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8. Removal of cattles in Calcutta 2.35 1.50
9. Urban Community Development - 5.00
10. National Urban Infrastructure Deve-
lopment Finance Corporation - 35.00
Total: Central Sector 110.00 168.01
Grand Total: States, UTs and
Central Sector 997.53 1,801.29
WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION 12.40 With the increasing awareness of the vital importance of the provision of potable water to all citizens in the general move towards social justice, allocation to this sector, particularly to the programme for the provision of potable water supply in rural areas, was increased substantially and also rural water supply was included in the Minimum Needs Programme in the Fifth Year Plan and in the Revised 20-point Programme in the Sixth Plan.
12.41 A massive programme for providing safe drinking water facilities in the rural areas was launched during the Sixth Five Year Plan. The results achieved were truly impressive, as 1.92 lakh villages, out of a total number of 2.31 lakh indentified problem villages, as well as 47,000 other villages were provided water supply during the Sixth Plan. The signiificant step-up in the central assistance for this purpose during the Seventh Plan (Table 12.7) indicates the high priority attached to the provision of the basic amenity of potable water supply to every citizen, especially in the rural areas.
Review of Sixth Plan 12.42 Despite the resource constraint, the Sixth Plan provided for a substantial outlay on water supply and sanitation amounting to Rs. 3,922.02 crores-Rs. 3,307.80 crores in the State sector and Rs. 614.22 crores in the Central sector. Within the sector, high priority was accorded to the provision of drinking water to what were identified as problem villages; for this purpose an outlay of Rs. 2,007.11 crores was provided-Rs. 1,407.11 crores in the State sector (MNP) and Rs. 600 crores in the Central sector. The following criteria were used to identify the problem villages:
a) those which do not have an assured source of drinking water within a reasonable distance of say, 1.6 km;
(b) those in which diseases like cholera, guineaworm, etc. are endemic; and
(c) those where the available water has an excess of salinity, iron, flourides and other toxic elements.
12.43 This programme got further impetus when it was brought under the Revised 20-Point Programme in 1982-83. In 1983 a new Incentive Bonus Scheme was started by the Ministry of Finance in order to further accelerate the programme of water supply to problem villages. Under this Scheme a provision of Rs. 75 crores was made during 1983-84 and Rs. 50 crores during 1984-85.
12.44 At the time of the formulation of the Sixth Plan the identification of problem villages had not been completed. With the data then available the Sixth Plan had aimed to cover 1.9 lakh villages; when the task of identification was completed, this figure went upto 2.31 lakhs. A massive programme was launched to provide potable water in most of the identified problem villages. The results have been impressive. Out of the total of 2.31 lakh villages identified as problem villages 1.92 lakh of such villages and 47,000 other than problem villages are estimated to have been provided with water supply facilities by the end of the Sixth Plan. With this, 54 per cent of the population in rural areas has been covered by Rural Water Supply Schemes by the end of the Sixth Plan. The achievement was made possible by investment on a scale larger than orginally envisaged amounting to Rs. 2,485,33 crores-Rs. 1,566.68 crores in the State sector (MNP) and Rs. 918.65 crores in the Central sector (ARP), including Rs. 11 6.11 crores under the Incentive Bonus Scheme.
12.45 There was an investment of Rs. 3,977.59 crores (Rs. 3,053.68 crores in the State sector and Rs. 923.91 crores in the Central sector), during the Sixth Plan under the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector. The physical achievements at the end of the Sixth Plan are expected to be as shown in Table 12.6.
TABLE 12.6
Physical Achievements Under the Sixth Plan
Sl. Sub-sector Population Population
No covered expected
as on to be
31-3-1981 covered by
31-3-1985
1 2 3 4
1. Rural Water Supply 162.07 million 299.78 million
(31.0%) (53.9%)
2. Urban Water Supply 115.48 million 133.91 million
(77.8%) (81.1%)
3. Rural Sanitation 2.80 million 5.7 million
(0.5%) (0.95%)
4. Urban Sanitation 40.03 million 57.27 million
(27.0%) (33.0%)
SEVENTH PLAN 12.46 As pointed out above, although the major areas of the rural population have been now provided with potable water supply as a result of the massive effort during the Sixth Plan period, there are still a sizeable
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number of problem villages. During the Seventh Plan, in line with the objective of International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-91), the aim would be to provide adequate drinking water facilities for the entire population and to provide sanitation facilities to 80 per cent of the urban population and at least 25 per cent of the rural population. Although the task ahead is of a stupendous magnitude, an earnest endeavour would be made to fulfil the objectives set out in the 31st UN General Assembly Resolution in regard to the provision of water supply for the total population.
