The Community Participation Unit

Community participation was an integral part of construction activities under Netherlands Assisted Projects. The responsibility of community participation activities, under Netherlands Assisted Projects was entrusted to M/S PSU Foundation by Royal Netherlands Embassy. But the agreement with PSU Foundation was terminated in Sept. 1997 and responsibility of community participation activities was assigned another agency M/S JPS Associates. But agreement of this agency was also terminated and due to this the progress of works under Netherlands Assisted Projects was suffering.

In view of this UP Jal Nigam, on request of Royal Netherlands Embassy, in October 1998, submitted a proposal to carry out the Community Participation activities. The proposal was accepted by Royal Netherlands Embassy.

Subsequently UP Jal Nigam in Feb 1999, created Community Participation Unit, vide Managing Director, U. P. Jal Nigam’s office order no. 421/pra-1/Mukhyalaya Stha (purva) /98 dated 22.02.99 for carrying community participation activities in Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation projects. This unit started work in June 1999. The unit was put under the administrative control of Chief Engineer (Dutch), U. P. Jal Nigam, Lucknow. Later on in view of growing importance of community participation in development projects, this unit was named as Community Participation Cell. U.P.

After completion of Netherlands funded Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Programme in Uttar Pradesh, the unit was entrusted to carryout UNICEF assisted programmes in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Presently in addition to UNICEF assisted programmes Community Participation Unit is also implementing works related to “Water Quality Survey” and “National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance Prograrmme” in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Staffing Pattern

Presently the Community Participation Unit is working under administrative control of Director State H. R. D. Cell. The unit is headed by a Joint Director in the rank of Executive Engineer with the staff of 4 Deputy Directors (Assistant Engineer), 1 Assistant Director (Junior Engineer) along with 7 Field Officers (Junior Engineer) and other supporting ministerial staff.

Activities of Community Participation Unit

To fulfil the delineated objectives following activities were taken up by the Cell.

Dutch Assisted SUB PROJECT VI (II) & VIII on Rural Water Supply

Experience gained over a period of nearly two decades of the Netherlands funded Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme in Uttar Pradesh has led to the inclusion of the community participation component (CPC) in the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project as it is very important for its sustainability. The importance of this has also been highlighted in RGNDWM, Government of India’s Guidelines 1999, wherein States are being encouraged to institutionalize community-based rural water supply and sanitation programmes, which secure active participation of beneficiaries and the Village Panchayats to plan, execute, own, operate and maintain rural water supply & sanitation facilities.

As mentioned above, Community Participation activities were taken up in water supply projects for the first time in 1986 Under Dutch assisted projects. While implementation of hardware was taken up by U. P. Jal Nigam, the community related works such as Site Selection for installation of New Hand Pumps (IM II), Review of Corrective Intervention in existing Hand Pumps, Formation & Trainings of Ward Committees and Collection of Beneficiaries Contribution towards capital cost etc. were taken care of by Project Support Unit (PSU), which was established by Dutch embassy for assisting U. P. Jal Nigam. However, when the contract of PSU was terminated in 1997, U. P. Jal Nigam established Community Participation Unit to facilitate community participation activities in districts Siddarth Nagar under Dutch Sub Project-VI(B) and in district Aligarh, Badaun, Ballia, Kanpur Dehat Moradabad and Unnao. The details of activities taken up is as below:-

Dutch Assisted Sub Projects  VIII

World Bank Assisted SWAJAL Project of Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation

Community Participation Unit has also work as Support Organization (SO) for 26 villages in district Lalitpur. Under the Planning Phase of the project activities such as formation & Trainings of VWSC, Finalisation of Water Supply Options in consultation with the community, Collection of community contribution for water supply system, Households Sanitery Latrine, Soakpits, Compost Pit and Drainage etc have been taken up. Preparation of Community Action Plan (CAP) and Detailed Project Report (DPR) was also carried out for these villages as Support Organization.Under the Implementation Phase of the project activities of VWSC Training, Facilitation of VWSC for construction of various components according to DPR & CAP, and capacity building of community for operation and maintenance of W/S Sources etc were taken up.

Collection of Community Contribution for Installation of Handpumps

Uttar Pradesh was first state in India to cover all the 253508 habitation of state, with water supply as per the norms of one safe water source for every 250 person. After achieving this, it was decided that the work of providing one safe water source for every 150 persons, on demand responsive approach. Under this approach community was required to make contribution equivalent to 10%of capital cost of water supply system. In the initial stage of the programme mobilisation of community for making 10% contribution was difficult, because of the community’s perception that providing water supply is the sole responsibility of Govt agencies. To facilitate the district units of U.P.Jal Nigam, Community Participation Unit took the responsibility to institutionalise the process of community mobilisation. Collection of 10% community contribution towards capital cost for Installation of India Mark –II Hand Pumps in 19 Blocks of 9 Districts have been done by Community Participation cell as below:

UNICEF Assisted Works

Promotion of Sanitation through Alternate Delivery System (ADS)

Mass awareness campaign on environmental sanitation was carried out in the eight blocks of District-Allahabad for motivating the rural community to construct low cost latrines for individual houses. Under the project 2068 Households have been motivated to install Low Cost Sanitary Latrines made of Ferro- Cement Squatting platforms, without any subsidy.

