUPPLYSCHEME AS ON 3I-IO-1979
" W A I NUMBJR Of -TOWNS IN THE3X STRICT
C NUMBER OF TOHHS Wi£K£ W*T£R SUPPLY$CM£ht£S AR6 COMPL€T£P
P NUmax or TOUM UHEat uaxtp tufptr severn/te /•• - •
)j. nwri»gt or- Towryj uume wirea tur
Also 35 water supply Improvement schemesare under progress. In addition, augmentationof water supply to 108 local authorities have tobe taken up as the per capita supply has dwind-led due to considerable growth of the popula-tion.
During 6th Plan period 73 schemes for aug-mentation are proposed to be taken up.
(ii) Water Supply for Towns and Cities with apopulation above 20,000
For these schemes 2/3rds of the estimated costwill be given as loan by L.I.C., to the localbody and the remaining l/3rd of the cost isfinanced by the State Government as loan.
81
There are 61 local authorities under this cate-gory, 59 local authorities have been providedwith water supply facilities covering a popula-tion of 3.64 million. The water supply schemefor remaining 2 local authorities have beentaken up for execution and are in prograss. 25water supply schemes for augmentation ofwater supply covering a population of 1.437million, out of which 25 towns, are proposed tobe augmented during 6th plan period.
The expenditure on Urban Water Supply andSewerage for the year 1975-1978 incurred bythe Board is Rs. 150.50 million.
The supply of water per capita per day variesgenerally according to the population and im-portance of towns. The present per capita sup-ply of water per day is on an average about 25to 50 litres, 50 to 100 litres, 100 to 125 litres and125 to 150 litres in towns/cities with populationranges, below 5,000, 5,000 to 20,000, 20,0000 to1,00,000 and above 1,00,000 respectively. Theper capita supply from stand posts are generallynot more than the average per capita supplyfrom house connection. In practice however theper capita consumption will be lower due tolosses, such as leakage, wastage and squander-age. As most of the connections are unmetered,the unaccounted percentage loss of water is alsofound to be generally high. The average pres-sure maintained in the distribution system variesbetween 3 meters to 7 meters and more, depen-ding upon the class of town and the type ofwater supply system. The supply is largely in-termittent in all the towns. Absence of whole-sale metering and low rates are the principlecause for the high wastage resulting in a heavydeficit in the undertakings. Surveys are beingtaken up for leak detection or to control theleakage in the mains. In major cities, there aremore number of house connections and a fewstand posts. In many towns, due to deficiency ofdistribution net work, high cost of internalplumbing and poor economic conditions, thegrowth of house connections are slow.
PRESENT PLANS AND PROGRAMMES:
The development plans of the Board are in-terlinked with the overall development pro-gramme of the State which in turn is regulated
by the National Five- Year Plans. The SixthFive Year Plan is from 1978 to 1983. Programmeof proposed • investments for water supplythrough 6th 5 year plan will be Rs. 622.6million.
Based on the request received by the localauthorities the State Government provides sepa-rate outlays in the State Plan for the develop-ment of Urban Communities. The outlay finallyincurred in the water supply of the State planis decided on the discussions between the StateGovernment, CPHEEO, and the Planning Com-mission. There is already a Statewise plan onwater supply. Master plans of water supply forindividual urban town/cities are under prepara-tion.
The service goal envisaged as per presentplanned programme is to provide for all 242towns/cities, with water supply in adequatemeasure to the standard level of supply as pre-scribed by the Government of India Manual onwater supply, • for each category of town onpopulation basis for which water supply sys-tems are already in existence. For the townswhich are yet to be provided with water supply,the aim is to provide minimum water supplyimmediately.
To provide the above services, the Board willrequire Rs. 3025.25 million.
As the International Drinking Water Supplyand Sanitation Decade is to commence in 1981,the Board aims to provide the above levels ofservice to all the towns/cities in the Decade. Toachieve the above goal, in addition to obtainingpart of finance from the State Government,L.I.C., and floating debentures, the Board willrequire a large amount of money possibly asforeign aid.
In the five year plans, there will be allocationof funds for this sector but these are subjectedto change and review every year. As urbanprojects are financed entirely on a loan basis,the capacity of local authorities for servicingthe loan and the contributions from their ownresources become the most important factors intaking any decision in such maters. Thus inpractice it has been found difficult to decide on
a long term goal for development of the sectorin the urban areas.
Due to financial constraints for the program-ming of urban schemes, the Karnataka UrbanWater Supply and Drainage Board is endeavour-ing to obtain funds as external borrowings iromWorld Bank specifically from the I.D.A., loanassistance.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OFWATER SUPPLY SCHEMES
The Board is maintaining 11 water supplyworks and have also fixed water rates to 7major water supply works in the State on thebasis of 'No Profit No Loss' for efficient opera-tion and maintenance of the systems. The re-maining works in the State are maintained bythe respective local authorities. As the localbodies are not having fully qualified environ-mental setup and due to meagre financial re-sources, they are not in a position to operateand maintain urban water supply systems tothe standard level of public Health Engineeringpractice. The Board has proposed to take overthe operation and maintenance of all the waterworks in the State in a phased programme and1he subject has been forwarded to State Govern-ment for a decision on the subject, and the sameIG awaited. After taking over the water worksfor operation and maintenance, it will also beresponsible for fixing levy and collection ofwater rates. As present, the Board is findingdifficulty in enforcing revised water rates onthe consumers. It has now come to a stagewhere water supply undertaking will not betreated merely as service organisation to thecommunity but as an undertaking based on 3.sound financing policy and a self supporti.nqone. To start with, it is interested in installingmeters on all water supply connections in cities1owns where there are more than 1 lakh popu-lation. This may bring in better revenue forsupporting the operation and maintenace ofseveral water works to the standard level ofacceptance.
The Board is endeavouring to arouse publicconscience that every drop of water that is
being supplied at the consumer end has costmoney and it is a burden on the water supplyundertaking, unless the same is reimbursed bythe community in terms of 'Water Rates Fixed'to run the establishment on 'No Loss No Profit'basis, in this connection, the Board is requestingthe Government, to give suitable direction tolocal authorities concerned for implementationand enforcing the revised water rates as and whenfixed by the Board and to be given effect to.
In almost all the works, the local materialsfor construction purposes and local availablelabour are made use of. For specialised machi-nery equipments and other store items whichare not available locally are procured withinthe country from the firms of repute, conform-ing to Indian standard specifications. For effi-cient management of the system the Board isthinking of setting up an Inventory control andMaterial management setup in the Board.
PROSPECTS AND CONSTRAINTS
As the main task of the Board is to executewater supply works of all local bodies, the re-presentation of civic authorities in the activitiesof the Board is a necessity. For any scheme ofa town/city from the stage of investigation uptocompletion, commissioning and handing overthe system for maintenance to the respectivecivic bodies, the liasion, co-ordination and parti-cipation of such public bodies with the Boardare found to be vital for implementation ofprojected programmes of works. The KarnatakaUrban Water Supply and Drainage Board isequipped to meet this task.
The Board in its constitution, is having 5directors who are the representatives of variouslocal bodies, in addition to other Ex officio Gov-ernment directors. The Board is at presenarranging public relations campaign with theexisting staff of the Board wherever necessary.
The supply of potable water to a communityis a basic need and the responsibility of the res-pective civic authority and Government. Themain hurlde in implementation of schemes isthe non-availability of required funds to cope
83
PunjabBy
Bhupinder Singh*
-..<
A vendor washes vegetables in polluted water
A S a result of the reorganisation of Punjab,Chandigarh along with 21 villages was re-
garded as a Union Territory. Out of these, fourvillages namely Attawa, Burail, Badheri andButerla were in the Master Plan of Chandigarhand the remaining villages form the green beltof Chandigarh. All these villages were not initi-ally covered with water supply system, andtherefore a scheme for the augmentation ofwater supply to various villages of the UnionTerritory was prepared. This amounted to Rs.8.5 lacs to cover the 17 villages at 10 gallons perhead per day, but later on it was decided tosupply water at 25 gallons per head per daywith estimated cost of Rs. 8.76 lacs. The workhas already been completed in all the villagesand the villages are now getting individualwater connection in all the above villages. Thisrate of water supply in the rural area is thehighest in the country. The water is suppliedto these villages from the tubewells meant forChandigarh city water supply system.
' It was not originally planned to provide watersuuply system to the villages falling in the
•Superintending Engineer, Chandigarh.84
Master Plan of Chandigarh city, but subsequen-tly it was decided by the Union Territoryauthorities to cover these villages also with thewater supply system. As these villages will beshifted sooner or later, it has been consideredworth-while to provide water supply to themthrough stand-posts only. A Accordingly anestimate amounting to Rs. 4,80,420/- was madefor these villages. The work has already beentaken in hand, and the major portion of the,work stands completed. With the completion ofthis work, almost the whole of the rural areaof the Union Territory of Chandigarh will becovered with modern water supply system.
No problem has been faced as regards organi-sation, management and finances while execut-ing the rural water supply programme. Thewhole of the area was taken on a priority basis.
Local labour was employed on daily wagebasis but the public did not participate in thiswork.
The water being supplied to these villages ispotable water. There is no need for any treat-ment to be given as it is neither brackish norsaline.
The Decade in Tamilnadu
By
R. Krishnaswamy*and S.A. Jagadeesan**
The Organisation
T HE Tamilnadu Water Supply and Drainage(TWAD) Board is the organization in Tamil-
nadu State created by an act of the State Legis-lature as an autonomous body on a statutoryfooting vested with the powers for provision ofwater supply and sewerage facilities in theentire State of Tamilnadu excepting the MadrasMetropolitan Area. The T.W.A.D. Board cameinto existence on April 14, 1971 and took overthe duties and responsibilties of the erstwhilePublic Health Engineering and Municipal WorksDepartment, of the Tamilnadu Government.
For attending exclusively to the growingneeds and planned development of water supplyand sewerage services in the Madras Metropoli-tan Area, another Board styled Aiadras Metro-politan Water Supply and Sewerage Board wasformed effective from August 1,1978. This Boardis also a statutory organization created by an actof the State Legislature and took over the en-tire services relating to Water Supply and Sewe-age from the Madras Corpoartion.
Demographic distribution
Tamilnadu is one of the 22 States in Indiawith a population of 41.20 millions as per 1971census figures. Of this, 15.50 million live in 740towns comprising the two Corporation cities ofMadras and Madurai, 99 Municipalities, 8 Muni-cipal townships, 13 Panchayat townships and618 town panchayats. The rural population of25.70 million is scattered in about 13000 village
•Chief Engineer (Gen & Constn)••Superintending Engineer Designs TWS & D Board
Madras.
panchayats and hamlets comprising about 47000habitations in 376 Panchayat Unions.
The Madras Metropolitan Area consists ofMadras City, 4 Municipalities, 4 Municioaltownships and 22 Panchayats.
The population distribution and projectionsbetween Urban and Rural areas in Tamilnaduare tabulated below :
1971 1981 1991
-) Madras City 2.47 3.34 4.32I
MMA <> Madras Urban 0.70 0.92 1.15I
J Madras Rural 0.30 0.20 0.18
Tamilnaudu-j Urban 12.33 15.97 19.36
Other than )• Rural 25.40 26.87 27.99
MMA J
Total 41.20 47.30 53.00
Present StatusSchemes
(Population figures in millions)
Of Water Supply and Sewerage
A. Urban Water Supply
A Statement showing the present positionof Water Supply schemes in the State of Tamil-nadu is given on page 86:
Status of Urban Water Supply Schemes(including Madras Metropolitan Area)
Grade
CorporationMunicipalityMunicipalTownshipPanchayatTownshipTownPanchayat
Total
No.
299
8
13
618
740
Popu-lation(1971)
(million)
3.0205.901
0.220
0.246
6.113
15.500
No.
294
5
8
183
292
Covered orin progress
Popu-lation
(million)
3.0205.799
0.137
0.204
2.265
11.425
%
100.098.3
62.3
83.0
37.0
73.7
No.
—5
3
5
435
448
Not yet covered
Popu-lation
(million)
—0.102
0.083
0.042
3.848
4.075
%
—1.7
37.7
17.0
63.0
26.3
Out of 740 Towns in the State, 222 towns havebeen provided with water supply and works re-lating to provision of water supply to another70 towns are in progress. Thus 448 towns witha population of 4.08 million (1971) remain to beprovided with water Supply. Augmentation ofwater Supply in respect of 72 towns is also tobe taken up.
Regarding the capital city, augmenting thewater supply to the City of Madras as well asthe Metropolitian area and reinforcing theexisting water supply to handle the additional
water is necessary. Maintaining the existing sys-tem to its optimum utility by carrying outtimely replacements and improvements is alsocalled for. A coverage of 100% in urban watersupply for the entire state is programmed forthe Decade.
B. Urban Sewerage
A statement showing the present position ofsewerage schemes in the State of Tamilnadu isgiven below:
Status of Urban Sewerage Schemes(including Madras Metropolitan Area)
Grade No. Popu-lation(1971) -
(million)
Covered orin progress
Not yet Covered
No. Popu-lation
(million)
No. Popu-lation
(million)
CorporationMunicipalityMunicipalTownshipsPanchayatTownshipTownPanchayat
Total
299
8
13
618
740
3.0205.901
0.220
0.246
6.113
2*14
3.0201.525
0.338
0.058
0.008
25.8
17.3
23.6
0.13
85
7
12
617
4.376
0.182
0.188
6.105
74.2
82.7
76.4
99.87
15.500 19 4.949 30.0 721 10.851 70.0
•Of these, the number of Class I towns is 8
86
From the statement it may te seen that 721towns are yet to be provided with seweragefacilities. It is proposed to take up undergroundsewerage scheme in the case of Class I town(towns with a population of over one lakh) inthe first instance. There are 17 such Class Itowns (including Singanallur since merged withCoimbatore) in the State. Of these, sewerageschemes have been completed or works are inprogress in respect of 8 Class I towns. Henceprovision of underground sewerage facilities inrespect of the remaining 9 Class I towns (in-cluding Singanallur since merged with Coim-batore) is contemplated during the decade. Re-garding the remaining towns, low cost sanita-tion facilities are proposed for about 145 townsunder Class II, III and IV categories so as toachieve a total coverage of 80% under urabnsewerage as per the target fixed. The report ofthe studies conducted by UNDP Units GlobalProject is expected shortly and the technicalaspect of the low cost sanitation will mainly bebased on the result of studies of Global Projectteam.
come under types 3,4,5, and the rest come undertype 6. A beginning has been already made toprovide water supply to all the habitationsunder types 1&2 and these are proposed to becompleted within this calendar year.
Classifi-cation
Type 1
Type 2
Definition
Habitations with nosource within thehabitationsHabitations where thesource yield only non-potable water
No. ofhabita-
tions
3,454
1,966
5,420
Population(1981)
in million
0.98
1.02
2.00
Type 3 Habitation where wa-ter is potable, butsource is not perennial 6,487
Type 4 Habitations where wa-ter is potable andperennial but thesource is either pri-vately owned or un-proftected 4,955
Type 5 Habitations where thereis no good sourcewithin the habitationsbut an alternativegood source is avail-
2.28
2.17
Type 6
Regarding the capital city, extension of thesewerage system for unserved areas inside andoutside the city, reinforcement of the system in-side the city and provision of additional treat-ment works inside the city are contemplated.
C. Rural Water Supply
The rural habitations in the State of Tamil-nadu are categorised under the following sixtypes. __.. . . _ — _
Of the 47075 habitations, 5420 habitations A statement showing the habitations to become under Types 1&2 and 12549 habitations covered population wise is given below:
able within 1 km
Habitations where thereis a good sourceavaiable
1,107
12,549
29,106
47,075
0.36
4.81
20.06
26.87
Habita-tions
Popula-tion (1991)in (million)
Lessthan300
11049
2.08
300to500
3405
1.36
500to
1000
11183
7.60
1000to
2000
4712
6.59
2000to
5000
1462
4.39
5000to
10000
93
0.65
Morethan10000
53
0.08
Total
1909
22.75
87
As per the target fixed for the Decade, 100%coverage for Rural Water Supply for the entireState is contemplated.
D. Rural Sanitation
The present coverage under Rural Sanitationis practically nil. At present their is no coor-dinated rural latrine programme. The targetfixed under Rural Sanitation during the Decade
is 25% coverage by sanitary toilets in ruralareas. Regarding rural sanitation, setting up ofan agency solely responsible for tackling theproblems in this sector has to be the main ob-jective during the preparatory period. Planningprogramming and implementation of the facilitywill have to be geared up during the Decade.
The habitations proposed to be covered andthe population are tabulated below:
Habita-tionsPopula-tion (1991)in million
Lessthan300
1105
0.20
300to500
341
0.14
500to
1000
1118
0.76
1000to
2000
2127
2.98
2000to
5000
731
2.19
5000to
10000
93
0.65
Morethan10000
5
0.08
Total
5520
7.00
Requiremetns to achieve the goalFinancial
The projected requirements of funds forachieving the targets set for the Decade for theState of Tamilnadu is as follows:
i)
ii)
iii)iv)
Urban Water SupplyFor MMAFor Tamilnadu(Other than MMA)Urban Sewerage(For MMA)For Tamilnadu(Other than MMA)Rural Water SupplyRural Sanitation
Amount requiredRs. in Crores
— 471— 276
— 276
— 184
— 246— 515— 70
Total 1762
Thus the total requirement of funds forTamil Nadu State during the Decade is exepec-ted to be in the order of Rs. 1762 crores for bothUrban and Rural Sector including MadrasMetropolitan area. This works out to about Ks.180 crores/annum as against an investment ofRs. 35 crores for 1979-80. With the existingpattern of funding from the State Government,
the Central Government and other Internationalagencies, it will be very difficult to achieve thetarget of providing good water supply and bettersanitation to all the people in Tamilnadu before1990. Hence it is necessary to generate a majorportion of the funds required for these pro-gramme from International agencies.
Material ResourcesAmong materials, the most important are
and Sewerage Schemes will be represented by'Materials' such as pipes, specials, valves,pumps, jointing materials, etc. The experiencein the State is that more that 70 percent of thecost of any such scheme is accounted for bymaterials used therein. On this basis, the cost ofmaterials required for the Decade programmewill be in order of Rs. 1250 crores.
Among materials, the most important arepipes like Cast Iron, Asbestos Cement, Pre-stressed Concrete, Reinforced Cement Concrete.Poly Vinyle Chloride, etc. The expenditure tobe incurred on these will be about Rs. 900crores. Stoneware pipes will be required insewerage schemes. The cost of these pipes willbe around Rs. 150 crores. Other materials re-quired for the programme will cost about Rs200 crores. The procuring of these materials it-self is a challenging task under present con-
88
ditions and in the quantities involved. To achievesome stability in prices, long term contracts orarrangements may be necessary covering partof the requirements, as this would at the sametime, retain latitude for change and conversionin the balance of the requirements, wherevernecessitated by circumstances. The Central Pur-chase and Stores Organisation (C.P.S.O.) nowin existence in T.W.A.D. Board will be able tomeet this challenge. The State and Central Gov-ernment may endeavour to set up factories tomeet the demand. Also action may be taken toincrease the production capacities of the existingfactories.
Man Power
The Personnel available at preent at the topand middle levels may be sufficient to managethe programme (<for 1981-90. But the lack oftrained personnel in the lower cadre is a cons-traint that has to be overcome. For this the in-puts to Technical Institutions have to be increa-sed and junior level personnel subjects andaccounting during their recruitment. It is alsofound important to disseminate the knowledgegained during implementation of the programmeto the top and middle level personnel who haveto play a major role in the successful implemen-tation of these programmes.
Conclusion
India is the first among the developing nationswhich has made an impressive beginning to tac-kle the problem immediately after the resolutionby the United Nations. A rapid assessment of thesituation was undertaken by the World HealthOrganisation with the help of Government ofIndia for a clear picture to emerge in respect ofthe problems.
The sector study in the field of Water-Supplyand Sanitation was also carried out by Tamil-nadu:
1. to evaluate our preparedness with the paceof development
2. to assess constraints3. to take action for the preparation of plans
before the decade starts (the preparatoryphase)
4. to assess the overall needs and
5. to explore the total funding sources.
It may be of interest to note that a total sumof Rs. 18 crores only was provided during theFirst Five Year Plan for the sector activitiesunder Water Supply and Sanitation in India. Ascompared to this, the sector outlay for the SixthFive Year Plan is expected to be around Rs. 3500crores. (Rs. 2500 crores of Rural and Rs. 1000crores for Urban Sectors. The figures given hereare tentative). In the case of Tamilnadu State, asum of Rs. 240 crores for Urban sector (Rs. 162Crores for Water Supply and Rs. 78 crores fox-sewerage) and a sum of Rs. 220 crores for Ruralsector (Rs. 208 crores for Water Supply and Rs12 crores for Sanitation) have been proposedunder the Sixth Five Year Plan. The correspond-ing provision for the Madras Metropolitan Areais Rs. 277 crores, of which Rs. 209/- crores willbe towards Water Supply and 68 crores will betowards Sewerage.
The All India picture is that, in respect ofphysical coverage, water supply has been provi-ded to about 82% of the Urban population. Re-garding Rural Water Supply, the coverage isabout 30%. In the field of Urban Sewerage andRural Sanitation very little has been done in thelast 25 years. It is expected that this will getgreater attention during the decade.
To fulfil the ambitious programme of provid-ing adtquate access to reasonably safe drinkingwater to every individual of the urban and ruralcommunity, the following items need immediateattention :
(i) The present annual allocation of Funds bothby the State Government and the Governmentof India under Rural Sector is only in the orderof Rs. 12 to 15 crores. This allocation has to betrebled to achieve the objective of covering allrural habitations within the decade (1981-1990).
(ii) Sufficient trained personnel at all levelsand marginal restructuring of the organisationis necessary.
(iii) The Government of India should comeforward to help in procuring the pipes espicially
89
PVC either from within the country or by im-porting from other countries.
(vi) The availability of essential materials likeCement and Steel is a pre-requisite. The StateGovernment and Central Government shouldgive priority in allocating these material requir-ed for the Urban and Rural Water Supply pro-gramme.
(v) At present, objections are raised by theryots in certain parts for tapping undergroundwater for Rural Water Supply Programme stat-ing that this will affect their agriculture. Asthe quantity of water tapped for drinking waterpurpose is very small compared to the waterrequirements for Agricultural purpose, it isessential that a legislation is brought to permitthe Government to tap underground water forthe Rural Water Supply Programme. This ismore essential, in the case of comprehensiverural water supply schemes where in a singlescheme may cover a large number of habita-tions.
Fulfilment of the target set during the Decadeby investment in Water Supply and SanitationSector will contribute not only in the reductionof mortality and morbidity but also increaseproductivity alround, provide employment to asignificant portion of the population and willbenefit all sections of the society. Besides, itwill bring about social transfiguration as theweaker section of the society is freed from theclutches of the elite when public communityWater Supply is popularised.
The preparatory phase for assessing the finan-cial, manpower and material resources has tobe completed in time for launching the Inter-national Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation
Decade Programme in our Country on 1st April1981 successfully.
A Global effort to bring safe water and sani-tation to all people in developing countries with-in the next 10 years was launched by the LJ.N.General Assembly on 10-11-80 when it adoptedunanimously a resolution.
The resolution proclaimed 1981-1990 as "theInternational Drinking Water Supply and Sani-tation Decade" and called upon member-Statesto commit themselves to improve substantiallythe standards of drinking water supply and sani-tation by 1990 to rid the world of waterbornediseases that claim millions of lives.
Three U.N. agencies—the U.N. Children'sFund, the World Health Organisation and theU.N. Development Programme—affirmed theywould cooperate in making the decade purpose-ful.
The Minister of Works and Housing and Par-liamentary affairs has pledged the country's fullsupport to the aims of the International decade(1981-90) for Drinking Water Supply and Sani-tation- Decade launched by the United Nationson 10th November 1980.
The general goal of the decade is to greatlyimprove the water sanitation services enjoyedby the population of the developing countries.The particular goal (ratified- at United Nat'onsWorld Water Conference at Mar del Plata in1977) is to provide all the world's populationwith adequate access to safe water and to hygie-nic latrines by 1990. The Indian goal will beto provide adequate access to reasonably safewater to all its population and easy access toreasonably safe water to all its popultion andeasy access to sanitary toilets to sizeable portionof its population.
yo
Targets and Constraints inWest Bengal
By
S.K. Das Gupta*
India is one of the signatories to the resolu-tion of the United Nations Water Conference atMar-del-Plata, Argentina, in the March 1977,and hence committed to the objectives and goalsas outlined in the resolution. The resolutionsand recommendations of the United NationsWater Conference envisaged that during theyear 1981-90, designated as the InternationalDrinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade,the global goal of access to safe water and sani-tation for all should be ensured by the accele-ration of plans and programme of the signatorycountries. To achieve the target the conferencerecommended closer collaboration among the
various organisations of the United Nations andincreased technical and financial co-operationfrom external agencies. According to the WorldHealth Organisations, 80% of all sicunes in theThird World is attributed to contaminated water,which is why, safe water supply and sanitarydisposal of waste-water are considered all themore necessary.
