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Drinking Water

  • Integrated risk management to protect drinking water and sanitation services facing natural disasters

    This report explains the concept of integrated risk management, a strategic and proactive approach to anticipating, assessing and managing natural events. By analysing the main risks and investing in prevention and mitigation, societies become less vulnerable. Financial, social and environmental damage and rehabilitation and reconstruction costs are reduced.

  • Water for all

    PIPED drinking water of good quality may be a dream for many of India's citizens but not for those in Guntur. Here 85 per cent of the people get treated water in abundance at their doorsteps. It is probably one of the few cities in the country that has multiple sources of water that could be tapped in emergencies. Though the city is deficient in groundwater, its residents do not feel the pinch thanks to the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC), which supplies water from sources situated in the north-eastern part of the city. "A major quantum of raw water, however, comes from the Krishna through canals [especially the Guntur Channel] and the Sangam Jagarlamudi filtration plant,' says Municipal Commissioner Siddhartha Jain. Equitable, round-the-clock distribution of quality water is the ultimate goal of the GMC. In order to make the city water-surplus by 2036, the GMC plans to reduce consumption of power needed to lift water from the source and deliver it at the customer's doorstep, augment new sources of raw water, carry out complete lining of the Guntur Channel and reduce wastage by taking a zonal approach to distribution. The project, visualised by GKW Consultants under the Central government's Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), will cost the GMC Rs.200 crore. More than half the city's population gets free drinking water. Despite this, the GMC is able to meet its operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. For 90,000 property tax assessments, there are only 50,000 individual tap connections; 5,750 of these have been given to the poor at Rs.1,200 a connection and the remaining are public taps. A second filtration plant with a capacity of 45 million litres a day, which was set up recently at Thakellapadu on the city's outskirts, has helped the corporation filter water effectively from the Guntur Channel; this acts as a standby for the existing plant. A second water pipeline that would carry an additional 10 million gallons a day (MGD) of raw water from the Guntur Channel is to be set up soon. Rationalising water charges and metering water consumption are the long-term plans of the corporation to meet future O&M costs. Currently it collects Rs.4 crore annually as water cess from the 50,000 customers, including 1,700 commercial and bulk water users, who get metered supply. The steps taken by Mayor Kanna Nagaraju to have the Sangam Jagarlamudi plant and storage tanks cleaned and modernised has enabled the GMC stabilise its inflow and save crores of rupees. Checking leakages and improving services are not possible without the involvement of the stakeholders. The Municipal Commissioner proposes to hold regular meetings of customers under each local reservoir where minor, day-to-day problems could be sorted out. Water audit at each reservoir has improved the accountability of the engineering staff and the public. Under the audit, the GMC measures the outflow of water every hour and the total real consumption/receipt in the area it serves at the citizen's point. A modern gas equipment has been installed at reservoirs to improve water chlorination and ensure the right quantum of chlorine when it reaches the consumer.