Four production Centers for producing Low Cost Sanitation facilities such as Ferro- Cement Squatting Platforms has been established under the project. These production centers provide Ferro-cement sanitary installations to beneficiaries on payment.

DFID-UNICEF assisted "Child Environment Project (CEP)"

DFID-UNICEF assisted "Child Environment Program" on Water Supply, Environmental Sanitation, Health & Hygiene is being implemented in two blocks of three districts of Badaun, Balrampur and Lalitpur. Works of Child's Environment Project are being carried out in following four phases

• Preplanning Phase
• Planning Phase
• Implementation Phase
• O&M and Withdrawal Phase

DFID-UNICEF assisted "Child Environment Project (CEP)"

Aim of the project is to create awareness for Safe Water, Environmental Sanitation and Personal Hygiene in the community and to build its capacity for developing and maintaining water and Sanitation facilities at villages level through participatory process. Through the activities carried out under the Child's Environment Project, this cell has facilitated the community to prepare. Gram Panchayat Environment Plan (GPEP) in 150-Gram Panchayats. The GPEP contains following nine components:

• Improvement in Water Supply Systems
• Environment Sanitation
• Source development and Water Management
• Empowerment of women
• Inter sectoral co-ordination
• Institutional development and capacity building at grass root level
• Hygiene education
• School sanitation
• Community based monitoring and evaluation

The phase wise progress of works is shown in following table

Urban initiative in urban slums of Allahabad

Community Participation Unit has carried out a project of awareness development with the help of UNICEF in 143 urban slums of district Allahabad. CARE Allahabad was carrying out a programme on reproductive health in all the slums of Allahabad under its Aashara Project. During the implementation of project it was felt that if the resource group under Aashara Project where trained on water and sanitation issues then the they can use there knowledge in training the target groups which may in turn increase the effectiveness of reproductive health education because use of safe water and sanitary facilities will contribute to better reproductive health and reduce the chances of infections caused in the reproductive organs due to unsanitary conditions.

It was also felt by the care team that if the benefactors where trained as mechanics and caretakers then their enhanced incomes may help them in supporting the desired interventions for their improved reproductive health. Normally for dissemination of knowledge following groups have been established by the care team:

• Women Health Worker (WHW)
• Male Health Worker (MHW)
• Male Health Worker (MHW)
• Male Health Worker (MHW)
• Trained Birth Attendant (TBA)

The training modules were developed to include water and sanitation issues in the on going trainings programmes.

The unit has carried out following programmes-

• Training of hand pump mechanics
• Training of hand pump caretakers
• Base line survey for establishing the bench mark
• Knowledge, aptitude and perception (KAP) study for evalution of awareness and training programmes
• Training for water quality surveillance at community level
• Training of women care takers/ Watsan Users Group (WUG)

Government is providing safe water supply to usage through its agencies by installing India Marked hand pumps. It is well known that India Marked-II Hand Pumps are the safest and most commonly available source of drinking water, but due to unawareness majority of community still uses traditional unsafe sources. Poor maintenance and lack of trained persons at the community level leads to frequent break down of hand pumps and also results into prolonged down time forcing the community to revert back to unsafe sources. By training the groups in the slums as mechanics/ caretakers, the effective down time was substantially reduced and which resulted into reduced burden of illness caused by water borne diseases on the slum dwellers. It is generally felt that the women being a main users of water training them as caretakers and mechanics may prove more effective. In view of this it was decided that mostly women should be selected as care takers and mechanics. To full fill this object organisation carried out training of women caretakers. In this work shop 60 women were trained for preventive maintenance of hand pumps through community participation.

Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission sponsored project for Intensive Awareness Campaign through Information, Education and Communication

The Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) has been concerned with the supply of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to all habitations in the country. Community’s perception of health and hygiene play important role in implementing the projects of safe drinking water and proper environmental sanitation. These basic amenities have to be provided at cost-effective norms with scope of adequate operation and maintenance at the local level. Over the last decade the Mission has successfully covered the majority of habitations with the safe source that is Hand Pumps and Tap Stand Posts, compared to this, the sanitation coverage has been rather very low in the country. It has been realised that the objective of supplying safe water would not be achieved unless the sanitary and hygiene aspects are addressed simultaneously.

Though substantial progress has been achieved in the sector of community water supply, health benefits have not been commensurate with the investment made, primarily because of following five factors.

