Nexus of Good: The 'Solapur' way

Solapur has been a perennially water-scarce district. It lies in the rain shadow region of western Maharashtra. Ironically, despite being in the semi-arid zone, Solapur has the dubious reputation of having the largest number of sugar factories in Maharashtra. Sugarcane and sugar mills have created a vicious circle of unscientific farming practices that have led to disastrous consequences. The rainfall pattern and its utilization have led to the depletion of water resources. What was lost sight of was the correlation between rainfall, runoff, recharge and usage of water.

Scarcity of water had been a recurrent phenomenon throughout the state, especially in Solapur. A holistic view of scarcity was taken by Tukaram Mundhe who took over as District Collector in 2014. He and his team analyzed the reasons behind it. Non-availability of water in the sources, data relating to water resources, transportation and improper distribution of water, along with the poor quality of water were identified as primary causes of this perennial problem.

After the most devastating droughts in the year 1971, the government had come out with a number of legislations and rules thereunder to counter the impact of the drought. The provisions mandated water management through a two-pronged approach:

❋ Immediate measures to make water available to the people through requisition of private wells/borewells, pipelines, digging new borewells, special repairs, tankers etc. (Proforma A measures);

❋ Measures to prevent recurrence of scarcity condition such as well / borewell recharging, desilting of water bodies to increase storage capacity etc. (Proforma B measures).

Over a period of time, the focus had been on immediate measures while the preventive and promotive measures had been totally ignored. This had aggravated the scarcity rather than preventing it.

Tukaram Mundhe got an action plan prepared. The plan focused on the implementation of long-term measures — as in Proforma B — vigorously. It was felt that unless the gram panchayat took up the development of sources (through recharging water sources including groundwater), the problem would not be taken care of. The regulation and development of sources were taken simultaneously.

Government rules mandated the following steps to be taken in times of scarcity before making tankers operational, which is the last resort.

1. Completion of piped water supply schemes (WSS)

2. Special repairs of piped water supply schemes

3. Special repairs of borewell

4. Digging of new borewell

5. Temporary piped WSS

6. Digging small wells in river beds/dams

7. Desilting and deepening of existing wells

8. Private well requisition

9. Water supply through tankers/tractors /bullock carts

The first major step was the identification of public drinking water sources. Once sources were declared as public sources, regulatory provisions of the Groundwater Act came into play. In December 2014, about 3,000 sources were declared as public drinking water sources. This number increased to 15,533 by March 2016. These sources — like wells, jack-wells, borewells, hand pumps etc. — were being exclusively used for drinking water purposes.

It was soon discovered that the non-availability of sources was far from the truth. Solapur had 1,144 revenue villages and around 15,500 drinking water sources. Thus, per village availability was in sufficient quantum. However, the policy and its implementation had been focused on the provision of more public drinking water sources. Hence, the strategy of providing more water sources was incorrect. Instead, the focus should have been on the development and strengthening of existing drinking water sources so as to make them functional.

The district administration focused on the issue of development and strengthening of existing water sources; the main strategy being recharging of wells/borewells. Of the 6,400 drinking water sources, recharging was undertaken before the monsoon of 2015-16. Almost 5,000 of these sources were recharged, leading to water availability in these sources. The results were there for all to see. Had these water sources not been recharged, 127 tankers would have been required for each village and hamlets.

Identification and recharging of drinking water sources in itself did not help in doing away with the scarcity. It had to be in tandem with the implementation of the Groundwater Act and its rules. The transportation infrastructure for water supply either did not exist or was dysfunctional. 13 of the 29 Regional Water Supply Schemes (RWSS) were dysfunctional in the district on account of non-payment of electricity bills and non-maintenance of the pipeline system. However, the real issue was not the payment of electricity bills or non-maintenance of pipelines but the entire approach to the issue. These schemes were made operational only during scarcity situations for 2-3 months. Electricity bills were paid by the government under scarcity head and were used as tanker feeding points to the villages, for which the RWSS was meant to supply the water. A decision was taken to make water available permanently through the RWSS to these villages. This was done as a reform measure and not as a dole. The villages covered under RWSS which had assured drinking water sources were told that the scarcity measures would be provided if the scheme was accepted for the entire year for which electricity bills have to be paid. There was a lot of initial resistance. Ultimately the gram panchayats had to pay outstanding bills as they saw the benefit in doing so. These funds were utilized for special repairs of the pipelines and made the RWSS functional. No additional financial assistance was taken from the government. The transformation of non-functional to functional water supply schemes helped in the reduction of tankers from 165 villages and hamlets.

Reform of extension of the distribution network was undertaken in the un-covered areas through the extension of water supply schemes and commissioning of either the borewells or handpumps where piped water supply did not exist. Consequently, 35 villages and 92 hamlets were made tanker free.

Finally, the water quality issue had to be addressed. Water was polluted primarily on account of industries or because of the depletion of water sources. Provisions of the Groundwater Act were implemented firmly to take care of the errant industry. Gram Panchayat funds were utilised for water purification.

The focus in the district was on the revival of existing RWSS and that was found to be feasible and economical as against starting new schemes. The revival required just Rs 64.75 lakhs per village which was equivalent to the cost of supply of water by tankers every year, and it provided a long-term solution.

Tukaram Mundhe and his team present a great example of Nexus of Good. It can easily be emulated by others. The Solapur approach can also be extremely useful in the implementation of the recently announced Jal Jeevan Mission by the Government of India.

Views expressed are personal