12.47 In view of the constraint of resources, it will not be desirable to go in for expensive or sophisticated water supply and sanitation services. Simple and low-cost methods should be preferred. Also, it must be noted that it will not be possible to introduce a uniform mode of water supply everywhere in a vast country like India. The wide variety of climatic conditions and of the sources of surface and underground water require and should permit the adoption of different types of solution which are economical and in keeping with local needs and conditions.
12.48 Experience has shown that in a programme of this kind and magnitude reaching out to all the regions and remote corners of the country, community involvement is essential in all stages- formulation, execution and maintenance of water supply schemes. A considerable amount of pilferage and wastage of water could be avoided if local involvement and cooperation in enlisted.
12.49 The burden on the exchequer could be reduced to the extent that the beneficiaries are asked to pay. Water supply is a service to be paid for by the direct beneficiaries. In urban areas in particular there is scope for enhancing water rates; there is also scope for improving the realisation of water charges. The State Governments and local bodies should explore the possibility of raising funds for water supply schemes through suitable levies (capital charges) on the potential beneficiaries. Even in rural areas, while the poorer sections cannot be expected to pay for the water, in many villages through local initiative it is possible to collect a small charge which would cover at least a part of the maintenance expenses.
12.50 It is also important that the State Governments, who are the implementing agencies for water supply and sanitation programmes, should pay attention to the organisational and administrative structures at various levels, in order to utlise the Plan funds more efficiently and productively. The organisational pattern for execution of water supply and sanitation schemes varies not only between different States but also within the State itself in the case of many States. Though many States have now set up Water Supply and Sewerage Boards, in some States different agencies like PHED, panchayati raj, community development department, rural engineering department/RIDP/PWD and CPWD are responsible for the execution of water supply and sanitation schemes. It is necessary to have uniform approach in this regard and as Jar as possible, the same administrative department should supervise the various aspects of design, execution and maintenance. The monitoring and evaluation systems need to be made more efficient and effective at the Central, State and District levels.
12.51 Keeping in view the overall constraint on resources as well as the other competing demands, the Seventh Plan provides for an outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crores-Rs. 5,285.64 crores under State/UT sector and Rs. 1,236.83 crores under the Central sector-for the water supply and sanitation programme. This works out to 3.62 per cent of the total Plan outlay of the Seventh Plan. This includes loan assistance from the LIC, as well as the external agencies like World Bank, IDA/Bilateral Agencies. The emphasis is considerably greater in respect of rural water supply and an increased outlay of Rs. 3,454.47 crores has been envisaged for this programme in the Seventh Plan. The details of the outlay under this sector are given in Table 12.7.
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation 12.52 As in the Sixth Plan, the rural water supply continues to be a part of the Minimum Needs Programme as well as the revised 20- Point Programme during the Seventh Plan. However, in order to achieve the maximum coverage of rural population during the Seventh Plan, the scope of rural water supply under MNP needs to be extended to all villages, whereas it was restricted to identified problem villages until the end of the Sixth Plan. It may be noticed that, during the Sixth Plan period, there has been a quantum jump in investment in this Sector, especially with regard to the provision of rural water supply. The priority given to this programme is clearly seen from the fact that the Central Government has given a big helping hand to the State Governments in providing the problem villages with water supply by progressively increasing the central assistance under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARP). The amount under ARP and incentive schemes given to the states for the implementation of rural water supply programme in the Sixth Plan amounted to Rs. 918.65 crores and during the Seventh Plan, it is likely to be about 1.5 times that amount.
12.53 Some of the policy issues with regard to the rural water supply programme in the Seventh Plan are as follows:-
(i) Whether are-definition of the problem villages or problem areas is required for the Seventh Plan and if so, what should be the new definition?
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TABLE 12.7
Seventh Plan Outlay-Water Supply and Sanitation
(Rs. crores)
Sl. Scheme Sixth Plan 1980-85 Seventh Plan
No. 1985-90
Outlay Anticipated Outlay
expenditure
1 2 3 4 5
1. States/UTs Plan
(i) Rural Water Supply 1554.24 1634.68 2350.00
and Sanitation of (1407.11) (1566.68) (2253.25)
which MNP
(ii) Urban Water Supply
and Sanitation 1753.56 1419.00 2935.64
Total: States/UTs Plan 3307.80 3053.68 5285.64
2. Central Plan
(i) Central Sponsored
Rural Water Supply
Programme (ARP) 600.00 802.54 1201.22
(ii) Incentive Bonus Scheme @ 116.11 -
(iii) Other Programmes 14.22* 5.26** 35.61
Total: Central Plan 614.22 923.91 1236.83
GRAND TOTAL 3922.02 3977.59 6522.47
@ Outalys of Rs. 75 crores and Rs.50 crores were provided during 1983-84 and 1984-85 respectively, subsequent to Sixth plan finalisation under incentive Bonus Scheme.
