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The users’ assessments in Kalyandurg also
considered a number of “minor” problems which,
following appropriate capacity building, could be
solved locally. These were:
· Leakage: Many pumps, standpipes, taps
and reticulation systems had leaks;
· Malfunctioning hand pumps: Many hand
pumps were malfunctioning
as a result of inadequate maintenance;
· Unsanitary conditions around water points:
Inadequate drainage around many water
points was the main cause.
Misleading Figures:
The Case of Pathacheruvu
On paper, there is only one functioning
hand pump for all 45 households of
Pathacheruvu. A visit however showed
up two agricultural bore wells near the
village settlement (closer than the hand
pump) with sufficient water to meet all
domestic needs of those households,
besides providing irrigation and
livestock needs. However, the hand
pump that was used most had a fluoride
concentration in excess of 2 ppm.
In summary, important findings from the
assessment of the status of domestic water
supplies included:
· Users’ views of the status of domestic water
supplies are not captured by the current
procedures for monitoring rural water
supplies;
· There is a major disparity between the
users’ views of the status of rural water
supplies and official statistics;
· The nature and intensity of problems vary
not only across villages but also within
villages. Some households were more
affected than others since the nature of the
problems vary from water point to water
point. Moreover, detecting problems with
domestic water supply can be quite
complicated. Water from a water point may
be used for different purposes (such as for
livestock, domestic uses, and irrigation)
depending on the quality and quantity of
water. Thus, a large number of water points
in a village and/or adequate quantities of
water at all water points may conceal
problems with water quality (e.g. fluoride
contamination) or social discrimination.
.
5.2 Water-related social
discrimination
Social restrictions on use of drinking and
domestic water sources by Scheduled Castes (SCs)
and Scheduled Tribes (STs) were found in all
villages surveyed. These restrictions took two
main forms.
· SCs and STs cannot touch (‘contaminate’)
open-well water, but can use public taps
and hand pumps. Wherever scarcity forces
villagers to use open wells as a source of
domestic supply, SCs and STs bring their
vessels to the well but cannot draw water
from it. They have to wait for upper caste
villagers to fill their pots with water.
· In many villages, separate hand pumps or
public taps have been set up in parts of the
village where SCs and STs stay (commonly
called ‘SC colonies’). When water is scarce
and insufficient in the “upper caste” areas
of the village, but available in the SC
colony, upper caste villagers come to fill
their vessels. The result is the SC and ST
families have to wait till the upper castes
have taken their fill before collecting the
remaining water from public taps or hand
pumps installed for their exclusive use.
133
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Figure 38: Nature of
minor problems,
Kalyandurg Mandal,
October 2001
20
Major leakages Unsanitary surroundings Multiple problems
Nature of minor problem
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