Eleventh Five Year Plan

Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Clean Living Conditions 163leads to a lot of waste as taps are kept open and wateris stored not all of which is used. This is so, despite thefact that per capita availability of water in cities likeNew Delhi exceeds that in Paris, where water is suppliedround the clock.5.6 The access to toilets is even poorer. As per thelatest Census data (2001), only 36.4% of the total populationhas latrines within or attached to their houses.However in rural areas, only 21.9% of populationhas latrines within or attached to their houses. Anestimate based on the number of individual householdtoilets constructed under the TSC programme(a demand-driven programme implemented since1999) puts the sanitation coverage in the country atabout 49% (as on November 2007). An evaluationstudy on the programme conducted in 2002 shows80% of toilets constructed were put to use. This use isexpected to be much higher as awareness has improvedmuch since 2002.5.7 63% of the urban population has got access tosewerage and sanitation facilities (47% from sewer and53% from low cost sanitation) as on 31.3.2004. As aconsequence, open defecation is prevalent widely inrural areas but also significantly in urban areas too.5.8 We look at the Eleventh Plan approach to deal withthe problems of rural water supply, urban supply,rural sanitation, and urban sanitation.RURAL WATER SUPPLYPAST PROGRAMMES AND OUTLAYS5.9 The GoI’s major intervention in water sectorstarted in 1972–73 through Accelerated Rural WaterSupply Programme (ARWSP) for assisting States/UTsto accelerate the coverage of drinking water supply. In1986, the entire programme was given a mission approachwith the launch of the Technology Mission onDrinking Water and Related Water Management. ThisTechnology Mission was later renamed as Rajiv GandhiNational Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in1991–92. In 1999, Department of Drinking Water Supply(DDWS) was formed under the MoRD to give emphasisto rural water supply as well as on sanitation. Inthe same year, new initiatives in water sector had beeninitiated through Sector Reform Project, later it wasscaled up as Swajaldhara in 2002. With sustainedinterventions, DDWS remains an important institutionto support the States/UTs in serving the ruralpopulation with water and sanitation related servicesall across India.5.10 An investment of about Rs 72600 crore has beenmade (under both State and Central Plans) from thebeginning of the planned era of development in ruralwater supply sector. As per available information, thisinvestment has helped to create assets of over 41.55lakh hand pumps, around 15.77 lakh public standposts, around 1.60 lakh mini-piped water supplyschemes, and 45000 multi village schemes in the countryunder the Rural Water Supply Programme. Of thesesystems, 88.21% hand pumps, 93.49% stand posts,91.95% mini schemes, and 96.26% multi villageschemes are reported functional by the States. Duringthe Tenth Plan, the approved outlay for the programmewas Rs 13245 crore. The programme was well fundedduring the Tenth Plan (being a part of Bharat NirmanProgramme) and by the end of March 2007, an amountof Rs 16,103 crore was released to the States under thescheme. On the physical achievement side, 352992habitations have been reported covered by the Statesduring Tenth Plan.5.11 The Swajaldhara programme was launched in2002–03. The programme involves a communitycontribution of 10% of the project cost to instil asense of owner ship among the people and also totake over the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) ofthe schemes constructed under the programme.The Centre provides 90% of the project cost as grant.Under the Swajaldhara programme, out of the 19385schemes included under the programme with anestimated cost of Rs 1069 crore, only 11046 schemescould be completed in the Tenth Plan with an expenditureof Rs 610 crore. The monitorable target ofcovering all habitations in the Tenth Plan, which wasaimed to be achieved in 2004, could not be achieved.During the Eleventh Plan, the Swajaldhara principlesare to be adopted by the State Governments as perlocal conditions and adequate flexibility has beenprovided to incorporate such principles under theongoing ARWSP itself.