* Includes an outlay of Rs. 12 crores for prevention and control of water and air pollution which has now been transferred to Science and Technology sector.
** Includes expenditure of Rs. 3.04 crores for prevention and control of water and air pollution during 1980-81 and 1981- 82.
(ii) What should be the per capita norm for water supply for rural areas?
(iii) Difficulties which are peculiar to certain areas such as Rajasthan, Haryana and hilly areas and methods of tackling such difficulties.
(iv) Delegation of powers for giving technical approval to State Chief Engineers-extent of delegation.
(v) Making available adequate funds for the maintenance of completed schemes and assets created.
12.54 In view of the resources constraint, the coverage of villages with water supply schemes during the Seventh Plan will have to follow a certain order of Priority. The spill over of identified problem villages (39,000) based on the existing criteria will in any case have to be covered before other villages can be taken up. The next priority will have to be given to those villages which have been identified as problem villages subsequent to 1st April, 1980 on the basis of the existing criteria. Once this task is completed and every village is provided with at least one source of water supply, water supply facilities will have to be further expanded in order to provide for adequate water supply to the villagers. This will naturally result in the liberalisation of the present norms and level of satisfaction in the rural areas so far as water supply is concerned.
12.55 Attempts would be made to cover all those villages which do not have an assured source of water supply within a distance of 0.5 km (as against the present norm of 1.6 km) and also to enhance per capita norm for water supply from 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) to 70 lpcd during the Seventh Plan, as recommended by the Estimates Committee.
12.56 It is also essential to ensure that the poorer sections of the society like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and landless agricultural labourers have equal access to this facility. In this context, the location of the source/water collection points is important. This calls for greater attention to the matter of selection of location-of the sources/water collection points. Where necessary, additional sources/water collection points for enabling the poor to obtain access to safe drinking water should be separately provided if access to the community sources provided under the general scheme for drinking water supply to village is difficult for them.
12.57 A new policy is also being evolved in the Seventh Plan to tackle special problems of water supply which are peculiar to certain States Rajasthan Haryana and Madhya Pradesh) and to hilly areas. The problems of such States and areas will receive special attention in the Seventh Plan. Administrative bottlenecks in the execution of schemes will be removed by delegation of power to the State chief engineers.
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12.58 While impressive results have been achieved in providing water supply facilities in the rural areas in the Sixth Plan, the maintenance of these facilities, mostly the handpumps, has been badly neglected, partly because of lack of adequate funds for maintenance and partly because of the lack of suitable machinery for their maintenance. It has been realised that the assets created for provision of water supply in the rural areas at huge cost cannot be allowed to go waste or even become partially defunct. For the first time, therefore, a maximum of 10 per cent of the Plan funds under MNP is being earmarked for the maintenance of the water supply systems in rural areas. The State Governments are also being advised to create a suitable machinery for the regular maintenance of the water supply schemes in rural areas by actively encouraging community participation in this vital programme.
Sanitation 12.59 Lack of a good sanitation system is one of the factor affecting the quality of life of the rural population. Because of resource constraint, considerable backlog in the provision of sanitation facilities in rural areas has arisen. Less than 1 per cent of the rural population, as indicated in Table 12.6 is reported to have been covered by sanitation system at the end of the Sixth Plan. This programme is yet to gather momentum. It is possible to start and implement the programme only with people's participation. Much more can be done in this area through self-help schemes organised by the village community and large-scale mobilisation of voluntary effort at the village level through attempts of the State Governments and local bodies. Simple low-cost design of pour flush latrines have already been developed in many areas through UNDP assistance. It is estimated that each individual sanitary toilet would cost about Rs. 100 per head. Extensive efforts would, however, need to be made on a large- scale to assist the village organisations in the adoption and use of these designs with such local modifications as may be necessary.
Urban Water Supply and Sanitation 12.60 The Sixth Plan document had noted that "while the pressing need of providing adequate water supply and sewerage facilities in the larger cities, especially in the high density areas populated by the low income groups and economically weaker sections, must continue to receive priority, greater attention needs to be given in the Sixth Five Year Plan to the needs of smaller and medium size towns which have been englected in the past" (p. 400). Unfortunately, during the Sixth Plan also, the water supply needs of the smaller and medium towns continued to suffer because of the constraint of resources and the emphasis on provision of water in the rural areas. Although the constraint of resources still continues, it is felt that the needs of the smaller and medium size towns with regard to water supply and sanitation facilities can no longer be ignored. Therefore, augmentation and improvement of water supply facilities in the urban areas, especially in medium and smaller towns, will also have to be attempted during the Seventh Plan to the extent possible.
