Uttarakhand, with presence of mighty glaciers and perennial
rivers, is a water rich state. Also, due to its topography, the state receives
decent rainfall[1].
Ironically, while Uttarakhand serves the water demand of other states of
northern India, the natives of Uttarakhand are facing a water crisis, especially
pertaining to drinking water. Being a hilly state and possessing an uneven
terrain, makes the situation more complicated in terms of water availability to
the rural masses in remote areas. The non-availability of water directly has a
bearing on the sanitation, leading to lack of hygienic practices being followed
by the community.
Historically, in rural India drinking water supply has been
outside the governments’ sphere of influence. The Government of India’s
effective role in the rural drinking water supply sector started in 1972, with
the launch of Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP). Since then,
in-spite of collective efforts of the State and Central Governments, coupled
with huge investments of about Rs. 726 billion in the rural water supply sector
under both, State and Central Plans up-to 2009 in India[2],
merely 57% of the country’s rural population has access to adequate supply of
safe drinking water. In 2009, the ARWSP was modified as the National Rural
Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) with major emphasis on ensuring sustainability
of water availability adopting decentralized approach involving PRIs and
community organizations. The 12th Five Year plan approach of focus on
piped water supply, increasing household tap connections and raising drinking
water supply norms from 40 lpcd to 55 lpcd will lead to the status of more than
90% habitations becoming Partially Covered (PC).
As per Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Govt. Of India, latrine
coverage is only about one third of population. It is
a matter of national shame that there are an estimated 626 million people in
India defecating in the open and this constitutes nearly 60% of those practising
open defecation in the entire world. Hand washing is also very low, leading to
spread of disease. As far as water supply is concern, only 71%
habitations with 100% Population Coverage (37% with piped water supply) could
have been achieved.
The scenario is far worse in Uttarakhand, which consist of
sparsely populated clusters. Rudimentary infrastructure for the provision of
safe drinking water is still absent in many parts of the hilly regions. In
places where services have been provided, the beneficiary communities do not pay
for inadequate / sub-standard services, resulting in service utilities becoming
financially unsustainable. In recent past, Uttarakhand has suffered severe
environmental degradation. Consequently, the residents of the state have found
it increasingly difficult to gather the basic resources for daily subsistence.
This has led to heavy out–migration, particularly of able-bodied males. The
reduced availability of labour in the family has increased the daily workload of
women. Women have to increasingly spend more and more time approximately 3-4
hours daily to fetch water from greater distance. Scarcity of drinking water is
on the rise with steady decline of water sources in the central and western
Himalayan region. Overall, house hold latrine coverage is around 54% and
drinking water by 52%[3].
Tata Trusts through Himmotthan and its partners in Uttarakhand and Himachal
Pradesh