Technical Appraisal of Regional Rural Water Supply Scheme for Fagane & 20 Villages – A Case Study

It is evident from the records of national and state governments that the infrastructure for safe drinking water has been provided to more than 97% of India’s urban and rural population in most of the states. The current issue in rural drinking water sector for safe drinking water is to sustain these infrastructures through maintenance mechanism. The various reforms in the rural drinking water sector were adopted in 1999 through Sector Reform project (SRP) on pilot basis and scaled up throughout the country in the form of Swajaldhara launched on 25 December 2002. These programme were a paradigm shift from supply driven to demand driven, centralized to decentralized implementation and transforming the government’s role from service provider to facilitator. In Maharashtra state the various Regional Rural Water Supply Schemes (RRWSS) were planned and executed by Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), which was the nodal agency in water supply and sanitation area in Maharashtra. These schemes were funded by the United Kingdom through Overseas Development Institute (ODI). The concept was developed in United Kingdom in 1970s and the same was introduced in developing nation in 1990 onward. The RRWS Schemes for Fagane and 20 villages, which is one of the schemes funded by national and state government, executed in 1999-2000 and started functioning in 2001, is selected for study. The scheme was operated by MJP for about five years and thereafter taken over by Zilha Parishad Dhule. The scheme is facing the crisis since its beginning. Many times the scheme was inoperative for many months due to various reasons. It is observed that in spite of huge capital investment and flawless technological features, the consumers in many of the villages are unsatisfied with the functioning of scheme. There are always disputes among the various local governments i.e. Zilha Parishad, Group Grampanchyats and Grampanchyats. The operation and maintenance (OM as Fully Covered (FC) for 40 lpcd or more, Partially Covered (PC) for 10 lpcd or more but less than 40 lpcd and Not Covered (NC) when the rate of supply is less than 10 lpcd. According to WHO/UNICEF an improved source of drinking water includes water piped into dwelling/yard/plot, water available from public tap or stand pipe or a tube well or borehole, or a protected well or spring [3]. According to the various surveys conducted by government and non government organizations that the infrastructure for safe drinking water has been provided to more than 97% of India’s urban and rural population, however the ground realities shows that there are remaining significant challenges in providing sustainable services, especially in rural India. The coverage of FC category villages in 2002, 2005 and 2007 were 82.00%, 95.00% and 97.06% respectively, however based on record of Planning Commission and Habitation Survey the coverage in these years have been slipped down by 22.65%, 23.16% & 10.90% respectively [5]. In Maharashtra state the various Regional Rural Water Supply Schemes (RRWSS) were planned and executed by Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), which is the nodal agency in water supply area in Maharashtra. These schemes were funded by the United Kingdom through ODI. The concept was developed in United Kingdom in 1970s and the same was introduced in developing nation thereafter. It is observed that in spite of huge capital investment and flawless technological features in RRWSS, the stakeholders in many of the villages are unsatisfied with the functioning of scheme. There are always disputes among the various local governments i.e. Zilha Parishad, Group Grampanchyats and Grampanchyats. The operation and maintenance (O&M) and the financial matters