The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Project eases water scarcity in north Karnataka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Project eases water scarcity in north Karnataka

Nagesh Prabhu

It has also helped reduce waterborne diseases by nearly 50 p.c. in the villages of 11 districts

USEFUL EXERCISE: Water tanks set up under the Jal Nirmal Project at Chikkajantakal village in Koppal district.

BANGALORE: A Rs. 929.67-crore Jal Nirmal Project has significantly improved rural communities’ access to potable drinking water and sanitation services in 11 districts of north Karnataka. It has reduced, by nearly 50 per cent, waterborne diseases in select villages.

The project, which was launched in April, 2002, after initial delays, has covered 3,064 habitations of 744 gram panchayats in the rain-fed and arid districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Koppal, Gadag, Haveri, Belguam, Dharwad and Uttara Kannada. The International Development Association (IDA), the soft arm of the World Bank, has granted credit of Rs. 728.57 crore to the project.

As many as 1,935 drinking water supply schemes and 1,069 road and drain works have been implemented by spending Rs. 587.68 crore as on June, 2007. With the execution of the schemes, the availability of drinking water in the villages has been enhanced from 30 litres per capita per day (LPCD) to 55 LPCD in the five-year period. Besides village sanitation, JNP has improved sanitation facilities in 2,000 primary and higher primary schools.

The installation of disinfection units in water tanks, adoption of quality parameters and introduction of dual system water supplies (for drinking and other purposes) has reduced waterborne diseases in habitations by nearly 50 per cent. The village water sanitation committees (VWSCs) have been given water quality testing kits to check drinking water quality regularly, according to JNP Director Shambu Dayal Meena.

The implementation of multi-village water supply schemes for tapping water from streams in Belgaum, Bijapur and Haveri districts increased LPCD from 30 to 70. Each scheme covers five or six panchayats and its cost ranges from Rs. 7 crore to Rs. 25 crore. Retired engineers have been appointed as consultants for inspection of quality. They have to submit reports to the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, the nodal agency executing the project.

The demand-driven JNP, so far, has successfully institutionalised the decentralisation of rural water supply and sanitation service delivery to gram panchayats and user groups. About 45 per cent of households obtained individual water connections under the JNP. The villagers and gram panchayats have contributed Rs. 50 crore and Rs. 33 crore, respectively towards the implementation of the project.

The World Bank team, which visited the districts in June, has expressed satisfaction with the progress. “The project’s sustainability has been strengthened by the Government’s decision to give grants for water supply scheme construction to gram panchayats,” the World Bank report said.

The project has instilled a sense of responsibility among communities and panchayats. The village committees have commenced operation and maintenance of drinking water supply and sanitation schemes. The collection of user charges has been 65 per cent to 70 per cent in habitations and 18 per cent of villages recorded 100 per collection. The water charges account of gram panchayats have been segregated from the main account. The gram panchayats have been given computers, and “Jal Darpan” software has been installed to provide full information about villages. Now, the electricity supply companies have been instructed to provide water bills to households, Mr. Meena said.

The panchayats and community groups are fully responsible for the operation of water and sanitation schemes after the completion of the project. The panchayats and villages would utilise user fund for payment of electricity bills, repairs, and watermen salary and other day-to-day maintenance expenditure.

The project also covered Lambani tandas in Gulbarga, Bijapur and Bidar and works of connecting roads, drainages and sanitation have been taken up in tandas for their integrated development. Subsidised household latrines and smokeless chullahs have been provided in Lambani tandas, he said.

The increased demand form the community led to an increase in the scope of the project. The authorities sought extension of the project for one more year from December 2007 to December 2008. The JNP has become a model project for States such as Orissa, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal and Punjab, officials said.

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