Compiled by Nitya Jacob, Resource Person and Sunetra Lala and Tina Mathur, Research Associates
From V Kurian Baby, International Water & Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands
I work for the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC). We are planning to pilot test/ demonstrate a comprehensive and sustainable water security programme through a bottom up adaptive planning process of convergence - governance and capacity building, embracing best practices. The programme is envisaged to strengthen the water sector governance framework in operationalizing the Water Policy and 2010 NRDWP guidelines and explore local solutions to the global concerns of climate change adaptability.
The background for this is the overall governance framework for water in India . The sector is institutionally fragmented and governed by a maze of institutional actors and ministries at all levels without sustainable convergence. The water crisis in India is predominantly a governance crisis.
Water security, which is integral to sustainable development, has always been a great challenge. Though India has emerged as a top ranking nation in terms of water sector investments, the outcomes are poor as a result of significant slippages, the key reasons being source and management unsustainability. Poor governance has led to weak convergence of policy, programmes and institutions, and consistently undermined efforts towards achieving water safety and security.
The programmes have also shied away from addressing the deep rooted perverse incentives and underlying factors resisting change. The watershed management programmes have also generated issues of riparian rights, inequity, over-draft and competing uses in the context of archaic legislation and weak regulatory framework. Though there are isolated best practices in India , there have been serious difficulties in scaling up the models mainly on account of governance challenges.
May I seek your comments specifically on the following –
- A suggested water security framework as detailed on Page 5. Is this adequate or can it be strengthened further?
- The barriers to convergence, mentioned on Page 7. Do members feel there are additional barriers, and if so, please elaborate on them. Please comment on the convergence framework on Page 12
- Is the list of key indicators and monitoring framework on Pages 16-17 comprehensive?
- Any other suggestions that can facilitate sustainability and encourage scaling up and constraints those are to be taken into account in the process?
The idea is not to reinvent the wheel, but to consolidate and build on valuable experiences we have and to overcome the implementation and sustainability issues scaling up. Your inputs will help in making the discussion paper comprehensive leading to possible field- test and rolling out.
Responses were received, with thanks, from
1. Murali Kochukrishnan, IL&FS, Mumbai
2. Kalyan Paul, Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation, Ranikhet
3. Puneet Srivastava, Independent Consultant-Water and Sanitation, Lucknow
4. V.Kurian Baby, International Water & Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands
5. Shrikant Limaye, Groundwater Institute, Pune
6. Swati Sharma, Saviours, Meerut
7. Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi
8. Sunetra Lala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi*
* Offline Contribution
Summary of Responses
Water security is an approach to ensure that people have enough water of adequate quality for both life and livelihoods. At the village level, it means people having water through the year for all their needs, including maintaining animals and agriculture. In cities, it means providing enough water through the year for domestic and industrial use. The discussion sought to go behind the scenes to unpack what it takes to ensure water security at the institutional, technical and governance levels. The other notion of water security as it related to national sovereignty is not within the purview of this discussion.
The discussion makes the argument that better governance is key to water security. It examines this from various angles. One of the main points to emerge is that better governance has to be from the gram sabha upwards and led by more effective planning. Line departments have their respective fiefdoms whose boundaries only gram sabhas can cross through village water security plans. One way to achieve this is to attract communities to participate through innovations as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES); what this means is communities are paid for the ecological services they provide and so see a value in getting involved in planning. A project supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Himachal Pradesh used this approach.
Often, in a village the same source of water serves multiple uses. Therefore, water security is source security. This in turn is possible through a multi-stage process staring with a study of, and mapping of, local aquifers. The next stage is demarcating a first-stage watershed such as may cover an entire gram panchayat; a watershed or aquifer will usually not be co-terminus with revenue or political boundaries of panchayats or habitations. Therefore, this demarcation exercise has to be as much a political exercise as a geographic or hydrologic one. The process can highlight recharge areas and other natural resources within the watershed, and has to involve various castes and women.