  • A development story

    The Guntur Municipal Corporation leaves no stone unturned to ensure the city's all-round growth. THE Municipal Corporation of Guntur dreams big for the residents of the city, which has a more than 200-year-old history. It has achieved many firsts in its relatively brief existence of less than 20 years. The young corporation also has the youngest Mayor in the country, 23-year-old Kanna Nagaraju. The 52-member Municipal Council is guided by the young dynamic Municipal Commissioner Siddhartha Jain. Guntur means the village of tanks. It is believed that this village first came up close to what is known as the Red Tank. The French held Kondaveedu, a nearby village, from A.D. 1732 and built a fort to the east of the area now known as Old Guntur. The French commander constructed houses for himself and for his troopers towards the north of present-day Nallacheruvu (Black Tank) and this area was called New Guntur. One of the fastest developing Tier-III cities in Andhra Pradesh, Guntur has pride of place among municipal corporations in the State. A vibrant city, home to some of the wealthiest traders in cotton, chillis and tobacco, Guntur has fast metamorphosed into a modern city with an array of glittering shopping malls, restaurants and commercial complexes dotting the skyline. Providing basic civic amenities to a growing city with a population of over seven lakh has been a demanding task for the local body. It, however, has achieved many firsts, and dreams of providing 24-hour water supply to domestic and industrial consumers and meet the needs of the industrial corridor that is fast coming up between Vijayawada and Guntur. The corridor is expected to convert these into major Twin Cities of Andhra Pradesh after Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The GMC has achieved remarkable progress in augmenting basic amenities such as drinking water supply, sanitation, street lighting and solid waste management. It also has an efficient system in place to redress public grievances. "The GMC is highly responsive to civic problems and innovative in toning up its administrative machinery,' said District Collector Mohammad Ali Rafath. SANITATION A series of special drives has been launched by the Municipal Commissioner to augment the quality of basic services such as sanitation. The three-bin system has become a reality in many apartment complexes in the city and garbage clearance is 100 per cent. A week-long special sanitation drive in the city identified several issues, and short-term and long-term plans have been envisaged to solve them. For solid waste management, the GMC got a grant of Rs.1.26 crore from the Twelfth Finance Commission, which was spent on procuring dumper bins and tricycles. Today local residents' welfare associations take care of 50 per cent of the house-to-house garbage collection system. The use of coloured plastic bins for waste segregation at source has been introduced in some commercial areas too. Seventy-six acres of land was recently acquired in Yedlapadu mandal for dumping waste. Works such as construction of drains, laying of roads, improvement of road junctions and development of burial grounds were taken up at a cost of Rs.24 crore. Siddhartha Jain said: "People should be proud of the city they live in and be motivated to be part of the planned development. A systematic approach to administration and planning is the need of the hour. Special drives to improve sanitation and provide water supply connections will help in identifying several issues.' MEDICAL CAMP Mayor Kanna Nagaraju. At 23, he is the youngest Mayor in India. The municipal body is going beyond its principal mandate of providing basic amenities to the people; the GMC organises mega medical camps. The camps held on the Sri Patibandla Sitaramaiah High School grounds in December every year witnesses a huge turnout. The latest camp attracted more than 15,000 people. A team of 85 doctors from 20 specialisations attended to 13,400 patients. Medicines costing Rs.8.4 lakh were distributed. As many as 180 paramedical staff, students of nursing colleges and 370 cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteered their services. The success of the camp motivated some private hospitals and clinics to offer follow-up medical service for the patients. They would be treated for a month at a hospital of their choice. One of the most daunting tasks for the corporation is to ensure potable drinking water for the entire city. Guntur, which does not have a raw water source, depends on the Guntur Channel and the Buckingham Channel to supply 80 million litres per day (MLD) against the total ideal assessed demand of 121 MLD. The centuries-old water source at Sangam Jagarlamudi has been renovated thanks to the special interest shown by the Mayor. A water filtration plant of 10 million gallons per day has been commissioned and four reservoirs have been built at L.B. Nagar, Srinivasarao Thota, R.T.C. Colony and Stambalagaruvu. Rise in rEVENUE The corporation saw a turnaround in its finances with a near 100 per cent collection of tax and non-tax revenue from individuals and commercial establishments. Innovative steps taken by Deputy Commissioner N. Yadagiri Rao to boost revenue collection have yielded results; of the total 1.14 lakh assessments, 941 were new assessments. The revenue wing has been trifurcated

  • Disinfectants pollute water

    Disinfectants pollute water

    about 250 million people in urban India drink municipal water, which is treated and disinfected before being supplied. A recent study shows the chemicals used for treatment methods might give the

  • Sindh confronts water shortage

    The Sindh Irrigation and Power Department said on Thursday that there would be a considerable shortage of water in the province due to low flows in the rivers. Sindh was getting only 20,400 cusec water as on Feb 28 as against its share of 37,500 cusec, thus the shortage had reached 45 per cent, said an official handout. To face the situation, the department has taken different measures to maintain supply of drinking water and allowed water flows for drinking purposes in Phuleli and Pinyari Canals. Supplies to Guddu Barrage canals and Sukkur Barrage canals would be reduced to 15,000 cusec and supplies to Kotri Barrage canals would be enhanced to 3,000 cusec to cater to drinking water requirements, which stood at 42 per cent, the handout said. The department would enforce intensive rotation of canal flows and the direct chief engineers and managing director of SIDA to announce rotation programme according to the availability. This intensive rotation programme would be enforced from March 1, 2008. The handout said that the department was taking the steps to judiciously share water to and control theft of water. It advised the farmers and all other people using irrigation water to use the available water carefully to avert losses.