The present level of coverage of population (asof 1st April, 1980) in the water supply and sani-tation section in India and the targets set for 1990as well as the estimated requirement of fund
for achieving the 1990 targets are submitted ashereunder:
As far as India is concerned it is propsed tolaunch the Decade Plan from the 1st April, 1981to coincide with the beginning of the next finan-cial year. Consequently the Decade Program-me in this country will extend from the 1stApril, 1981 to the 31st March, 1991.
Although the 'drinking water supply' and 'sani-tation' are subjects in the State Sector, thedimension of the programme is so large as tonecessiate a closer co-operation and co-ordina-tion between the Union Govt. and State Govern-ments. The programme will involve sizeablestep-up in the financial institutions, World Banketc. Besides the programme will generate addi-tional demand on cement, steel, cast iron, asbes-tos cement, and other pipe materials in adequatemeasure and the country's production of suchmaterials is to be geared up substantially. Tothis end in view co-ordinated action amongst thecentral Ministries will be necessary.
Recognising the depth and dimension of theproblem, the Union Govt. has decided to set upan Apex Committee under the Chairmanship of
Urban Water SupplyRural Water SupplyUrban SanitationRural Sanitation
As Obtainedin 1980
82%20%27%
2%
Targets setfor 1990
100%100%80%25%
Rs in millionsEstimated
requirementfor funds
24750259004228015840
Total 108,770
•Chief Engineer-I (PHED) West Bengal
91
the Secretary, Ministry of Works and Housing.The Apex Committee will be responsible fornational policy formulation and guidance andreview the programme and intimate actions toachieve the objective of the decade programme.The following organisations Ministries/Depart-ments will be represented on the Apex Com-mittee :
1. Planning Commission2. Ministry of Finance (Deptt. of Economic
Affairs)3. Ministry of Finance (Deptt. Expendi-
ture—Plan Finance)4. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
(Deptt. of Health)5. Ministry of Industry (Dept. of Industrial
Development.6. Ministry of Steel and Mines7. Ministry of Social Welfare8. Ministry of Rural Reconstruction9. Adviser, Central Public Health and Envi-
ronmental Engineering Organisation,Ministry of Works and Housing-Member-Secretary
The state of West Bengal-along with the otherStates is preparing to meet the challenge ofthe decade. The task is uphill which is evidentfrom the present state of things is respect ofWater Supply and Sanitation in this problemstate. The present level of coverage of popu-lation (as of 1st April, 1980) in the Water Supplyand Sanitation sector in the State of West Ben-gal and the targets set for 1990 as well as theestimated requirement of fund for achieveing thetargets are submitted in the following table.
The magniture of the problem in the State canvery well be understood from the difference bet-ween the target and the situation as obtainingtoday. Sectorwise discussion will elaborate theproblem in further details.
Urban Water Supply
In West Bengal, we have 134 nos, of Urbancommunities. Some of these are provided withpiped water supply system but with inadequatelevel of supply. We have proposed elevation ofservice levels as per recommendation of theCPHEEO. Those not provided with piped watersupply at all shall be covered on a priority basis.It has been estimated that an amount of Rs.264.0 crores will have to be spent within theDecade to achieve the target.
Rural Water Supply
In West Bengal, rural population is around75% of the total population of the State. Thus,full coverage of the population by 31st March,1991, is a tremendous task and will cost aroundRs. 501.0 crore. We have propsed coverage of 1stpriority problem villages (i.e. where no sourceexists at present), numbering 13663, within theVI plan period along with some 2nd priority andnon-problem villages: A vast part of the Statedoes not have adequate ground water reserveand costlier surface water supply system has tobe adopted there.
Urban Sanitation
It is well understood that much more atten-tion has to be given to Urban Sanitation Servi •ces. We contemplate to cover 33 urban communi-ties with such services within the Decade at anestimated cost of Rs. 640.00 crore. We proposeto provide sewerage and sewage treatment faci-lities in all the ten nos. of prospective Class IUrban communities. We also propose to providesewerage and sewage treatment facilities in In-dustrial towns located on the river Bhagirathibelonging to class-II category for avoiding per-petual water pollution by industrial and domes-tic waste. We have also proposed extension andreorientation of sewerage and treatment facili-
As obtaining in 1980
Urban Water SupplyRural Water SupplyUrban SanitationRural Sanitation
39%17%15%
Nil
Total 15250
Targets Set for 1990 Funds
100%100%80%25%
(Rs. in million). 2640
501064001200
Total 15250
92
ties for the three hill stations at Darjeeling,Kalimpong and Kurseong to encourage-tourism.
We have proposed low cost sanitation withseptic tanks in 14 class-II towns.RURAL SANITATION
No work in this field has so far been under-taken. We intend to provide low cost water seallatrines to 25% of our rural population by theend of the Decade at an estimated cost of Rs.126.00 crores. Due consideration will be given tothe soil condition, habits and socio-economic con-dition of the people.
Catchment areas of hill springs and streamsare vulnerable to human waste pollution andhill diarrhoea is endemic. In alluvial areas, soiltransmitted diseases are endemic, particularlywhere water logging is freequent.
As indicated above we shall require a fundof around Rs. 1531.0 crores within the Decadefor achieving the target coverages. The StateGovernment intends to finance the self payingprojects from loan obtained from differentfinancial institutions within the country and alsofrom World Bank subject to approval of theCentral Govt. Internal generation of funds has to
be encouraged by extensive new and highertariffs for services created within the Decade.
Requirement of materials would be aroundfour times of what we are using now. Newindustries have to be set up to cope with theincreased requiremnt. We have to choose ma-terials that can be produced quickly and at com-paratively low cost. For this, research orientedprogammes have to be undertaken in consulta-tion with similar national organisations. An esti-mate for materials and equipment required forthe Decade is below.
Extensive re-organisation and strengthning ofthe management have to be made in order todevelop projects, execute, and maintain theservices. Training facilities in India and abroadhave to be arranged. Co-ordination with varioustechnical institutions within the country willbe helpful.
Constraints are many, their solution is difficult.Yet we hope, with our all efforts, we shall be.able to provide for our people, better services inrespect of water supply and sanitation, withinthe ensuring Decade.
1
12.
3.
t
f1
(a)(b)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Materials required forMaterialsCementMild Steel barsMild Steel PlatePumpaHand Pumps
Borehole! (BHP)0—55—10
10—2020—50above 50Vertical Pumps (BHP)
0—55—10
10—2020—50above 50Horizontal Pumps (BHP)
0—55—10
10—2020—50above 50
Water SupplyUnitTons
11
tt
No
»))>»?
I )
) )
1)
tt
i )
JJ
) l
JJ
J J
JJ
i )
Construction forUrban1,12,000
25,00011,000
—
—19126950
—
————10
—2331634056
the Decade 1981-1990Rural97,50042,500
—
1,01,750 Ord. 61050D.W. 40700
4040
785270
———
4020
3000618
57
93
1.2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
U.
12.
13.
Supplies and Equipment for Water
Supplies and Equipment
Drilling Equipments and accessoriesof various types and classes withspares etc.
Rig type
Pure D.T.H. (3 tons supporting truck)Rotary+D.T.H. Combinationm tons supporting truck)Direct Rotary Rig (6 in.)(7£ tons supporting truck)Direct Rotary Rig(7£ tons supporting truck)Reserve Rotary Rig(1\ tons supporting truck)Cable Tool Rig(7£ tons supporting truck)Road Rollers of Sizes(a) 10 tons(b) .8 tonsConcrete mixers(a) 10/7 (eft)(b) 7/5 (eft)Diesel Generators for Power of capacities(a) 0—10(b) 10—25(c) 25—50(d) above 50Vibrators (HP)Diesel operator 4.2
6.5Trucks of sizes(a) 90—125 (HP)(b) 60— 70(c) 14— 35Trailers of sizes(a) 0.05 (CM)(b) 0.50(c) 3.00Mobile vehicles of sizes(a) Jeep 26 (HP)(b) Pick-ups 30(c) Cars 14(d) Mini Buses 40 "
Unit
No
)>
••
!>
1)
I I
j >
J l
1 )
I I
>»
I I
; 1
I I
I I
I I
I I
I I
Supply & Sanitation Facilities
WaterUrban
—
—
—
1
1
—
219
280130
10145
835
205205
298
10
3434
6
1385264
6
SupplyRural
9
7
100
3
3
8
11
20
10107
3—
1010
102123
17
153153
3257990
336
SanitationUrban
4020
100
10019
4060
6475
949450
238106130
10
Rural
4
—
5454
108,
17—
94
Andaman*
Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Bay ofBengal is an isolated group of islands from theMainland by long stretches of open sea. PortBlair Town, the Capital of these Islands islocated at a distance of 1255 Km., from Calcuttaand 1133 Km., from Madras Ports. There areabout 361 Islands in all, covering an area of8293 Sq. Km. The total population as per 1971census is 1,15,133.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands receive rainfallfrom both South West and North East monsoons.The major portion of the rainfall is from theSouth West monsoon. There are numerousstreams/rivers but most of them flow towardsEast or West having a short run and draininginto the Sea. Acute shortage of water is feltin summer with the result that various methodsto tackle this problem are evolved every year.The ground water resources of these Islands havenot been systematically assessed. The soils donot have capacity to absorb the rain water andretain it for long periods. This, in turn, causesthe failure of wells during summer. There arenatural springs in various Islands. Some of themare perennial.
1. Collection of rain water in the Giant RCCoverhead tanks and distribution bygravity through pipes;
2. Collection of water from the existingnatural springs;
3. Collection of water from the dug wells.Safe drinking piped water supply is pro-vided to 9 villages and a further addi-tional 39 villages by the end of 1979-80.The Government of India is very keen toprovide water supply in all the 57 pro-blem villages as surveyed in 1972 by theend of 1980-81.
The urban water supply requirement of PortBlair inclusive of the adjoining areas of ruralpopulation is being fed by Dhanikari Dam storagewhich was constructed by MES during 1973.i
The settlements are scattered in variousIslands and the only means of communicationis water transport. This requires improvementto speed up the execution of schemes in time.
There are several schemes to cover the 57problem villages in the year 1972 survey, and107 in the year 1978. The schemes are basicallyin the rural areas by
The materials required for the execution ofprojects are to come from the mainland and theexpansion of water transport goes a long wayin implementing projects according to schedule.
KARNATAKA
(from page 83)
up with the cost of the projects for completion national Water Supply and Sanitation Decadein a stipulated period. by special provision in the budget and necessary
plan allocations by mobilisation of funds eitherThe Governments both at State and Centre is indigenously or by obtaining assistance through
to give priority for allocation of funds to this the World Bank and International Developmentsector (water supply) at least in the Inter- Agencies from the foreign countries.
95
The Decade in Meghalaya
By
P. Arunachalam*
Introduction.
BETTER late than never. In the thirty-fourth year of Independence a realization
has come that a healthy nation is a wealthynation. It is a wellknown fact that water-bornediseases outnumber all othtr diseases put to-gether and in India one person out of everytwo of the population drinks polluted water. Ac-cording to a WHO survey 80% of the diseasesare caused by polluted water and the amountspent by Governments on health care and suffe-ring caused by these diseases for a poor countrylike us is truly collosal. The most pragmatic ap-proach to this baffling problem is: "Preventionis better than cure and the eariler the better".During the decade 1981-1990 India is going tolay the basic infrastructure by providing puredrinking water supply and sanitation for totaleradication of all water-obrne diseases and toachieve the social goal of health by the year2000. The solution to the problem of drinkingwater supply to one and all looks very simplein theory but poses very formidable problems inits implementation. This can only be achievedby a formidable will. Where there is a will thereis a way.
On 10th November 1980 the United NationsGeneral Assembly, at its special session, for-mally launched the "International Water Supply& Sanitation Decade" (IWS & SD) 1981-1990.However, the Government of India withoutwaiting for the U.N. resolution, on its own madea modest beginning even in earlier years. On10th November 1980, Mr Bhishma NarainSingh, India's Minister for Works & Housing, ina broadcast reaffirmed the government's decisionto achieve the tragets set forth in the U.N.Decade as expeditiously as possible. The Gov-ernment of India has already held a number of
"Chief Public Health Engineer, Meghalaya,Shillong.96
.4 tribal woman filling a pitcher from a publicfountain at her door step in Garo Hill District,
conferences with the U.N. agencies like WHO,UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank etc., in whichvarious State Governments have participated. Ithas been now decided that the Government ofIndia, with the cooperation of various State Gov-ernments, would endeavour to achieve the
following targets by the year 1990.
Targets
(1) Urban Water Supply: 100% of theurban population to be covered withbasic minimum needs of safe watersupply.
(2) Urban Sewerage: 80% of the urbanpopulation to be covered with eithersewerage system or sanitary toilets con-nected to safe disposal system.
(3) Rural Water Supply: 100% of the ruralpopulation to be covered with basicminimum needs of safe water supply.
(4) Rural Sanitation: 25% or more of thepopulation to be covered with sanitarytoilets in the Rural and semi-urbanareas.
Any programme for providing water facilitiesin Meghalaya will meet with instantaneous res-ponse from the public, but the same is not truein respect of urban sanitation and rural sanita-tion.
Depending upon the past experience and thesocial acceptance very high priority has beenlaid in Meghalaya for rural and urban watersupply, especially public stand post water sup-ply schemes with house conenctions in ruralareas and in urban areas with water supplywith household storage tanks and domestic andindustrial connections. The level of industriali-zation is very low in Meghalaya compared withrest of India and the targets for the Inter-national Water Supply and Sanitation Decadeare rather drawn up on a very modest scale,keping in view the eradication of water-bornediseases and to mitigate the hardship of carryingdrinking water by people over long distancesand to provide for infrastructure facilities forindustrialization.
Unfortunately a vast number of people livingin small villages situated on hilltops, and lackingroad communications do not have access to safeand convenient source of water nor do they havesanitation system. However, with the growingawareness of rural communities the benefits ofwater supply and good communications the PHEand PWD have to satisfy the ever-increasing de-mands of the masses, and the period of 10 years
(1981-1990) is too long a period to phase out toextend the benefits of safe drinkink water andsanitation facilities to all the people of Megha-laya. Had there been no constraints like themen material and money, we can at least coverall the remaining 40,000 problem villages as on1-4-80 by 31-3-1985 out of a total of 1.53,000villages. Even this seems to be a remote possi-bility.
Financing
According to a survey undertaken by theStates and Union Territories during the year1971-72 there are about 5.76 lakh villages inthe country, out of which 1.53 lakhs are problemvillages.
Some state Governments have repotred thatthe earlier survey was incomplete and that dueto natural causes the water table had subsequen-tly gone down in some areas or the sources haddried up or the earlier sources had dried upthereby increasing the number of problemvillages. The list of problem villages still remaininconclusive. The target for sixth plan is tocover all problem villages by the year 1985. Itis estimated that the requirements of funds willbe of the order of 15,000 crores for the WaterSupply & Sanitation Decade (1981-1990).
Plan, for Meghalaya
Meghalaya is a tiny state situated in the N.E.India. Meghalaya is a land of great scenic beautywith verdant hills and fast-flowing streams.Meghalaya has about 400 Km of Internationalboundary with Bangladesh 90% area of the stateis mainly inhabited by tribal population. Shil-long is the Capital of the state and is accessiblefrom Gauhati by a 100 Km long motorableroad.
The population of the state as per 1971Census is 10,11,699. The state consists of fivedistricts. The terrain is mostly hilly and un-dulating. Most of the villages are situated onthe top of the hills and the sources like streamsand rivers flow at the bottom of the hills. Insome places springs at higher altitude are avai-lable, but due to vagaries of rainfall and defore-station in the catchment area as also due toshifting cultivation (Jhum cultivation) the yieldof springs is decreasing gradually. Ring-wells orshallow wells are not successful in hill areas. A
97
few deep tube wells, and hand tube-wells sunkalong the plain areas adjoining Assam andBangladesh border were found to be successful.Till 31.3.80, 379 problem villages have beencovered out of 4.583 villages with pipe-watersupply schemes. 75% of the remaining 4,204villages in Meghalaya, included in the decadeplan, are at a lower level than the villages.These sources require pumping and treatmentof water, storage and distribution through streettaps.
Social Acceptability
No programmes and planning will be success-ful which are not socially acceptable and with-out public participation. In the six urban towns,there are either municipalities or town com-mittees which have elected rtpresentatives ontheir boards and run by Civil Service Officersas chief executives. In the board meetings theplans and programmes are discussed and a closewatch is kept on their implementation. Revenueand tax collection and maintenance of watersupply and sanitation schemes are carried outby and large to the satisfaction of the taxpayers.
In rural areas the set-up is highly democratic.The entire adult population, both male andfemale, constitute the village durbar. The dur-bar elects its leader known as a headman. Allroutine matters like collection of house taxes,distribution of land for shifting cultivation, al-lotment of land required for developmentalschemes, e.g. water supply, electricity, hospitals,roads buildings, etc.; are done by the headmanin consultation with the village durbar. TheP.H.E. officers in charge of water supplyschemes first consults the headman of the villageand informs him of certain conditions that re-quire to be fulfilled befort any water supplyscheme can be undertaken for the village. Theheadman summons the village durbar by beat-ing of drums and in the gathering informs thepeople of the proposals for water supply scheme,the benefits that will accrue by regular watersupply and the taxes that are required to bepaid for, and other connected matters like freegift of land, preservation of catchment areas,prevention of cattle and human beings frompolluting the sources, repairs and maintenanceof the water supply schme, etc. After the deli-berations are completed to the satisfaction of
all involved, an agreement is drawn up betweenPHE Department and the village durbar incor-porating all the clauses mentioned above, andwork is commenced. The Government bears the100% capital cost, and first 5 years after com-pletion of the rural water supply scheme, theState Government bears 100% of the main-tenance and repair costs. At the end of the fifthyear only the scheme is handed over to thelocal committee/headman of the village for main-tenance.
URBAN WATER SUPPLY SCHEMESGreater Shillong Water Supply Scheme
Estimated to cost Rs. 239.5 million. The pro-ject is financed by L.I.C. to the extent of Rs.50 million and rest by State Plan funds. Thisproject covers four towns, viz. Shillong Munici-pality, Shillong Cantonment, Nongthymmai, andMawlai and about eleven villages. The per capitasupply of water to urban areas is 157 lpcd andfor rural areas at 70 lpcd. An urban populationof 2,40,000 people will be served for the nextthirty years. The project commenced on 3.3.1979and is expected to be completed by March 1985.The project will operate on cost recovery 'c^sis.
Tura Phase IIThis project is estimated to cost Rs. 22.8 mil-
lion and will augment the existing Tura PhaseI water supply scheme and in addition it willserve 26,000 people in the continuous urbanareas of Tura Town at 115 lpcd. The construc-tion work on the project will commence shortly.The project will operate on cost recovery basis.
Jowai Phase IIThis project will cover the contiguous sub-
urban and newly developed localities of Jowaitown and is expected to cost Rs. 2.5 million.
RURAL WATER SUPPLY SCHEMES
Combined Water Supply Scheme
This rural water supply scheme covers 2ivillages in Mynso Raliang tribal developmentblock in Jaintia Hills, covering the present popu-lation of 30,000. At present there is no protec-ted supply in this area and serious water scar-city prevails during the dry season. The villagersdrink polluted water from streams and rivers.Water-borne diseases like stomach ailments,typhoid and jaundice are prevalant in this area.
98
A view of the Tura Water Works, Garo Hills.
Also some influx of population is expected shor-tly due to submergence of other villages in thevicinity after the completion of Kopili Hydro-electric Project by 1985. The estimated cost ofthe scheme is Rs. 67.50 million and the projectcould not be commenced due to shortage offunds.
This scheme benefits 18 villages under theNayabunglow tribal deevlopment block in EastKhasi Hills distict of Meghalaya, covering thepresent population of 10,000. The people of thearea are affected by leprosy and other skin dis-eases. Acute water scarcity prevails in the dryseason. The villagers are used to drink pollutedwater from streams, rivers and water-borne dis-eases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and jaun-dice are prevalent in this area. The estimatedcost is Rs. 43 million and the benefits expectedare cleanlines and personal hygiene, and betterhealth facilities.
There are other similar groups of problemvillages, which are in various stages of surveyand investigation.
Sanitation
The Shillong sewage disposal system willcover the entire Shillong Municipal area cover-ing 27 wards of the town and consists of (i)Laying of Sewers, (ii) Treatment Plant; and (iii)Effluent disposal. The rainy season in Shillongextends over a spell of six months in a year bet •ween April and October. In winter the dischargein the upland streams becomes very small andreceive big quantity of sewage or wage affluent.
The schme is expected to cost about Rs. 99 mil-lion. In addition sewerage and sewage disposalfacilities will be provided to two more town viz.Tura (Class III town) and jowai (Class IV town)respectively, at a cost of Rs. 38 million.
Rural SanitationIt is also proposed to provide low-cost sanita-
tion facilities on the guidelines provided by theUNDP global project for a rural population of0.38 million which is approximately 25% of thetotal population of Meghalaya. This projectgreatly improves the sanitary conditions in vil-lages, wherein defecation in open areas is widelypractised and reduces mosquito breeding andthe spread of endemic diseases like malaria andfilariasis.
Estimate of Cost for the International WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990)Meghalaya(1) Proposed urban W/S
facilities during thedecade
(2) Proposed urban sani-tation facilities dur-ing the decade
(3) Proposed rural W/Sfacilities during thedecade
(4) Proposed rural san-titation facilities dur-ing the decade
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
2,462,00,000,00
1,358,00,000,00
80,53,85,000,00
7,60,00,000,00
Total Rs. 12,633,85,000,00
99
Resources
Financing for Rural Water Supplyand Tariff' Policy
By
Khizr R. Qureshi*
Introduction
T HERE is an increasing realization now in thedeveloping countries that access of safe water
supply to a large number of people must beprovided. The economic benefits from improvingthe quantity and quality of village water sup-plies is generally being accepted. Moreover, itis also appreciated that provision of safe wateris of prime importance to public health, and, incombination with other sanitary measures, is anessential prerequisite to eradicate many epidemicdiseases.
Cost of Water Schemes
The investment costs of the water supply schemes, however, are substantial. Depending on thelevel of service provided, and technology adopt-ed in different countries these costs vary greatly.Wide differences between systems and betweancountries make it difficult to make any generali-zations for all countries. In many cases the percapita construction cost may be US $ 4 to US $15 for shallow wells and US $ 30 to 100 forpiped systems. Additional money is required an-nually for QBPTa<iVi>"i jja4|Uiitt)A&££ training andadministration.
The emphasis on imported technology has beenthe dominant aspect of water supply system inthese countries. The result is that per capitacosts are high, and operation and maintenanceis difficult and costly.
Financing of Water Schemes
Major financing for the rural schemes is donethrough the government budget. At the national,
•Former UNDP expert in Ethiopia
regional or local level increasing amounts arebeing allocated for water development. But thesegovernment finances have to compete with otherneeds equally important and significant like edu-cation, health, roads, etc. Foreign aid has becomesignificant and important, too, in the last decadein water development and constitues now 30 to40 percent of the total expenditure in develop-ing nations. In many countries, capital equip-ment has been provided and technical assistancemade available to cover a segment of rural popu-lation. In many of these aid programmes, theemphasis has been to put the equipment andtechnology of the donor countries. The amountsof funds allocated to village water supply iromthese two sources are usually determined by theGovernment on the basis of national prioritiesand the needs of other sectors of the economy.
Payments by the Users
Some part of the finances is made availableby the villagers to meet initial and recurringcost. In many countries, the villagers contributea part of the capital cost so that the water sys-tem may be established in their villages. They
of capital cost. In the case of operation, the Gov-ernment may subsidise the operation costs; butin many countries, the emphasis is that the ruralcommunities meet the full operation and main-tenance costs. This emphasis on payment forwater is based on the principle that the benefi-ciaries should contribute towards the cost of theservice they receive. Many countries, however,do not consistently enforce charging policies andarrears are heavy.