Some of the technical aspects to keep in mind while developing a water security plans include industrial water use within the watershed, especially in case of water intensive industries and pollution from both natural and manmade sources. Effective planning needs data on hydrogeology, groundwater, water quality, agencies, policies, regulations, etc. It also needs scenario planning to ascertain future water needs in the face of changing populations, lifestyle and climate change. Additionally, planning needs up to date and accurate data and the National Remote Sensing Centre has developed various levels of groundwater perspective maps on a scale of 1:50,000.
The barriers to convergence can be divided into technical, administrative, social and political. Technical barriers include long-term, accurate and timely data on water, watersheds, natural resources and demographics. Administrative barriers, as is the case in Orissa, include the multiplicity of government departments concerned with water. Each department seeks to protect its own turf, is reluctant to share information and views water through the lens of its activities. Their staffing pattern is another stumbling block, with nearly all departments working directly on water being dominated by engineers while those from rural development and panchayati raj usually come from other streams. Another technical barrier is a failure to provide a win-win programme design in planning and action, and donor-driven programmes come with a too short a shelf life to get involved with sustainability.
Social barriers mostly have to do with exclusion, another persistent barrier to convergence. This includes exclusion on the basis of caste and gender. One suggestion for getting around this is to work through women’s self-help groups, as has happened in Odisha. Based on their experience with livelihoods, SHG members are more alive to the need for better service by the government and holding their panchayats accountable for these services. Ideally village planning with women’s involvement would address their needs better. In a less than ideal world, those facilitating the planning process need to pay special attention to women’s involvement either in the mainstream planning process, or finding out their needs separately and bringing them into the planning process.
Political barriers concern party politics that trickle down to the gram panchayat level. Ruling party panchayats are likely to be favoured with more projects and money than those from the opposition; this is also true at the ward level. Ministers from the ruling party will favour their constituents with projects and money. So for example the minister for water resources in a state will favour his constituency with projects under his ministry, at the expense of other sectors. Another issue that emerges from this discussion is how corruption also blocks water security at the village level. This links with the other barriers, such as political and administrative, since political favouritism can lead to administrative corruption. There is no simple solution to overcome this barrier.
The list of indicators and monitoring framework mentioned in the paper is comprehensive. However, while promoting decentralised governance, it is important to decentralise solutions and not the problems where the institutional and implementation frameworks are concerned. The framework also needs to capture equity aspects of water security and the planning process that goes with it.
There are some excellent suggestions on water security planning. The starting point is the watershed of a first order stream in a village. Soil and water conservation begins with plantation with local species of trees, bushes and grasses. A local NGO can liaison between the government and villagers and ensure the latter’s active participation. To create sustainable water resource, it is necessary to create a resilient interface between climatology and hydrology, such as only a well-managed and forested watershed is able to provide. This augments recharge from rainfall to groundwater that can be further improved through percolation tanks.
The technical aspects of planning including securing data on hydrogeology and groundwater over 10-15 years, water quality trends over 10 years, an assessment of water resource sustainability and an assessment of surface water system sustainability. One possible source of data is the National Remote Sensing Centre that has developed various levels of groundwater perspective maps with appropriate thematic overlaying. This has also developed a user manual for groundwater prospect maps for the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission.
Comparative Experiences
Himachal Pradesh
Payment for Ecosystem Services concept ensures water security, Palampur (from Puneet Srivastava, Independent Consultant-Water and Sanitation, Lucknow)
Through an agreement between the Municipal Council and Village Forest Development Society (VFDS), the catchment area of the Bohal spring will be preserved. This is a 20 year Joint Forest management programme that also commits the Council to pay the VFDS a fee for conservation. This is an innovative model to demonstrate rural-urban linkage for water security and convergence and joint action between various departments and local government bodies.
Odisha
From Swati Sharma, Saviours, Meerut
Involvement of Self Help Groups (SHGs) addresses exclusion as a barrier to convergence
Women’s work in SHGs makes them more alive to the need for better service delivery standards by the government. They appreciate the need and nuances of village planning and can work as village motivators. Other women find it easier to follow them rather than directions from men since they feel women would have their interests at heart. Ideally village planning with women’s involvement would address their needs better and aid inclusion in development.