  • Focus on roads, 24-hour water supply, mechanised cleaning

    Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Dilip Band presented draft proposal for a Rs 1073-crore budget to standing committee chairman Ajit Gavahane, laying emphasis on quality roads, 24-hour drinking water supply, completion of drainage works, health and education while there has been no increase in water or property tax. Last year's budget was at Rs 1002 crore. As much as Rs 437 crore has been reserved for roads and construction work, while installing water meters finds a provision of Rs 30 crore. "Nearly 60 per cent of the water meter installation work has been completed. By April end, the work would be completed. And after that citizens will get 24-hour water,' he said. Band said compared to the Pune Municipal Corporation that is giving 1,000 litres water for Rs 15, PCMC would be the same for Rs 2.50. "In one paisa, citizens will get 4 litres of water,' he said. "Also charges will be as per usage,' he said, adding that the closed pipeline work from Pavana dam has been taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Making a provision of Rs 10 crore for works ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games, Band said his administration has taken up beautification and advertisement work on war footing. Rs 10 crore has been provided for purchasing buses for PMPML and an additional Rs 12 crore for setting up bus stops and providing other amenities. "We are also looking at cogeneration of power. The corporation will enter into a tie up. It definitely is on top of our agenda, but nothing is decided as yet,' he said. Band said mechanised cleaning operation has begun at PCMC. "Road sweepers, compactors and new vehicles are being purchased. These will help in keeping the town clean at a faster rate.' The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority has been urged to issue a tender for the 40-km tram and monorail project on PCMC's behalf. Regarding land acquisition, Band said, "What had not happened in last 25 years has taken place in two years. We have acquired 60 per cent of the land reserved for development.' He however said his administration will go slow on land acquisition to avoid any unrest in town. "For instance in Kalewadi, 300 houses will be displaced, if we acquire land for a playground,' he said.

  • Sewage plant raises stink in Outer Delhi

    Over two lakh residents of five villages in Outer Delhi have a stinking problem: living with a sewage treatment plant (STP) as their neighbour. The plant is part of the Capital's initiative to sanitise 189 villages with an "appropriate sewage disposal mechanism' by the end of 2009. The villagers moved the Delhi High Court recently, through a registered society called Gramin Uthan Avam Jankalyan, to halt the plant's construction. A Bench led by Justice T S Thakur, though, dismissed the petitioners' contention. The court observed that it was high time that sewage treatment in Delhi began on a "war-footing', and that there was no "real and compelling reason for interference in public interest'. The petitioners claim at 200 metres, the plant is too close for comfort, and would add to diseases and pollution in their area. "The STP will adversely affect the environment by breeding mosquitoes and spreading viral diseases and foul smell,' the petition says. The plant was meant for treating sewage of five villages

  • Project yet to supply water after 21 years

    The Purni Drinking Water Supply Scheme has been a cause of concern for the people of Purni village under Golakganj LAC of Dhubri district. According to sources, the purni drinking water supply scheme which was launched 21 years ago with 29 taps. After its installation, it properly functioned for several years, but due to the lackadaisical attitude of the PHE department, the scheme has virtually become nonexistent. The people of the area have been deprived of potable water for a long time. Due to the lack of timely repair, lack of sand supply, lack of diesel supply and nonpayment of electricity bills the supply of potable water became irregular for which the taps remained nonfunctional and the pipes were also stolen away by some miscreants. The two diesel engines have also been reportedly stolen away. The filtration chamber too is lying abandoned. It is to be recalled here that in absence of the PHE workers, the doors and windows of the residence have also been taken away by some miscreants besides many other materials of th PHE. People have urged the authorities concerned to repair the potable water supply scheme earlier so that the villagers are benefited by the scheme, sources added.

  • Metrowater GM appears in court

    The Metrowater has claimed that sewage contamination in drinking water at Five Holes Bridge in Villivakkam was due to unauthorised tampering with water pipelines. This submission was made on behalf of the Metrowater General Manager Amudhavalli before the First Bench of the Madras High Court, which had directed her to appear before it on Thursday in person in connection with a public interest litigation. The PIL had been filed by P Cholaraja contending that because of the encroachments made on one side of the bridge and damage caused to the pipelines, sewerage coming under the bridge got mixed up with drinking water. On Thursday, in reply to a query from the Bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, the government pleader said on behalf of the Metrowater GM that water samples were collected and tested regularly and steps taken for preventing contamination. However, pipelines were being tampered with unauthorisedly, which caused contamination of drinking water, he said. Repair works were also being taken up as and when required. He also came forward to file an analysis and a detailed report on the steps taken to avoid contamination. And the Bench adjourned the matter till February 25.

  • Contamination: Metrowater official summoned to court

    The Madras High Court has directed the General Manager of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to be present in court on Thursday in connection with a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to authorities to prevent contamination of the city's drinking water with drainage water. In the petition, which came up before the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.P.Shah and Justice F.M.Ibrahim Kalifulla, petitioner P. Cholaraja of Villivakkam submitted that the people of Chennai were using contaminated water supplied by the Board.

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