This is due to the fact that villagers are gene-rally so poor that they are unable to pay any-
101
thing towards the cost of water. In fact, the Gov-ernments may not have been clear in their mindswhether to charge or not. Even with the decisionin principle that villagers should meet part ofthe cost, it is a problem to determine their abilityand willingness to pay. The matter is compli-cated by the fact that it is very difficult to esti-mate the average real income of the people andto determine their ability to pay. There is insuffi-cient data available on real income of rural population. Even if real income is estimated, it shouldbe necessary to find the relationship between thecost of water and income in cash. When peoplehave little income in cash, it would be difficultfor them to pay water charges.
Financial institutions have not been very ac-tive in providing funds for rural water supply.The urban water supply systems have their ownfinancial problems, and generally there is littlesubsidisation from urban to rural systems.
Water Development arid Traiff Policy
The fact that rural people have less income hasgenerally been conceded. Water should thereforebe made available free to these communities. Butfree water supplies will increase the Govern-ment's financial obligations. If a widespread ruralwater programme is to be successfully imple-mented, the Government's annual expenditurewould go on increasing. An attempt is being madein this paper to study various implications ofalternative policies and a rational water tariffpolicy is being suggested.
Free Water Supply
Provision of free water is one of the demandsof the population in the developing countries.
Realizing that there are wide differences inincome between the urban and rural people, theGovernment is always working to narrow thisgap. This may take a long time to achieve, butcertain steps may be taken immediately, andprovision of water free of charge is one way to-wards income redistribution. This implies acontinuous subsidy for water use, and a changein resources allocation through public funds tothe rural areas in the form of investment andoperation expenditure.
If one considers rural development, in general,water supply should be a part of it. In fact theaim should be a comprehensive development ap-proach for any community or area, and may in-clude health, sanitation, rural industries, roads,agricultural improvement and adult education.Moreover, water in rural areas is being providedon humanitarian motives of relieving hardship,and so the financial aspect should be consideredas secondary. In many countries, the investmentmade in the water supply is not being effectivelyutilized due to the practice of charging. Duringthe dry period; a minimum amount of water ispurchased; and if the system is to be improvedor expanded to provide better service, then theprice of water becomes a constraint. In the wetseason, few people make use of it since rainwater is available.
The Government may be concentrating itsefforts in providing the water supply in the poor-er parts of the country. These may be areas,where people are not able to pay for it. At timeswhen there are cash difficulties, people are notin a position to purchase water, and may haveto borrow or have to use polluted water. Thiscreates unnecessary hardship and, by taking intoaccount the general low level of income, a caseexists for free water.
Increased health benefits may be achieved froma water supply if it is provided free. Many peo-ple use poor quality water during the rainy sea-son, mainly because of the price factor. As thetraditional sources are available in this season,people may use polluted water, and do not careto walk to the water supply point. As stated ear-lier, use is also minimum during the dry period—not much for washing and bathing. It is possiblethat there may be greater health benefits if ruralpeople can use good quality of water throughoutthe year and it may be that free supply of wateris the way to achieve it.
In many countries the expenditure on ruralhealth facilities and on treatment of water-bornediseases is considerable. If safe water is freelyavailable, this expenditure would be very muchreduced, and health of the rural people wouldbe improved. If the suffering due to water-bornediseases and death in the rural areas is weightedagainst the cost of free water supply, it wouldbe found that these costs are very small.
102
The case aga.nst Free Water Supply
The major argument against free water is thatif financial aspects are ignored, the Governmentswill be faced with a large iinancial obligation.Government only has limited funds, and so alarge share for one sector means less for others.Thus if the Government is not prepared to cutexpenditure elsewhere, it may cut water deve-lopment.
The case against free water is based on theargument that water supplies must continue tobe regarded as a public utility. Water is seldomconsidered or regarded in the same light asschools or hospitals.
It has been argued subsidisation of water sup-plies in developing countries inhibits financingand is a major cause of the critical and worsen-ing shortages. Rates being unrelated to costsmeans, subsidies are necessary, subsidies arefrequently too small, so the service deteriorates.
In general, the argument in favour of recover-ing the cost from the users is based chiefly onthe consideration that, if water is free or is hea-vily subsidised, sufficient amount of money maynot be made available by the Government forefficient operation and construction of otherschemes. Similarly, due to uncertain economicsituation faced by the country in some years,financial allocations may not be made adequate-ly for major replacements and additions, withthe result that water services go from bad toworse and the system deteriorates rapidly losingits public health significance.
The main argument for financial considerationscentres on the experience of most of the under-developed countries, that they can get funds forthe construction of water supplies, but this isnot the case for the ever-increasing maintenanceand operating costs, future extensions, replace-ments and for administration expenses.
It is true that free water supplies will increasethe Government's financial obligation. In a coun-try with a high population rate, to carry outsuccessfully a widespread rural water supplyprogramme would mean that the annual subsidyondrinking water would be enormous. Govern-
ment have to provide high annual investment,and would have to meet the annual operationand maintenance cost.
But it is a fact that whatever pricing policiesare adopted, village water supply programmesare likely to require financial support, and sub-sidies from the national revenue would be ne-cessary. It may t e necessary to consider here1he various functions of water rates.
Rating Function
There are various functions of rates, andthese functions frequently conflict. These func-tions are economic, social and financial. The eco-nomic function is to ensure that resources areused efficiently, i.e. price equals marginal cost.If prices exceed marginal costs the resources willbe under-utilized. If marginal costs exceed prices,capacities may quickly become a constraint.
With rural supply marginal cost will frequent-ly be near zero, and any rating policy otherthan free water lead to under utilization. Withurban supplies, rates are usually related to his-torical costs. These are normally less than long-run marginal costs due to the cheapest sourcesbeing used first and due to inflation.
It is possible that rates are less than short-term marginal costs due to inflation and thepolitical difficulties associated with increasingwater rates. Hence water could be cheaper tothe consumer than the real cost. This may leadto demand exceeding supply at the current priceand to a need for even higher cost augmentation.
The financial function is that the revenue ofthe water supply organization meets all its costscapital, operation, maintenance and collection.
The social function is subjective but wouldgenerally be considered to include efforts to re-lieve poverty, redistribute income and developbackward areas.
Thus the economic and social functions of rateis the same, i.e. low water rates; but the finan-cial function is in conflict with them.
103
Alternative Tariff Policiesi
A major policy decision is whether to regardwater supplies as public utility or social service.There is a strong case for regarding rural sup-plies as a social service, like schools and hospi-tals. If this new status of public service is accep-ted, the obligation of the Government will befully recognised and understood.
The possibility of free rural water supplyshould be seriously considered. This policy canbe justified on social and economic grounds. Inthis way the Government would be subsidizingthe poorer section of the community, the incomedistribution effect of which would be sociallydesirable.
If provision of free water is not possible, thenlow water rates should be charged. Efforts shouldbe made to recover only the operation and main-tenance expenses.
In fact, the villagers should participate withthe concerned authorities in planning, construc-tion, operation and maintenance of water sys-tems. For this purpose water committees can beestablished where water supply system is inexistence or is to be constructed. An agreementmay be laid down specifying the duties and res-ponsibilities of the Government and the WaterCommittee. The basis of this agreement couldbe :
(i) The water system is to be constructedby the Government in co-operation andconsultation with the Water Committee.A system of categorization has to bsestablished based on the economicstatus of the region and sub-region onthe report of the local administration.Then the capital cost is determined, and
. recovered over a period of time from thecommunity. Depending on the economicstatus of the area where the system isto be installed, it has to be decided whe-ther full cost be charged, or the costbe subsidised, or the system be installedfree.
Only the local cost of constructionshould be charged, and people shouldnot be asked to pay for the assistancereceived under foreign grants. Similar-ly, the cost of administration of cons-truction, training, etc., should not berecovered from the people, and theseexpenses may be put under the generaldevelopment budget.
(ii) The operation should be arranged bythe community. Once the system is esta-blished it should be handed over to thecommunity. All expenses of operation,thus, would have to be arranged by theWater Committee and recovered fromthe members.
(iii) Maintenance should be organised by theGovernment. It should be realised thata large number of these schemes wouldbe in communities, possessing limitedmechanical skill. Therefore, Govern-ment should be responsible for all main-tenance, and charge for it.
The whole charging has to be reviewedperiodically and adjustments, made fromtime to time in the light of prevailingeconomic situation. As the income andproductivity increase in various regionsand sub-regions, where water is subsi-dised or provided free, the communityshould be asked to pay for it.
104
Provision of Basic Servicies for theUrban Poor*
An Overview for the State of Gujarat
By
D.N. Basu**, C.V. Vaidya**, J.D. Maskara**
Introduction
B OTH in national and regional context, pro-vision of basic services for the poor is one
of the fundamental planning goals. In an extendedsense, basic services would tend to include theentire domain of services which have direct orindirect bearing on the quality of life. However,the definition of basic services is limited to whatmay be called Urban Civic Services and that tooonly the more important of them like water sup-ply, drainage and sewerage. This definition ischosen because, in terms of immediate prioritiesfor urban planning, such services appear moreprominent.
Before presenting an overview of this problemof providing such services to the urban poorwith particular reference to Gujarat, it wouldbe better to have a perspective of the factorsrelevant to this issue. In otherwords, we shouldascertain the context or the groups of factorswhich tend to make the problem of providingbasic services as they are presented to be. Suchgroups of factors are prima facie identified asfollows
(i) Who or which agency are responsiblefor the provision of such services?
(ii) What is the financial and institutionalresource base, existing and potential,
'The authors are grateful to the officials of GujaratWater Supply and Seweraoe Board as well as differentMunicipalities in obtaining the required informationand clarifications at different stages. The views express-ed in t)m paper are those of the author.; and not neces-sarily of the Organisation.
* "Operations Research Group, Baroda.
which such agencies have, to tackle theproblem?
(iii) What is the current status of such ser-vices in quantitative and qualitativesense?
(iv) What it costs to the system to providethe basic services to the target popula-tion now and in future at a desiredlevel of consumption?
(v) What is the affordability index of thetarget group of the urban poor to payfor such services?
(vi) Who are the groups or users of suchservices, which can be tapped for thepurpose of subsidising the poorer con-sumer groups?
Against this set of factors, an attempt is madein this paper to present a few facts about theprovision of civic services in urban Gujarat, par-ticularly water supply and sewerage and sug-gest some alterntives. The example of water sup-ply and sewerage as the basic service is probablythe most appropriate one in the context offuture urban perspective as provision of suchservice is directly identified with the consumergroup (i.e. target group of beneficiaries) and re-presents the most essential service with an in-creasing marginal cost. Any effective solution tothe problem of providing such civic service canbe extended to other similar services, providedthe future cost of the system and the beneficia-ries can be identified and estimated.
Urban Population in Gujarat
In 1971, recorded urban population of Gujaratwas 7.69 million, which constituted about 28Tc
105
of the total population compared to about 20%of the country as a whole. Gujarat ranks thirdin the country in terms of proportion of urbanpopulation. The distribution of urban populationby size class of towns is given in Table I. Theseven cities of Gujarat (urban centres havingone lac 'population or more) account for littleless than 45% of the total urban population ofthe State living in 216 small, medium and largetowns. Both in terms of resource base and pro-vision of civic services, the cities are likely toexhibit better situation compared to small andmedium towns. Any scheme of provision of ser-vices to the latter group of towns often posesmore difficulties in view of their largeness ofnumber, geographical spread and larger propor-tion of the poorer segment of population.
TABLE I
Distribution of Urban Population in Gujarat byPopulation size class — 1971
TABLE II
Income Distribution of Urban Households inGujarat —1978-79*
Size Class
More thanMore thanMore thanMore thanMore thanMore thanLess than
10,00,0001,00,000
50,00020,00010,0005,0005,000
Total
No. ofcentres
16
18427371
5
216
Population
15,86,00017,95,00011,74,00013,28,00010,53,0005,40,0002,10,000
76,86,000
A recent All India Survey by ORG presentssome approximate estimate of the household in-come distribution by size class of towns in Guja-rat (Table II) which, in absence of more sophis-ticated indicator of poverty, has been used toidentify the 'Urban Poor". As expected, the citieshave significantly lower proportion of the poorand higher proportion of the rich. The estimatedproportion of households having monthly incomeupto Rs. 350 will be about one-third of the totalpopulation in cities compared to about 50% for
•Source: ORG/IMRB/National Readership Survey(second) in Urban India, 1978.
106
HouseholdIncomeclass(Rs./month)
0-250251-500501-1000
1001-1500Above 1500
Total
Population Size-classOver
10 lakhs
13.4442.4729.846.188.07
100.00
1 lakh to10 lakhs
16.8040.2227.27
6.898.82
100.00
Belowllakh
32.0839.2020.83
4.143.75
100.0
Total
23.8140.2524.60
5.316.03
100.00
the smaller towns. In the State as a whole, per-centage of this group, who may be identified asthe urban poor will be about 40% (Table III).The affluent group or the urban rich defined toinclude households with monthly income aboveRs. 1500 will be little over 8% in cities comparedto 3.7% in smaller towns. The estimated abso-lute number of households in the urban poorand the affluent groups in the State in 1981 arerespectively 7.6 and 1.1 lakh. The estimated de-cadal growth between 1971-81 is worked out at40% and the average household size is estimatedat 5.75.
The significance of providing an indicativeestimate of the absolute number of 'urban poor'and 'urban rich' households lies in the feasibilityof cross subsidy, which provides the key to thepricing strategy for the basic urban services likewater supply and sewerage. Given an opera-tionally feasible machinery, the larger the pro-portion of urban rich household, the less diffi-cult it is to evolve a price structure commensu-rate with the cost of providing such services. Ascan be seen from TABLE III above, on an ave-rage, there is one rich household for every 7 poorhouseholds. The ratio is more unfavourable forsmall and medium towns.
The concept of cross subsidy could be extendedto encompass inter-use price differential. Forexample, non-domestic users of urban services
TABLE III
Estimated 'Urban. Poor' and Urban Rich' in Gujarat —1981
Population
4732000
6018000
10750000
Households
860400
1003000
1863400
Urban PoorHouseholds(Monthly
Income uptoRs. 350)
282200(32.8)
478400(47.7)
760600(40.1)
'Urban RichHouseholds(MonthlyIncome Rs.
1500 & above)
75700(8.8)
38100(3.8)
113800(6.1)
Cities
Small andMediumTowns
Total
Note:- Figures in the bracket indicate percentage to total.
could be expected to pay at much higher ratethan the domestic users. Here it would appearthat the larger cities are much better placed be-cause the proportion of industrial and commer-cial establishments in such cities is much morethan in small and medium towns. Although noprecise estimate has been attempted, it wouldbe logical to assume that, the employment in themanufacturing sector and large trade and ser-vices in the seven cities of Gujarat would ac-count for a much higher proportion (in relationto its population size) than that of the smallerurban centres.
With this background of the size and compo-sition of urban population in Gujarat, an at-tempt is made below to illustrate the problemand prospects of providing urban services withparticular reference to water supply and sewe-rage. The selection of water supply as an exam-ple of the basic urban services throws up certaininteresting issues because the pricing of waterembodies a combination of the usual principlesof commodity pricing with welfare criteria.
A Review of the Present System of Water Sup-ply and Sewerage Services:
In the first place, it should be recognised that
traditionally provision of basic services like watersupply and sewerage has been the responsibilityof urban local government namely, Municipalityand Municipal Corporation. While the provisionof water supply and sewerage service is the basicfunctional responsibility of the urban local body,the revenue system has not been, in general,linked up with the provision of such services.
An analysis of the annual revenue expendi-ture pattern of any urban local body would sug-gest that for right or wrong reasons, there hasbeen no apparent synchronisation between thefunctions carried out by the local governmentand the revenue generated. For example, themain sources of revenue for the urban localbodies in Gujarat are Property Tax and Octroi,which represent a general instrument of taxationrather than specific function-oriented revenuebase. Such revenue system has, however, severaladvantages because such an instrument of taxa-tion reflect more composite and operationallysimplified mode of revenue generation. This me-thod, on the other hand, suffers from the impor-tant demerits like absence of any yardstick toreflect directly the cost of providing services andaffordability of the beneficiaries.
107
TABLE IV
Per Capita Revenue by Source 1979-80 — Urban Local Bodies in Gujarat (Rs)*
Town
BhavnagarRajkotNadiadSavarkundlaGodhraAn and
Tax RevenueProperty
Tax
5.8913.9421.28
5.3116.7814.28
Octroi
31.9662.1125.4741.4519.2133.85
TotalTax
50.8177.560.4446.8536.6767.82
WaterCharges
4.766.165.501.885.554.97
Non-TaxOther
Non-Tax
9.192.809.513.941.69
16.36
Total
13.958.96
15.015.827.25
21.34
Assigned
0.290.930.470.850.410.34
Grants
27.89.58
46.425.52
29.8250.37
TotalRevenue
92.8096.90
122.4058.3074.16
139.80
TABLE IV presents a summary picture of therevenue source of selected towns and cities re-presenting both medium size towns and largecities. The significance of Property Tax andOctroi is evident from this. Excluding grants fromthe State or Central Government .those twosources would account for between 60% and85% of total current revenue. Water charges,which is the unique example of function-orientedrevenue base is gaining significance in the re-venue system of urban local bodies. However, asit would appear from the following discussions,this method of revenue generation, even withsome moderate increase in rate structure, wouldfall short of the requirement if the water supplyproject is considered to be as a cent percent selffinancing scheme.
In addition to the above understanding of therevenue system of the urban local body, whichis responsible for provision of water supply andsewerage services, the next aspect to be exami-ned is the present status, particularly with res-pect to water supply. Most of the cities and townshave evolved, over a period of time, varyingwater supply systems and consequently the quan-tity and quality of supply, on per capita basis,significantly vary from one area to another.TABLE V presents a general picture of the watersupply and sewerage services in selected cities
*Source : 1. Statistics of Municipal Towns andCities in Gujarat.
2. Annual Reports/Budgets of Individual Municipal Authorities.
and towns in Gujarat. The per capita daily con-sumption (domestic) is much less than 100 litres(except for a couple of cities) which is consideredas the minimum desired level of consumption foran urban dweller. In general, it can be said thatthe water supply situation on per capita basis,is worse in smaller towns. The situation withregard to sewerage services is still worse forsmaller towns. A more elaborate analysis ofwater supply and sewerage facilities in cities andclass II towns groups can be obtained from Prof.R.S. Mehta's Paper on 'Housing and Urban Deve-lopment in Gujarat' incorporated in the specialissue (January 1980) of the Journal of the Insti-tute of Town Planners in India.
Apart from the observed phenomenon of de-ficiency in the level of per capita consumption,the more important aspect to be considered inunderstanding the future problem of providingsuch basic services like water supply is what itwould cost to the system to augment the sourceand distribution of water supply. In general, itcan be argued that most of the urban local bodieshave already tapped the cheaper sources of watersupply and any augmentation of future watersupply would imply substantially higher capitaland operating cost compared to the present levelof operation. This should imply that the averagereal cost of supplying a given quantity of waterin future would he significantly higher than thepresent one. While the marginal cost of addition-al water supply would he different in differenturban areas depending on the source of supplyof existing system, any new scheme to provide
108
TABLE V
Present Status of Water Supply and Sewerage in Urban Gujarat
Town
Ahmedabad
BhavnagarRajkotNadiadSavarkundlaGodhraAnand
Population1971
1585544
225358300612108269379576640359155
Water SupplyPer Capita FilteredWater
Total
60
13585
1194753
122
Supply -rlpcd
Domestic
*
1286582474774
Source ofWater Supply
Tube well &SurfaceLakesLakesTube wellSurfaceRiver, Tank &Tube well
Sewerage++Whetherseweragesystemexists?
Yes
YesNoYesYes
Well NoYes
Fractioncovered bysewerage
95
75—7510—55
* Not AvailableSource u Statistics of Municipal Towns and Cities, Gujarat (1976-77)
+ + Report on Small and Medium ToWns of Gujarat, and Journal of the Institute ofTown Planners, India, January, 1981.
increasing per capita consumption for the grow-ing urban population would impose a financialburden on the urban local bodies several timeshigher than the present system. The increasewould be both on capital repayment account andon operating and maintenance account. For ex-ample, the present expenses on water supplyaccount on per capita basis vary between Rs. 8/-and Rs. 15/- per year (TABLE VI.) Translating interms of cost per 1000 litres of supply (exclud-ing depreciation), it would be, in general, bet-ween 25ps. and 35ps. Even this relatively in-expensive system is not self-financing for mostof the urban local bodies. Per capita revenuefrom water supply account is significantly small-er than the per capita expenditure, parti-cularly so for smaller towns where the propertyvaluations are low and non-domestic users con-tribute much less significantly to the exchequerof the urban local government.
Over and above the two problems of low percapita consumption and the higher cost of thefuture water supply schemes, the third dimen-sion of the problem is distribution of availablewater. Given the estimates of the production(varying between 45 to 75% of total households)
Per capita Revenue and Expenditure several(Rs) 1979-80
of household connections of municipal wat.ar(TABLE VII), it would be logical to expect thatlarge proportion of urban poor households wouldbe consuming not only much less than the ave-rage per capita supply (of municipal water) at
109
TABLE VI
Revenue from and Expenditure on Water Supply and Sewerage in Urban Gujarat
Town
AhmedabadBhavnagarRajkotNadiadSavarkundlaGodhra
WaterPer CapitaRevenue
5.204.766.165.501.885.55
SupplyPer Capita
Expenditure
8.2412.418.52
15.439.186.41
SeweragePer CapitaRevenue(Drainage
Tax)
N.A.1.32
3.62——
Per CapitaExpenditure
N.A.7.46
—7.192.48
Source : Annual Reports of the Municipalities/Corporations except Ahmedabad), 1979-80.For Ahmedabad — Statistics for Municipal Towns in Gujarat, 1976-77.
city level, but also the quality of water consu-med by them would be far from satisfactory.These households will be mostly depending onfree supply of water like standpost or unfilteredsources like tanks and open wells.
TABLE VII
Source of Water in Selected Cities/Towns inGujarat.
City/Town
BhavnagarNadiadRajkotAnandGodhraSavarkundla
% of Householdhaving house
connection(Municipal
supply)
734377495535
% of Householdgetting waterfrom outside
262517393460
Source : ORG Sample Surveys.Note:- Other sources include private well/tank
etc.
Thus the two basic problems of providing high-er level of water consumption (with acceptablequality^ would appear to be
How to generate adequate revenue to meetsignificant higher average expenditure perunit supply if desired level of per capitaconsumption is to be met?
How to distribute more equitably the avil-able water supply between those who canafford to pay for it and those who cannot?
An attempt is made below to quantify some ofthe aspects discussed above with respect toGujarat urban as a whole as also separately forcities (above 1 lakh population) and smaller towngroups. The exercise is illustrative in nature inthe sense that the magnitude of the problem isindicated using crude or hypothetical parametersand variables e.g. desired level of per capita con-sumption, affordability index of different incomegroups to pay for water, annual cost of the aug-mented water supply system.
The Scenarios for Urban Gujarat
The three basic premises on the basis of whichthe scenarios have been worked out in the pre-sent exercises are:—
Desired level of per capita consumptionfrom protected sources with acceptablequality of water should be significantlyhigher than the present level of consump-tion.
110
Any future scheme of water supply andsewerage costs, at constant prices, muchmore than the present system to supplya given quantity of water, taking into ac-count both capital and operating expen-ses*.
The principle of cross subsidy (among dif-ferent income groups of consumers) is ap-plicable in evolving an appropriate tariffstructure for water supply.
Given the validity of the above premises, anexercise is presented below to indicate thehousehold water bill at an average cost of sup-ply and the extent of subsidy required in rela-tion to a datum regarding affordability of dif-ferent consumer groups. The datum regardingthe affordability is however rather subjective.In case of an item like water, application ofthe principle of marginal utility is rather diffi-cult. Nor the present expenses on water areindicative of the affordability of the relevantgroups in view of widely varying situations indifferent town classes or even in different areaswithin a town. In the present exercises, thedatum is considered as 20 of disposable house-hold income as a subjective estimate, which is,however, quite close to the estimates used bydifferent national and international agencies inworking out the affordable water bill of house-holds.
The cost is, in the first place, worked out on•the basis of unit supply (say 1000 litres) reflect-ing the average cost of existing and augmentedsystem. The cost estimates for the augmentedsystem are obtained as an average of some ofthe project reports prepared for Gujarat townsas well as other cities in India, it has been as-sumed that atleast l/3rd of the capital will bein the form of grant and the period of recoverywill be about 20 years at 10% interest. In somesense, the annualised cost would be less than thereal cost of the system, if we take the other ap-proach of resource cost of catering to the extend-ed water supply and sewerage system.
