The Challenge

Assam

Assam is still dependent on water from rain, streams, and rivers for drinking and other domestic purposes. These sources have proven to be unsafe. Access to safe drinking water and the status of sanitation & hygiene in Assam is substantially less than the national average. Assam has 63.35 lakh rural households, out of which only 6.67 lakh (10.75%) are getting tap water supply. PHED is the main government agency which is responsible for water supply. However, many international NGOs/CBOs, private organizations, and individuals fulfil the daily demand of rural population by utilizing ground water source through, dug wells, dug – cum – bore wells and shallow tube wells. Villages are reported with high presence of Arsenic, Iron and Fluoride, are mainly relying on surface water sources such as River Brahmaputra and its tributaries, ponds, lakes, etc.

Uttar Pradesh

The Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions in Uttar Pradesh, India, are some of the most water-scarce areas in the country. Only around 19% of the rural population in UP have access to piped water supply schemes. Several people are forced to walk long distances to obtain water which may not be available in absolute quantity or of prescribed quality, leading to water-borne diseases. More than 37% of ground or surface water in rural habitations is contaminated.

Karnataka

Groundwater quality is a serious problem in more than half of the villages of districts such as Bagalkot, Bijapur, Chamarajnagar. The Union ministry of water resources shows that 43% of 59,774 rural habitations don’t have full drinking water coverage. Of 59,774 rural habitations in Karnataka, 34,345 (57%) have full coverage, while 24,977 (41%) have partial access less than 40 litres per day while the remaining habitations get contaminated water. The districts water supply is also affected by toxicities including:

• Fluoride in 14 districts for 10-67% of total habitations.
• Brackishness in 13 districts for 10-27% of total habitations,
• Nitrate in 8 districts for 10-51% of total habitations
• Iron in 12 districts for 10-63% of total

Rajasthan

An over-dependent state on groundwater. Major problems associated with groundwater quality are fluoride, nitrate, and salinity. Only 1.16% of surface water and 1.70% of ground water is available. Only 12.2% households have connection with piped water supply. The state is considered a dry state with nearly 70% of the area classified as arid and semi-arid region.

To fill this enormous gap and address the significant health, social and economic issues arising from a lack of access to clean water, the Government planned multi-village and regional water supply schemes to improve water supply coverage and provide all rural households with 70lpcd water supply through piped connection. Certain projects were identified as a priority due to being impacted by disease caused by drinking arsenic and fluoride contaminated groundwater.

The Solution

For the project, SMEC has prepared and implemented detailed project reports to frame the roll out in each geographical region. The team has focused on improving health and living standards in 20 districts (area: 2700sqkm) pan India, impacting population of around 15million by providing 3 million+ tap connections and overall pipeline network of 35,000sqkm. The detailed project reports consisted of proposals for complex water schemes including surveying, engineering design, analysis of ground and surface water sources, water allocation and environmental assessment.

The detailed project reports adopted three principals:

• Sustainability of the system at design, operation, and management stages.
• Technical and management innovations to deliver the best outputs.
• Strict adherence to the prescribed specifications, timeline, and budget.

The proposed methodology was based on profound knowledge, gained from delivering similar Water Supply sector projects in the past and familiarity with the local region and regulations. SMEC carried out additional work for census towns beyond its scope of services and submitted two additional final DPRs in the interest of the project and the rural population beneficiaries.

The roll out has required coordination of multidisciplinary teams and wide-ranging stakeholder consultation activity, also extending support to the State Water and Sanitation Mission. Milestones to date include delivery of the inception report and development of the final DPR Clusters.

Key activities for the detailed project reports included:

• Topographical and Geo-technical Survey of the village based on assessment of the existing in-village infrastructure with respect to drinking water, existing road network, institutional buildings, other water structures.
• Population forecasting and demand estimation that includes population forecasting using 5 different methods and further arrive at the water demand requirements of the village, verify the existing sources and compare add-on requirements of water. From the statistical data obtained from the office of the Department of Census, Government of India, the population of the villages were collected for 5 census decade 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 & 2011 and population projections carried out. JJM Scheme population and households as per survey drawings as of 2022 are taken in consideration for projections. The base year has been adopted as 2022, the Intermediate stage year 2037 and the Ultimate stage year 2052. Population projection is assessed using different prescribed projection methods detailed below I. Arithmetical Increase Method II. Geometrical Increase Method III. Incremental Increase Method IV. Graphical Method a. Simple Graph Method b. Semi-log Population Projections V. Decadal Growth Method.
• Network analysis based on the topographical survey and actual number of households by using Water Gems,
• which includes requirement of new pipelines, appurtenances, and fittings, positioning of valves, and assessment of existing pipelines for suitability and justification for replacement of any existing pipelines.
• The DPRs are prepared for each habitation and includes details such as topographic survey, water distribution networks (including house service connection with water meters & rate for flow control device), assessment of drainage, and road works including cost estimates. For a smoother and quicker work process, automation was adopted to generate the cost estimates.
• DPR Automation: A new Automation tool is developed to reduce time taken for bulk DPR production for Karnataka JJM Phase II. In place of manual report preparation for all DPRs, one template file and a Master data file in excel needs to be prepared. The variable fields required in a DPR have been identified and populated as an Excel master data file for all the DPRs. The master dataset comprises of details on aspects such as demographics, census codes, road network lengths, existing infrastructure, proposed network, cost of the reports etc. This mater dataset is linked with DPR word file. Once the details are filled final Detailed Project Report template can be saved as .pdf and .docx. With this tool, it is possible to generate the entire set of 1000+ DPRs in a couple of hours once the excel is ready. Thus, we can mass produce DPRs of high quality with limited manhour efforts and resources.