Convergence between departments crucial to ensure water security
Growth in population, cashew plantations on hill slopes that are also catchments for wells and springs and a shorter cycle for shifting cultivation have led to water shortage in South Orissa . The Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) contracts out tubewell digging without survey and thus the tubewell yield is insufficient to meet the demand of water. An integrated approach between departments ( Forest , Irrigation, PHED) can help ensure water security.
Related Resources
Recommended Documentation
From V. Kurian Baby, International Water & Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands
Village Water Security and Governance
Draft Discussion Paper; by V. Kurian Baby; International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands
Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/water_security_disc_paper.pdf (PDF; Size: 700 KB)
A proposal for as sustainable water security programme through bottom up adaptive planning process of convergence
National Water Policy
Policy document; Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India; April 2002
Available at http://wrmin.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/nwp20025617515534.pdf (PDF; Size: 59 KB)
Policy on planning, development and management of water resources, including the institutional mechanisms for these in India
National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)
Guidelines; Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India ; 2010
Available at http://www.ddws.gov.in/sites/upload_files/ddws/files/pdf/RuralDrinkingWater_2ndApril_0.pdf (PDF; Size; 1.56 MB)
The national policy framework for drinking water, programme, delivery mechanism, planning, fund release and monitoring guidelines
From Tina Mathur, Research Associate
A Handbook for Panchayats to help them plan, implement, operate, maintain and manage drinking water security
Handbook; Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India and Water and Sanitation Programme; New Delhi; September 2010
Available at
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/08/17/000386194_20110817032102/Rendered/PDF/638560WP0A0han00Box0361531B0PUBLIC0.pdf (PDF; Size: 4.2 MB)
A quick reference for Panchayats on how to plan, implement, operate, maintain and manage water supplies and to ensure their sustainability
Institutional challenges for water resources management: India and South Africa
Working Paper; by A.J James; Water, Households and Rural Livelihoods Project (WHIRL); July 2003
Available at
http://www.nri.org/projects/wss-iwrm/Reports/Working_papers/WHIRL%20working%20paper%207_final.pdf (PDF; Size: 382 KB)
Examines the institutional structures for water resource management in India and South Africa , and the problems that are either caused or overlooked by these structures
Report on Convergence Issues in India- An Overview
Report; Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India
Available at http://www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/Convergence-Report.pdf (PDF; Size: 2.26 MB)
Provides examples of convergence of the MGNREGA with other programmes including watershed and water programmes to bring synergies in planning and implementation
Recommended Organizations and Programmes
National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad (from Murali Kochukrishnan, IL &FS, Mumbai)
Indian Space Research Organisation,(Department of Space, Government of India ),Balanagar, Hyderabad - 500 625; Tel: 040-23879572; Fax: 040-23878648; http://www.nrsc.gov.in/
Has developed various levels of groundwater perspective maps with appropriate thematic overlaying that can be updated for realtime data analysis
Recommended Portals and Information Bases
Ground Water Network for Best Practices in Ground Water Management in Low-Income Countries, Groundwater Institute, Pune (from Shrikant Limaye, Pune)
www.igcp-grownet.org; Contact Shrikant Limaye, Project Leader ( India ); limaye@vsnl.com
A portal capturing best practices in ground water management, supported by UNESCO, IGCP and International Union of Geological Sciences
Related Consolidated Replies
Role of PRIs in Community Water and Sanitation Services, from Barenyo Choudhury, Indic Knowledge Operations Network (iKOnet), Kolkata (Experiences; Examples). Water Community, Decentralization Community
Issued 15 December 2010. Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/wes/cr/cr-se-wes-decn-25101001.pdf (PDF; Size: 224 KB)
Inputs on the existing capacities of PRIs in providing water and sanitation services and if their enhanced role in the same leads to better services
Water service delivery by Panchayats, from Puneet Shrivastava, GTZ, Shimla (Experiences). Decentralization Community, Water Community
Issued 05 December 2008. Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/decn/cr/cr-se-decn-wes-23100801.pdf (PDF; Size: 196 KB)
Experiences of decentralized rural water service delivery by Panchayats including the institutional and accountability mechanisms in the same
Methods for integrating planning, implementation and monitoring at district level, from Suraj Kumar , UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, New Delhi (Examples; Experiences). Decentralization Community , Water Community and Work and Employment Community
Issued 08 July 2008. Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/decn/cr/cr-se-decn-wes-emp-03060801.pdf (PDF; Size: 468 KB)
Experiences on tools or methodologies for upward integration of local plans to the district level, collaborative implementation of large programmes and their M&E
Responses in Full
Murali Kochukrishnan, IL&FS, Mumbai
The draft discussion paper on Village Water Security and Governance has been prepared well and are quite informative. In this context, my suggestions are:
1. In order to derive the water security plans, we shall also have to look in to the existing source water vulnerability and its continuous assessment with respect to environmental, social/political, regulatory/policy and economic risks for sustainable management of water resources.