*This assumption appears to be valid considering theproject cost estimate of most of the proposed watersupply cchemes of major urban areas in Gujarat as pre-pared by individual Corporations and State level agency.
The exercise is separately carried out for citiesand small and medium town groups, particular-ly to reflect the impact of the more comprehen-sive sewerage system on per capita level ofconsumption and the differentials in income dis-tribution of households. In areas covered bymunicipal sewerage system, per capita level ofconsumption is generally higher. The desiredlevel of consumption has been assumed constantfor all income groups except the higher incomegroups, who can afford to pay more and thussubsidise the consumption of poorer incomegroups. Desired levels of consumption for citiesand smaller towns have been assumed to be HOand 120 lpcd respectively. For the higher incomegroups, the per capita consumption level is raisedto 125 and 150 lpcd.
As the main idea of the exercise is to estimatethe gap between what households in different in-come groups would be expected to pay for thedesired level of consumption (household waterbill) at an average cost of supply and what maybe considered as the affordable expenditure forsuch consumer household groups, the analysishas been carried out for each broad incomegroups. The important assumptions implicit insuch an exercise are:—
Distribution of households by broad in-come groups in 1981 has been assumed tobe as the same as that presented in Table2.
Percentage growth of population duringthe period 1971-81 has been assumed tobe same for both cities and smaller towns.
For all income groups, 2% of disposablehousehold income has been considered asaffordable expenditure on water (one ofthe many alternatives that can be consi-dered for the purpose).
The mode of supply and cost of deliveringwater are assumed to be same for all con-sumer groups.
The cost of water supply, expressed asannualised cost (including capital and ope-rating cost) per 1000 litres of net supply,is assumed to vary between 70 paise andRe. 1/- in different groups of towns.
I l l
On the basis of the above set of assumptions,detailed estimates of deficit or surplus (the gap'between cost of supply and affordable payment)in broad income groups and the net subsidy re-quirement per month are presented in TABLEVIII (city) and IX (small and medium towns).The principle of cross subsidy is explicitly builtinto the exercises to demonstrate to what extenthigher income group can subsidise the poorersegments of population. A few general conclu-sions that can be derived from the above exer-cises are:—
Average monthly water bill per house-hold would be about four times the pre-sent average expenses on water, if thedesired consumption level is to be met.As illustrated earlier, per capita annualrevenue on water supply account (mostlywater charges) in most of the municipali-ties varies between Rs 5 and 10, which
would imply a monthly household waterbill of Rs. 2 and 4, taking into all house-holds as the beneficiaries. The iuturehousehold water bill, on an average, atconstant prices would appear to be some-whether between Rs. 12 and 15 per monthat average cost of supply.
The principle of cross subsidy may havesignificant impact by way of raising ade-quate revenue on water supply accountin case of cities but not so for small andmedium size town groups. This is primarilybecause of both less favourable incomedistribution and higher average cost ofsupply in the latter group. The implemen-tation of the principle of cross-subsidy,however, raises certain operational andconceptual issues. Apart from the factthat income cannot be taken as the ope-rational index of prorgessive water tariff
TABIE VIII
Extent of Subsidy Required by Household Incomein Gujarat
Group of Desired level of Consumption — Cities
MonthlyHouseholdIncomeGroups (Rs.)
Upto 350351— 500501—10001001—15001501 & above
Total
%ofHH+
32.824.227.2
•• 7.0
8.8
100.0(860400)*
Desiredlevel ofWater
ConsumptionIt/capita/
day
120120120120150
123
2% of HHincome
(AffordablePayment
Rs./month)
4.08.5
15.025.042.0
12.9
MonthlyHH water
bill atdesiredlevel ofwater
Consumption+ +(Rs.)
14.314.314.314.316.4
14.7
Deficit/SurplusperHH
per month(Rs.)
—10.3— 5.8— 0.7+ 10.7+25.6
— 1.8
Extent ofSubsidy
required permonth
(Rs. in 000)
2906.71207.6
163.8— 644.4—1937.9
1695.8
Source : + NRS — II, 1978* Estimated no. of households in 1981. Average HH size 5.5.+ + Estimated at average annualised cost of supply Re. 0.72/100 1.
Subsidy after cross subsidy is estimated to be Re. 0.36/person/month and withoutsubsidy Re. 1.07/person'month.
112
TABLE IX
Extent of Subsidy Required by Household Income Group at Desired Level of Water Con-sumption — Small and Medium Towns in Gujarat
MonthlyHouseholdIncomeGroups (Rs.)
Upto 350351 — 500501 —10001001—15001501 & above
rotal
%ofHH+
47.723.520.84.23.8
100.0(1003000)*
Desiredlevel ofWater
Consumptionlit/capita/
day
90909090
125
92
2% of HHincome
(AffordablePayment
Rs. month)
4.08.5
15.025.042.0
9.6
MonthlyHH water
bill atdesiredlevel ofwater
Consumption -f- +(Rs.)
14.814.814.814.818.0
14.9
Deficit/SurplusperHH
per month(Rs.)
—10.8— 6.3— 0.2+ 10.2+22.9
— 5.3
Extent ofSubsidy
required permonth
(Rs. in '000)
5166.91484.5
41.7— 429.4— 914.4
5349.3
Source : + NRS — II, 1978* Estimated no. of HH in 1981. Average size of HH 6.0+ + Estimated at average annualised cost of supply of Re. 0.91/100 L.
structure, the concept is based on the as-sumption that demand for water in thehigher income groups is more or lessprice-inelastic.
If the principle of cross subsidy amongdifferent income groups can be implemen-ted in practice, then in case of cities, thedeficit per household per month would beRs. 1.8. Translated in absolute monthlysubsidy requirement, it would be Rs. 1.7million per month. However, for smallertown groups per household deficit wouldbe Rs. 5.3 for implied monthly subsidyrequirement of Rs. 5.3 million. Assumingno cross subsidy, monthly subsidy re-quirement would increase by significantmargin for cities but not so for smallertown groups.
The impact of the extended water supplyand sewerage scheme to meet the desiredlevel of consumption on the budget of the
urban local bodies would be substantial.This should be particularly true for smal-ler municipalities in which case, theaggregate current expenditure budget (onall civic services) has to be increased bymore than one-third just by inclusion ofthe augmented water supply and sewer-age scheme. For Municipal Corporations,increase would be in the range of 10 to15%. Viewed against the fact that thewater supply and sewerage is only one ofthe civic services provided by the urbanlocal bodies, this magnitude of increaseon the expenditure budget calls for sub-stantial improvements on the revenueand management system.
In the context of the above findings from aquick exercise for the State Urban as a whole,it would appear that if provision of water sup-ply and sewerage remains to be the responsi-bility of the urban local body, and if. the futureproject has to be self-financing in nature, the
113
I1001-ttM
T07HIm m CROSS
suattov)
• ««.«
TOTAL< wit Hour c « o » »
SUBSIDY)
Monthly HH Income Groups (Rs)
Monthly Subsidy Requirement—By Household Income Groups for Water Supply—Smalland Medium Towns in Gujarat
• 292-
OTTOMO
TOtdL TOTAL«nnt CKOJS 'vnTHour ctott
5 0 M B T ) IUUI0TI
I ^ KIV£IVDITU*t
. Monthly HH Income Groups (Rs)
Monthly Subsidy Requirement—By House hold Income Groups for Water Supply—Cities inGujarat
114
goal of meeting the desired level of consumptionat an acceptable quality can be achieved onlywith stupendous efforts towards revenue aug-mentation and efficient management of the sys-tem. This should be particularly so for thosetown groups where the cost of the extendedsystem would be quite large compared to thepresent one for various reasons and where theconcept of cross subsidy (either inter-class orinter-use) will have limited impact. It wouldappear from Table 9 that the annual subsidy to-wards water supply system for smaller towngroups would be atleast Rs. 12 per household.This shall have definitely a significant impact inthe context of limited revenue budget of thesmaller urban local bodies. However, if we lookat the problem from the point of view of theState Financial System, the magnitude mightnot look a frightening one compared to the sizeof grants provided by the State Governmenton different accounts.
The other improtant dimension of the problemis the mechanism of making water available tothe urabn poor. This is not simply a matter ofsubsidising the budget of the urban local body,but it also involes the aspects like mode of sup-ply and management of the system. For exam-ple, free supply of water through public stand-post should be examined in detail both from thepoint of view of economising the cost of thesystem and the feasibility in operating andmaintaining a wide network of public distribu-tion system.
Policy Option.
In the context of the above discussions, it may
be possible to visualise a few policy options forthe State towards long-term objective of pro-viding basic urban services like water supplyand sewerage. These policy options are descri-bed in simple terms as follows:—
Evolve a method of water charges whichshould be implemental by the urban localbodies in due course of time, embodyingboth the principales of cross-subsidy andwider network of public distribution sys-tem.
Instead of treating the matter of revenuegeneration from water supply and sewer-age project in an isolated manner, in-tegrate the method of financing with theentire revenue system of the urban localbodies. The fact that provision of watersupply and sewerage adds to the generalappreciation in the values of propertyand the location as such, there are justi-fications for recovering the additional ex-penses on water supply account throughaugmentation of the general tax base ofthe urban local bodies.
The additional cost of the future watersupply scheme to the target group, parti-cularly the urban poor and the impliedsubsidy requirement to meet the expenseson an annual basis can be considered asa part of the State Financial System,rather than Financial System of theurban local government. The methods offinancing may comprise of grants or somekind of additional levies for urban deve-lopment at large.
115
Importance of Tubewells in theProgramme of the Decade
By
G.L. Malik*
I T is very encouraging that various organisationssuch as World Health Organisation, AFPRO,
CARE, PADI, UNICEF and others are imple-menting the proposal by United Nations, ThirdDevelopment Decade (DD II) 1981-90 to im-prove drinking water supply and sanitation inIndia.
Most of the diseases are due to pollutedwater. Proper attention to the sanitation in thesupply of drinking water will eradicate the rootcause of water borne diseases and is bound toimprove the health of the nation. Since theauthor is connected with construction of tube-wells all over Northern India for the tappingand exploring underground water resources, thefollowing suggestions may assist the organisa-tions in plannig during the decade in respectof tubewells.
There is a general impression that suitableequipment for drilling tubewells is not avai-lable in India. This is not correct as practicallyall types of drilling rigs are now being manu-factured in India, though rig manufacturing isa sort of monopoly business and its cost is veryhigh. Government of India must encourage smallindustries and public sectors to bring out chea-per equipment. Most of the private drillingagencies prefer to fabricate their own rigs atnearly 50% of the cost charged by a few mono-poly houses.
The other misconception is about the nonavai-lability of proper material for completing thetubewells, due to shortage of steel and othertype of pipes using petrochemical products. This,however, is not the case. There are so manyalternative materials available that there be no
"Managing Director, Drillexperts Pvt Lid, New Delhi.
hindrance in implementing the programme. TheWorld Bank is already assisting manufacturersof pipes used in the tubewells for irrigation,town water supplies and for the carriage ofwater to the fields.
The impression about lack of managementtalent and lack of trained personnel, speciallythe Operators and middle level engineers, isalso not corect. On the contrary, many qualifiedengineers having specialised in rig manufactur-ing and tubewell construction technology haveswitched over to other professions due to frus-tration and lack of encouragement in their spe-cialised fields.
The engineers of Government Departmentshave to appreciate the difficulties of the privatedrilling agencies and assist them after discus-sions with them. A few glaring examples willconvince the Government Departments abouttheir inability in implementing tubewells con-struction schemes properly. Some of the drawbacks in implementing such schemes by theGovernment, are:
Funds are normally sanctioned for such pro-jects only a couple of months before the clos-ing of the financial year. As a result they arein a hurry to spend huge amounts in eitherpurchasing drilling rigs or collecting steel pipes,instead of putting to use the available materialand utilising the money on construction jobs.
Governments issue very short period tendernotices and expect dozens of tubeweels to becompleted in a month or so, specially in thoseareas, where drilling depth ranges from 600 to1500 ft.. Normally it takes a month to completeone tubewell per drilling rig. When this isbrought to their notice, the examples of otherStates are cited, ignoring the fact that ior
116
different formations, different type of drillingrigs are required, D.T.H. rigs can construct onetubewell per day but those are meant for rockyareas with limted diameter bore of 6"/8". But toexpect the same progress with percussion, directrotary or reverse rotary system to complete thebore in one day, instead of one month is sur-prising, as 27"/24" bores are required and thattoo, when these are to be deeper than D.T.H.bores.
There is a view that since larger diameterbores consume more fuel, smaller diametertubewells should be encouraged. But author'sexperience of 30 years in research and develop-ment definitely suggest that in most of thealuvia areas large diameter bore is the onlysolution to pump out maximum discharge.Though initially the fuel cost of boring holes oflarge diameter may be a little high, these pro-duce almost double the yield during the lifespan of the tubewell, which may range between25 and 30 years. So the argument of initial highcost does not hold at certain places where con-ventional strainer wells were producing 40,000gallons per hour. With large diameter slottedgravel packed tubewells, 3,00,000 gallons perhour have been obtained within the same dril-ling depth.
Now that sufficient funds have been allocatedfor drilling for water supply in the 6th FiveYear Plan, it is strongly felt that proper atten-tion may be given for the manufacture of drill-ing rigs in public sector at cheaper price. Manu-facture of pipes with alternative and easilyavailable raw material should be encouraged.The available management talent and training
schools may be encourage to overcome theshortage of trained personnel. There should bepublic investment in such schemes at districtand village levels. All the State Tubewell Cor-porations should concentrate on constructionjobs with the available equipment, instead ofstock pilling more and more equipment andpipes over long periods and thus create scarcityin the market.
It has also been observed that equipmentpurchased hurriedly, are either disposed off atthrow away prices or got converted for its pro-per utility at high cost. Even the designs oftubewells are not modified to suit the latesttubewell well construction technology. Most ofthe Government Departments are still stickingto the tubewell designs conceived 30 years backand do not wish to modify due to various reasonsor accept responsibility for experiments. Auditobjection is more cared for than expertise.
As for sanitation, it is observed that no careis taken to provide sanitary sealing for the tube-wells, though the Code ISI 2800 : 1979 exists forsuch a step. There is no proper check and con-trol on the water management problems arisingin areas where industries are developing rapidly.Though there is limit for exploiting under-ground water resources no care is being takenfor re-charging the water bearing zones. Theintegrated programme will definitely overcomesuch problems and the participation of privatesector will yield good results. Most of the con-sulting engineers prepare water supply schemeswithout considering such factors or consultinggeohydrologists. Even spacing of tubewells isnot planned properly to avoid interference.
117
Mini Water Turbines forWater Supply in Hilly Regions
By
D.R. Bhutani*, T.N. Visweswara**
WATER falls in nature have been perennialsource of energy. The energy available in
these falls is converted into electrical energy byusing water turbine and electric generators. Thewater while flowing through the turbine trans-fers its energy to the turbine runner, thus con-verting its energy to mechanical shaft powerwhich in turn drives an electric generator inconventional systems to produce electric power.
Until recently the hanessing of water power ina small scale from a head drop of 2 to 20 meterwas not economical. The equipment, the civiland the poerating costs were prohibitively high.The recent developments in technology nece-ssiated by the rising cost of energy have madethese sources economically attractive. Thetubular is one of the outcomes of this technolo-gical developments.
Conventionally a pump is driven by an elec-tric motor. Instead of using electrical powergenerated from hydel sources to drive a motor,the turbine can be directly coupled to a pump.We can use the energy avilable in low headsources to pump a small quantity of water toa very high elevations. This concept has alsobeen tried successfully in many installations.
Description of the Pumping Plant
Construction of a small bund across the streamwill create a small reservoir or a head pond, im-pounding sufficient quantity of water.
The function of the head pond is only to main-tain constant supply head to the turbine. Butwhen the stream flow is less as during dry sea-
* Product Development Manager (Turbines) Research& Development Centre, Jyoti Ltd. Baroda 390 003.
•* Development Engineer (Turbines) R&D Centre,Jyoti Ltd. Baroda 390 003.
sons, the size of the head pond should be suffi-cient to run the turbine for atleast half an hour.
From the head pond water is lead through400 mm diameter pipes into the turbine via gatevalve at the turbine inlet. The shaft power ofthe turbine is transmitted to the pump by meansof suitable belt drive.
A pipe line with a small valve connecting thesupply pipe to the pump will serve for easypriming of the pump. The suction pipe of thepump is connected to tail race or head pond asrequired. The delivery of the pump is lead tothe overhead tank in the village (Ref. Figure I)
Constructional Features
The tubular turbine is an axial flow propellertype turbine with almost straight water passageand simple configuration. This type of turbine iswell suited for low head applications. It con-sists of a specially designed runner blades fixedto the hub and mounted on the shaft supportedon beamings on either side.
The guide vanes fixed to the hub and casing andprovided to guide the flow. The draft tube is ofhigh energy recovery elbow type fabricated fromplate steel. A sluice valve, manually operated, isprovided at the inlet for starting or stopping thesystem. A belt drive transmits the turbine shaftpower to the pump.
The centrifugal pump, converts shaft energy tofluid energy through the impeller. A single stagepump can deliver a head of 10—15 meter ofwater depending on speed and size and a multi-stage centrifugal pumps are ineffect a series ofsingle stage pumps within a single casing havingonly one shaft and one set of bearings. Thesepumps are readily available in the market ascompact efficiency units (Ref. Figure I)
118
Operation of the system
Special attention has been given in design-ing the system so that the operation of the miniturbine pump combination is made very simpleas the availability of skilled operations in theseremote regions is very little. For starting thesystem, the operator has to first ensure that thepump is properly primed. To facilitate easy prim-ing water from the supply tank which is readilyavailable under pressure is fed into the pumpwhen priming is completed the inlet valve is tobe opened slowly and completely. The systemwill start operation and water will be pumpedto the overhead water tank situated in the vil-lage nearer to consumer. When the pumping isnot made the inlet valve is closed completelywhich will automatically stop the system.
S C H E M A T I C LAYOUT OF T H E P U M P 1 N 0 P L A N T
In dry seasons when the stream flow reducesand is not sufficient to run the turbine, it maybe necessary to create a small pond to collectsufficient quantity of water. The unit needs tobe operated for shorter duration and more num-ber of times, water must first be allowed to col-lect in the head pond. The size of this tank shouldbe enough to run the turbine for atleast halfan hour. Then the tank is full the gate valve isopened for the pumping operation. The pumpingof water is continued till either the tank is emp-tied or the level of water falls to a predeterminedlevel as the case may be, when the unit is stop-ped by closing the gate valve. The process isrepeated till the required quantity of water ispumped in to the water tank.
Performance Range Estimates
The range of operation expressed in terms ofactual speed in revolutions per minute and ac-tual discharge in litres per second and power
output in terms of KW is given in the table. Thequantities have been estimated and tabulated fornet head of 6 meter and 10 meter separately(Ref. TABLE I).
TABLE I
Turbine Performance
Head 6Discharge
LPS
175260350440
Speed
meterPower
KW
7.010.51417.5
range:100-1500 RPM
Head 10Discharge
LPS
225338450564
Speed
meterPower
KW
16243240
range:1200-1800 RPM
This range of operation is achieved by suitablysetting the angular position of the runner vanesand guide vanes at works.
Example
As an illustration let us consider a village con-sisting of about 400 persons. The per capita con-sumption of water is taken to be about 100 litresperday, making a total demand of 40,000 litersper day for the entire village. Further if thewater is to be lifted through a head of 125 meterwith frictional losses in pipe of 25 meter.The power input to the pump will be 12KW which is the same as the turbine output.The turbine will require 265 lit/sec at 6 metersupply head or 125 lps at 10 meter head whendeveloping the required power. The turbine willrun at 1050 RPM at 6 meter head of 1350 RPMat 10 meter head which will be stepped upto 2900RPM by the belt drive.
Economic considerations
As mentioned above in this paper, to make thistype of units economically viable, it is necessaryto simplify and reduce the cost of not only theequipment but also all other aspects of the sys-tem including civil work and operation and main-tenance of the system. All efforts have beenmade to achieve this aim. It may be noted inthis context that the tubular type turbine is very
119
TABLE II
Pump Performance
SizeDel. X Sue.
5080508080
x 65x 100x 65x 100x 100
No. ofstages
66868
SpeedRPM
290014502900145014500
90
5.3
100
5.116
16
110
4.213.9
13.9
Head in120
3.65.510
meter130
5.2
140
4.8
15
harge in
150
4.5
13
LPS —
160
4.2
10
170
3.6
much simple and economical in comparison witha conventional Kaplan type turbine and that thetubular turbine as adopted for this specific pur-pose of water supply in hilly regions is a furthersimplification of the conventional tubular typeturbines. The total elimination of the guide ap-paratus with its governing system and the con-cept of "single point operation" by maintainingsupply and demand same has been responsiblefor considerable cost reduction.
The comparison of the economics of this sys-tem with that of electric motor driven pumpingsystem is not realistic since this system is con-ceived and created specifically to harness theabondance energy available and not to consumethe scarce electrical power. Further the sites en-visaged for the application of these units are farfrom any electrical supply grid and hence noelectrical power is available and the system needsno electrical power.
Other Applications
The system has been specifically designed tooperate at a single point. For purpose of economyand simplification of operation, controlling appa-ratus like the adjustable guide vanes along withgovernors and operating mechanism have beentotally eliminated. By maintaining the inputhead same and also by keeping the load on theturbine, the pumping load same, we balance thesupply and demand and the system will be inequilibrium.
Hence this system can also be considered forother constant demand applications or also forsuch application which can tolerate a certainamount of speed fluctuations. The mini turbinecan then be a prime mover for floarmilds, smallsize cave crushers and other agricultural equip-ments. It can also be used to drive auxiliaryequipment like cooling tower fans in thermalpower plants where the water under high pres-sure is available from the cooling system.
120
Water Supply and Sanitation DecadeTraining & Research Needs
ByProf. K.J. Nath*
The task of providing 100% of our populationwith potable water and 80% of the Urban popu-lation and 25% of the rural population with sani-tation facilities by the year 1991, would necesi-tate large scale augumentation in our trainingand resarch facilities. The educational processhas to be tailored to the needs of:
Decision makers & administrators who needto be aware of the relationship between serviceand health benefits, the capital& operating costsof water supply & sanitation projects and longrange implications of technologies and techno-logy sequences so that they can programme longterm water supply and sanitation investments.
Enginers & designers, who must have upto-date technical information on how to plan, de-sign, construct and operate water supply & sani-tation projects. They must be trained to look forthe least-cost solution for any specific healthproblem. They should know how to evaluateexisting conditions, disease pattsrns, and relatehealth conditions & project interventions. Apartfrom the conventional technology solutions, theymust have upto date informations about the lowcost appropriate technology solutions.
Sub ordinate Engineers, Sanitarians, commu-nity workers, plant operators, Research scientists& Laboratory personnel, etc. who would super-vise the field work, maintain the plants, organisethe community and monitor operations. Theywould require training in project implementa-tion, surveying, laboratory techniques, monitor-ing plant operation, preventive ma ntenance,health education etc.
According to some statistics, we would requireabout 200,000 new staffs, lor achieving theDecade-objectives, which includes managers, en-gineers, technicians, operators and other staffs,which surely exceeds the capacity of existingformal programmes and institutions (in the field
* Prof, of Environmental Sanitation, All India Insti-tute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta.
of Public Health & Environmental Engg.) whichnever had to cope with such massive effort be-f"ore. Faculty development programmes andbuilding up of institutional facilities alone couldtake considerable time before any significant in-crease in the enrolment might take place. Themagnitude of the problem requires approachesdifferent from the ones heitherto used, if the de-cade is to have a chance to succeed. The man-power planning for the decade should have twobasic approaches:(i) Short term planning for the 6th plan period
The additional staff requirement during6th plan period has been put at 5,800graduate engineers, 13000 junior engineers(Diploma) and 35000 other staffs. This re-quirement has to be met mostly throughorganising short term orientation courses forgraduate and subordinate engineers in va-rious institutes, and in service trainingcourses by departments, and workshops forsenior managers & decision makers,
(ii) Long term planning for post 6th plan period
A substantial portion of the post 6th planmanpower requirement (15,000 enginers,27,000 junior engineers, 80,000 other staffs,could be met by taking immediate actionfor bringing about certain basic changes inour graduate, post graduate and diplomacourses in Environmental Engineering. Thiswill require large-scale augumentation ofour Institut;ona] facilities and faculty deve-lopment programmes.