• People are not fully aware about the linkages of water supply and sanitation with the health.
• People are not fully aware about the linkages of water supply and sanitation with the health.
• There has been lack of participation of people, particularly women
• Lack of institutional arrangement for O&M of WATSAN facilities at village/ community level
• Surveillance of water quality has been totally neglected.

Many of the grass root level workers and users know that several diseases are caused due to poor quality of drinking water and unhygienic condition of the village, but they are at loss to understand as to how to determine quality of drinking water and solve the unsanitary condition of the problem villages. In order to achieve success in the aforesaid directions, it is necessary to provide the grass root workers and beneficiaries with sufficient knowledge about quality, importance of safe water and environmental sanitation, linkages of unsafe water and unhygienic conditions with the human and animal health living together in the village community.

However it is now recognised that the objective of supply in safe water and providing sanitation facilities cannot be achieved unless the community is mobilised to manage the water and sanitation systems set up by the Mission, State Government and other agencies. And also, sanitation should not view merely as construction of latrines but as a package of seven components including:

• Collection, storage and handling of drinking water
• Safe disposal of human excreta
• Disposal of liquid waste
• Home sanitation and food hygiene
• Personal hygiene (including hand washing)
• Appropriate disposal of Solid Waste.
• Community and Neighborhood Sanitation (Environmental Hygiene)

The amendment in State Panchayats Act in view of the 73rd Constitutional amendment has given powers to the village Panchayats to function as self-government. Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) have been entrusted with the responsibility of formulation, implementation of the programmes of development and social justice. The responsibility of Gram Panchayat, therefore, includes sectoral planning. The PRIs must know how to plan, implement and maintain simple basic services on sustainable basis. Several water and sanitation facilities installed in the villages are under- utilised for want of care, maintenance and proper operation at village level. Most of the water and sanitation problems in the village arise not due to the technology failures but due to non-participation of the community or Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs). Now, the decentralisation of power to the PRIs has been made to look after the water supply, sanitation, health, education and other developmental activities in the village. Therefore, the communities and the PRIs need to be oriented and sensitized for better management of the facilities and integrated development of the communities in rural sector.

To fulfill the above objectives it was proposed to carry out intensive awareness campaign in the rural areas of the state. Four districts viz; Banda, Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras), Raebareli and Varanasi were selected for the first phase as per the direction from Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Rajeev Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, Water Supply Department, New Delhi to the State Government vide letter no. W-11043 / 25 / 2000 – Media dated January 12, 2001.

For implementation of the project Regional Institute of Rural Development (RIRD), Raebareli, Polytechnic Band, and District Institute of Education and Training Varanasi and Hathras were given the responsibility of District coordinating agency, in the respective districts as per the advise of Their District Magistrate. In these four districts activities of formation, strengthening and training of Water Management Committees along with the mass awareness campaign by use of inter personal media i.e. village contact drives, folk media, nukkad nataks, puppet shows, folk dances, lok geet, wall writing, hoardings, posters, etc. has been carried out..

SURVEY FOR STATUS OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLY IN RURAL HABITATIONS OF UTTAR PRADESH

For the effective implementation of Rural Water Supply Programme, availability of basic information is an essential pre-requisite. The first nation wide rural habitation survey to assess the rural drinking water supply coverage status was conducted through the State Governments in the year 1991. The results were revalidated during 1993-94, verified in 1996-97 and updated in the year 1999-2000. In consonance with the National Agenda for Governance of the Government of India, the Rural Water Supply programme aimed at providing drinking water to all rural habitation by the end of the year 2003-2004. Keeping this in view, it was felt in different forum including in the State Ministers’ Conference on Rural drinking Water Supply held on 19-20 October 2001 that a fresh survey may be conducted to ascertain the exact position of the status of the rural habitations with regard to availability of drinking water and the result of which could form the basis for developing future strategies for the programme. The objective of the survey was to ascertain reliable information

SURVEY FOR STATUS OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLY IN RURAL HABITATIONS OF UTTAR PRADESH

On the status of drinking water supply in rural habitations, and rural schools

On the water sources tested for quality problem, details of existing safe drinking water supply system in such quality affected habitations.

Community Participation was entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out this survey in coordination with district units of U.P.Jal Nigam and District Administration. Detailed planning was done for proper conduct of the survey in the desired time frame. Following main activities were carried out for the Survey:

PRINTING OF SURVEY FORMAT :

Every habitation in the rural areas was to be covered by the survey A set of formats (Part-I & II) for collection of data from rural habitations was printed and provided to all the districts. The instructions/ guidelines for carrying out the works were also provided in sufficient numbers.

TRAINING

Since this survey involved understanding of technical terms, a very comprehensive training on all aspects of the Survey and the data to be collected for all those involved in the training was essential. The number and the type of people required at the field level was assessed and three levels of training were organized for them:

SURVEY FOR STATUS OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLY IN RURAL HABITATIONS OF UTTAR PRADESH

In the first level, the State and District level authorities i.e. officers in charge at the State level, District Collector, Superintending Engineer/ Executive Engineer etc. were trained to familiarize them with the format and the various activities to be undertaken. These trained personnel were utilized for the second level of training.