2. The industrial water usages and its impacts on water security plans in the villages of delineated watershed needs to be elaborated, especially the water intensive industries like various beverages plant, mineral water bottling plant, etc.
3. Likewise, the pollution control aspects of the industries on surface and groundwater needs to be elaborated in the context of water security plans.
4. Over-use of fertilizers and pesticides for agronomical practices also affects the source water security.
5. As we have proposed delineating watershed boundaries-based water security and convergence plan, it is important to note the watershed boundaries and the village/block level boundary seldom match. Hence, more funds are required on the upstream side villages to develop appropriate water harvesting and conservation measures to secure water at the downstream villages. The availability of water at the downstream villages will be ensured based on the protective measures taken at the upstream villages. How come the equity aspect will be ensured between the upstream and downstream villages in water distribution and appropriate allocation?
6. Despite the convergence aspect of various departmental funds, the fund availability from various International funding agencies working on water and sanitation, “Corporate social responsibility” of industries, etc., needs to be converged by formulating appropriate modalities and strategies for its fund utilization in water security and convergence plan.
7. The following below mentioned technical aspects needs a revisit time to time for development of an effective and efficient water security plans.
a. Hydrogeology and groundwater description with water levels of pre monsoon and post monsoon for at least 10 to 15 years to analyse the trends in ground water fluctuation
b. A review of available water quality data for at least 10 years
c. A conceptual hydrologic model of the delineated watershed
d. A review of water resource management agencies, policies, regulations, planning priorities, and enforcement activities
e. A delineation of protection zones, zone of contribution and zone of discharge
f. An assessment of water resource sustainability within the zone of contribution, including sustainable yield, access rights, pollutant sources, and water quality trends.
g. An assessment of surface water system sustainability, including sustainable yield, access rights, watershed health, land use, and pollutant sources
8. As already NRSC (NRSA) has developed various levels of groundwater perspective maps with appropriate thematic overlaying, the same can be updated with the current data on to it for real time data analysis
9. The source water protection and source strengthening plans for the existing water resources needs to be worked out precisely from the village level
10. Geo-Specific location wise technical designs and water security plans needs to be developed for all water infrastructure development rather than one size/design fits to all scenario.
Kalyan Paul, Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation, Ranikhet
Matters regarding Water Security & Governance in India are very complex, especially if one attempts to have a 'look' at the vast mosaic of the Indian landscape. Over the last few decades, there has been several such attempts, led by the World Bank and others. Most of these so called sector reform programmes have been concluded after short spells, probably in tandem with the utilization of project funds.
While some of these attempts did demonstrate the potential of sector reform there has been no follow-up on a macro scale across a state/s. In such a scenario, what is it that we can contribute?
Maybe get the Planning Commission to understand that water evolves within the folds of forests. And, then start a dialogue to change the very focus of the forest department/s across the nation. A learning and sharing platform regarding water and forests ought to be set-up in each river basin across the nation. And, one is not suggesting just half a dozen river basins, like the Ganga , Jamuna, Kaveri, etc. We are talking of small river basins, 200 to 500 square km. There are hundreds of these tiny yet significant river basins where the strategy of water conservation ought to be discussed and firmed-up. Only then we would ensure sustainable supplies of nature's bounty and also be able to plan systems of sustainable governance at various levels.
