Sustainability of a Drinking Water System Depends on a combination of Social and Technical parameters.The presentation talks about essentials of Source and System Sustainability and Socio- Technical Innovations that ensures democratic Governance of Pipe Water Supply systems in Jharkhand

1. Challenges of Sustainable Access to Drinking Water
LECTURE SERIES: DRINKING
WATER SUPPLY IN JHARKHAND

2. Flow of Presentation
SL
No
Topic Slide No Total
Slides
1 Over View and Classification
of Issues
3-4 2
2 Source Sustainability 5-6 2
3 System Sustainability 7-9 3
4 Popular Myths and our
Approach : Case Studies
10-16 7
5 Good Practices , Delegation of
Power Notification
17-19 3
6 Summing it Up: Key Learning 20-22 3

3. Challenges of Sustainability:
Somewhere in the State of Jharkhand
Palamu
Garhwa
Godda
Saraikela

4. Classifying Issues of Sustainability(Ref:
NRDWP-Sustainability Manual 2012)
 Source
 Depletion of Availability in Ground or Surface Based Source
 Depletion in Quality due to over use or Industrial/ Agricultural/
Household Effluents
 System
 Demand Responsive Participatory Design
 Governance through Local Body/User Participation
 Part contribution to Capital Cost and Full Contribution to
Operation and Maintenance by User
 No Wonder that Some Experts Call Rural Water Supply
Program as Grave Yard of Public Investment

5. Addressing Source Sustainability
 Depletion in Availability :
 Key Programmatic Component is NRDWP
Sustainability
 Scientific Hydro geological Survey
 Jadavpur University ,Columbia Water Center
 Encouraging Conjunctive Use
 Notification and Scheme Sanction For Renovation of
Traditional Water Bodies
 Water Harvesting , Recharge and Reuse
 Soak Pit Construction

6.  Depletion in Quality: Key Programmatic Component
 Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Program
 Water Quality Coverage Program
 Detection of Contaminant
 Jal Sahiya Training through FTKs
 Mobile Water Testing Laboratory
 District and State Level Water Testing Laboratory
 Water Quality Borne Disease Mitigation
 Mobile Water Treatment Plants
 Installation of Community Managed RO Plant
 Shifting to Surface Based Sources
Addressing Source Sustainability

7. Challenges to System Sustainability :
The Vicious Cycle
Poor service
Low tariff collection
Water losses and high
usage drive up costs
Maintenance
postponed
Service deteriorates
Customers less willing
to pay
Efficiency
deteriorates further
Service provider
cannot pay all the
costs
Staff demotivated
Service failure

8. Special Note: Sensitive Pricing to
cross affordability barrier
 Sensitive Water and Energy Tariff Policy: User charges and
connection fee has been made mandatory in Rural Pipe
Water supply schemes.
 PWS Scheme is now considered complete when 50% of
the targeted number gets access to the scheme by
depositing minimum Rs.310/- connection charges.
 Commercial establishments pay at least 3 times.
 DWSD offers matching grant of the same amount collected
by VWSC from User Fee on annual basis to ensure proper
O & M of the System.
 Lower tariff of electricity unit charges for VWSC managed
Water Supply schemes from Rs. 4.40 to Rs.1.10 per unit

9. How Do We Address this?
 Service Sector Improvement Initiatives
 Low Tariff Collection: Responsibility shifted to local
VWSC with provision of Annual escalation
 Water Losses & High Usage: Discontinuation of Stand
post and Categorization of Tariff payers
 Maintenance Postponed : Contractor to provide
Maintenance support till 2 years under supervision of
VWSC
 Reduction in a Customer interest to pay: Regular collection
, Service assurance by Jal Sahiaya and provision of
Matching Grant
 Staff Motivation : Provisions and Payment of Incentive

10. Three Popular Myths and our
approach
 Popular Myths challenging sustainability of Rural
Water Supply
 People Don’t Own
 Villagers Don’t Know
 Poor Don’t Pay
 Crony Politician and the case of Stand Post
 Our Approach
 Sensitive Pricing
 Incentivising Operation and Maintenance
 Keep Faith in Local Governance
 Build Institution For Sustainability

11. Rural Water Supply in Jharkhand: Before
Structural Reform
O&M Contract for 1 year- Contract structure and key obligations:
VWSC
JE DWSS
Water users
Key
Obligations
• Overall assistance to the
Operator and to ensure
70 lpcd water is
supplied to the villagers.
Key Obligations
• Running of raw water pumps for six hours
a day
• Payment of electricity bill;
• Regularizing the illegal connections before
handing over;
• Overall supervision of the Operator.
Transfer of Operator
fee on a monthly basis
Service provision as
per contract
Collection of user
charges
Key
Obligations
• O&M of the
water works;
• Maintain log
book for water
supply and a
complaint
register;
• One employee of
the operator will
be available at all
the water works
for all the 24
hours;
• Prevent illegal
consumption of
water.

