Asst. Prof. & Head, Department of Commerce,
Siddharth Arts, Commerce & Science College,
Jafrabad, Dist.
Abstract:
Providing drinking water to a large rural population is an enormous challenge.
1.95 lakh habitations in the country are affected by poor water quality. The government
has undertaken various programmes since independence to provide safe drinking water
to the rural masses. In India, investments in community water supply and sanitation
projects have increased steadily from the 1st plan to the 10th plan. Till the 10th plan, an
estimated total of Rs.1,105 billion spent on providing safe drinking water. However,
despite such expenditure lack of safe and secure drinking water continues to be a major
hurdle and a national economic burden. It is essential that communities and panchayats
are actively involved in the planning, implementation and execution of programmes for
water supply. Government should made significant interventions to improve the quality
of drinking water in rural areas.
INTRODUCTION:
“The rural population of India comprises more than 700 million people residing in about 1.42
million habitations. Providing drinking water to such a large rural population is an enormous challenge.
Our country is also characterized by non-uniformity in level of awareness, socio-economic development,
education, poverty, practices and rituals which add to the complexity of providing water. The health burden
of poor water quality is enormous. It is estimated that around 37.7 million Indians are affected by
waterborne diseases annually; 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone. The problems of
chemical contamination is also prevalent in India with 1,95,813 habitations in the country are affected by
poor water quality. The government has undertaken various programmes since independence to provide
safe drinking water to the rural masses. Till the 10th plan, an estimated total of Rs.1,105 billion spent on
providing safe drinking water. However, despite such expenditure lack of safe and secure drinking water
continues to be a major hurdle and a national economic burden.
To respond to a growing population and rising demand for higher quality services, such as piped
water supply with household connections, the government is expanding its financial and technical support
to help the panchayat and communities' better plan, implement, operate, maintain, and manage drinking
water supplies. In 2009, the government launched a new National Rural Drinking Water Programme
(NRDWP) to transform the rural water sector from one focused mostly on creating infrastructure, to one
that provides improved and sustainable services. NRDWP provides financing to ensure water security in
terms of source sustainability, water quality and operation and maintenance, and provides
recommendations for institutional arrangements to support local governments and communities. It is
essential that communities and panchayats are actively involved in the planning, implementation and
execution of programmes for water supply. These institutions can also play an important role in monitoring
of water sources and be made aware of simple remedial measures, which will require training and capacity
building on a large scale.
RURAL DRINKING WATER:
Public open wells, private wells, ponds and small-scale irrigation reservoirs have often been the
main traditional sources of rural drinking water. The first government-installed rural water supply schemes
were implemented in the 1950s as part of the Government policy to provide basic drinking water supply
facilities to the rural population. Since then, the involvement of Government has increased with
corresponding decrease in the role of communities in the rural water supply sector. The Government of
India's role in the rural drinking water supply sector started in 1972-73 with the launch of Accelerated Rural
Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) to assist the States for providing potable water to the rural population.
The major issues in the RWS sector are lack of sustainability of drinking water sources and systems. As a
consequence, availability of drinking water both in term of adequacy and quality on a sustainable basis has
become a major challenge. Water quality has become a major issue as ground water table goes down further.
Safeguarding the availability and quality of rural drinking water in India without appropriate mechanism to
give rural drinking water effective priority over other uses and protect ground water sources from excessive
abstraction, will be increasingly difficult and costs of providing safe drinking water will continue to
escalate further. Adoption of effective legislation and mechanism to regulate groundwater use thus
ensuring a basic supply of drinking water to the rural people is a key associated need for the country.
Provision of safe drinking water has been of primary concern in rural India. A little over 84 per
cent household in rural areas is covered by rural water supply, while 16 per cent have no access to safe
drinking water. However, just 12 per cent of rural families have individual household tap connections and
only 16 per cent of the population gets drinking water from public taps, according to the legislative panel's
report. Further, the sanitation coverage in villages is less than 65 per cent. In India, investments in
community water supply and sanitation projects have increased steadily from the 1st plan to the 10th plan.
However, the health benefits in terms of reduction in waterborne disease have not been commensurate with
the investments made. To enable the rural community to shoulder responsibility in management, operation
and maintenance of water supply systems at village level, decentralized, demand-driven,
community-managed approach has been adopted. Government should made significant interventions to
improve the quality of drinking water in rural areas.
CONCLUSIONS:
Providing drinking water to a large rural population is an enormous challenge. 1.95 lakh
habitations in the country are affected by poor water quality. The government has undertaken various
programmes since independence to provide safe drinking water to the rural masses. In India, investments in
community water supply and sanitation projects have increased steadily from the 1st plan to the 10th plan.
Till the 10th plan, an estimated total of Rs.1,105 billion spent on providing safe drinking water. However,
despite such expenditure lack of safe and secure drinking water continues to be a major hurdle and a
national economic burden. It is essential that communities and panchayats are actively involved in the
planning, implementation and execution of programmes for water supply. Government should made
significant interventions to improve the quality of drinking water in rural areas.
REFERENCES:
Department of Drinking Water Supply - Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission -
http://www.mdws.gov.in
Ensuring People's Drinking Water Security In Rural India - Department of Drinking Water Supply Ministry
of Rural Development Government of India.
Ramamani (2009) - Drinking water quality in rural India - Issues and approaches - A background paper by
Water Aid - http://www.indiawaterportal.org
Rejuvenating Rural Water Supply in India - http://www.wsp.org.
Ruhi Tewari - Rural drinking water supply efforts are inadequate - http://www.livemint.com