Puneet Srivastava, Independent Consultant-Water and Sanitation, Lucknow
My response on the query is as under.
A suggested water security framework as detailed on Page 5. Is this adequate or can it be strengthened further?
This water security framework is very close to the understanding experience gained on the issue In Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Kerala in WB financed projects. However, this framework cannot be complete without talking of catchment area approach and inclusion of the Forest Department in a significant way. Interdepartmental convergence can only be possible if we are able to create some business model for eco system-based services to work using innovations such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) for incentivising the local communities in active participation. The Palampur Water Governance Initiative piloted in Palampur town with German Support is an example of this new shift in thinking and action.
The barriers to convergence, mentioned on Page 7. Do members feel there are additional barriers, and if so, please elaborate on them. Please comment on the convergence framework on Page 12
The barriers to convergence are well tabulated and can be elaborated a little bit more. The other barriers in the attempts so far on convergence has been our failure to provide a win-win programme design for all the stakeholders in the convergent planning and action. The other barriers are the that all such donor-driven programmes come with a very short shelf life to actually get involved with long term sector goals and sustainability issues. Now, with DDWS in Delhi ready with its strategic plan for at least next 20 years, there is an opportunity to plan and engage with Integrated Water Management issues on a long term basis.
Is the list of key indicators and monitoring framework on Pages 16-17 comprehensive?
The monitoring framework itself seems comprehensive. However, there are serious issues with the institutional framework and the implementation framework and the allocation of tasks. While promoting decentralised governance, one has to ensure that you are decentralising solutions and not the problems and also has to undergo a comprehensive exercise of functional assignment (Activity Mapping as it is popularly known in India ) before tampering with larger issues of public policy adjustments.
Any other suggestions that can facilitate sustainability and encourage scaling up and constraints those are to be taken into account in the process?
Please address the issue of whether a Village Water Security Plan is a derivative of the District Water Security Plan (Top down Planning) or a District Water Security Plan is a derivative of a Village Water Security Plan (Bottom up Approach). In my experience on this issue in HP, it is a bit of both and the programme management has to steer the process in a way that maximum benefits of these security plans are transferred on the ground to the people in real time and space.
Hope above comments will be useful while finalising the document.
V.Kurian Baby, International Water & Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands
I am grateful for the suggestions on two key points of forest conservation and river basin management, which are often conveniently neglected due to obvious reasons made by Kalyan Paul. Basin conservation programmes implemented by Governments have largely been production oriented, without considering fully the environmental flows, riparian issues, etc., and conservation measures under river action plans have become unsustainable with little or no outcomes as envisaged. However, there are outstanding efforts at grassroots level to create awareness and protect river basins including culture and heritage. Such initiatives are largely localized and are yet to be scaled up and synergized as a much needed mighty movement to influence policy and national action.
In 2007 we had a consultation meeting in Kerala in partnership with Tarun Bharat Sangh, UN solution Exchange, Chalakkudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi –Kerala, Arghyam, District administration/GoK, to strengthen and support the national network of river basin stakeholders –activists, NGOs, CBOs, Research institutions, experts, opinion leaders etc., and work towards a National River Bain Network to create awareness, support research, analytical advocacy and conservation, centric to the theme of river basin sustainability and minimum flows.
While keeping identities and work profiles of every organization, it is high time that we rally around the common non-negotiable cause of basin sustainability both for present and future as a movement involving every citizen. The sense of urgency is not only because of the rapid deterioration and death of basin eco-systems, but also on account of the potential impact of climate change. Water insecurity will endanger our growth prospects and undermine our legitimate aspiration to become a world economic power.
Shrikant Limaye, Groundwater Institute, Pune
1. Sustainability is to be achieved for (a) Village Drinking Water Supply from bore-wells and also for (b) Irrigational Water Supply from dug wells, bore-wells and dug-cum-bored wells.
2. Please visit the website www.igcp-grownet.org of my UNESCO-IGCP Project GROWNET (Ground Water Network for Best Practices in Ground Water Management in Low-Income Countries), where a wealth of information is available.
