“The Jal Jeevan Mission and the Swachh Bharat Mission are the ‘next generation reforms’ instituted by the country in water and sanitation. One of their objectives has been to ensure ‘functional’ tap water supply across the country. This is a significant aim, because it is an acknowledgement of the fact that water and sanitation management is not just about putting infrastructure like pipelines in place; it is about making the whole system sustainable” said Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said in New Delhi.
.However, she said that the question we need to ask ourselves is how successful have we been in meeting this objective that we have set for ourselves. She was speaking at a national seminar organised by CSE to discuss some best practices from rural India in water, greywater and faecal sludge management. CSE’s latest publication on the subject, a compendium of case studies titled Big Change is Possible, was released on the occasion.
The compendium records and celebrates the stories of over 60 villages and peri-urban locations from across India which offer successful case studies of systems that have worked – of ensuring sustainable supply of drinking water, greywater management, and faecal sludge treatment and management at the village level. CSE researchers travelled to 75 villages in 30 districts of the country to assess the big changes on the ground.
From Sikkim, the book brings forth successful cases of rejuvenation and protection of springs for ensuring sustainable drinking water supply. Stories from coastal plains – Odisha and Andhra Pradesh – talk about ‘conjunctive’ use of groundwater and surface water. From Maharashtra come examples of greywater management, while Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh offer replicable case studies of treating and managing faecal sludge.
Officially releasing the compendium, Vini Mahajan, secretary, department of drinking water and sanitation, Jal Shakti ministry, Government of India, echoed Narain’s sentiments and said: “The Indian government is working with partners – the civil society, local bodies, etc – to work together towards ensuring sustainable management of the resource. There is now an understanding of what is needed on the ground, and the government is acting on it. There is a deliberate emphasis on involving local and village communities in the effort.”
Elaborating on some of the actions, Mahajan added: “The government has set up 2,000 local labs across the country to test and judge the quality of water. There is a proposal to train five women in every village in using field testing kits. There is also a proposal to set up ‘source finding committees’ whose task will be to assess the condition of the sources that are supplying water.”