The second level trainings included Assistant Executive Engineers, Sub-Divisional Officers, Junior Engineers, representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions, line Departments, and Voluntary Organizations etc.

For the third level of training was for operational level functionaries like the Work-Assistants, Health Workers, representatives of the Non-Government Organizations etc.

Collection of Data:

Field teams consisting of field staff of U.P.Jal Nigam were constituted for collection of data from field on the survey formats. The data collected from the habitations for each census village was arranged serially following the census code number of census villages within each block and serially for the blocks as per the census code number of Blocks within each district. The data was compiled on the software at district level and sent to the State headquarters for processing and preparation of the report.

The survey was completed in October 2004 and the data was sent to Rajiv Gandhi National Rural Drinking Water Mission, New Delhi for necessary action.

UNICEF Assisted project for “ Study of Arsenic in Ground Water of Uttar Pradesh”

Arsenic problem in Uttar Pradesh was first reported in 2003, following a study conducted by School of Environmental Studies, Jadhavpur University (SOES-JU) in Ballia district. Jal Nigam has also got 52 samples from Ballia, tested in 2004. These 52 samples were from India Mark-II hamdpumps (41 samples), shallow handpump and tube-well. Out of 41 samples from India Mark-II hamdpumps, only three sources were found to contain arsenic above 50 µg/l.

Also, after the results of study of arsenic in Nepal came to light, SIIR/UNICEF conducted a study during 2003-04 in 8 districts of Uttar Pradesh, bordering Nepal (i.e. in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Baharaich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, and Kushinagar) and 2 non-border districts (Lucknow and Unnao).

On the basis of the findings of above studies, it was felt that the testing for Arsenic should be taken up in the state to identify the prevalence of Arsenic contamination in ground water of Uttar Pradesh. Accordingly, an action plan was developed with support from UNICEF, and, the work of arsenic testing and mitigation was taken up in phased manner. Under the first phase, works of Arsenic Testing and Mitigation were taken up in 2 districts, namely Ballia and Lakhimpur Kheri.. Unicef is providing, support to carry out its activities.

Field Testing by use of Field Test Kits

For the first tier, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL, Pune) approved Field test kits are being used for field-testing for arsenic in Uttar Pradesh. These can test for arsenic in the range 10-110 µg/l, and have a relatively small random error at 50 mg/l. All the samples collected from sources will be tested by FTK.

Use of UV Spectrophotometers

For the 2nd-tier testing at district level, it is planned to make use of UV spectrophotometers.

Use of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS)

At the 3rd-tier level, water samples are being tested at ITRC, Lucknow on Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), using FI-AAS-HG technique, for validating field test results, on 10 per cent sampling basis.

Phase-I

Under the Phase-I of Project testing for Arsenic contamination in ground water of Ballia and Lakhimpur districts have been completed

Results of arsenic testing by Field Test Kits (FTKs).

Under the project initially, screening testing has been done in Lakhimpur Kheri and Ballia to identify the “hot Spots” in the study districts. As per the project proposal, in habitations where 10 or<10 water="" sources="" exist="" sample="" from="" 1="" source="" and="" habitations="" where="">10 water sources exist sample from 2 sources were tested by field test kits.

This testing represents approximately 15 to 20% of the available government water sources in rural areas. It has been assessed as being effective at determining the distribution of arsenic in the districts and locating arsenic ‘hotspot’ villages Testing is complete in Ballia and ongoing in Lakhimpur Kheri. The results of screening testing were as follows:

The results of testing by Field Test Kits are not very accurate; therefore these results are used to identify the “hot spots”. For more accurate testing of arsenic two UV Spectrophotometers, one at Ballia and another one at Lakhimpur Kheri district laboratory have been provided by UNICEF.

Phase-II

Under the Phase-II of the project following works have been undertaken:

Further testing in districts Ballia and Lakhimpur Kheri:

In identified arsenic ‘hotspot’ villages further and blanket testing of government sources was conducted to determine the true extent and magnitude of arsenic contamination of shallow groundwater. Blanket testing in Ballia and Lakhimpur Kheri was conducted in the following manner:

• All Govt sources of those blocks where during screening more than 10% of sources tested were found to have arsenic >50 ppb, were tested for arsenic.
• All Govt sources of those habitations of remaining blocks where during screening even a single sample was found to have arsenic >50 ppb, were tested for arsenic.

Blanket testing was conducted using the Field Test Kits. All the sources reported to have arsenic>50 ppb, were tested by spectrophotometers. Sample sites were located using the Geo Positioning System (GPS) units.