The Decade's efforts in this sector must be dir-ected towards application of appropriate techno-logy for project implimentation, so as to makewater and sanitation affordable for the poor. Forthis, job oriented and time bound research pro-jects must be carried out on full scale models byworking departments in collaboration with someacademic research institutes for preparing de-sign and operation manuals, which could beused for actual project implementation.
121
Public Participation and Institutional arrangements
Women and Problems Associated withWater Supply and Sanitation
By
Jean Chapman*
Quantative data, especially on the non avail-ability of water, have been graphically portrayedby earlier speakers. Let us now proced to seewhy women must be brought into the discussionon this basic and vital issue.
Scarcity of drinking, cooking, bathing or in-ded water for any purpose, is a fact of life forthe vast majority of Indians not withstandingthe fact that they are being propelled into arepidly industrialising world. Let us rememberthat the availability of water is an importantindicator of national prosperity; it not only be-speaks the well being of nations, but it also isa vital ingredient to the laying down of thebasic infrasrtucture required for an industrialsociety.
The quantity and quality of water has aserious impact on the lives of women. But letme hasten to add that this is not a plea thatwomen be treated separately on the issue ofwater. No. The lethal effect of unsanitary drink-ing water, for example, is not sex sepcific: men,women and children are potential victims. Butcognisance must be taken of the fact that, inaddition to the work performed by women out-side the home, it has fallen to their lot to per formhousehold chores where the availablity, or not,of water plays a pivotal role. Also, we mustrecognise that women are prone to certain dis-eases, the problem all the more compounded byan unsanitary water supply. Upto the presenttime, however, scant attention has teen paid tothe problem of women and water. In otherwords, even though a plethora of literatureexists on women, even though a conference hasrecently concluded in Bombay specifically on
Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi
Women's Studies, we find the two issues ofwomen on the one hand, and water on the other,have not been Justaposed. We find that the issueis seldom discussed, even less researched, and isonly rarely used as an issue on which womenare brought together to achieve their rights.
It is to the credit of the sponsors of this sym-posium, WATER WORLD and the DELHISCIENCE FORUM, that they have seen fit tobegin a discusion on this vital area. Because itis an issue. To be kept firmly in mind is the factthat a lack of water and/or unsanitary watersupplies are contributing factors to the perpetua-tion of water borne diseases such as typhoid-cholera, dysentry, gastric problems, guineaworm, etc. Stagnant water is the breedingground for carriers of malaria and filaria. Dirtywater, in which people are forced to bathe,results in chronic skin and eye ailments. Andfar be it for me to suggest that women, alone,suffer from these diseases. But we are fact beingmade aware that women are more susseptible toinfectious diseases on account of their dietaryintake. Leela Gulati, in her study** of a brickkiln female worker in Kerala, counted the calo-ric intake of each member of that particularjoint family. She noted the tendency that notonly do women eat last, but they also ate theleast: in all circumstances, whether they werelactating mothers, pregnant, ill, or not. Thesefindings go some way in explaining why thereore fewer and fewer females in the Indian popu-lation. The sex ratio of men to women in the 1970census was 1000 : 932 : at the turn of the cen-tury, the ratio was 1000-970. Although the re-
** Leela Gulati 'Female labour in the organised sector'in Economic and Political weekly, Vol Xiy, No 16,21 April, PP 744-52. - ..
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debated by demographers and other social scien-tists, I submit that the causes are more likelyto be :
(i) inadequate food intake leading to lowresistance to infection and women'snatural proclivity to aenemia ; and
(ii) unsanitary living conditions caused by ashortage of water to purify the person,and the environment.
Major reason why women must be consideredin any discussion on water, is, it falls to themto collect it in those households where there isno running water. Anthropological studies tellus of the distances that have to be traversed inthe various seasons of the year, for water collec-tion. Yes, the village well is an institution. Ithas been immortalised in paintings, poetry, no-vels, and on the screen. Indeed, the social aspectof women meeting at the well cannot be under-mined : news and views are exchanged. Butwhat of villages where there is no well. Andthere are plenty of these as earlier speakershave pointed out. Eighty kilometers out ofMadras, for example, is a village inhabited byfamilies of bonded labourers. Their only sourceof water is 8 km, from the village. The pond isalso used for wallowing people and livestock.At a slightly elevated end, fresh water bubbleslabourously through the earth. Water has to bescooped up with a small recepticle. The collec-tion of water, in circumstances like this, is timeconsuming, to say the least. And during themonsoon, it is even more difficult. A canal hasto be forded, but in this season, the water levelrises to shoulder height: children here are un-available to help their mothers in this chore.Small compensation is, prawns are in the sedi-met of the bottom of the canal, which womenpick up with their toes. This supplements theirmeagre diet. In another village just outsideBangalore, Sarah Ho'son describes water col-lection. She tried it. She found herself carryingat least sixty ponds on her head, and as muchagain on her hip. This operation might exhibitthe sheer grace of womanhood, but it is toughon all the muscles, especially the neck ones.
So much of rural India. In urban area, thesituation is worse ; the general decay of the in-
frastructure in cities has seen overcrowding intoareas that have few, if any, civic amentieis.Fetching and carrying water is all the moredifficult, as there is an even grater scarcity ofthis essential of life. People have to do without,or women have to travel inordinately long dis-tances for water collection. Desperation leads towater mains being broken. This invites the atten-tion of civic authorities who extract bribes fromthe 'offenders', or worse, they institute criminalproceedings against people in their genuinesearch for water. Women are thus thrown tothe tender mercies of the law enforcement agen-cies, and we do not have to go into details hereof what befalls women when they are takeninto custody. In resettlements colonies these re-alities are lived with day in and day out. If hand-pump sets do exist, they operate for only veryshort span of time. If public conveniences havebeen constructed in these colonies, they arefilthy and are a constant health hazard, pri-marily because there is no water. Decorumforces women, the aged, the infirm, to use thesedisgusting facilities.
To all women, rural and urban, rules of hy-giene dictate that separate water pots are usedfor different purposes. They are stored awayfrom each other, conditioned by the amount offloor space available. It is to be stressed, how-ever, that in as much as water is concerned,women are only relieved from the chore of watercollection only by other women, and then onlyin dire circumstances. For example, pregnantwomen may be permitted to go easy on jobsoutside the home like harvesting, sowing andweeding, collection of fuel and carrying food tolabouring menfolk, but not on the collection andsiorage of water.
Let us now link the question of water andsanitation. Due to lack of amenities like runningwater and toilet facilities in houses, togetherwith the sentiment "modesty most Lecomes awoman", we find that here, too, women have toregulate their natural urges according to theclock of social custom. Women "go to the fields"
•at sundown, or very early in the morning. Therisk to all women groping around in the halflight, are great; to sick or pregnant women, therisks are enormeus. A woman from a juggie in
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JNU campus died of snakebite; women haveslipped and fallen; how many others are haras-sed, assaulted, even raped ?
And what about bathing ? It is a common•enough phenomenon to see men, women andchildren undertaking this personal chore, inpublic. But too many people capitalise on thissolely for commercial gain. Having thus pro-jected women as sex objects through the ritualof bathing, along come the moralists and decryvulgarity. But shouldn't energy be expended indecrying the vulgarity of scantily clad people•due to poverty, and public bathing because therejust is no option ?
There are answers to the problem. But beforewe find these answers to the problem of water.scarcity and its impact on the lives of women,we will have to ascertain just where the barriersare. Are we really that short of capital tofinance schemes to improve India's water sup-ply? Are we short of technology and expertise?Or are we suffering from a lack of water ? Iwould say 'No' to all the above. I would say'YES' to a lack of will: a lack that is borne outof centuries old social, economic and culturalpractices. Let me illustrate the point. We mayfeel that the answer lies in building anotherwell. But does it ? As things stand, the ritualisitcnotions of 'purity' and 'pollution' have taken ahold on the psyche of too many 'clean' peoplein our society. They have liberally translatedthis to mean that the abundance of nature isnot to be shared by all. Given the existing socialreality, the construction of wells is an expensiveunderaking. In a village near Bangalore, it costs.some Rs. 10,000 for the digging and laying of.•stones, requiring 40 labourers working for over-a year. The costs of the pumpset and installingelectricity pushed the cost up to well over Rs.20,000. Reality dictates that a new well is likelyto become yet another string in the bow ofdomination, of the few over the many: tech-nology runs the risk of losing its progressiveedge. A lack of will to change the very fabric ofIndian society will continue to be a barrier to
an improved environmental until we placevalue - and high priority- on human life.
Women can, and have taken the initiative inimproving the immediate environment. InAndhra Pradesh, the first issue a democraticwomen's group took up was sheltered areas,with running water, for women to perform theirdaily ablutions. The women were only too keenlyaware of infections that continued to plagueespecially pregnant women whose natural urgeshad to be controlled by the clock. Their collec-tive effort saw the realization of their demand.Take the instance of Thane. On being refusedwell water by the Brahmins, they appealed tothe police to supply them with tanker water.This request fell on deaf ears. The women askedtheir menfolk to help them to get well water,but the men had to go labouring in the fieldsand were afraid of reprisals by the caste Hindus.On their own initiative, the women drew waterfrom the prohibited well. The brahmins calledfor the police. They arrived in full force, andlathi charged the women. This was the themeof a feature film called Chatrabhang which wonthe much coveted Berlin International CriticsAward in 1975. Surprisingly enough, this featurefilm is yet to see the light of day! I myself aman activist in a women's organization. Womenare only too aware of the problems that arisedue to a scarcity of water and bad sanitation.They have taken the initiative to appeal tocivic authorities to voice their problems. The re-ception they receive from these authorities ismixed ; sometimes they are successful, at othernot.
And finally, I appeal to all here to encouragethe participation of women in all stages of plan-ning for, and the installation of, water andsanitation facilities. Write women into yourplans, as other-wise you may all i.e wastinga lot of your time in that the plans will ha^eto be rewritten to take into consideration the de-mands of women. Because women are slowlybecoming conscious that they too have a placein the scheme of things. They too can alter theirsocial and physical environment. As Change itMust.
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Information Support to Water Supplyand Sanitation Decade Programme
By
S.G. Bhat* and S.K. Kesarwani**
Introduction
A basic element of planning at all levels ofhuman endeavour is the acquisition and main-tenance of an adequate information base fromwhich rational plans and decisions can be made.This has proved to be true in the developmentof plans for water supply and sanitation also. Auniversal concern of the persons involved in R& D activities pertaining to water supply andsanitation is that adequate information is notavailable to do their jobs properly or are notaware of the available information. These arethe persons who are never given the means tosatisfy their information needs or are geographi-cally cut off from the centres of information. Itis worthwhile to mention here that one of therecommendations of the UN Water Conferenceheld in 1977 is of particular interest from an in-formation point of view. It was recommendedthat an effective clearing house mechanismshould be developed by strengthening existingmechanisms if available to provide for the com-munication of selected information concerningall elements of community water supply andsanitation.
The WHO Expert committee on communitywater supply in 1968 noted the almost completeabsence of reliable and relveant technical, eco-nomic and financial data emanating fromnational governments about their communitywater supply programmes and their progress.Such data have to be relevant to the needs ofthe government planning agencies, and also sui-table for onward transmision to internationalagencies to enable them to promote improved
"'National Environmental Engineering Research insti-tute Nagpur
organisation, financing and planning of nationalwater supply programmes. It was further advo-cated that energetic steps need to be taken toensure the collection of these data by the esta-blishment of systematic registry. For creatingsuch a data base as well as for implementing awater supply & sanitation programme a stronginformation system needs to be developed.
Nature of the Probelm
Although no systematic studies have beencarried out to know the exact needs of the R& D workers in this area, apparently the needis of two kinds viz. (i) Data, which is quantifiedinformation and (ii) Documentary information.Besides this, much relevant and potentially use-ful data pertaining to rural water supply & sani-tation is collected at some place, but it is offi-cially not published and as such not availableMany internal reports, state of the art reportsare compiled ; however, their existance is manya time not known. Last but not the least, muchuseful information which is hidden in publishedliterature existing in diversified publicationsmakes literature survey expensive, burdensomeand often inadequate, and a paradoxical statehas been reached when the appropriate infor-mation cannot be traced, out of ocean of infor-mation.
Typical aspects on which information is re-quired has been given in STATEMENT A.
It is generally found that most of the insti-tutions and organisations work in isolation, andthere is lack of co-ordination in their activities.There is no access to information which is avai-lable in an organisation in the same or at anearby station. Moreover, whatever informationis available, it is not collected, collated, ana-
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lysed, stored, retrieved and disseminated in asystematic manner.
Decade Programme
India alongwith other developed and develop-ing countries is committed to the water supplyand sanitation decade programme. Preparatorysteps at several levels have been initiated. AWorkshop on R & D needs to supports the de-cade programme was held at NEERI, Nagpurduring November 1979. Participants includedChief Public Health Engineers of several states,Research Profesors and Scientists/engineers.Inadequacy of information service was identifi-ed as one of the major constraints for its suc-cessful implementation. Need for establishing anappropriate information system capable of pro-viding requisite information was also stressed atthis Workshop.
The information system has to gather theknowledge or information available at variousplaces and disseminate the information where itis required. In other words, the system shouldbe capable of providing right type of informa-tion at the right place at the time and in aright or appropriate manner. If activities atvarious institutions are properly co-ordinated byco-operative efforts, it would not only preventduplication and wastage, but would also help todetermine areas in which a more balanced pro-gramme would be desirable. All this calls forestablishing a strong information system for'water supply & sanitation'.
Objectives of Information System
Information system has to be developed insuch a way so that it would not only accelerateR and D efforts in this important field, but alsowould endeavour to eliminate various difficultiesfaced by all concerned.
Main objectives of the information systemshould be to reduce the gap between generationof knowledge and its use. In general, the objec-tives of the system should be:
(a) to serve the R & D needs of the personsinvolved in water supply and relateddisciplines by collecting, collating, orga-nising & storing pertinent information,
(b) to disseminate information about newand better techniques for handling ofwater supply & sanitation schemes,
(c) to provide for an input/output mecha-nisms for the information concerningwater supply and sanitation,
(d) to seek, select and acquire both pub-lished and unpublished literature per-taining to the field,
(e) to prepare periodical directories of R ^D personnel in water supply & sanita-tion organisation as well as registry forongoing research projects,
(f) to provide the three 'R' services (Refe-rence, Reprography & Referral),
(g) to co-operate with other informationservices and systems in the field ofwater supply, sanitation and relatedtopics,
(h) to design, develop and establish ser-vices appropriate to different kinds andlevels of users in R & D and othersectors,
(i) to establish bilateral exchange pro-gramme with (a) International, (b)Regional, (c) National and (d) Localagencies,
(j) to establish necessary equipment andfacilities like audiovisual, reprographicand Information Retrieval Systemequipment & tools for processing of in-formation and dissemination,
(k) to promote cohesiveness, co-operationand co-ordination among the variousagencies enumerated at (i) above,
(1) to establish feedback channels internallyand with users individually and collec-tively to correct, orient and introduceservices of maximum effectiveness tousers.
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Structure of the System
It is advisable to have a two tier system com-prising of (i) Local Information Units (LIU) atState and District level and (ii) A Central Faci-lity at a National level.
The local information units within operatingagencies would serve basically to organize andmaintain the information support system withintheir agency, department etc. They will (a) actas a recipient for information from central faci-lity (b) provide in formation/data to parent or-ganization and other users and (c) feed infor-mation generated by it to central facility.
Need for a Spade Work
Before establishing the system, it would behelpful to make a survey of the potential usersof water supply & sanitation information as wellas various aspects of information system. Theseare detailed as follows :
(i) Identification of the requirement of in-formation of all the agencies workingin the field
(ii) Information sources available andidentification of local information units
(iii) Information outputs of different insti-tutions at local, national, regional andinternational level
(iv) Expertise and skills available
(v) Finance and other physical facilitiesavailable
(vi) Selection and development of suitabletechniques for collection, storage andretrieval of information
(vii) Impediments and barriers to the effec-tive communication of ideas such asover abundance of information, occurr-ence of unwanted, redundant and er-roneous information, language barriers,
(viii) Time required for processing and dis-semination of information,
(ix) Extent of secrecy, i.e. classified or un-classified information,
(x) Subject interest, the variety of data and.information requirements at differentorganisations
Considering the vastness of the country esta-blishment of a Central Information Bureau atthe national level with a chair of informationunits at the state level has been suggested. Sucha bureau has to be established at an existinginstitution wherein some infrastructural facili-ties are available.
Outputs of the Information Bureau
Before establishing the bureau it would beworthwhile to know the expectations of theBureau which would be its output. Besides co-ordinating the activities of local informationunits, the following will form the major outputs.
(i) Registry of ongoing research pertain-ing to water supply & sanitation
(ii) Inventory of completed and currentprogrammes in the field of water sup-ply and sanitation
(iii) Data Bank for rendering data servicetechnical and economic
(iv) Publication of digests, reports, newsbulletin
(v) Abstracting bulletin
(vi) Package information service
(vii) Publication of Reference tools
(viii) Bibliographies-Adhoc, current, subjectoriented
(ix) National catalogue of serials in the field
(x) Products & Processes Index for WaterSupply and Sanitation facilities
(xi) Current awareness bulletin
(xii) Selective dissemination of information
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(xiii) User Orientationmes
Training program-
(xiv) Developing of other appropriate ser-vices for R & D as well as other agen-cies concerned with water supply
Pre-requisites for Establishing a Bureau
In view of the multifarious activities whichare to be handled by the Bureau, it should beestablished at a place which should have follow-ing facilities.
(ii) Experience and expertise in the tech-nique of collection storage and dis-semination of information
(iii) Established linkages with organizations,doing similar work both in countryand abroad
(iv) Should have in built mechanism ior pro-viding services
(v) Accessibility and acceptability of thecentre
GENERATORSREGIONAL flt INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS NATIONAL »LOCAL AGENCIES
oocumrwrs INPUTS
EVALUATION
INFORMATION PROCESSING
INFORMATIONRETRIEVAL
INFORMATIONSTORAGE
FEEO 8ACK
REFERENCE TOOtSBIBLIOGRAPHIES
CATALOGUE OF SERIALS
CURRENT AWARENESS BULLETIN
i O.I SERVICE
REGISTRY orONSOMS RESEARCHINVtMTRY or COU'LETEO ANOCURRENT PROGRAMMES
DATA SERVICE
PRODUCTS » PROCESSES INOCX
OICISTS REPORTS/NEWS BULLETINA3STRACTING BULLETINPACKAGE INTOftMATIONSERVICESUSER'S TRAININGPROGRAMMES
OUTPUTS
USERS
Figure ISchematic Diagram of Information System
(i) Strong data base in form of well or-ganised Library having rich collectionof literature both in core as well asperipheral areas
(vi) Availability of reprographic equip-ments for quick dissemination of infor-mation.
(vii) Demonstrated ability to take up thework of a Switching Centre
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The centre should collect relevant informationthrough acquisition of materials and the esta-blishment of co-operative links with existinginstitutions or centres in the country andthroughout the world active in the field of watersupply and sanitation. It should disseminatewater supply and sanitation information en-umerated earlier under 'output' of the system.
Possible Locations
As stated earlier the bureau has to be esta-blished at an existing institution wherein someinfrastructural facilities are available. Inciden-tally, NEERI has developed the requisite infras-tructure as well as expertise and has alreadydone necessary ground work to establish CentralInformation Bureau. Many of the services en-visaged under the information system are alreadybeing rendered by NEERI and is thus in a posi-tion to take up the responsibility of establishingthe proposed bureau.
Organisational Structure of WATSSIB
The WATSSIB would consist of a large centralfacility at one place complemented with facilitiesin various zones of the country. The plan envi-sages four functional divisions of the central faci-lity of WATSSIB.
Methodology
In meeting its objectives, WATSSIB willundertake the following activities under phasedprogramme.
(1) draft a detailed subject scope definitionfor water supplies and sanitation toserve as the scope of the informationbureau.
(2) Prepare an inventory of important in-stitutions (government, academic, pro-fessional) in India working in the fieldof water supplies and sanitation. Thedirectory, to be published will includeinstituions and their programmes andprojects, past, present and future (1960to 1990) in the field.
(3) establish regular exchanges of informa-tion with institutions identified above.
(4) prepare and publish an inventory ofexisting information sources (e.g. infor-mation units, libraries) supporting watersupplies and sanitation activities inIndia.
(5) identify a basic set of information ma-terials and information sources that willthen be made available to individuals orcentres in India working in the fieldof water supplies and sanitation withlittle or no information resources
(6) Co-operate with other institutions suchas the Environmental Sanitation Infor-mation Centre ENSIC of the Asian In-stitute of Technology, Bangkok in thecollection, exchange and disseminationof information materals relevant to thefield.
(7) print a quarterly newsletter giving in-formation such as new publications,forthcoming event, news of the infor-mation centre's activities, user notes on-going projects, sources of informationand generally speaking any type of newsrelevant to water supplies and sanita-tion.
(8) collect data pertaining to water supplyand sanitation in India and establish adata bank for its processing, storageand retrieval.
(9) compile selected bibliographies on sub-jects such as:
(a) rural water supply systems (e.g.handpumps, standpipes wells) utili-zed in Indian rural developmentprogrammes;
(b) sewage farming;
(c) wastewater disposal techniques andsanitation systems (e.g. sewage sys-tems, sedimentation ponds, privates,treatment) utilized in Indian deve-lopment programmes;
(d) biogas utilization.
(10) provide a reprographic service. Bureauwill supply to users on their request
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copies of documentscentre.
available at the
(11) provide a reference service. The Bureauwill perform bibliographic searches onrequest and provide advisory serviceswhere possible.
The work for this project will begin by pre-paring a detailed subject scope definition forwater supplies and sanitation. This will be fol-lowed by the preparation and testing of a ques-tionnaire, and its distribution to all potentiallyrelevant institutions in India and follow-upvisits. This work will greatly benefit from an ear-lier project carried out by NEERI in the iden-tification of environmental institutions in India.Institution program and user information will becollected, exchange agreements arranged andrelevant documentary information identified.Wherever possible, copies of documentary mate-rial will be collected for storage and dissemina-tion by proposed bureau. As these activities are
being carried out, a newsletter, a reprographicand reference service and a current awarenesssystem will be established. Subsequently, spe-cialized reviews and bibliographies will be deve-loped. Arrangements will have to be made forregular exchanges of information between cen-tres in other regions of the world, such as theAsian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, the PanAmerican Centre for Environmental Engineeringand Sanitation in Peru, the Inter-African Com-mittee for Hydraulic Research in Upper Voltaand the Companhia Estadual de Technolgia deSaneamento Basico de Controle de Poluicao dasAguas in Brazil.
Conclusion
The paper presents a tentative plan of the pro-posed information bureau and details will haveto be worked out. The system would also esta-blish linkages with other information systemsexisting in related fields in India as well abroadso that a strong linkage is established.
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1.2.
3.
4.5.
6.7.8.9.
10.
11.
12.13.
14.
15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.
23.
24.
STATEMENT A
Typical Aspects on which(list is only indicative
Preinvestment feasibility study reportsProjection of supply and demand for waterafter 5 yearsPercentage of population served with :(a) safe water supply;(b) piped water supply;
(c) house connections;(d) street stand post.Guidelines for flood loss developmentPlanning and development of conjunctiveground and surface water resourcesCost of drilling a bore wellTube well construction costsMeans for broadening natural resources baseHydrogeological information of particularsite for assessing feasibility of constructingwellsUtilization of waste water for agriculture—information on specific waste water with aspecific cropUtilization of waste water for aqua culture—types of fish, types of waste waterEvaporation control methodsAvailability of particular chemicals loi"evaporation suppressionevaporation supressionVariation of sediment discharge with tem-peratureDesign and construction of waste StablizationDesigning of septic tanksDesigning of rural latrinesArtificial rechargeWattr quality fo rindustrial useRainfall dataMethods for bacteriological analysis of waterEasy method for determination of residualchlorineUse of pot chlorinators for disinfection ofwell watersUse of bamboo pipes for water distribution
Information is Requiredand not exhaustive)
25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.
34.
35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.
44.45.
46.47.48.49.50.51.52.52.53.54.55.56.57.58.59.60.