3. The starting point is the watershed of a first order stream in a village. Soil and rain water conservation activities including forestation with local varieties of trees, bushes and grasses is the first step. Active participation of villagers especially the village women, in State/Central Government's watershed protection (management) schemes is essential. A local NGO should act as liaison between the Government Officers and the Villagers.
4. If we want sustainable water resources in spite of the erratic (shock-giving) climate, we must create a resilient or a shock-absorbing interface between Climatology and Hydrology. Only a well-managed and forested watershed is able to provide such resilient interface. Augmentation of recharge from rainfall to ground water takes place in a well-managed watershed. In addition, construction of Percolation tanks also improves recharge to ground water. This has helped reducing Fluoride or Arsenic content in ground water.
5. All decisions regarding watershed development and water resources management should be taken at the Gram-Sabha (Village meeting), under guidance of Government or NGO experts. Regulations about water resources governance forced from State or District level Government offices (typical Top-Down approach) are not observed or implemented at village level. Only Gram-Sabha decisions are effective due to mutual monitoring and social pressure.
Swati Sharma, Saviours, Meerut
This is a commendable effort to open up the dialogue on water security that has been submerged in all the talk of water use efficiency. The paper rightly points out India ’s water crisis is a crisis of governance. We can see this crisis in many other sectors as well. The governance crisis prompted partly by sector reform, partly by corruption and partly by the quality of personnel that staff the water infrastructure has led to gross mismanagement of this resource. For example, there are laws to control the over-use of groundwater in several states of India , but I don’t know of any prosecution under these laws. These laws also conflict with agriculture policies in states that offer free power to farmers, that shows one ministry or department does not know or even care what the other is doing. In drinking water, the departments concerned focus on providing handpumps without any scientific survey of the location or water quality. These are example of poor coordination between departments, but also corruption since multiple drillings are then needed to get a single working handpump.
Drinking water security is contingent on overall water security at the local level. It cannot be seen in isolation since it comes from the same source that water for livelihoods is drawn. I mean, drinking water is usually pulled from a spring or tubewell that also supplies water for irrigation, water animals and any other local use. Therefore, if the source is protected and water conserved, the place should be water secure. At least in theory. For example, in parts of south Orissa (Gajapati district) that I visited recently, people have started facing severe water shortages that has effected agriculture; in summer they barely have enough water for drinking. The reasons are a growth in population, cashew plantations on the hill slopes that are also catchments for wells and springs and a much shorter cycle for shifting cultivation (from 25 years, the gap between clearing the same area has come down to 2-3 years). Additionally, people grow more rice where they earlier grew millets, gram and pulses. The only solution is an integrated approach covering the forest department, public health engineering department, irrigation department and groundwater department. This is sadly missing however. Instead, what I saw is the PHED contracts a person to dig a tubewell for water supply without any survey or demand assessment. As a result, the tubewell’s yield is insufficient for the proposed water supply scheme and instead hastens the drying up of wells in summer. If earlier a village has 1-2 perennial wells, they are down to barely one after the tubewell was installed because of faulty siting. A little consultation among departments could have prevented this. In the process, the junior engineer makes his ‘percentage’ but the situation does not improve.
I would draw attention to the process for water security at the village level. Changing cropping habits, which for example in this region would entail getting people to give some cashew plantations for natural forests, is extremely hard. They earn around Rs. 10,000 an acre a year, a princely sum for the area. However, they can be persuaded to plant native trees on the margins of the plantations. A survey can indicate the recharge zones for springs, that can be protected. The village people have already undertaken an elaborate visual planning process, mapping their villages. This has shown them the link between water recharge and the springs. They are proactively working to increase the recharge zones in the catchments of their villages by making trenches, contour bunds and recharge pits. The work is executed with funds from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) but the planning is based on the village mapping exercise.
This shows a convergence of interests and actions at the village level led by the panchayat representatives and gram sabha members. Their actions will ultimately raise the overall availability of water in villages for drinking, irrigation and watering animals. They don’t see water sectorally – water is water and the same source serves multiple purposes.