The results of blanket testing were as follows:

Determining the scale of the problem in other potential districts

Arsenic ‘hotspots’ are generally found near to the major rivers of UP and the distribution of arsenic in groundwater in Ballia and Lakhimpur Kheri appears to correlate to the geologically youngest geomorphic units identified by the Geological Survey of India on their ‘Geomorphological Map of India, First Edition, 2002’. Specifically these are: Unit F17b - Present floodplains; and Unit F22 - Riverine terraces. Unit F17c: Older alluvial plains seem to be free from arsenic on initial inspection. On the basis of this occurrence of arsenic in groundwater in 49 more districts of state was suspected. Under Phase-II of the project, UNICEF supported screening testing in these 49 districts.

Screening Testing in 49 districts is in progress. Results of testing work done so far is given in Annexure-I. So for out of 92895 samples tested in these 49 districts, only 979 drinking water samples from 48 blocks of 18 districts of have been found with Arsenic content > 50ppb. Results of Arsenic Testing in 49 Districts is given in the following table:

Provision of safe water sources for arsenic affected population have been

On the basis of blanket testing, 321 rural habitations in District-Ballia and 165 rural habitations in distt- Lakhimpur Kheri has been identified to be affected by Arsenic contamination.

In habitations, where all hand pumps within a reasonable distance are arsenic-contaminated and no alternative arsenic-safe source of water exists new are being provided. For the arsenic-contaminated areas alternative arsenic-safe source of water is proposed to be provided by

Installing deeper IM-II hand pumps, by tapping a deeper third layer beyond 70-100 metres below ground level, which is found to be arsenic-free.

Through piped water supply schemes by utilizing surface water from rivers, lakes, ponds, which is normally free from arsenic contamination.

Presently, in district Lakhimpur Kheri, for the habitations already identified to have arsenic contamination in their existing sources following mitigation measures are being taken up with UNICEF/GoUP funds:

As a short to medium term measure 250 extra deep handpump wells in district Ballia at a cost of Rs 95.05 lacs and 50 extra deep handpump wells in district Lakhimpur Kheri has at a cost of Rs 29.69 lacs been installed in the habitations already identified to have Arsenic contamination in their existing sources. Scheme for installation of 25 extra deep hand pumps for 21 Arsenic affected habitations at the cost of Rs. 11.98 lacs have also been approved, work on which will be taken up shortly.

7 piped water supply scheme covering 57 habitations of district Ballia amounting to Rs. 458.34 lacs and 5 piped water supply scheme covering 36 habitations of district Lakhimpur Kheri amounting to Rs. 449.32 have been approved by the state government..

DRINKING WATER QUALITY SURVEY IN RURAL HABITATIONS OF UTTAR PRADESH (Ph-II)

A proposal for Survey of Drinking Water Quality of all the sources in all the Rural Habitations of those blocks, where water was found to contain impurities during first phase of survey carried out in the year 2001, amounting to Rs. 2631.53 lakhs was prepared as per the directives received vide DO letter no. W-11016 / 2 / 99 - TM II dated 16.03.00 of Joint Secretary GoI, Ministry of Rural Development, New Delhi (Annexure-I). The proposal was approved by the State Level Source Finding and Technical Committees in its meeting on 08.04.05 and accordingly it was submitted to Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission for financial assistance.

Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, after scrutiny of the proposal suggested some modifications in it. Accordingly the proposal for Water quality Survey in Uttar Pradesh (Phase-II) has been revised proposal as per the instructions received from Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, GoI vide letter no 11037/02/2005-TM-II dated 19.10.05.

NEED FOR WATER QUALITY SURVEY:

Water plays a vital role in ecosystems that sustain human life and is pivotal to sustainable development. The lack of access to safe water, its pollution and over-exploitation are amongst the most serious environmental problems affecting society, with even more serious repercussions for future generations. Rapid population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation are placing increasing pressure on water quantity and quality. It is estimated that by 2025 two thirds of the world's population will be living under water scarce conditions. It will be the major impediment to development in many regions.

In recent years some of the gains made in the provision of safe water are being threatened by over-extraction and environmental pollution. In many regions, sources of water traditionally available in abundance for domestic use are now disappearing. Parallel to the over-exploitation of water is an alarming increase in the pollution of water from industry and agriculture, and from other sources. As a result, some hand pumps, which once provided clean water, are now abandoned because ground water depletion has aggravated water quality problems. Some areas of the state are affected by excess salinity, fluoride, nitrate and arsenic in the ground water and microbial contamination making it unfit for human consumption. This is necessitating to either abandon the low cost hand pump based system and to undertake costly and complicated piped water supply schemes or to concentrate their efforts on the exploitation of groundwater from different depths.