Sanitation facilities at high altitudesWater supply to drought affected areasGround water investigationWater quality for recreational useStandards for drinking waterLegislation on water pollutionDefluoridation techniquesProduction of membrane filtersAvailability of wattr treatment—chemicals,bleaching powder . ]Availability of plastic pipes of particulardimension and qualityAvailability of membrane filtersLeakage detection equipmentCoconut shell as filter mediaSelection of washersAvailability of boring equipmentSize of the ring requiredMaintenance of hand pumpsPackage water treatment plantsGuidelines for operators of water treatmentplantsHow to carry out river surveysGuidelines for operators of sewage treat-ment plantsWaste water collection methodsWater distribution systemMaintenance of waste water treatment plantsTreatment and disposal of solid wasteTransport of solid wasteWaste water plumbing systemSolution to common plumbing problemsSolution to common plumbing problemsHouse sewer connectionsSewer designManholesMaterials for sewersUse of concrete pipesPipe jointsProblem of corrosion of sewer
Freezing of water in pipes
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Other Documents
Community Water Supply and Waste Disposal(Recommendation of the United Nations Water Conference, 1977)
15. IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT RECOM-MENDATION C. 12 OF HABITAT: UNITEDNATIONS CONFERENCE ON HUMAN SET-TLEMENTS, THE DECADE 1980-1990 SHOULDBE DESIGNATED THE INTERNATIONALDRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITA-TION DECADE AND SHOULD BE DEVOTEDTO IMPLEMENTING THE NATIONAL PLANSFOR DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANI-TATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PLANOF ACTION CONTAINED IN RESOLUTION IIBELOW. THIS IMPLEMENTATION WILL RE-QUIRE A CONCERTED EFFORT BY COUN-TRIES AND THE INTERNATIONAL COM-MUNITY TO ENSURE A RELIABLE DRINK-ING WATER SUPPLY AND PROVIDE BASICSANITARY FACILITIES TO ALL URBAN ANDRURAL COMMUNITIES ON THE BASIS OFSPECIFIC TARGETS TO BE SET UP BY EACHCOUNTRY, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ITSSANITARY, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CON-DITIONS.
16. To this end it is recommended that coun-tries should :
(a) Set targets for community water supply andwaste disposal and formulate specific actionprogrammes to attain them, while evalua-ting the progress made at regular intervals ;
(b) Establish standards of quality and quantitythat are consistent with the public health,economic and social policies of Govern-ments, ensuring by appropriate measures,duly applied, that those standards are ob-served ;
(c) Ensure the co-ordination of communitywater supply and waste disposal planningwith over-all water planning and policy aswell as with over-all economic development;
(d) Adopt policies for the mobilization of usersand local labour in the planning, financing,construction, operation and maintenance ofprojects for the supply of drinking waterand the disposal of waste water;
(e) Consider carefully inequalities in the stan-dard of drinking water and sewerage ser-vices among the various sectors of the popu-lation. As far as possible, design program-mes so as to provide basic requirements forall communities as quickly as possible,generally deferring the provision of improv-ed services to a subsequent stage. Priorityshould be given to the provision of drink-ing water and sewerage services in areaswhere the quality and quantity of watersupplied is inadequate, for instance, in ruralareas and urban fringe areas populated bylow-income groups ;
(f) Ensure that the allocation of funds, of otherresources and of all forms of economic in-centives to community water supply andsanitation programmes reflect the urgencyof the needs and the proportion of the popu-lation affected ;
(g) Promote the construction of facilities bygranting low-interest loans or subsidies tocommunities and to other entities concern-ed with water supply and sanitation ;
i
(h) Provide, where needed, additional well-drilling capability or other equipment forthe establishment of local drinking watersupply facilities ;
(i) Review the organizational infrastructure forcommunity water supply and sanitation andset up, where it is considered appropriate,a separate department for this purpose;
(j) Prepare long-term plans and specific pro-jects with detailed financial implication ;
(k) Develop a financing system capable of mo-bilizing the resources needed for the. imple-mentation of the national programme forwater supply and sanitation, as well as forthe operation and maintenance of these ser-vices, for instance, by a system of revolving
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funds to ensure continued financial supportfor the execution of long-term programmes.This system should make it possible tobridge the gap between production costsand payment capacities;
(1) Provide mutual assistance in the transferand application of technologies associatedwith these programmes ;
(m) Carry out special water supply and wastetreatment programmes as national or re-gional undertakings or as activities of non-profit organizations, such as users' associa-tions, where local resources do not make itpossible to achieve the desired goals;
(n) Adopt pricing policies and other incentivesto promote the efficient use of water andthe reduction of waste water, while takingdue account of social objectives ;
(o) Seek to promote in rural areas with lowpopulation density, where it seems appro-priate, individual water supply and wastewater disposal systems, taking account ofsanitary requirements ;
(p) Carry out a programme of health education,parallel with the development of communitywater supply and sanitation, in order toheighten the people's awareness with res-pect to health ;
(q) Establish, at the national level, trainingprogrammes to meet immediate and futureneeds for supervisory staff;
(r) Provide inventory and protection of watersupply sources;
(s) Provide additional facilities and possibilitiesfor drinking water supply during naturalhazards;
(t) Use water effectively, reduce losses, equalizewater prices by purposes for which thewater is used over wide areas and reducewater costs due to reorganization models ofsome countries' water-supply arrangementsso as to strengthen the financial manage-ment of basic of supplies in metropolitan,
urban and rural areas. Develop new con-cepts, such as the use of advanced water-treatment techniques, the utilization of low-quality sources and the re-use of wastewater. These trends (reorganization andthe use of new concepts) need to be encour-aged where they are found to be necessaryand desirable. Rural water supply projectsand programmes for implementing them ona priority basis are being undertaken insome countries and should be encouraged inorder to achieve the targets in the field ofcommunity water supplies set by Habitat:United National Conference on HumanSettlements.
17. International organizations and other sup-porting bodies should, as appropriate, andon request, take the following action :
(i) Provide technical assistance to countriesin the preparation of long-term plansand specific projects ;
(ii) Consider adapting their criteria forfinancial assistance in accordance withthe economic and social conditions pre-vailing in the recipient countries ;
(iii) Promote research, development anddemonstration projects for reducing thecosts of urban and rural water supplyand waste disposal facilities ;
(iv) Promote public health education ;
(v) Support research, development anddemonstration in relation to predomi-nant needs, particularly :
(a) Low-cost ground waterequipment;
pumping
(b) Low-cost water and waste watertreatment processes and equipment,with emphasis on the use of mate-rials and skills likely to be avai-lable to rural communities for in-stallation, operation and main-tenance ;
(vi) Strengthen the exchange of informa-tion, inter alia, by arranging expertmeetings and development of a clear-ing-house mechanism.
134
Community Water Supply—Action PlanResolution—II of the United Nations Water Conference, 1977
In view of the course taken by the discussionsand the aspirations of the countries representedat the United Nations Water Conference and inview also of what was proposed at Habitat:United Nations Conference on Human Settle-ments, and
CONSIDERING THAT :
(a) All peoples, whatever their stage ofdevelopment and their social and economic con-ditions, have the right to have access to drinkingwater in quantities and of a quality equal totheir basic needs ;
(b) It is universally recognized that the avai-lability to man of that resource is essential bothfor life and his full development, both as anindividual and as an integral part of society ;
(c) To a significant extent similar considera-tions apply to all that concerns the disposal ofwaste water, including sewage, industrial andagricultural wastes and other harmful sources,which are the main tasks of the public sanita-tion systems of each country ;
(d) The fundamental challenge facing allmankind can be met only with full internationalco-operation in all its aspects, entailing the mobi-lization of physical, economic and human re-sources ;
ways ofthat
(e) It is imperative to facilitate ways UJ.achieving this essential co-operation, so thatwater is attainable and is justly and equitablydistributed among the people within the respec-tive countries ;
(f) Those countries which are in a position to.provide assistance, as well as international orregional organizations, should undertake to doso until the objective is attained, seeking to sim-plify regulations and administrative arrange-ments ;
(g) Organizations of the United Nations sys-tem and other international organizations are
making progress towards possible establishmentof a consultative group mechanism on comm-unity water programmes.
RECOMMENDS .
(a) That where human needs have not yetbeen satisfied, national development policies andplans should give priority to the supply ofdrinking water for the entire population and tothe final disposal of waste water; and shouldalso actively involve, encourage and supportefforts being undertaken by local voluntary or-ganizations ;
(b) That Governments reaffirm their com-mitment made at Habitat to "adopt programmeswith realistic standards for quality and quantityto provide water for urban and rural areas by1990, if possible" ;
(c) That with a view to achieving these ends,the nations which need to develop their systemsfor providing drinking water and sanitationshould prepare for 1980 programmes and plansto provide coverage for populations and to ex-pand and maintain existing system ; institutionaldevelopment and human resources utilization;and identification of the resources which arefound to be necessary ;
(d) That the United Nations agencies shouldco-ordinate their work efforts to help MembersStates, when they so request, in the work ofpreparation referred to in sub-paragraph (c)above;
(e) That in 1980 the national programmeswhich have been implemented for that purpose,and the extent to which the countries concernedhave succeeded in mobilizing local and nationalsupport should be reviewed by an appropriatemechanism to be determined by the Economicand Social Council and based on the use of exis-ting machinery, with a view to attaining co-ordinated action toward agreed targets ;
135
(f) That in accordance with the decisions ofthe existing structures of the Economic andSocial Council, appropriate external assistanceshould be available in order to assist in building,operating and maintaining these systems;
(g) That the plan of action formulated belowshould be implemented in a co-ordinated mannerat the national and international levels.
PLAN OF ACTION
In order to be able to reach the targets ofHabitat recommendation C. 12, drastic measureshave to be taken. This will need firm commit-ment on the part of countries and the inter-national community.
A. Priority areas for action
1. Action must focus on promoting (a) in-creased awareness of the problem; (b) commit-ment of national Governments to provide allpeople with water of safe quality and adequatequantity and basic sanitary facilities by 1090,according priority to the poor and less privi-leged and to water scarce areas ; and (c) largerallocation to this sector from the total resourcesavailable for general economic and social deve-lopment.
2. Action must be taken to remedy constraintsof manpower shortage (especially at the inter-mediate and lower levels), inadequacies in insti-tutions and organizations, and lack of appro-priate and cost-effective technology.
3. New approaches should be developed whichwill result in larger flows of national, inter-national and bilateral funds on more favourableand flexible conditions, so as to enable countriesto increase the speed of implementation andmore important, enable the more effective useof the additional resources.
4. Communities must be provided with effec-tive education on domestic hygiene and must bemotivated and involved as appropriate at everylevel of the programme, including the planning,construction, operation, maintenance and financ-ing of services, and the monitoring and safe-guarding of the quality of the water supplied.
B. Recommendations for action at national level
5. Each country should establish goals for1990 which match as far as possible the globaltargets adopted. In order to attain these goals,each country should :
(a) Develop national plans and programmes forcommunity water supply and sanitation,and identify intermediate milestones withinthe context of the socio-economic develop-ment plan periods and objectives, givingpriority attention to the segments of thepopulation in greatest need ;
(b) Immediately initiate engineering and possi-bility studies on projects that are consider-ed to be of the highest priority, and arebased on a cost-effective technology appro-priate to local conditions, with communityparticipation, good management, and pro-vision for operation and maintenance;
(c) Assess the manpower situation and, on thebasis of this assessment, establish trainingprogrammes at the national level, to meetthe immediate and future needs for addi-tional professional staff, intermediate leveltechnicians and most important, villagetechnicians;
(d) Promote massive national campaigns tomobilize public opinion regarding the pro-vision of basic sanitary services, and deve-lop appropriate procedures to ensure theactive participation of communities in theprogramme;
(e) Establish appropriate institutions, if thesedo not exist, and assign to them specificresponsibilities for the planning, implemen-tation and monitoring of progress of theprogramme;
(f) Co-ordinate the efforts of all sectors activein rural areas, utilizing the manpower andother resources available, to ensure the pro-vision of technically and socially acceptablesanitary facilities in rural areas;
(g) Develop a national revolving fund, in thefirst instance financed from substantially in-
136
creased loans and grants from national andforeign sources, for water supply and sani-tation which will encourage both the mobi-lization of resources for this sector and theequitable participation of beneficiaries ; dis-courage wasteful cosumption; and includea flexible combination of rates and wherenecessary, explicit subsidies or other mea-sures designed to achieve the economic andsocial objectives of the programme.
C. Recommedations for action through inter-national co-operation
6. To achieve the Habitat targets, the inter-national community must adopt new approachesto support increased national commitments withparticular reference to the least developed andmost seriously affected countries. It is, therefore,recommended that:
(a) Financial contributions be increased tostrengthen the capabilities of internationaland bilateral agencies co-operating withGovernments in the extension of communitywater supply and sanitation ;
(b) At the request of national Governments co-operation be extended to the formulationand implementation of high priority projectsand programmes for community water sup-ply and sanitation, with analysis of goals,methods and resources;
(c) Collaboration with the ongoing activity ofthe World Health Organization for moni-toring and reporting on the status and pro-gress of community water supply and sani-tation be intensified.
7. The international community should givehigh priority to collaborating with Governmentswith regard to manpower surveys, the establish-ment of national training programmes (to meetimmediate and future needs for professionalstaff, intermediate level technicians, and villagetechnicians), research and the promotion of com-munity participation.
8. There should be even greater emphasis onsocial benefits. Multilateral and bilateral financ-ing institutions should recognize the need for ahigher level of grants and low interest-bearingloans to community water supply and sanitationprogrammes and, where this practice is alreadyaccepted, increase the proportion of such loans.They should be prepared to shoulder a higherproportion of local costs when financing com-munity water supply and sanitation, increasetheir total allocations especially to rural watersupply and sanitation, and complement localefforts in the rehabilitation and maintenace ofsystems.
9. Developing countries should foster co-operation among themselves, inter alia, in theestablishment of inter-country training facili-ties ; the development of appropriate techno-logies and of methodologies for training andmanagement, and the exchange of experts andinformation, so that experienece available else-where can be adapted to local conditions.
10. An effective clearing-house mechanismshould be developed through international co-operation, by strengthening existing mechanismsif available, at the national, regional and inter-national levels, to provide for the communica-tion of selected information concerning all ele-ments of community water supply and sanita-tion. An interrelated communication functionshould be included at every stage in all com-munity water supply and sanitation projects.
11. Regular consultations should be heldamong Governments, international organizations,the international scientific community and re-levant non-governmental organizations to ensureco-ordinated and accelerated action in the areaof rural water supply and sanitation.
12. Co-ordination within the United Nationssystem should be improved at country level inorder to ensure (a) a multidisciplinary approachin the development of community water supplyand sanitation services; and (b) that rural watersupplies and sanitation form part of integratedrural development projects.
137
YEAR
RURALTOTAL POPULATION POPULATION
POPULATION SERVED NOT SERVED
195 I
1961
19 71
19 81
1991
299
3 6 0
4 3 9
516
5 9 7
6
14
2 6
155
597
2 9 3
3 4 4
413
361
POPULATION COVEREDBY
SAFE WATER SUPPLY
( R U R A L )
6OO
TOT\L POPULATION
POPULATIONSERVED
•951 |96| »97l 1981 1991
Magnitude of the Problem(Background Paper for Discussion)
Urban Water Supply
1. In their paper entitled "India and theInternational Drinking Water Supply and Sani-tation Decade" Sarvashri P.K. Chatterjee andM.M. Datta report that, "in terms of percen-tage of population, the following table indicatesthe coverage in water supply and sanitationsectors in India, as obtained in 1980 :
Urban Water SupplyRural Water SupplyUrban SanitationRural Sanitation
82%30%27%2%
2. Applying these percentages of the popula-tion figures obtained from the Census Commis-sioner of India, the following picture of cover-age in the urban sector is obtained.
3. Out of the total urban population of 144million, 118 million (82%) enjoy water supplyfacilities leaving a population of 26 million asthe number representing those without facilitiesin 1980 or 1981.
4. Urban areas are grouped into 6 classesdepending upon their population size which havedifferent percentages of coverage in each oneof them within this overall figure of 82. SomeStates are more advanced than the others.
5. These figures would perhaps indicate thattaking the country as a whole, barring someStates or areas, the problem of provision of basicwater supply facilities to urban areas in Indiais within manageable proportions in the comingdecade. It is, however, important to rememberthat in the towns which are included in thecategory to those enjoying these facilities ofwater supply, not all the population of the townare provided with adequate supplies of water ofsafe quality.
6. There are segments of population in thesetowns, particularly on the growing fringes
which do not have reasonable access to safewater.
7. In a recent study carried out by the Pro-gramme Evaluation Organisation of the Plann-ing Commission, it was revealed that 34% of thlocalities inhabited exclusively by the poor('poor' as defined in the study "Those who be-long to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes andthe landless agricultural labourers") only 16%had drinking water points (through pipes, bore-wells, tubewells and drilled holes). As againstthis, 17% of the localities inhabited exclusivelyby the non-poor, 19% had the water points.Similarly the piped water ponts in the localitiesof the poor were only 10% as against 17% ofthe non-poor. Piped water private points were3 times more in the localities of the non-poor ascompared to the poor. The main reason why thepoor have not benefited from the drinking waterfacilities is that the points were far away (pointat a distance) or there were alternative sourcesclose-by." The paper by the Operations ResearchGroup, Baroda deals with the "provision ofbasic services to the urban poor".
8. Even those that are now served, do nothave adequate supply. The, level of per capitaconsumption rate varies widely from 10 to 400litres a day. In some cases, rates as low as 5to 15 litres per day are indicated which wou'dnot be conducive to any distribution system atall.
9. Therefore, the provision of urban watersupply to urban communities in future takes ontwo aspects, namely, (i) provision of facilities tothose not yet served, and (ii) augmenting exist-ing supplies to bring up the levels of per capitaconsumption to 70 to 200 litres depending uponthe population concentrations in the concernedurban communities according to the rates ofaverage per capita supply recommended in the"Manual of Water Supply and Treatment" pub-lished by the Ministry of Works & Housing.
139
POPULATION COVEREDBY
SAFE WATER SUPPLY(URBAN)
YEAR
1951
1961
1971
UT O T A
R 8 A N- POPULATION
62
79
109
POPULATION SERVED POPULATION
32
32
37
NOT
500-
1981
1991
144
189
'18
18
2 6
400-
300-
zo
i2OO
OTAL POPULATION
-^—POPULATION SERVED
^-POPULATl 5N NOT Sf RVED
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991
10. Approximate cost estimates worked outindicate that the total cost of providing newsupplies and augmenting existing supplies wouldbe of the order of Rs. 2,500 crores in the Decadeor Rs. 250 crores per year over the next decade.This figure is likely to be higher, if definite pro-ject reports are prepared for new schemes andif appropriate allowance is made for cost escala-tion in future. These figures also do not take intoaccount the maintenance and operation costs.
Rural Water Supply
11. According to the figures obtained from theCensus Commissioner of India, the rural popu-lation in India in 1980 was 516 million. Fromthe paper of Sarvashri Chatterjee and Datta itis learnt that 30% of this population, namely,155 million are provided with water supplyfacilities, leaving a figure of 361 million as thepopulation which do not at present, enjoy faci-lities of water supply.
12. It is reported that, out of 1.53 lakhs ofproblems villages (as identified in 1972) about40,000 villages have only teen covered till theend of March 1977. Coverage of problem villages(1972 identification) during the last three yearis as under:—
1977-781978-791979-80
12,92220,92018,535
Total : 52,377
Thus it is observed that about 92,377 problemvillages have been covered by March 1980.
13. A village is considered a problem, ifdrinking water source lies 1.6 Kms away fromthe village or if no water is available within adepth of 50' or if it is endemic to cholera andguinea worm infestation or with excessivesalinity, iron and fluoride content. Even if allthe 1.53 lakh problem villages were providedwith water supply facilities, it would mean thatonly 123 million of rural population would havebeen served, leaving as large a number as 393million (516-123) without water and for whomprovision will have to be made in future. Tothis must be added future increases.
14. "Many of the State Governments claimedthat the original list of problem villages did notrepresent the magnitude of the problem, partlybecause of incomplete survey and partly be-cause of drought conditions subsequent to 1972.It is estimated that the total number of problemvillages that would have remained without pro-vision of safe water supply as on 31 March 1980will be about 2 lakhs."
15. It is estimated that the investment re-quired for rural water supply during the decadewould be of the order of Rs. 4228 crores.
16. Dealing with the "norms for rural watersupply", Sarvashri B.B. Rau and M.M. Dattadeal with the criteria for defining problem vil-lages, sources of supply, per capita rates of sup-ply and per capita costs.
17. Sarvashri K. Rudrappa and K.L.L. Nara-simhan deal with aspects pertaining to the qua-lity of water and, in particular, the physicaland schemical characteristics affecting potabi-lity.
18. Engineer Gyan Sagar points out that ifthe dream of the Decade is to be realised, thepriorities will have to be redefined and that weshould take up chlorination of village wells ina big way. Secondly, we should give preferenceto hand pumps and sanitary dug well schemesover piped water supplies which are highlycostly. Thirdly, we must also insist on drainagearound the wells and hand pumps. Fourthly,carry out a programme of health education para-llel with the development of Community WaterSupply and Sanitation and, lastly, develop ap-propriate technologies in the context of existingsocio-economic conditions.
Perspective for Water Supply
19. In order to understand the perspective forwater supply, two graphs are prepared on thebasis of the available data, one for urban andthe other for rural. The graphs show the totalurban and rural population, those served andalso those not served with the facilities atdifferent points of time.
141
100 ' 0 0 l 0 °
- 9 0
a. Q A
DU1i
1
!
—7O -1' u a
O a.
C- 6 0 w
y- <>
z z- 5 0 oo
- 5i
o ! I; j- 4 0 ' '
ii1a.
— "\n<
a- 2 0
-10
_0
2
>._i
a.a.
aUi
<
>
<
a.
cc
30
8 0
zo
1T
AT
1
Z<if)
Z
aoa.
27
ZO
<
£<_J<
a"̂a
25
2
1 1 1
TARGET FOR 1990
L E G E N D
Torget 1^90 T
Status 198l .-
POPULATION COVEREDBY
SAFE WATER SUPPLYIN INDIA ^ ^ ) o o o / f t . _2oo
FORECAST
Urbon
Ruroi
TOTAL POPULATION
POPULATION SERVED
- O
co
2
c
co
o3Q.O
a.
500
^ . 0 0 %
1951
I
1961
I1971
I
1981 1991
20. According to available statistics 46 millionurban population were provided with additionalwater supply facilities during the last decade(1971-81) (118-72 = 46). The perspective is thatduring the Decade 71 million (189-188) ad-ditional population should be provided withwater Supply facilities in order to reach a targetof 100 percent by 1990. This represents an in-crease of 155% over the average rate for in-crease in coverage during the last decade. Everyyear in the next decade, 7.1 million additionalpopulation should receive water supply asagainst an average annual growth rate of 4.6million during the last decade. Stated in theseterms, the magnitude of the problem becomesclearer. For instance, when it is stated thatcoverage should be increased from 82% to 100%it appears that the problem is one of gettingonly an increase of 18%, whereas in fact ourefforts in the field of urban water supply duringthe next decade should be 155% over the lastdecade.
21. Similarly in the rural sector, availabledata indicates that 129 million additional ruralpopulation (155-26) received water supply faci-lities during the last decade, whereas the num-bers to be provided over the next decade is 442million (597-155). This represents an increase of350 percent over the performance during thelast decade.
22. At this stage, it is of interest to note thatthe figure of 26 million rural population servedwith water supply in 1971 has increased to 155million in 1981-an increase of about 500 per-cent over the position in 1971.
23. This brings up the question of looking in-to the methodology of the assessment of cover-age in various States. A uniform methodologyshould be evolved and applied in all the Statesand territories in India for determining the cur-rent status to serve as a benchmark againstwhich future progress could be monitored.
24. There are special problems in hilly areas.The paper by Sarvashri D.R. Bhutani and T.N.Visweswara discusses the possibility of genera-ting power from natural falls of 6 to 10 meterson hill streams and using such power to driveshafts of mini turbines to pumps water fromstream to hill tops over limited heads.
25. Prof. D. Banerjee dealing with Social andEpidemilogical issues in Rural Water SupplyProgrammes states in his paper that allocationsfor rural water supply should be made on thebasis of a better understanding of sociologicalissues and better epidemilogical analysis andforecasts so as to ensure a rational basis torallocations.
26. A number of difficulties in the implemen-tation of tube-well programmes are discussedin the paper by Shri G.L. Malik on the impor-tance of tubewells in the programme of theDecade
Urban Sanitation27. The present level of the coverage in urban
sanitation is 27%. This gives a figure of 39 mil-lion (144x27/100) 80% of the urban populationin 1991 of 189 million is equivalent to 151million representing an increase of 112 million(151-39). In other words, a threefold increase inthe level of coverage has to be effected duringthe Decade.