This is an example of integrated water resources management. The only missing component is changing cropping patterns through changing cashew plantations back to forests, that will take much more time and persuasion. In the process of planning, the people have also learnt about government schemes and the departments that administer them, and have started making many more demands on the government.
In the light of this example, I feel Dr Baby’s schematic on water security captures the various uses of water and the processes of ensuring them. I would like to suggest the schematic should aim at convergence from the village or panchayat level up. Essentially, convergence needs to happen in village water plans and move up to the district and state levels. These plans can contain the elements of the activities proposed in the schematic. Therefore, the schematic requires another layer of the people and institutions who will carry out the activities. The community has to be driver, pushing government departments either directly or through its representatives. This will give a human face to the schematic. The people and institutional layer can be qualified with a SWOT analysis that will help identify those who can and will take immediate action and the laggards. In other words, the schematic has to take human nature into account.
The barriers to convergence are well laid out in the table on page 7. I would like to add another – that of inadequate preparation of panchayats. If these are the people who have to drive water security, they need to understand the concept, their roles and responsibilities, government schemes and how to tap into them. Gram sabha members also have to understand the concept of water security to be able to demand action and accountability. From the Orissa example, I can say the village planning exercise has shown people that they can propose water harvesting structures, get them passed at the gram sabha and subsequently the panchayat and block development officer, and executed with funds from MGNREGS. This is a good example of convergence. Corruption is minimized, not eliminated totally, since JEs need their percentage to give the final approval to the works. In terms of the table, this would go as follows –
|
Barriers |
Description |
Key actors/strategy |
|
Poorly trained/untrained panchayat members
Lack of understanding of the village planning process |
Lack of knowledge about water-related schemes, MGNREGS and the possibilities of working with the government constrains the panchayat members Linked to the above, panchayats and people have little or no idea of village planning |
Panchayat representatives SHG members Community organisations and leaders Local NGOs |
As a corollary, the village water security plan and activity map on page needs a little elaboration. The training schedule for panchayats has to be completed within 6 months of taking office and not, as in the Orissa case, towards the end of their term. Further, it needs to have more than a listing of government schemes to include training on village planning of which watershed management is to be an important part. Maybe the paper can elaborate on the specifics of the training that will ultimately help panchayat representatives lead the process of village planning, and the gram sabhas to play an active role.
The monitoring framework captures this process well, so I have nothing to add.
I would like to stress the role of women. This has to go beyond their participation in panchayats. The SHG movement is an excellent base to begin engaging women in village planning. The women I met in Orissa who were SHG members were far more vocal than their non SHG counterparts irrespective of their caste or tribe. Their work in SHGs makes them more alive to the need for better service delivery standards by the government. They appreciate the need and nuances of village planning and can work as village motivators. Other women find it easier to follow them rather than directions from men since they feel women would have their interests at heart. Ideally village planning with women’s involvement would address their needs better. In a less than ideal world, those facilitating the planning process – PRI members or NGOs – need to pay special attention to women’s involvement either in the mainstream planning process, or finding out their needs separately and bringing them into the planning process. It may be a while before women are comfortable speaking their minds in a gram sabha meeting so in the interim, a water security plan needs to have a line of activities and monitoring for their involvement and addressing their concerns.
Nitya Jacob, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi
I congratulate Dr Baby for the paper on fresh approach to water security. The paper is comprehensive and touches on several aspects, including corruption, that past attempts have shied away from. It has a logical flow from the problems, to the meat of the approach and monitoring processes. I will first attempt to address the specific concerns, and then give some general comments.
The suggested water framework captures the two ends of the water use spectrum very well, linked through sustainable management. However, sustainable management needs to be unpacked further since that is the crux of the new approach. Will this be based on integrated water resources management? Which agency will do it? What are the resources (people and money) needed and where will they come from? A mix of modern IWRM techniques, built on top of traditional wisdom, executed by a core group comprising experts, elected panchayat members and government functionaries will be one way for sustainable management. The process needs to recognize that social constructs held water in place in Indian society and this has to be part of the process of ensuring sustainable management; it cannot be a purely technical process but one in which social engineering is as important as the technical processes involved.