Consumers, and most of all the poorly educated and uneducated, are, to a large extent, are unable to link their health problems with the quality of water they are consuming. This is despite the fact that a large share of public health problems are directly related to quality of water consumed. In the best of cases consumers are aware, but in the absence of means to judge the safety of drinking water themselves, aspects of water quality that they are able to perceive with their own senses affect their attitude towards drinking water. It is natural, therefore, for them to regard with grave suspicion water that appears dirty or discoloured or that has an unpleasant taste or smell, even though these characteristics may not in themselves be of any direct consequence to their health. An unfortunate but possible outcome thus is that water, safe from the point of view of health, is rejected on aesthetic grounds, and perhaps an alternative source of water, though unsafe from health point of view, is accepted because it is aesthetically acceptable, thereby leading to grave implications for health.

BACKGROUND

Water Quality in the Rural Drinking Water Supply has emerged as a major issue. Water Quality problems have persisted for so long now and have to be given top priority if complete coverage is desired. Drinking water problem is not only in terms of availability of quantity but also quality of the water available. Rural drinking water supply is to a large extent dependent on ground water (85%). Though ground water is less susceptible to pollution as compared to surface water, the nature of quality problem in ground water is of two types:

• It is inherent in the form of contamination caused by the very nature of geological formation, viz. excess fluoride, arsenic, brackishness, iron, etc.
• Ground water pollution caused by human intervention (anthropogenic) viz. nitrates. 15 per cent of the rural water supply comes from surface water sources. Major quality problem for surface water is seasonal turbidity. Water also suffers from bacteriological contamination, reasons being anthropogenic

The primary objectives of the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission is to improve the performance and cost effectiveness of rural drinking water supply programme to ensure the availability of an adequate quantity of drinking water of acceptable quality on a long term basis. This includes monitoring the quality of water after identification of problems, tackling the same by the application of science and technology to ensure that the water available is of acceptable quality and ensure that the quantity and quality of water is sustainable on a long-term basis.

In the report of working group on Water Quality Sub-Missions, some of the major objectives during the Tenth Five Year Plan have been out lined as under:

• Ensuring submission of action plans by States for implementation of coverage of quality-affected habitations based on 5-10% water quality survey.
• Institutionalizing community based water quality monitoring, adopting catchment area approach along with establishing appropriate institutional mechanism right from Panchayat to State headquarter level including adequate infrastructure
• Refinement of removal technology to make it cost effective and user friendly and technology for safe disposal of sludge.
• Propagating water harvesting and conservation on a large scale for ensuring sustainability of source.

In view of this, to provide a good basis for future planning, survey for assessment of water quality is being undertaken by the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission in two phases. Under the Phase-I of this water quality survey 27559 samples of rural water supply in the state of Uttar Pradesh were tested for fluoride, nitrate, TDS and iron in the year 2001. During this survey samples from 10885 habitations; spread over 70 districts were found ‘Not Safe’. Results of the Phase-I, indicate that water quality problem exists in the water sources of all the 70 districts of the state.

SCOPE OF SURVEY:

PROJECT AREA

As per the census of year 2001, there are 70 districts / 813 Blocks / 107452 villages in the state of UP. As per the habitation survey conducted in 2004, there are 260110 rural habitations in the state.

Under Phase II of the water quality survey, testing of samples of all sources, of those blocks in which any habitation was found affected by water quality problems under phase I is to be done as per the directives of GoI. Samples from 752 blocks were tested in Phase I survey, out of which 725 blocks were found to be quality affected whereas no water source was found to be affected by quality problem in remaining 27 blocks. Remaining 62 blocks were left out during the Phase first of quality survey, hence, no sample was tested from these 62 blocks.

During subsequent water quality testing, water quality affected sources were found from 8 blocks out of 27 blocks (Annexure III), which were previously reported to have no quality affected water sources during Phase I of survey.

Thus on the basis of results of Phase-I survey and subsequent testing the water quality situation in the 814 blocks of state can be summerised as below:

• No testing has been done in 62 blocks.
• Water sources in 733 (725+8) blocks are quality affected

Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, GoI vide letter no 11037/02/2005-TM-II dated 19.10.05 has advised GoUP to conduct the Phase-II of water quality survey in the following manner:

• 10% survey of all affected blocks in the districts of UP, which are suspected with arsenic contamination, with 1% of ARWSP funds.
• 100% survey of water sources in blocks where fluoride and salinity has been found during the Phase-I of survey, by Field Test Kits with ARWSP funds

Presently, 10% survey of all those blocks, which are suspected with arsenic contamination, has been initiated with UNICEF support. Funds from 1% ARWSP will be used to cover the balance fund requirement, if any, for this purpose.

