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· Adequacy of supply: Adequate supply of
water for domestic uses, from the users’
point of view.
· Peak summer availability: Water collection
time and effort not much more during peak
summer months than in other months.
· Over-crowding: No more than 250 users
per water point.
Using these criteria and acceptable limits,
Figures 34 and 35 summarise the users’ view of
the status of water points in Kalyandurg and
Dhone respectively. A water point was classified
as being a “problem” water point if, in the view of
the users, it failed to meet the acceptable limits of
any one of the criteria. This assessment indicated
that, although no water point was more than
1.6 km away or had more than 250 users, 51%
and 24% of water points in Kalyandurg and
Dhone respectively were either not functional or
failing to meet the adequacy of supply and water
quality norms of the Rajiv Gandhi National
Drinking Water Mission (see Box 11). These
figures contrast starkly with official figures for
“problem” water points that showed only a small
percentage of water points as having a problem.
One reason for this is the fact that the official
statistics concentrate almost entirely on the
functionality of water supply systems and on
whether or not a supply of 40 lpcd can be
provided. Also, the official statistics do not give
much attention to problems of peak summer
availability and the problems experienced by
women particularly in queuing for water during
these lean times.
25 year old man suffering from skeletal fluorosis,
Battuvani Palli, Kalyandurg
Fluoride problems in Battuvanipalli
In Battuvanipalli village near
Kalyandurg town, villagers complained
of the symptoms of fluoride
contamination (pain in the joints,
falling teeth, bleeding gums and brittle
bones), even though the fluoride
testing of the water source by the RWS
showed a concentration of only 1.7 ppm
(i.e. in excess of the permissible limit
of 1.5 ppm). Action was not taken since
the “operational” limit being used was
2.0 ppm. Even worse, subsequent
analysis of this source by the WHiRL
Project showed that fluoride
concentration was actually in excess of
4 ppm.
Washing clothes in the Pennar river
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