12.61 According to the available information, about 115.48 million people in urban areas (77.8 per cent of urban population) had been provided with water supply facilities at the end of March, 1981. It is expected that the coverage would have been 133.91 million (81.1 per cent of urban population) by the end of the Sixth Plan. Although the average coverage in the country is above 81 per cent, it is below 50 per cent in certain States. The above figures also do not reflect properly either the inadequacy of the water supplied or the deprivation of the urban poor. The urban poor, due to their low paying capacity and also due to the peculiar conditions governing their settlement patterns, are generally deprived of adequate water and sanitation facilities. Water and sanitation, therefore, has been accorded a high priority in the programme of Environmental Improvement of Slums. The high rate of incidence of death and disease in urban poor settlements can be attributed largely to the poor quality of water and sanitation facilities.
12.62 As regards sanitation, reports indicate that by the end of Sixth Plan only 57.27 million (33 per cent of the urban population) pelple could be provided with sanitation facilities. In view of the huge backlog and the severe overall resource constraint as well as the poor financial condition of the local bodies, it is necessary for the smaller towns other than Class-I cities to adopt cheaper methods of sanitation. Several feasbility studies have been carried out in the area of low-cost sanitation technology in urban areas with the UNDP assistance. These techniques should prove useful in achieving the maximum coverage possible. Central assistance is provided to the low- cost sanitation schemes under the Centrally sponsored scheme of Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns. Following the recommendation of the conference of State Ministers held in New Delhi in January 1983, that additional resources for the programme be mobilised, HUDCO has agreed to finance 50 per cent of the cost of the low-cost latrines projects.
Central Sector 12.63 Water supply and sewerage are the principal infrastructure facilities having a direct bearing on the quality of life of the urban people. The provision of these facilities in urban areas is highly capital-intensive and has a fairly long gestation period. At present, the capital expenditure of local bodies is met mainly from Plan funds. However, Plan funds are limited in magnitude. Hence even dynamic local bodies which have the capacity to
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undertake new projects are seriously constrained in their efforts to improve services. To overcome this situation, as already indicated, it is proposed to set up a National Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation.
12.64 In order to give a boost to the low-cost sanitation schemes in the rural areas, a specific provision of Rs. 4 crores has been made.
12.65 For monitoring and development of management information system, a provision of Rs. 1 crore has been included for strengthening and expanding the existing monitoring cells. In view of the large magnitude of work to be done in the areas of water supply and sanitation to fulfil the Plan objectives, a considerable amount of research is called for. The fields which need to be explored in particular are testing of improved simple and effective treatment methods including desalination, re-use of backwash water and more effective methods of low-cost sanitation in rocky and other difficult hydrogeological formations. The Plan, therefore, makes a provision of Rs. 6 crores for this purpose.
12.66 A new scheme to involve the voluntary agencies to implement Plan programme thereby enlisting community participation in the execution and maintenance of water supply schemes in the rural areas is being introduced in the Seventh Plan, for which a provision of Rs. 2.5 crores has been made.
12.67 The Table 12.8 gives the scheme-wise Central Sector outlays for the Seventh Plan.
TABLE 12.8
Seventh Plan Outlay on Water Supply and Sanitation-Central Sector
(Rs. crores)
Sl. Scheme Sixth Plan Seventh
No. Plan
Outlay Anticipated outlay
expenditure
1 2 3 4 5
1. Centrally Sponsored Accelerated
Rural Water Supply Scheme
(a) Grants to States/UTs 600.00 802.54 1198.72
(b) Grants to Voluntary Agencies - - 2.50
2. WHO/UNICEF Assisted Programme for
Ground Water Development and Handling
Charges 1.08 - 1.30
3. Project Management Cell 0.14 0.11
4. Public Health Engineering Training
Programme 1.00 4.00
5. Prevention & Control of Water and
Air Pollution 12.00
6. Feasibility studies on rural demon-
stration latrines * 0.20
7. Research and Development - 5.26 5.00
8. Monitoring and Management Information - 1.00
9. Capital contribution to National
Urban Infrastructure Development Finance
Corporation - 20.00
10. Rural Low Cost Sanitation - 4.00
11. Incentive Bonus Scheme - 116.11
TOTAL 614.22 923.91 1236.83
*The provision for this scheme was made during the Sixth Plan in 1984- 85.
**Includes expenditure of Rs. 3.04 crores for Prevention and Control of Water and Air Pollution during 1980-81 and 1981-82.
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