India, Delhi: residents to pay for using sewers

The Delhi Jal Board (city water board) has approved levying sewerage development charges on those premises which do not have a DJB water connection, or have a cut-off connection, but discharge sewage into its sewer system.

The monthly levy will be in the range of 150 to 2,500 Indian rupees [US$ 3.30 to US$ 55] depending on the size of the premises.

Property owner who clear outstanding dues within the next three months would get a 20 percent rebate on sewerage development charges.

The board also decided to set up a ‘Sewer Gang’ force in every constituency to deal with blockages in sewer lines.

The board announced an amnesty scheme for regularisation of unauthorised water connections on payment of 500 India rupees (US$ 11) instead of the regular fee of 3,000 India rupees (US$ 66).

Officials said DJB charges sewer charges for three years to regularise an unauthorised connection but under the scheme fees for only six months will be levied.

The board also decided to extend a special scheme till March 31 [2011] under which a certain segment of consumers was given upto 70 per cent rebate on their outstanding dues last year.

The board also approved installation of multi jet meters on its major water pipelines.

The Board is calling in the private sector to privatise billing and meter installation, starting in South Delhi. In the new system, customers will be able to pay their bills online. Private parties will be responsible for installing new water meters and for maintenance of the meters for the coming five years.

Source: Indian Express, 14 Jan 2011

India, Bangalore: rainwater harvesting deadline extended

The Karnataka state Legislative Assembly has extended the deadline making it mandatory for citizens in Greater Bangalore to install rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems. The extension, as drawn up in the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill 2011, was approved unanimously by the assembly on 13 January 2011.

In 2009, the state government introduced a bill making RWH compulsory for existing buildings with an area of not less than 223 square metres and for new planned buildings with an area of not less 111 than 1200 square metres. The original deadline of 29 May 2010 has now been extended as “people were finding it difficult to meet”.

India, Haryana: US$ 28 million approved to tackle drinking water problems in Mahendragarh district

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has approved a INR 1.27 billion (US$ 28 million) project to tackle the drinking water problem in Mahendragarh district of Haryana state.

The project will supply water to 64 water-starved villages and 34 dhanies (clusters) at a rate of 60 litres per capita per day.

A Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) spokesperson said that drinking water supply facilities had been improved in 4,925 villages during the past six years. Free water connections had been given to 779,148 Scheduled Caste households in rural areas and 138,793 in urban areas under the Indira Gandhi Drinking Water Supply Scheme.

The Naandi Foundation has provided reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plants in 100 villages in the districts of Mahendragarh, Jhajjar, Kaithal and Mewat under a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative with Tata Projects. Safe drinking water was being supplied at a rate of ten paise (0.22 US dollar cents) per litre.

Source: UNI, New Kerala, 14 Jan 2011

Nepal: Govt. to construct girl-friendly toilets in 5500 schools

The government is all set to construct girl-friendly toilets in 5500 community schools throughout the country to enroll more girl students in the schools. The government has allocated Rs. 1.1 billion [US$ 15 million] for the purpose. According to Department of Education, the drop out rate of girl students has increased due to lack of girl-friendly toilet in schools.

The school enrollment rate of girl students is 87 percent in primary level and 84 percent in secondary level. However, the drop out rate is 7 percent in primary level and 11 percent in secondary level (class 10).

“Various researches and studies have shown that dearth of girl friendly toilet in school premises is one of the reasons for girl students’ dropping out of schools. Therefore, the government has given priority to toilet construction in schools,” the Department of Education states.

“Menstruating girl students often remain absent due to lack of separate toilets for them,” said Gita Kharel, Principal, Ratna Rajya School Baneshwor, adding, “The government is doing a good job of constructing girl-friendly toilets this year.” “There is need of such toilets in the districts outside the Kathmandu Valley,” she added.

Deputy Director and chief of Gender Equity Section at Department of Education Ganesh Prasad Poudel told that the government is allocating Rs. 200,000 [US$ 2,730) to each community school for constructing a toilet. “In the absence of separate toilets for girls and boys, many girl students do not attend school regularly. Therefore, the government has given priority to construction of girl-friendly toilet,” said Poudel, adding, “We will construct necessary infrastructures so that girl students can change their sanitary pads during their menstruation period and maintain personal hygiene.” There are 32,000 community schools throughout the country.

Related web site: WASH in Schools

Source: Kantipur / NGO Forum, 31 Jan 2011