Human Development in India - NCAER

household assets and amenities 61WATER AND SANITATIONClean water and sanitation form the backbone of an effectivepublic health system. However, the challenges of providingthese services in a large and heterogeneous country can bevast. As Figure 5.1 documents, the provision of piped waterin villages, at best, remains sketchy.More than half (55 per cent) of urban households getpiped water in their homes; another 19 per cent get pipedwater outside their homes. In villages, only 13 per cent getpiped water in their homes; another 15 per cent have pipedwater outside their home. Hand pumps (39 per cent), openwells (18 per cent), and tube wells (13 per cent) are morecommon in rural areas.Whether in villages or towns, piped water is rarely available24 hours a day (see Table A.5.1a). Only 6 per cent ofFigure 5.1 Water Source by Place of ResidenceSource: IHDS 2004–5 data.households with piped water report that water is availableall day. Most (63 per cent) have water available fewer thanthree hours on a typical day. The inconsistent supply meansthat most households have to store their water in householdcontainers, allowing the potential for contamination.The availability of piped water largely follows statewealth (see Table A.5.1b). For instance, 59 per cent of householdsin Gujarat have indoor piped water, compared withonly 2 per cent in Bihar. Nevertheless, the reliability of waterservice remains a significant problem throughout most ofIndia. Although most households in Gujarat have pipedwater inside their homes, over two-thirds (68 per cent) ofthem get service for fewer than three hours per day.Piped water is also more common in high incomehouseholds. About one-half (52 per cent) of the most affluenthouseholds, but only 11 per cent of the poorest households,have indoor piped water. Some of the advantage forhigh income households is owing to the fact that they moreoften live in high income states and in urban areas. Buteven within rural and urban areas, the higher the income,the more likely the household is to have indoor piped water(Figure 5.2).However, household income does not fully explaineither the urban–rural difference, or the state differences.For those without tap water in their households, theburden of collecting water can be time consuming. Thetypical 1 Indian household without indoor water spendsmore than one hour per day collecting water. But somehouseholds spend much more time collecting water, so themean time spent is even higher, at 103 minutes a day. Asmight be expected, the time spent collecting water is substantiallygreater in rural areas (109 minutes a day) than inFigure 5.2Source: IHDS 2004–5 data.Indoor Piped Water by Income and Place of Residence1In this context (and throughout the report), a reference to the typical household is based on the median.