28. Even in towns where urban sewerage faci-lities exist now only a part of sewerage is trea-ted and the balance is partially treated and ledon to land for agricultural purposes or dis-charged into water courses. The cost of urbansanitation over the next decade is expected tobe Rs. 2590 crores.
29. The paper by Sarvashri P.S. Rajvanshyand S.K. Mishra on 'Sewage treatment and itsessentials" describes the sewage treatment plantinstalled in Jaipur, Rajasthan in 1977 and theseveral innovative features that the design in-volved. "For instance, one of these features isused with aerobic digester attached with sledgethickener".
Rural Sanitation
30. Rural sanitation has been the most neg-lected so far. The level of present coverage isstated to te 2% and the target for 1990 is 25%at projected estimated cost of Rs. 1584 crores.Stated in terms of absolute numbers, 10 millionrural population now have some sanitation faci-lities and an additional 140 million should becovered to reach the target set for 1991. Thetragetted increase is, in fact, 14 times the pre-sent level and unless concentrated efforts aremade, it will be very difficult to fulfil even thismodest target.
144
Resources
1. Resources may be considered in the follow-ing aspects: Financial, material, equipmentand manpower,
2. Financial Resources
(A) Current Situation
The investment costs of the water supply andsanitation schemes are substantial. Dependingon the level of service provided and the tech-nology adopted in different countries, these costsvary greatly. Major financing of water schemesis done through the Government budget. Butthese Government finances have to compete withother needs equally important and significantlike education, health, roads, etc. Of late foreignaid has become significant and important in thewater and sanitation sector. The amounts offunds allocated to water supply from bothnational and foreign sources are usually deter-mined by the Government on the basis ofnational priorities and the needs of the othercompeting sectors of the economy.
A major policy decision is necessary whetherto regard water supplies as public utility or so-cial service. Mr. K.R. Qureshi in his paper on"Financing for Rural Water Supply and TariffPolicy" states that "there is a strong case forregarding rural water supplies as a social ser-vice like schools and hospitals. The possibilty offree rural water supply should be seriouly con-sidered. This policy can be justified on socialand economic grounds. In this way, the Govern-ment would be subsidising the poorer sector ofthe community, the income distribution ofwhich would be socially desirable". On the otherhand, Dr. Kanwar Sain in his paper on "Pro-blems of Rural Water Supply in India"' dealingwith ''As free as Air" approach to the issue,states that "the commodity such as water whichdoes not have adequate selling value is unlikelyto be an attractive investment. No Governmenthowsoever humanitarian or socialistic its policymay be, can successfully supply to people withessential services such as electricity, water,sewerage without any hope of repayment insome form or the other. The cost of the utility
services must be reimbursed at least in part ifnot in toto as each community is graduallyraised to a level of self support. The mythologythat a commodity which costs money to produceand to deliver can be as free as the air mustbe rapidly expunged from the minds of boththe officials and the people. It is worth pointingout here that almost no where in the world IFelectric power provided free".
Dealing with the experience in this regardSarvashri P.K. Chatterjee and V. Venugopalanin their paper, "on Rural Water Supply:Achievements, Goals and constraints however,state that "as the majority of the people arebelow the poverty line in rural areas, contri-bution towards not only capital cost but alsotowards annual recurring expenditure becomesdifficult. It also becomes difficult to make ruralwater supply self-supporting as the tariff struc-ture cannot be drastically increased due to thepeoples inability to pay." They are of the viewthat "conditions imposed such as making watersupply and sanitation sector to be run on com-mercial lines and to make them self supportingare difficult to be fulfilled in case of ruralschemes."
(B) Financial Estimates and National Outlays
The paper on the Decade by Sarvashri P.K.Chatterji and M.M. Datta mentions that '"'arough assessment was made of the projected re-quirement of funds for the Decade of about15,000 crores (based on State Governments in-dications)" at a workshop organised in Novem-ber, 1978. Later, the CPHEEO projected the re-quirement of funds for the Decade Programmeat Rs. 10,900 crores to achieve the goals set. Thesectoral break down of this figure is given below:
(a)(b)
(c)(d)
UrbanUrban
Water SupplySewerage and
SanitationRuralRural
Water SupplySanitation
Rs.
2,
2,4,1,
, in crores475
590228584
Total: 10,877Say Rs. 10,900 crores
145
The paper on the "Decade in Tamil Nadu"points out that "with the existing pattern offunding from the State Governments, the Cen-tral Government and other international agen-cies, it will be very difficult to achieve the tar-get of providing good water supply and bettersanitation to all the people in Tamil Nadu by1990. Hence it is necessary to generate a majorportion of funds required for these programmesfrom international agencies". On the subject ofallocation to rural sector, the paper points outthat "this allocation has to be trebled to achievethe objective of covering all rural habitationswithin the Decade (1981-1990)".
The national outlay indicated in the SixthPlan for the sector is of the order of about Rs.4,000/crores. If the overall requirement for theDecade, which covers both Sixth and theSeventh Plan periods, is of the order of Rs.11,000 crores, the outlay for the Seventh Planshould be at least Rs. 7,000 crores (Rs. 11,000-Rs. 4,000 crores) without taking the factor ofprice escalation into account. If, on the otherhand, the overall requirement of the Decade isof the order of Rs. 15,000 crores, as originallyworked out, then the outlay for the SeventhPlan will have to be Rs. 11,000 crores (Rs. 15,000- Rs. 4,000 crores) as against the Sixth Plan pro -vision of Rs. 4,000 crores. In any case, thequestion that deserves consideration is the ade-quacy of the level of funding of the sector inthe Sixth Plan in the background of the overallfunding requirement of the Decade.
In this connection, it is of interest to note thatSarvashri P.K. Chatterjee and M.M. Datta pointout that "funds from external sources such asWorld Bank, bilateral aids etc. as well as fundsto be generated from the LIC are all pooled inthe country's plan resources and as such thereis no additionality to the plan, once the plansare finalised."
(C) Suggestions for consideration
The following suggestions deserve considera-tion in this context:
(i) The sector should be given the highestpriority and the possibility of doubling the planoutlay may be examined. At present, water sup-
ply and sanitation is not in the core sector butis a part of social services sector. A cut in theplan outlays would automatically result in cut-ting the outlays under the various social servicesincluding water supply. This situation has to beremedied.
(ii) The recommendation B-5(g) of the UnitedNations Water Conference called upon countriesto "develop a national revolving fund, in thefirst instance financed from substantially in-creased loans and grants from national andforeign sources, for water supply and sanitationwhich will encourage both the mobilisation ofresources for this sector and equitable participa-tion of beneficiaries; discourage wasteful con-sumption ; and include a flexible combination ofrates and, where necessary, explicit subsidies orother measures designed to achieve the econo-mic and social objectives of the programme."The possibility of creation of such a revolvingfund deserves consideration. Further, in view ofthe fact that the available resources for thesector are scrace and they have competing alter-native uses in the economy. The Mar del PlataAction Plan called upon the countries to "usewater effectively, reduce losses, equalise waterprices, develop new concepts such as the use ofadvanced water treatment techniques, the utili-sation of low quality sources and the re-useof waste water"
(iii) In the paper on "Financing for RuralWater Supply and Tariff Policy" Mr. K.R.Qureshi makes a number of suggestions regard-ing appropriate tariff policies.
(iv) Financial institutions such as LIC andnationalised banks may also be involved in theprogramme by contributions towards the re-volving fund for providing, in their turn, finan-cial resources to local bodies in different areas.
(v) Possibility of direct lending by nationa-lised banks to different schemes in the watersupply and sanitation sector on a short termbasis may also be considered.
(vi) The paper by the Operations ResearchGroup, Baroda, details the tariff policies whichare being evolved in Gujarat.
146
Public Participation and InstitutionalArrangements
It is generally accepted that the problems ofsafe drinking water supply and hygienic dispo-sal of human excreta and other wastes effect thelives of every citizen of the country, every man,woman and child, not only in the great metro-politan cities but also those dispersed over wide-ly separate and remote areas in all parts of thecountry. The problems in regard to environmen-tal hygiene are actually very acute for all thosewho belong to the weaker sections of the society,be they from the rural areas or from the slumsof metropolitan cities like Calcutta, Bombay andDelhi. It is obvious that they need immediatepriority attention in the matter of safe drinkingwater necessary for a healthy and dignified hu-man living—a fundamental right of each andevery citizen.
This problem even touches intimately thestatus and the quality of life of the IndianWomen of all deprived sections of the popula-tion from all communities of all parts fromKashmir to Kanya Kumari and from Rajasthandesert to Nagaland or the other areas near theeastern-most border of our country. The draw-ing of water has come to be associated tradi-tionally as the responsibility of women not onlyin rural areas but in the deprived sections 01urban areas also. The priority to provision ofsafe drinking water supply to be made availablewithin a reasonable distance would actually beone step further in the direction of ameliora-ting the lot of the Indian Women belonging toall sections, especially to the deprived sections.
But it is also the fact that the above mention-ed sections who are going to benefit the mostfrom the programmes for drinking water supplyand sanitation are precisely the same sectionswho have had little say in planning, construc-tion, operation and maintenance of the later sup-ply and sanitation works. They are the peoplewho should have been involved in monitoringthe programmes. These are the sections who, ii'educated properly and appropriately involved,
would have come forward to maintain and pro-tect the works and safeguard the quality ofwater supplied.
The Mar del Plata Plan of Action adopted inArgentina in March 1977 called for the designa-tion of 1981-1990 as the International DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation Decade and inclu-ded the need of ensuring public participationamong the priority areas for action. The planemphasised that "Communities must be providedwith effective education on domestic hygieneand must be motivated and involved as appro-priate at every level of the programme, includ-ing the planning, construction, operation, main-tenance and financing of services and the moni-toring and safeguarding of the quality of watersupplied." Further, it called upon each country"to promote massive national campaigns to mobi-lize public opinion regarding the provision ofbasic sanitary services and develop appropriateprocedures to ensure the active participation ofcommunities in the programme".
The importance of developing "massive natio-nal campaigns to mobilise public opinion" wasagain forcefully brought to the attention of theWorld Community in the inaugurating addressof Dr. Halfdan Mahler, Director General of theWorld Health Organisation who stated, duringhis speech to the General Assembly on 10thNovember 1980 :
"Most important of all, this Decade is forpeople and, when the chips are down, it will beexecuted by people. So it is vital that we openand continue a dialogue with people at large,in the North as well as in the South. Only inthat way will we have a small chance of avoid-ing more frustration and inertia and only in thatway can individuals and communities achievethat positive feeling that this is not our bureau-cratic decade but their own living DevelopmentDecade."
The Decade has been launched at the specialsession of the United Nations General Assembly
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on 10th November 1980 and in India the Decadehas started from 1st April 1981, being the firstday in the financial year of the Decade. The pro-gramme will have to cover population of about700 million people which is expected to reachthe figure of about 1000 million people by theend of the Decade, and cannot obviously beaccomplished alone by the Government (as it isclear even from the magnitude and allotted re-sources). It should be clear-involvement of thepeople and their participation in the programmeis a sin-quo-non for the success of the targetsand objectives set for the Decade.
Notwithstanding the general recognition of theneed for associating the people with variousphases of the programmes for water supply andsanitation, not enough thought seems to havebeen given to the practical institutional mecha-sms and ways and procedures to be devis-ed for public involvement to facilitate publicparticipation as a part of the planning and im-plementation processes.
Even from the papers received for the sym-posium, it can be noted that most of the papersare authored by the Engineers and not muchattention has been given to the aspect of publicparticipation by these authors. Only a few-papers have been received from the socialscientists. It is essential that the participants inthe symposium should give some attention tooutline the approach which would deal withthe aspect of public participation comprehen-sively, meaning ensuring appropriate involve-ment of people at all stages and in all aspectsof the Decade Programmes.
Financing of the rural schemes has alwaysbeen considered a problem area, evading easysolutions, and serious differences have existedon the ways and means of generating localfunds from the beneficiaries. Dealing with fundsand associated items, Sarvashri P.K. Chatterjeeand V. Venugopalan point out in their paperentitled 'Rural Water Supply: Achievements,Goals and Constraints' that "a lot of problemsare envisaged especially for locally generatedfunds. The beneficiaries contribution has beendiscouraging. As the majority of the people arebelow poverty line in rural areas, contributiontowards not only capital cost but also towards
recurring expenditure becomes difficult. It alsobecomes difficult to make rural water supplyself supporting conditions imposed such asmaking water supply and sanitation sector tobe run on commercial lines and to make themself supporting, are difficult to be fulfilled incase of rural Schemes". Because of these diffi-culties, many have argued for water supply tobe delivered free and financed from the generalrevenue. Others have argued that "the my-thology that a commodity which costs moneyto produce and to deliver can be as free as theair must be rapidly expunged from the minds ofboth the officials and the people" and suggestedthat it is possible for the Government to weanaway the citizens and the local bodies fromtheir established notion that drinking watershould be provided as a partial gift by the Gov-ernment. In paper entitled 'Problems of RuralWater Supply in India' Dr. Kanwar Sain actual-ly devotes main part of the paper to deal onlywith this issue. He has suggested that "Publicparticipation, in the matter of financing thewater supply schemes as well as in their ex-ecution is impreative if the Indian Villages areto be provided with adequate and safe drinkingwater in a reasonable time and though he grantsthe fact that "they (Rural Population) cannotbe expected to contribute in a large measuretowards the huge investments for such a projectbut, notwithstanding this limitation, there is away and an important way whereby they cancontribute towards this venture and that is theircontribution in the shape of their labour." Hefurther suggests that "such a contribution couldpartly be as 'shramdan' and partly be on thebasis of wage payments." The duration of volun-tary labour is feasible and must be organised.However, people will have to te motivated todonate labour voluntarily. The issues arise thatwould it be possible for the local bodies (largelyvillage panchayats) to ensure participation ofthe public in the construction processes by thedonation of voluntary labour if these bodies donot involve people in planning the rural watersupply programmes and projects in their respec-tive villages, monitoring and supervising theprogramme and maintaining and safeguardingthe potable water supply for each and every onein the village. How can the people, belonging toall sections including the weaker and deprived,be associated in the management, operation,
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maintanance and repairs to the water supplyfacilities that would be created during the De-cade? These are the concrete questions involvedin motivating them for participation in the con-struction processes and even educating thepeople in rural areas on domestic and publichygiene.
At the village level, there are already villagepanchayats. These panchayats enjoy differentpowers and are assigned different functions indifferent States. It is clear that it will not beenough to make the existing panchayats justfunctionally responsible for rural water supply.Thought will have to be given to evolve thenecessary ways and means and design appro-priate institutional arrangements for facilitatingthe involvement as a part of the planning andimplementation processes. Many ideas have beentried all over the world and in India also for in-volving the local communities in fulfilling thetasks of maintenance and operation arrange-ments and in the planning and implementationprocesses. One such idea of a three tier main-tenance set up, with a caretaker at the villagelevel, a mechanic at the block level and a mobilerepair team at the district level, has alreadybeen successfully tried in Tamil Nadu and maybe adopted in other States with suitable varia-tions. This was also a partial involvement. Selfhelp schemes have also been proposed, as in thecase of rural sanitation projects, mainly withthe aim of involving public in the implemen-tation of the projects. Thought can be given tothe need and desirability of setting up separatewater supply committees which should includethe representatives of other developmental acti-vities in rural areas and in perepheral urbanareas to be solely in charge of planning, imple-mentation and operation of water supply sche-mes at the village and district levels. In someof the developing countries, rural water supplycommittees were constituted and entrusted withIhe responsibility of mobilising even financialsupport, at least in a token manner to cover theprojects costs partially if not fully. Such apartial coverage would inculcate a sense ofdirect and active involvement and participationon the part of the people in project planningand implementation. The focal point for respon-sibility of arranging the assistance and technicalinpuis would remain with the panchayat only.
It is needless to say that these committees orany similar arrangement would have to see thatall the weaker and deprived sections includingthe untouchables in the villages; socially op-pressed and economically deprived, the landless,the peasants, the agricultural labour and thewomen who have come to be associated tradi-tionally with the drawing of water to be onlytheir responsibility ; whether be they in villagesor be they from the poorer sections of the urbanareas, will have to be involved and representedat all stages and in all aspects of the planningand implementation of the projects. It is noteasy to ensure such a representation and whole-some involvement. Consideration should be givento launch a special programme to involve thepoor, rural and urban women in the "massivenational compaign to mobilise public opinion."Further, it will have to be seen that these pro-grammes relate to safe Drinking Water Supplyand Sanitation are not tackled in isolation butas an integral part of the integrated develop-ment strategy. For example, the provision ofwater for irrigation and water for drinkingcould be integrated and tackled simultaneouslyin the multi-purpose schemes. All these meanthat new and practical instituional arrangementswill have to be designed with suitable varia-tions for each region.
On the institutional plane, as well, there havebeen many problems and a multitude of insti-tutions have existed and still exist in variousstates for tackling the different aspects andstages of the programmes related to DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation. This institutionalweakness was recognised by the authors of theMar Del Plata Action plan and they called uponthe countries to, "establish appropriate institu-tions, if these do not exist, and assign to thema specific responsibility for the planning, imple-mentation and monitoring of the progress ofthe programme".
While there are institutional mechanismswhich have existed wthin the Government toplan, implement and monitor the progress ofthe programme, the adequacy of the existinginstitutional mechanisms at various levels ap-pears to deserve consideration. It is relativelyeasy to establish committees at the centre andat the state capitals but the real implementation
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at the grass root levels takes place at the dis-trict and other sub-divisional levels right : downto the level of the villages. And the adequacy of•the institutional mechanisms at the grass rootlevel requires consideration.
If broad sections of the people are to be asso-ciated at the village, district and the state levels,this should naturally also find reflection athigher levels. Association of non-official andvoluntary agencies, organisations of the varioussections of the people and parliamentarians withCommittees or other bodies set up or porposedto be set up at different levels would ensurepublic participation at the highest level and thuswould give a new dimension and new sweep tothe programme which is being launched. Thereis perhaps a need for constituting a NationalWater and Supply Commission consisting ofthe Central Ministers and State Ministers incharge of programme of implementing. Variouspilot schemes could be tried simultaneously indifferent States/parts of the State to acquire ex-perience and obtain data for taking scientificdecision regarding the suitability of differentarrangements. For instance, it can be experimen-ted on a pilot scheme if rural co-operatives couldbe established for water supply and providedwith loans. And there could be established ruralwater supply corporations in all States whichwould ensure smooth flow of funds from suchcorporations to the various co-operatives. Appro-priate procedures and criteria for financial assis-tance could be workedout. Such a decentralisedresponsibility for the implementation and the
making of the schemes economically more viablemay perhaps provide a new basis for program-mes.
There is a danger that these rural cooperativesmay become privilage of few rich and siphon offthe public funds and, in the ultimate, defeatthe very purpose of the D,ecade programmesand priorities given to the weaker and deprivedsections. How would it be ensured that the assis-tance reaches the needy ? Such crucial aspectswill have to be taken care of in implementationof a strategy based on rural co-operatives.
Another institutional arrangement of formingthe Water Committees at all levels for oversee-ing and mobilizing public support and involve-ment including the generation of local financialresources to meet at least a part of the costs, forthe implementation of the Decade programmeshas already been described previously in all itsramifications. The solutions to problems offinancing and institutional arrangement actuallyconstitute the crux of the problem. It is note-worthy that the World Bank paper itself hasrecognised that "By far the most crucial pro-blems are the institutional and financial ones,if these could be resolved, the technologicalproblems would largely disappear"-(World BankPaper : Village Water Supply).
The above mentioned points have been putup with the aim, of initiating the discussion.After envolving a consensus, a Committee canbe constituted to consider follow up.
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Part IV. Presentation of Papers and Discussion
A View of the Delegates at the Sessions
Presentation of Papers and Discussion
Magnitude of the Problem
The first Session of the Symposium was devo-ted to presentation and discussion of the paperson the Magnitude of the Problem. The sessionwas chaired by Shri P.R. Vyas Dhiman, Chair-man, U.P. Jal Nigam.
A background paper on the magnitude of theproblem was presented by Shri K.V. Krishna-murthy. The paper was based on differentpapers on the subject presented at the Sym-posium. The following points were made.
(i) Taking the country as a whole, the pro-blem of provision of basic water supply facili-ties to urban areas in India is within manage-able proportions in the coming decade. How-ever, in the towns which are included in thecategory of those enjoying the facilities of watersupply, not all the population of the towns areprovided with adequate supplies of water ofsafe quality. Further, there are segments ofpopulation in these towns, particularly on thegrowing fringes which do not have reasonableaccess to safe water.
(ii) In a recent study carried out by the Pro-gramme Evaluation Organisation of the Plann-ing Commission, it was revealed that the poorhave not benefitted from the drinking waterfacilities as compared to the non-poor.
(iii) Even those that are now considered ser-ved, do not have adequate supply or quantity ofsafe or potable water.
(iv) It is estimated that the total number ofproblem villages that would have remainedwithout provision of safe water supply as on31.3.1980 would be about 2 lakhs. Population-wise, about 361 million of rural population inIndia do not at present enjoy facilities of watersupply.
(v) According to the available statistics, theperspective that emerges is that during the De-cade about 71 million additional urban popula-tion should be provided with water supply iaci-lities so as to reach a target of 100% supply by
1990. This represents an increase of 155% overthe average rate for increasing during the lastdecade.
(vi) Similarly in rural areas, the numbers tobe provided with water supply over the nextdecade works out to 442 million which repre-sents an increase of 350% over the performanceduring the last decade.
(vii) As regards urban sanitation, the presentcoverage is 27%. To reach the target of 80%of the urban population in 1991, about 112 mil-lion urban people still need to be provided withsanitation facilities.
(viii) Rural sanitation is the most neglected sofar. The present level of coverage is stated to be2%. Stated in terms of absolute numbers, thetarget of 25% coverage by 1990 would meanthat an additional 140 million people should becovered to reach the target. The targetted in-crease is, in fact, 14 times the present level.
Prof. Dave felt political will, proper planningand management of a well prepared nationalwater and sanitation policy was essential to en-sure adequate coverage of the country's popula-tion in terms of both quality and quantity. Mr.Gyan Sagar pointed out that if the dream of thedecade had to be realised, the priorities willhave to be redefined. He suggested chlorinationof village wells in a big way and preference tohandpumps and sanitarily managed dug wellsover costly piped water supply systems in ruralareas.
The discussion was wound up by the Chair-man at the close of the session.
Resources
The Second Session was devoted to presen-tation and discussion of the papers on Resources.The session was chaired by Shri P.S. Rajvanshy,Technical Member, Rajasthan Water Supply andSewerage Management Board and AdditionalSecretary to the Government of Rajasthan.
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A background paper on 'Resources' was pre-sented by Shri C. Sanjeeva Rao. The paper wasbased on different papers on the subject pre-sented at the Symposium. The following pointswere made.
(i) Major financing of water schemes is donethrough government budget. The governmentfinances have to compete with the other needsequally important and significant such as educa-tion, health, roads, etc. Oflate, foreign aid hasbecome significant and important in the waterand sanitation sector.
(ii) Funds from external sources as well asfunds to be generated from L.I.C. and the Gov-ernment budgetary resources are pooled in thecountry's plan funds and as such there is noadditionality to the Plan, once the plans arefinalised.
(iii) A major policy decision is necessarywhether to treat water supplies as public utilityand charge or take it as social service and sup-ply free of charge.
(iv) A rough assessment was made of the pro-jected requirement of funds for the Decade ofabout Rs. 15,000 crores (based on State Govern-ments' indications) at a workshop organised inNovember, 1978. Later the CPHEEO projectedthe requirement of funds for the Decade Pro-gramme at Rs. 10,900 crores to achieve the goalsset.
(v) The national outlay indicated in the SixthPlan for the sector is of the order of Rs. 4,000crores. If the overall requirement for the De-cade which covers both the Sixth and SeventhPlan is of the order of Rs. 15,000 crores, theoutlay for Seventh Plan will have to be Rs.11,000 crores. This shows the inadequacy offunding of the sector in the Sixth Plan.
(vi) At present water supply and sanitationis not in the core sector but is a part of thesocial services sector. Its inclusion in the coresector may be considered.
(vii) Greater attention should be paid formore efficient use of the available f unds byapplication of appropriate low cost technology,reducing the losses, developing new concepts ofwater treatment and reuse of waste water.