Barriers to convergence. I agree with the diagramme; it is a veritable maze and everybody has their clearly defined fiefdoms. What is missing is the human element – the fact that each department is staffed by completely different people. Water resources departments, irrigation departments and Public Health Engineering Departments (or their counterparts) are full of engineers. Other departments such as rural development or panchayats have people from different backgrounds. The natural tendency is to be dismissive of each other. The block development officer, responsible for approving gram panchayat plans, may be biased towards a particular department’s programmes simply because of the greater scope for corruption or because of political compulsions, at the expense of another department’s proposals. Another barrier is that water is seen as an input for other activities and not a resource; this informs the various departments’ approach to water. There are political barriers as well, since ministers tend to favour their constituents with projects and money. So for example the minister for water resources in a state will favour his constituency with projects under his ministry, at the expense of other sectors. This is another barrier to convergence since this department will safeguard its turf and seek to garner a greater share of water. Additionally, there is no single department that looks at water in its entirety, like the forest department does for forests that has made this sector so fragmented. The lack of data is another barrier to convergence – each department claims to have its own data sets but these are often incompatible and use different parameters.
In the convergence framework, I suggest making the village water sanitation committee the standing committee that has been mentioned, eliminating the need for another committee.
Indicators. There should be a separate thread for measuring corruption and another for equity, leading to equality. The other indicators are fine.
Other general comments are:
On page 2, the paper lists several paradigm shifts in the water sector, such as moving towards a demand responsive approach. However, all of these have remained on paper or suffered from the common malaise of programmes – they have become target oriented. On sustainability, if we are stating this as a principle of government service delivery, it should apply across the board to education, health and transport, not selectively to water and even more specifically, to rural water supply. Otherwise, we assume these are free services paid for by the taxes the government levies. In shifting its role to one of facilitator from provider, we need to examine if the government is abdicating responsibility for service delivery; is this creating room for another parallel power structure for service delivery. Can the government become a better provider through system reform, and what is needed to achieve this? Perhaps one model for water security can examine this approach as well. We also need to recognize that corruption is the single biggest cause of poor governance and is fed by factors such as bad design, weak panchayats and poorly trained water sector engineers. Corruption is also one of the root causes of the lack of convergence since each department wants a share of the action.
Another thing I would like to say is we need a water department that will pull together all the various uses of water, similar to the forest department. It will look at water as a whole – availability, use and possibilities of future expansion, etc., and allocate this resource in a sensible manner. At the moment, there is no department or ministry that has the required expertise to do this but it can be built with clearly defined powers and responsibilities to manage water. This can end the endless tussle between the 10-odd departments and ministries that are concerned with water in India . As an alternative, a strong panchayati raj system from the district to the village, can bring about the required convergence and its representatives need suitable training to do so.
Sunetra Lala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Delhi*
I would like attention to equity as part of the proposed approach to water security. I feel the systems and environment parts of the schematic on page 5 could address equity issues, at the moment mentioned only in governance. Equity as leading up to equal access for everybody especially women has to be built into the schematic for the water security framework. In the Resource section, access is also a criterion to mention in addition to quality and quantity. Access has to be qualified in terms of distance and elevation and linked to water use. So if a household needs 4 buckets of water to be carried from source, this has to be somehow built into the water security plan in terms of ensuring those 4 buckets of water are available within reasonable distance. I am not advocating for a piped water supply system but a reliable and accessible system to provide water that is safe to use at any time of day by women and affords them privacy. For example, the plan can provide for bathing rooms for women near a water source that they can use without fear or shame. This will mean adding another point in the implementation part, to ensure that access and use by women accommodates their specific needs. I feel it may be necessary to do a SWOT analysis to arrive at a proper use protocol.
Similarly while working out the indicators for monitoring, equity has to be one of the stand-along points as outlined above. The question to be asked should be has the water security plan made it easier for women to get to the source of water, and use it. If not, the plan needs to change.
Women need to be part of the planning and implementation life-cycle by sitting in and participating actively in the process. If they are reticent to speak, the facilitator has to ensure their concerns are collected and addressed in the water security plan.
* Offline Contribution
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