Figure 1: Snapshot of DPR Automation Process

Partnerships and Multi-disciplinary approach

The project involves multidisciplinary teams & experts for optimizing environmental, economic and social benefits,

• Stakeholder consultation & regulatory engagement with village level or block level development officers for ensuring that the scheme is executed expeditiously and to achieve long term water security by incorporating local perspective.
• Discussions and prior approval obtained for water allocation from stakeholders based on the comprehensive source sustainability. District administrations for acquisition of water infrastructure from all the government stakeholder’s land has been obtained. This is done for all the 16 scheme DPRs for effective implementation in a time-bound manner:
• Preparation of detailed inventory of data collection from irrigation office.
• Discussions with IAS, DM, DDO, SWSM nodal officer, EE for streamlining project requirements, technical expertise & data collection of existing assets for assessing the gap;
• UPJN/RDW&SD & UNICEF labs for water quality assessment of the potential water sources;
• Outsourcing consulting services for drone survey, asset mapping, GIS and surveying.

The deliverables of the project for every district comes with a short timeline, this has resulted in speedy and quality focused participation from client, consultant and community in order to ensure the implementation of the project, with regular inputs from everyone involved. This led to data and knowledge transfer between various stakeholders and the client, and vice versa for effective implementation.

Project Impact

SMEC’s core values are focused and the same is being communicated to the client in a responsible manner. Providing assured availability of potable water plays a vital role in human development. This project provides an opportunity to look out for future project partnering prospects to ensure long term investment and longevity.

Effective communication and coordination with various stakeholders involved in the project such as community, client, collaborators, and government, has brought great impact in accelerating positive change in terms of water in rural communities.

In addition to providing implementable engineering design solutions that will ensure safe drinking water to all rural households, it also contributes to wider social, economic and community benefits:

• Promoting a sense of equality by improving conditions for socially excluded groups and women
• Increasing environmental sustainability by promoting reduced/non-extraction of groundwater through source optimisation of surface water sources
• Improved service delivery and economical solution for rural households to obtain drinking water on their doorstep
• Improved health and nutrition for ~15 million population in 10,000+ villages
• Reducing infant mortality and malnutrition caused due to water-borne diseases
• Creating employment opportunities during the various stages of construction, operation and maintenance of assets, curbing the incessant migration.

Use of Technology in Monitoring:

With advent of smart technologies, it is possible to have centralized and continuous monitoring in real-time. Use of Geographic Information System (GIS) software, etc. will be required to achieve this. Use of data analytics will enable analysing data collected from rural areas to be used for various purposes by the utilities for smart management and better services. It could be helpful for policy level interventions required for welfare measures. Few examples of GIS technology use:

• use of GIS technology and IoT based sensors to monitor the status of functionality of assets created under JJM.
• use of HGM Maps for location of groundwater sources. GIS technology will help in finding the locations of existing water source.
• digital inventory of existing assets and overlaying them on GIS map (hand pumps, infrastructure, etc.) for planning of additional infrastructure required.

Impact on Women

Rural women and adolescent girls spend a lot of time and energy in getting minimum potable water for day-to-day use. This results in lack of participation of women in income generation opportunities, loss of school days and adverse health impacts. Women have been empowered to help lead the Jal Jeevan Mission in their villages, to help alleviate these burdens.

Delivering potable water supply to all households in the country by 2024 will not only substantially improve ease of living, but also improve health status, and empower women. Freeing women from the task of fetching water, which sometimes creates safety issues, will potentially provide them with opportunities to improve household welfare by market, home production, and other activities. It may bring about positive social and political behavioural change.

Achieving SDG Targets

By 2024, India is expected to meet its 100% Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) goal. The mission brings about a transformative shift from traditional linear water supply delivery to a model that encompasses a circular economy of water conservation. This model is in line with the Five “R” approach to water management: reduce, reuse, recycle, restore, and recharge and considers the entire water value chain, from the supply to consumers to the disposal of used water. The focus on increasing India’s water capacity and improving infrastructure, accessibility and tech inclusion will make this program the most effective and sustainable solution for India’s water problems.

Conclusion

The project is among the transformative initiatives by Indian government. The Jal Jeevan Mission addresses the need for infrastructure for increased water demand based on population, agricultural and other water requirements in a more water sensitive planning approach for the overall economic growth of the country. For successful completion of the project, SMEC has gone far beyond the call of duty and contractual obligations to provide quality outputs and deliverables within timeframes.