(viii) A national revolving fund should bedeveloped, in the first instance financed fromsubstantially increased loans and grants fromnational and foreign sources for water supplyand sanitation. Financial institutions such asLIC and nationalised banks may also be involvedin the programme by contributions towards therevolving fund.
(ix) Possibility of direct lending by nationa-lised banks to different schemes in the watersupply and sanitation sector on a short termbasis may also be considered.
(x) Suitable tariff policies with flexible com-bination of rates should be evolved to achievethe economic and social objectives of the pro-gramme.
(xi) The existing production capacity for themanufacture of materials and equipment requiresto be considerably stepped up.« In respect ofmaterials like cement and steel, apart from over-all increase in production, there is also the needto ensure that the sector gets earmarked addi-tional quantities.
(xii) As regards the manpower requirementsfor the Decade - professional and non-profes-sional - a thorough review should be made ofthe existing programmes of training and re-search in different institutions and long-termperspective plans should be prepared.
Prof. D. Banerjee, Centre of Social Medicineand Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-versity, New Delhi and Dr. D.N. Basu, O.R.G.,Baroda spoke on the subject. Prof. Banerjeestated that allocations for rural water supplyshould be made on the basis of a better under-standing of sociological issues and better epide-mological analysis and forecasts so as to ensurea rational basis for allocations. Dr. Basu saidthat a method of water charges should be evolv-ed which should be implemented by the urbanlocal bodies in due course of time embodyingboth the principles of cost subsidy and widernet work of public distribution system. Insteadof treating the mater of revenue generationfrom water supply and sewerage projects in anisolated manner, we should integrate the methodof financing with the entire revenue system ofthe urban local bodies.
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Public Participation and InstitutionalArrangements
The Third Session was devoted to presentationand discussion of the papers on public partici-pation and institutional arrangements. The Ses-sion was chaired by Prof. Ramlal Parikh, M.P.,Vice President, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, NewDelhi.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Parikh em-phasised the need for a self-reliant and self-generating solution to the problem of watersupply and sanitation. While seeking solutions,he said, that the gravity, magnitude, diversityand complexity of the problem should be keptin view. He referred to the widening gap be-tween the men of expertise and the outsideworld and stated that planning should start atthe lower levels. In addition to planning natio-nally and globally, it should also be done atthe grass root levels. He said that we shouldshift from aggregative to segregative approach.He also referred to the paradox of putting moremoney and coming out with more problem vil-lages. He suggested that the present institutionalarrangements will have to be changed and madeself-reliant and self-generating. He also statedthat water supply should be treated as a partof a package consisting of water supply andsanitation, water disposal, biogas, etc.
A background paper on public participationand institutional arrangements was presentedby Shri D.K. Abrol, Secretary, Delhi ScienceForum. The paper was based on different paperson the subject presented at the symposium. Thefollowing points were made.
(i) People belonging to weaker sections of thesociety, be they from rural areas or from theslums of metropolitan cities need immediatepriority attention in the matter of safe drinkingwater.
(ii) The problem even touches intimately thestatus and quality of life of Indian women of
all deprived sections of the population from allcommunities from all parts of the country.
(iii) It is also the fact that the above-men-tioned sections who are going to benefit themost from the programmes for drinking watersupply and sanitation are precisely the samesections who have had little say in planning,construction, operation and maintenance of thewater supply and sanitation works.
(iv) All weaker and deprived sections includ-ing women who have come to be associated withthe drawing of water will have to be involvedand represented at all the stages and in allaspects of planning and implementation of pro-jects.
(v) Broad sections of people should be asso-ciated in committees at village, district and Statelevls.
(vi) Association of non-official and voluntaryagencies, organisations of the various sections ofthe people and Parliamentarians with commit-tees or other bodies set up or proposed to beset up at different levels would ensure publicparticipation at the highest level and would givea new dimension and tempo to the programmes.
(vii) There is a need for constituting aNational Water Supply Commission consistingof Central Ministers and State Ministers incharge of programme implementation.
(viii) Possibilty of financing the schemesthrough the establishment of rural cooperativesfor water supply may be considered.
Shri B.P. Varma, Managing Director, U.P. JaiNigam, Lucknow, Shri Y.N. Nanjundiah, O.S.D.,Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board,Ahmedabad, Shri Subhan Khan, Haryana Agri-cultural University, Hissar and Ms Jean Chap-man, Janwadi Mahila Samiti, New Delhi, spokeon the subject.
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Part V. Coverage in the Media and the Reactions
Coverage in the Media and the Reactions
The proceedings and conclusions of the Sym-posium received wide publicity in the NationalPress, AIR and T.V. highlighting the importanceand significance of provision of safe drinkingwater supply and sanitation in India. Differentaspects of the problem have been reported bythe national dailies under the following head-ings which are interesting to note.
"Good Water Supply still a dream for manypeople"
- Hindustan Times (10 May, 1981)
"Call for National Sanitation Policy"- Hindustan Times (10 May, 1981)
"Not enough water to drink"- Statesman (12 May, 1981)
"No money for water, plenty for arms"- Indian Express (13 May 1981)
"Water supply a distant dream for mostvillages"
- Indian Express (10 May 1981)
"Rich are richer in water too"- Times of India (10 May, 1981)
"Water Supply and Sanitation body suggested"- Times of India (11 May, 1981)
"Not enough water for 361 million ruralpeople"
- National Herald (12 May, 1981)
"Clean Water, a luxury for poor"- Economic Times (13 May, 1981)
"No water facilities for 361 million ruralpeople"
- Tribune (12 May, 1981)
"Rural areas short of drinking water"- Financial Express (12, May, 1981)
"Lack of clean water root cause of diseases"- Financial Express (14, May, 1981)
Some of the facts that were highlighted at thesymposium, according to the Press, are repro-duced below which speak for themselves.
(i) The world spends roughly $100 per headon armament every year but it is unable to spenda mere $3 per head to ensure water supply toevery man, woman and child in the developingworld (WHO).
(ii) If the dream of the International Decadeis to be realised priorities will have to be rede-fined in a big way. These include massivechlorination of rural wells — reference to handpumps and sanitary dug well schemes — insis-tence on drainage around wells and hand pumps.A simultaneously conducted programme ofhealth education, community water supply andsanitation and development of appropriate tech-nologies in the context of Indian conditions.
(iii) About 90 percent of tubewells in Delhihave been a failure.
(iv) In several States, costly rigs to dig tube-wells are installed but they remain idle.
(v) Disputes on sharing small quantities ofwater between the States result in vast potentialof the country's rivers going untapped.
(vi) Lack of water management results inspread of diseases from polluted waters.
(vii) The benefit of most of the schemes Corproviding drinking water has gone more to thenon-poor and urban population than rural poor.
The proceedings of the symposium were report-ed in different news bulletins of AIR and DoorDarshan with due prominence underlining thesignificance of the subject of the symposium.
Reaction to the Recommendations
Immediately after the conclusion of the sympo-sium a brief report on the symposium containingthe main recommendations together with a listof participants and the list of papers presenedand discussed, was prepared and sent to all theparticipants and the administrative Ministries andauthorities concerned for their consideration andimplementation.
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Copies of the brief report were also sent to allthe Members of Parliament with a request tobuild up the necessary political will both at theCentre and State levels to pursue the policieswith full vigour and ensure successful imple-mentation of the schemes and programmes forthe purpose. It is a matter of gratification thatthe report of the symposium has evoked positive,enthusiastic and warm response from leaders ofpublic opinion, a cross section of which is pre-sented below:
Prof. Ramlal Parikh, M.P.
"I will continue to actively promote the ideaof water supply and sanitation for larger supportin the VI Plan for this crucial problem. What-ever cooperation that you need I will be veryhappy to extend".
Shri Jaswant Singh, M.P.
"The subject is of great importance. Youhave rightly identified that whereas a consensuson it exists, the administrative translation intoaction is sadly absent".
Shri Xavier Arakal, M.P.
"I shall do my best in this matter. Kindly in-form me about all the formulations and litera-ture. I shall try to bring to the notice of theHouse as well".
Syed Shahabuddin, M.P.
"I am certain that your report will help usin evolving a national policy on water resour-ces".
Shri Ladli Mohan Nigam, M.P.
"What can be more important and urgent thanthe basic problem of drinking water supply
which you have been championing in thecolumns of your journal ? I am with you in yourendeavour. I shall do everything within mymeans to support the cause. I would like to sayone thing that I am an old Lohia Socialist andour party in the first manifesto itself had recog-nised to emphasise two issues at the nationallevel; one, the problem of planning for safedrinking water and second, the related issue ofproviding latrines. It was our declaration that ifwe get elected and form the government, wewould not divert our attention to any other issueuntil the whole of our country was provided withsafe drinking water. We have also committed tothe pledge of eliminating the situation where onehalf of the country's population including ourmothers and sisters are forced to sacrifice theirmodesty in having to defecate in the open by theroad side for want of alternative."
—Translated from a letter ofShri Ladli Mohan Nigam, M.P.
Shri B. Satyanarayan Reddy, M.P.
"I strive my best at all levels to see that theconclusions arrived at the Symposium are proper-ly implemented as I firmly believe that it is theprimary duty of every Government to providesafe and pure drinking water and sanitation 1.0every human being".
Apart from Governmental action, there is needfor arousing public consciousness and mobilisingpublic participation at various levels in order toensure the success of the Decade.
The symposium has proved to be a successfulforerunner of the decadal activities in the sectorin India. However, much more remains to bedone. Provision of safe and adequate drinkingwater and sanitation facilities for the teemingmillions of India is a continuing process andefforts for the purpose should, therefore,, continuewith full vigour.
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ANNEX I
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND PUBLICSECTOR ORGANISATIONS
Ministry of Works and Housing(C.P.H.E.E.O.)
Planning Commission
Ministry of Defence(Army Headquarters)
Town and Country Planning Organisation
National Buildings Organisation
National Environmental EngineeringResearch Institute
Engineers India Ltd.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
Defence Science Centre
Bharat Electronics Ltd.
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
National Thermal PowerCorporation
National Small IndustriesCorporation
Shri T. G. Shankaran,Deputy Adviser (PHE)
Shri M. M. Datta,Assistant Adviser (PHE)
Shri J. NeogiAssistant Adviser (PHE)
Shri S. Sarkar,Assistant Adviser (PHE)
Shri T. K. VedaramanDeputy Adviser (Water Supply)
Brig. L. V. Ramakrishna
Shri S. Arunachalam,Planning Engineer
Shri O. P. Rattra,Assistant Director
Shri V. Hara Prasad
Shri Bhaskar Narang
Shri K. Ashok Rao
Shri Lakshmi Narain
Shri Ajay Kumar
Shri N. K. Dadlani
Shri Probir Purakayastha
Shri T. S. Kannan
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STATE IRRIGATION AND PUBLICHEALTH ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS ANDSTATUTORY BOARDS
Gujarat Water Supply andSewerage Board
Public Health EngineeringDepartment, Jammu & Kashmir
Public Health EngineeringDepartment, Rajasthan
Irrigation Department,Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam
Public Health Engineering Department,Nagaland
Rural Development Department,Sikkim
Public Works Department, Sikkim
Shri Y.N. Nanjundiah, O.S.D.Shri R. G. Chandwani, J. E.
Shri H. S. Bali, Executive Engineer
Shri P. S. Rajvanshy,Chief EngineerAdditional Secretary (PHE)and Technical Member,Rajasthan Water Supply andSewerage BoardShri S. R. Mendiratta,Executive Engineer
Shri Deep Kumar Gupta,Executive EngineerShri P. K. BhatiaShri K. C. Varshney
Shri P. R. Vyas Bhiman,ChairmanShri O. P. Bishnoi,Managing DirectorShri Y. N. ChaturvediSecretary, ManagementShri Mahendra Kumar,Deputy Secretary (Planning)Shri V. K. Agrawal,Assistant EngineerShri D. P. SinghalSecretary (Administration)
Shri J. T. Bulu AoSuperintending EngineerShri R. K. KatialExecutive Engineer
Shri R. N. DikshitDivisional Engineer
Shri D. Subba
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RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS ANDUNIVERSITIES
Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research
Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi
National Council of AppliedEconomic Research, New Delhi
University of Delhi, Adult andContinuing Education cell,Delhi
Haryana Agricultural University,Hissar
Indian Academy of Social Sciences,Allahabad
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Central Electronics Ltd.
P E C C E
Eicher Good Earth
St. Stephens College
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
World Health Organisation,Regional Office
International Labour Organisation
NON-OFFICIAL ORGANISATIONS
Gandhi Smarak Nidhi
Indian Environmental Society
Association of Voluntary Agenciesfor Rural Development
Shri P. N. ChowdhryShri V. KharbandaShri V. V. KrishnaShri Ramesh KundraShri S. S. SolankiShri Shantanu RoyMrs. Suman Pangasa
Prof. J. M. DaveProf. D. N. BanerjeeShri D. K. Abrol
Shri P. N. Kumra
Dr. S. C. Bhatia
Shri Subhan Khan
Dr. N. P. Chaube
Shri K. P. Kotiyal
Shri Onkar Kaul
Shri Mohan Mani
Shri G. Raza
Shri Ashvin Chabra
Shri B. P. Varma
Mr. Michel Vassart
Shri Ram Lai ParikhVice Chairman
Dr. Desh BandhuPresident
Shri V. K. Goel
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Centre for Science and Environment
A F P R O
Janwadi Mahila Samithi
Institute of Social Studies Trust
Indian Association of College goingScientists
EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
M/s Drillexperts Pvt. Ltd.
M/S Indian Hume Pipe Co. Ltd.
M/s P V C Pipe Development Co.
M/s Chemicals & Plastics India Ltd.
M/s Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd.
M/s Fixopan Engineers Pvt. Ltd.
M/s National Organic Chemical Industries Ltd.
M/s Digvijay Cement Co. Ltd.
M/s Jyoti Ltd.
CONSULTANTS
(i) Organisations
Development Consultants, Calcutta
Hydroconsult International Pvt. Ltd.New Delhi
Redecon, New Delhi
Operations Research Group, Baroda
(ii) Individuals
Dr. K. C. Thomas
Shri V. N. ChakravortyShri Rajiv Kumar Gupta
Col. B.L. Varma
Ms. Jean ChapmanMs. Ashok Lata JainShri Narain Jha
Shri Sanjay
Shri G.L. Malik, Managing Director
Shri L.C. Gupta, Project Manager
Shri K.K. Nangia, ManagingDirector
Shri M.V. MadhavanBranch Manager
Shri J.S. Oberoi
Shri R. DixitShri CM. Joshi
Shri R.N. Bhatnagar
Shri K.N.Mathur
Shri T.N. Visweswara
Col. P. K. Chakravarti
Shri K. V. Krishnamurthy»
Dr. Kanwar Sain
Dr. D. N. Basu
Consulting EngineerNew Delhi
160
T.V., RADIO, PRESSDelhi Door Darshan
All India Radio
The Times of India
The Statesman
The Hindu
The National Herald
The Hitavada
Press Trust of India
WATER WORLD
Shri K.V. Krishnamurthy,
Shri V.V. Prasad
Shri C. Sanjeeva Rao
Shri N.M.K. Mohan Rao
Shri MX. Varma
Shri M.L. Gupta
Shri P.K. DharShri Sandep Tandon
• ' . • • • •'.• ' I
Shri Gaurav DattShri Kapil Kapur
Shri Yogendra Bali
Shri Anil Ranai
Shri B.S. Padmanabhan
Ms. Shahira Nairn
Pt. Raj Deva
Shri G. Sudhakar Nair
Others
Shri K.S.V. Sanjeeva Rao
Shri T.C. Chawla
Shri D.V. Mahesh
Ms. Evelyn Voigt
Shri Kannan Srinivasan
Shri M.R. Sudhakar
Shri S.C.N. Rao Sarode
Shri D.N. Rao
Ms. K. Ranganayaki
Shri A.K. Ghosh
Shri B.M. Vedi
The participants attended the Symposium in their individual capacities and did not represent theorganisations with which they are associated The views expressed do not necessarily representthose of, the organisations. , . - .
161
ANNEX II
lnagural Address
By
Dr. K.L. Rao*
Mr. Chairman and friends,
It is a privilege to take part in the symposiumon 'India and the International Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade' which is jointlyorganised by the WATER WORLD and DELHISCIENCE FORUM. I would like to offer my con-gratulations to these two organisations for havingtaken the initiative in organising the symposiumat the beginning of the decade in India whichhas officially started from 1st April, 1981 beingthe first financial year in the Decade as desig-nated by the United Nations. I was involved inthe earlier stages of the preparatory process forthe United Nations Water Conference in the early70s while I was incharge of the portfolio of irri-gation and power at the Centre. I am glad tonote that the United Nations Water Conferencewhich took place in Argentina in 1977 gave thecall for the designation of the period 1981-90 asa decade to be devoted to the implementation ofProjects, Plans and Programmes in the field ofwater supply and sanitation in a more intensivemanner than ever before.Water supply and sani-tation have always received attention from Gov-ernments not only in India but in many otherdeveloping countries as a part of the normaldevelopment process. I sincerely hope that thedesignation of a decade devoted to these twoimportant aspects of life will make it possible togive concentrated attention to these two sectorswhich appear to have been neglected so far inrelation to other developed sectors like acricul-ture, industry, power, transport, etc. This decadeshould, therefore, witness an unprecendented in-crease in the facilities available to the prople,
•Former Union Minister oMrrigation & Power.
urban and rural in our country as well as in manyother countries which are similarly placed.
I wish to recall, in this connection, that theFather of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, gavesanitation a prominent place in the programmeof constructive activities developd by him forrural development, Harijan uplift, a better socialorder and greater social justic to all sections ofthe people in India. The saying of MahatmaGandhi in this connection is most noteworthy. Hesaid, "The best service that can be done for theprosperity of the villagers is to provide drinkingwater and water for the fields, sanitation andelectricity". All of us recall how at the beginningof his political carrer, he participated personallyin sanitation campaigns in rural India and pro-vide example to other constructive social workers.Like he concentrated on Salt Satyagraha on sucha common and vital issue as salt which is of con-cern to all people of India irrespective of class,creed and caste, so did he concentrate on ruralsanitation and developed an either against excretadisposal on head-loads as an undignified socialpractice. It is a tribute to his innovative geniusthat he concentrated his attention on sanitations asa part of his social.economic and political cam-paigns. But it is a matter of regret that morethan 3 decades after independance we have notbeen able to make a significant headway in thesector of sanitation and least of all in ruralsanitation.
In our country, we have so far given a highpriority to water supply over sanitation and wehave given a higher priority to the urban situ-alion over the rural situation in both water supplyand sanitation sub-sectors. It is appropriate thatwe should reevaluate the situation and re-arrange
'I
162
our priorities so that at the end of the Decade,we should be in aposition to obtain specific tan-gible results in urtan as well as rural India
The only handicap for expeditious implemen-tation of sanitation and water supply projects ischarging 15£% for administrative charges. Forexample, there is a tank in Vijayanagar which isused for irrigation. The tank is situated close tothe town. The sewage of the town is led into thetank. This resulted in very bad smell in the ar^a.When I happened to visit the site four years ago,I suggested that the sewage of the town shouldbe separated from the tank and led to the fieldsdirectly. Estimates have been prepared and thecost comes to 7 lakhs. This includes I5i whicncomes to Rs. l£ lakhs. The centage chargesare made even on materials like pipes whichthe Department does not make. The Muni-cipal authorities could not find finance for theworks and dropped the project. Now the esti-mated cost comes to Rs. 12 lakhs. Due to furtherincrease in cost, the project is dropped. On thebanks of the tank, some institutions like collegesare located and some time the smell is bad thatthe colleges were given holidays, known as 'smell'holidays.
The priority for the urban over the rural sectorsector is not accidental. It is not without reason.The urban communities are in a position to payfor the facilities of water supply and sanitationwhereas the capacity in the rural communities issignificantly less. This economic weakness per-haps explains greater investment in the urbansub-sector in preference to the rural. Herein liesthe need for evolving a national policy in thefield of water supply and sanitation. How can weenable the rural communities to pay for the faci-lities in this sector. Or should we attempt theurban sector to subsidise at least to a certainextent the costs in the rural sector. What shouldbe the policy for fixing subsidies, loans or grants?If our social philosphy leads us to provide forthe services free of cost what other sectors in ournaiional economy can be depended upon to sub-sidise this sector Without finding clear cut ans-wers to these questions as a result of discussionson the widest possible scale in a democratic man-ner, I am afraid, it would not be possible to makesignificant advance in this sector even during thedecade, in the absence of a policy, the work is
likely to limp on as before. I, therefore, suggestthat the formulation of a national policy coveringall aspects of the field is one of the most funda-mental pre-requisites.
The second aspect which I would like to empha-size is the importance of ensuring participationof the people in the sector not only in one or theother aspects like maintenance or operations butin all the phases including planning and cons-truction — not only at the State level or the fede-ral level but at the grass roots level in each dis-trict and, may, in every village. There are manyvoluntary agencies operating in the field whosenumber is too numerous and it is absolutely essen-tial that the role of voluntary agencies in theimplementation of the programme during thedecade should be strengthened. I cannot conceiveof any significant advance without an active parti-cipation, may involvement o fthe people in allthe phases in this sector. I am convinced that thenature of the sector is such that not only this isdesirable but this is highly possible if only anational effort is made to mobilise the peopleand galvanise them on an issue which is beyondall political, economic and social divisions. Afterall water is required by every man, woman andchild in every State in every local linguestic orethnic group irrespective of age. There is noreason why the widest possible national mobilisa-tion is not possible in this sector. I, therefore,make a sincere appeal to all those engaged in thesector to pool the resources and to provide aTeadership which will enable the involvement ofall sections of the people in all aspects and stagesof the implementation of the projects and pro-grammes.
The third aspect which I would like to touchupon is in relation to the choice of technology.Expensive water supply systems, sophisticatedwater treatment plants, water-borne sewage sys-tem, necessary as they are perhaps beyond ourmeans at present. Detailed estimates are certainto point to enormous surrs of money whichshould be required to plan and construct watersupply and sanitation systems on the basis of so-phisticated technologies applicable more to thedeveloped countries. But we have to spread theservices to all the sections of our population usinglow cost technologies on which there is need forconducting research with an open mind and an
163
innovative spirit. I cannot visualise when thewhole of rural India will be provided with waterborne sewage systems but it does not mean wecan live in filth upto that time. Some way has tobe found in order to provide facilities appropriateto our economic, political and social conditionsand itis here that I cals upon the engineers andall other technologists working in the field toevolve suitable and appropriate low cost, techno-logis both in water supply, treatment as well assanitation sectors so that our people can begin toenjoy the minimum humanfacilities required tolead a tolerably decent life.
I would like to refer to an international climatewhich has never been more favourable than nowfor obtaining international financial assistance forthe sector from the developed countries. There aremany governments in the developed countries ofthe world today who are more willing to investin this sector than in other sectors because theeconomic and social benefits from investment inthis sector are obvious and flow to all sections ofthe communities in the recipient countries. Butin order to take full advantage of the possibilitiesof obtaining technical and financial assistance, wemust not only prepare specific projects for obtain-ing financial assistance but one must have a flexi-bility of approach and an open mind to receiveconstructive suggestions and criticisms from thecommunity of the development countries, inter-
ested in investment in the sector in India andother developing countries.
Countries like U.K. must be kept as examplesfor establishing complete sanitation and ampledrinking water facilities. In U.K. 99% of popula-tion is provided with drinking water, though theresources are not large. For example, the mainsource of water supply to London is river Thames.In India, population supplied with piped water isless than 20% and that too is only in towns. Weare far behind not only in supplying sufficientdrinking water but also in ensuring purity. 1800towns with a population of more than 10,000 eachshould be our immediate aim for supplying drink-ing water in this Decade. In a temperate countrylike USA, per capita supply of water is 150 gal-lons per day in New York. In Chicago, it is 230gallons per day while in India, a good city likeBombay, the per capita supply is only 60 gallonsper day. With the heavy increase in our popula-tion, it is the responsibility of the people andthe Governments in India to supply ample drink-ing water and improve sanitary conditions so thatthe water borne diseases do not come in theway of the development in various fields offuture India.
Mr. Chairman and friends, with these words,I have great pleasure in declaring the symposiumopen.
164
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OUR AIMS :
DURING THE INTERNATIONAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION DECADE1ST APRIL, 1981 TO 31ST MARCH, 1991).
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Not Just Tamil Nadu alone.WIDIA is helping to tap
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The Sixth Plan envisages thatone lakh villages which haveso far been lacking in drinkingwater should be provided withthis basic amenity. And thatmajor and minor irrigationschemes should createa potential of the order of
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