12. Rural Water Supply in Jharkhand: After
Structural Reform
O&M Contract for 1 year- Contract structure and key obligations:
VWSC DWSS
Water users
Key
Obligations
• Overall assistance to the
Operator and to ensure
70 lpcd water is
supplied to the villagers.
Key Obligations
• Running of raw water pumps for six hours
a day
• Payment of electricity bill;
• Regularizing the illegal connections before
handing over;
• Overall supervision of the Operator.
Transfer of Matching
Grand
Service provision as
per contract
Collection of user
charges
Key
Obligations
• O&M of the
water works;
• Maintain log
book for water
supply and a
complaint
register;
• One employee of
the operator will
be available at all
the water works
for all the 24
hours;
• Prevent illegal
consumption of
water.

13. How Do We Address this?
 Demand Responsive Participatory Design
 Case Study : Solar Powered Drinking Water Scheme
 Governance through Local Body/User Participation
 Case of VWSC inviting Tender under RWSS-LIS program
 Contribution to Cost in Operation and Maintenance by
User
 Notification of User Charges
 Case of Water Supply at Bero
 Rakesh Bhagat, Mukhia ,Bero GP
 Soma Aditya, Jal Sahiay, Gopal Pur, Jamshedpur
 Revenue Generated by 10 leading PWS
 Rajiv Mehta, Mukhia, Meru GP
 Manju Devi, Jal Sahiya, Jawahar Nagar, Ramgarh

14. People Don’t Own
 Ownership needs engagement and responsive
handholding
 Initial Experiment by PRADAN-UNICEF Coalition
 Case Narration : Chandreswar Verma, Bijay Pandit & Team
 Delegation of Power Following Fund Function
Functionary Frame
 Exemplified By Gadri Model
 Sanitation Followed by Water
 Case Naration By Sanika Oraon ,Mukhia, Gadri Panchayet
 More than 70 VWSCs in Jharkhand regularly collect Water
tax through Rs. 2 Crores of self-generated O&M funds
 Community Managed Reverse Osmosis Plant
 Case Narration by: Aarti Devi

15. Villages Don’t Know
 We learn from them
 Gap Filling Information Education and Communication
 Activities Case Study: PRADAN-UNICEF Model
 Julekha Khatun, Jolha Karma, Koderma

16. Poor People: They Can’t Pay
 What happens Next ? Cases to be Narrated by Community
Representatives
 Case Narration by Shri Chedi Gupta and Pappu Agarwal , Chairperson
of User Committee, Kolhan Hatin, Noamundi
As a DWSD official or NGO representative first enters a village to talk
about a piped water supply (PWS) programme, a self-appointed village
leader comes first to talk and check out what is there in it for him. Then
on behalf of others he proclaims, “Poor people, they can’t pay.”
We Learn :
Free service in Drinking Water essentially means stand posts.
Villagers demand Stand post being unsure of service promised
Fee based Service Fuels Pipe Water Supply

17. Sustainability is about Sustaining
Good Practices

Women Members take up Field Test Kit based Water Quality Testing

Transfer of Operation & Maintenance of PWS to VWSC

Involved women Members to take up Tube well maintenance & Masonry
work

Engaging VWSC to prepare Micro Plan on water security and
sustainability work

Engaging domain experts at District and block Level; Collaborative project
with DWSD, CSR and VWSC

Awarding performing PRI Institution & Individuals; Grievance
Management System; CSR Convergence initiative for assisting VWSCs

Mobile Water Testing Laboratories For WQ Test ; Mobile Water Treatment
Plants
 Case Study of a Successful Jal Sahiaya: Naration on Role and
Responsibility By Nisha Sharma, Seiulibari Middle & Yasmida Khatun,
Jal Sahiya, Siulibari East GP

18. A Note on Delegation of Power : Drinking Water and
Sanitation Department ,Government of Jharkhand
Fund Transfer NBA NRDWP
Sno. Year No. of VWSCs Rs. in `crore No. (VWSCs) Rs. in `crore
1 2012/2013 1576 11.62 - 1.45
2 2013/2014 8949 33.2 - 14.74

19. How Do We Address this?
 By Preaching the practice

20. Summing it up
 Movie Screening : Where We are ? For and with
Water.
Sustainability is an issue of Commons ; Let it be
resolved through mutual and Joint Action
Step Wells at Khunti under
PRADAN –UNICEF Project
PRA based Water Security
Plan, Garhwa

21. Faces of Sustainability: A thing of
Possibility is a Joy For Ever
Exploration For Arsenic
Free Water in Sahebganj
Dam and Lake Ranchi
Shifting to Surface Source,
Sahebganj
Wear at Deoghar

22. Thank You

23. For More Details Please Contact;
Kallol Saha
Development Advisor
Rural Livelihood, Micro Enterprise & WASH
Ex-Head (Planning & HR),Jharkhand Dairy Project
Director-2,Program Management Unit, State Water and
Sanitation Mission ,Jharkhand
PGDRM, IRMA, Research Fellow , SWRE &
M.Sc. (Applied Geology), Jadavpur University
E-Mail: kallosh74@gmail.com
Phone: +919471710631