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A NEW BEGINNING |
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| Forging
ties
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| WATER LITERACY | ||
| Informing
people Water play The facilitator Water Gala |
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| IN FOCUS | ||
| Faulty
perceptions Thirst rises, patience evaporates |
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| URBAN WETLANDS | ||
| Eviction
ordered Join the BIG fight Citizens pick up cudgels Solar lakes |
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| WATER MANAGEMENT | ||
| South
India: Searching for an identity Thailand: Then came progress.... |
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INITIATIVE |
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| An eye
opener Naudihi’s revival Tankas of Badi Ghodan Dialogue |
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CSE'S LATEST DESIGNS |
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| Sri
Aurobindo Ashram’s system |
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TECHNOLOGY |
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| Rice
husk ash filter Clay pot irrigation |
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| JAL YODHAS | ||
| Sachidanand
Bharti Madhu Bhatnagar |
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TRADITION |
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| Naullahs
of Kumaon |
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WATER IN NEWS |
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| Kerala,
building up its jalanidhi Schemes or scams? |
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GREEN WATER HARVESTER'S NEWS |
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| Saving
lives Rain associations Review |
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CLASSROOM |
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| Drop by
drop Water scramble |
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FUNDING AGENCY |
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| Oxfam
and water |
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| 100
promises, deadline 2006 The landmarks Changing currents |
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Vol. 5
No.
2
April-May 2003
Kerala, building up its jalanidhi
| Save the
rain group in Texas Inspired by CSE's water campaign, Jen and Paul Radlet formed a 'Save the rain' group in Texas, US, to popularise rainwater harvesting. The group provides free technical guidance while generating awareness on RWH. In March, they organised 'do it yourself' workshops to provide prototype training. "We have one interested family but they can't afford the RWH system. So, we told them that installation would be free, if they allowed us to use it as a training workshop for the neighbourhood. They not only agreed but also offered to spread it among their friends", says Radelts. A wonderful beginning, indeed. For details: Graveyard of tanks ISO accreditation for Mira
Model Awareness drive |
This World Bank aided project aims at improving the quality of rural water supply and
environmental sanitation services in the state. The Rs 450 crore project has a loan
component of Rs 300 crores. The credit is interest free with a 35 year maturity period.
The project has introduced a new institutional arrangement keeping in mind the state
government’s policy to decentralise rural water supply service delivery from a state
sector to the gram panchayats. The four key actors are: Kerala Rural Water Supply Agency,
an autonomous registered society at the state level, gram panchayat, beneficiary groups
(BGs) and NGOs. The community-based BGs are independently handling the entire project
outlays. Each beneficiary contributes 15 per cent of the project cost in either cash or
kind. In many places, the construction work is being done by trained women from the BGs.
As a result, their daily earnings have gone up from
Rs 50 to Rs 80 -100, boosting their confidence levels and social status.
After four years Jalanidhi has reached 80 per cent of the households in 90 per cent of the panchayats of Palakkad, Mallapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts. This demand driven mission is gaining strength, everyday.
Schemes or scams? Due to bad monsoon and mismanagement of water resources, the situation is grim in India. Chew this. As per the latest statistics, about 15,000 villages in India are without any source of potable water. Another 2,00,000 villages are partially covered with different drinking water schemes. And, in 2,17,000 villages the quality of water is not potable. In other words, the situation has not changed much since 1950.The arrival of summers is celebrated by the state governments with a basket of populist schemes that lack vision and a proper action plan. As a result, these schemes come and go, without making any impact. Let us take a stock. In the last two months, the following schemes announced:
Rajasthan:
In February 2003, a district-wise master plan for rainwater harvesting was formulated. "It covers each hectare of the district and every drop of rainwater", said the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan. In March 2003, Jal Tarang, a national program sponsored by the union ministry for Human Resources was first initiated in the state of Rajasthan for the sustainable management of water resources by empowering people. Later, it will be launched in MP and W Bengal, as well. It will create awareness, develop action plans and evolve networking. Andhra Pradesh: Last month, the state decided to execute about 105 ‘protected water schemes’ in 940 flouride affected villages at the cost of Rs 472 crores. And, in the second phase to be completed by 2007, another Rs 2,756 would be spent. Soon after, the state came up with an action plan to develop 1,168 irrigation sources at a cost of Rs 10,000 crores. Recently, Jal Chaitanyam, a sustained campaign to conserve water was launched. It aims at creating village level teams. Madhya Pradesh: In March 2003, a week long water conservation campaign to spread awareness among urban population was initiated. All the 336 administrative buildings have been directed to install rainwater harvesting systems. The state is also providing Rs 25,000 to municipalities, Rs 15,000 to nagar palikas and Rs 10,000 to nagar panchayats. Karnataka: In a bid to try out rainwater harvesting in the farm fields, the state government announced a new scheme, Jalarakshana. While two-third of the project cost would be sponsored by the state in terms of foodgrains under food for work program and the rest would be beard by the beneficiary. Kerala: To achieve the ambitious ‘Water for All’ target by 2007, the state government has formulated two drinking water schemes viz, Varsha and Jalavahini.Are these schemes or scams? What do you think? Share your views with us at
E-mail:water@cseindia.org