As advised by RGNDWSM, Plan of Action was prepared for 100% survey of water sources in the blocks found affected with Fluoride and Salinity in Phase I survey as well as during subsequent testings. As per the results of Phase-I survey there are 552 Blocks in the state, in which water sources are contaminated with Fluoride and/or Salinity contamination. Consolidated list of these 552 blocks is given in Annexure V. There are 4 more blocks affected with Fluoride and/or TDS contamination, among the 8 blocks found quality affected in subsequent testing. These blocks are also being proposed to be included in the Ph-II. This way, in all, 100% testing will be carried out in 556 blocks of the state. As per the habitation survey there are approx. 9.25 Lakh sources in 1,82,913 habitations of these 556 blocks. The number of sources in these habitations may increase because of installation of more sources after the habitation survey. In view of this it is expected that approximately 9.50 lakh sources would have to be tested under the Phase-II of quality survey.

As stated above, testing was not conducted in 62 blocks of state under Phase-II of the water quality survey, therefore no information, as such, is available regarding the water quality situation in these blocks. The Principal secretary GoUP, during meeting held on 22.07.05, instructed to carry out testing of water sources on the pattern of Phase-I, in order to assess the water quality situation in these 62 blocks.

There are 7305 revenue villages in these 62 blocks. Accordingly testing of one source from each of 7305 revenue villages is proposed. This way about 7500 sources will be required to be tested as per Phase-I norms of water quality survey.

A) PARAMETERS

As per the guidelines issued by RGNDWM, a source is said to be safe if it is free from physical, chemical and bacteriological contamination and conforms to the prescribed drinking water quality standards. As per the guidelines issued by RGNDWM for conduct of habitation survey, the recommended standards for acceptability and rejection of drinking water in India by (World Health Organization) WHO and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) is as follows:

* For determination of habitation with salinity problem, TDS limit as cause for rejection for rural areas is fixed at present at 1500 mg/l against the recommended limit of 2000 mg/l. According to convention, salinity is measured based on TDS characteristics. TDS has close co-relation with salinity

However, as per the guidelines for water quality survey, issued vide DO letter no. W-11016 / 2 / 99 - TM II dated 16.03.00 of Joint Secretary GoI, Ministry of Rural Development, New Delhi, under the present proposal, all the sources in affected 552 blocks, will be tested only for following parameters under phase-II of the water quality survey:

• Arsenic
• Fluoride
• Salinity
• Iron
• NitrateNitrate

B) FEILD TEST KITS

Field Test Kits (FTKs) have been procured and distributed to district units for use in field testing of water sources. These Field Test Kits (FTKs) are capable of testing parameters of TDS, Fluoride, Nitrate, Nitrite, Iron and Iron.

Each test kit comes with glassware and reagents required for testing of 100 samples. These FTKs can be used for testing of additional sources with the help refills, which contain reagents required for testing.

C) DETAILED ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES

100% samples of affected blocks will be tested for four parameters viz; Fluoride, Salinity, Iron and Nitrate with the help of FTKs. For detailed water quality analysis, it is proposed to test about 5% of the samples in the district level laboratory of UP Jal Nigam. Another 0.5% of the total samples tested in field are proposed to be sent to state level referral laboratory / UP Jal Nigam laboratory for validation of field/ district laboratory test reports.

UP Jal Nigam, the nodal department for water supply in the state of Uttar Pradesh is implementing this project through its district units. Local Divisions of Jal Nigam are working as Nodal Agencies in each district to complete the quality survey work.

Founding of Water Quality Survey Projects:

As per the instructions of GoI, recd vide letter no. 11037/02/2005-TM-II dated 19.10.05. this project for Water Quality Survey (Phase-II), is proposed to be carried out with ARWSP funds. The funding will be made by the GoI and GoUP in the ratio 75:25.

Guidelines on Quality Survey for the field teams, formats for recording of results and labels for sampling bottles etc have been developed by the Community Participation Unit. These will be printed in sufficient quantity for use under the project and will be provided to district units of UP Jal Nigam. The members of field teams constituted for survey work will use these during the conduct of survey. The results of testing of samples of sources will be recorded in a separate format, which will be used for data entry.

Orientation of Project Officials :

For effective implementation of the survey work, it is necessary that all the officials participating in the survey be well acquainted with the working guidelines developed for the project, the test procedure and the relevant formats for reporting of progress as well as the results of survey work. They are also required to be made aware of importance of entry of correct information in the formats and sending these to relevant higher levels in systematically arranged way.

The project officials are also to be apprised of the process of sample collection, correct use of field test kits, method filling up the data in prescribed formats etc and to properly supervise the routine activities of survey. Accordingly training has been imparted to the teams for effective implementation of survey.

Water Sample Collection & Preservation :

Proper sampling procedures is being adopted to ensure that analytical results represent the correct concentration of parameters actually present in the water sample. Representative sample collection from hand tube wells requires flushing of hand pumps to remove stagnant water. The type of the sample container, used to collect water samples, is of utmost importance along with proper preservation of samples when required.

Field Testing

To conduct water quality testing of all the sources in the laboratory, for identifying the safe and unsafe drinking water sources is a huge task, which would be time consuming, expensive, as the sample will have to be taken to long distances. To make the water quality testing more cost effective, simpler and faster and accurate, Field Testing Kits capable of sufficiently accurate chemical testing of water are proposed be used for conduct of survey work. This kit comprises of necessary glassware and chemicals required for chemical testing of drinking water. The chemicals of this field-testing kit when added to water sample changes its colour. The extent of presence of the chemical being observed and quantified by comparing the colour of sample with the colour comparators/ charts provided with the kit.

Date Entry At District Laval :

The results of each day's sampling are recorded in the prescribed formats. It is very important that the information is clearly entered on all forms. The date of sample collection/testing, name and signature of analyst and Gram Pradhan or other Panchayat member etc are also to be clearly recorded on the format at appropriate place. The results of the water quality tests shall be recorded on individual test report sheets and daily report sheets. At the end of each week's sampling and testing, the data should be sent to the coordinator on appropriate format, for entering into database.

Documentation & Presentation :

The initial data on prescribed formats is filled by the JE at field level. This shall be compiled for district level at Executive Engineers office and put into the database designed for this work. Chief Engineer's office will compile data of the district under its jurisdiction and will arrange to make it Commissionary wise. These data will be sent to Director, State HRD Cell, Lucknow in final shape of Hard copy & CDs.

FTKs has already been procured and work of water quality survey has been started immediately with these kits, after approval of the action plan by State level Source Finding and Technical Committees. It is proposed to complete the survey work by July 2007.

National Rural Drinking Water Monitoring & Surveillance Programme:

Rajiv Gandhi National rural drinking water mission has initiated a “National Rural Drinking Water Monitoring & Surveillance Programme” for institutionalization of drinking water quality monitoring and surveillance systems in the country. As drinking water quality monitoring, and quality surveillance are two distinct but closely related activities, requiring drinking water quality monitoring by suppliers of the drinking water and surveillance by the Health authorities, the workshop had also recommended close collaboration between drinking water supply agencies and Health authorities all over the Therefore, for cost norms, these Guidelines should be referred to for implementation of NRDWQM&SP

OBJECTIVES

• Monitoring and surveillance of all drinking water sources in the country by the community.
• Decentralization of water quality monitoring and surveillance of all rural drinking water sources in the country.
• Institutionalization of community participation and involvement of PRIs for water quality monitoring and surveillance
• Generation of awareness among the rural masses about the water quality issues and the problems related to water borne diseases.

Building capacity of Panchayats to own the field test kit and take up full O&M responsibility for water quality monitoring of all drinking water sources in their respective PRI area.

Under the programme, 100 % funding is being provided for IEC activities, HRD activities, strengthening of district level laboratories, procurement of field test kits, travel & transport cost, data reporting cost, stationery cost, honorarium to district level surveillance coordinators, water testing, documentation and data entry costs to the States for strengthening water quality monitoring facilities as per approved norms for water quality monitoring and surveillance programme and ARWSP guidelines. The existing personnel (both technical and non-technical) in several departments like PHE, Health, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj etc., would be mobilized and involved.

O&M of the field test kits including refilling costs for field test kits, cost of disinfectants, minor remedial expenses, annuity and mobility, honorarium to grass root workers, and honorarium to GP level coordinator will be covered by community contribution

ne field test kit per GP shall be provided. In addition, demo kits shall also be provided as per the following breakup: - State/SRI -1 no. District-3 nos. & Block-2 nos.

The funds for implementation of the Programme will be released by Government of India to the SWSM/PHED/Boards, based on criteria like number of drinking water sources, number of GPs, Block Panchayats, districts, total rural population, etc. in respective States.

State Governments then release funds relating to IEC and HRD to the CCDU. Funds for setting up of new laboratories and strengthening of existing district level laboratories and administrative expenses shall be released by the States to DWSM/District laboratory.

For meeting recurring costs of field test kits and other expenses, the community could contribute @ Rs 1 per family per month and deposit in the VWSC accounts with separate ledger.

Under the programme IEC and HRD activities are being carried out by State water and Sanitation Mission. U.P Jal nigam has been given the responsibility of Providing Field test kits to Gram Panchayats.

A total amount of Rs. 1519.03 lacs have been released to the Uttar Pradesh for Monitoring and Surveillanc activities under National Drinking Water Monitoring & Surveillance Programme in two installments for Procurement of Field Testing Kits for chemical parameters and Bacteriological Field Testing Kits and other activities..

Orders of supply of 15,000 Field Testing Kits for testing of chemical parameters and 25 lac bacteriological test kits (H2S Vials) have been issued. So far 6300 Field Testing Kits for testing of chemical parameters and 20 lakh bacteriological test kits (H2S Vials) have been procured.

U.P Jal Nigam has started to provide Kits to Block Development Officers for distribution to Gram Panchayats.