India, Chennai: one third of residents rely on bottled water

Despite a significant increase in public water supply, one million families in Chennai, about a third of the city’s population, rely on sachets, PET bottles and cans of water for daily consumption. Sales of packaged water continue to soar in a state that already has 680 licensed private drinking water units.

The sale of packaged water has shot up to 6 million litres per day from 4 million litres in 2010, according to the Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Association. Now even consumers in low-income groups are purchasing water cans and sachets. At least 3.5 million litres of water are sold in cans every day.

Complaints about irregular supply and poor water quality are rife in several of Chennai’s residential areas.

Said S Anand, a resident of Gandhi Nagar in Pulianthope, “The water supply from the community tap is not sufficient to meet domestic needs. If the water is not tapped during high pressure, it stinks. It is wiser to spend money on good quality water than pay a huge sum at the hospital, later.” Areas like Korukkupet, Pulianthope, Choolai, Pattalam and Jamalia face complaints of poor quality water. In several homes, bubble top water containers have found [a] permanent place in the kitchens.

Prices for packed water range between 25 and 80 rupees (US$ 0.56 to US$ 1.78) for 20 litres.

Related web sites:

• Metrowater
• India Water Portal – Bottled Water

Source: Julie Mariappan, Times of India, 12 Apr 2011

Philippines: an inspiring ‘toilet tale’

His childhood experience with ill-equipped schools in the provinces inspired businessman Napoleon Co to build toilets for poor Muslim and Christian kids in Mindanao.

Children visitors can now use the newly-completed restroom (inset) of the Kristiyano-Islam (KRIS) Peace Library instead of the bushes

Napoleon Co, owner of construction superstore chain Home Depot remembers the restrooms in his elementary school:

“Feces were splattered over the cracked tiles, and water barely spewed out of the broken faucets”.

Co admitted to holding the call of nature until he got home as a child— an unfortunate habit he found hard to break while studying in provincial schools in Cebu.

“Tending to withhold bowel movement for years as a child, I was 14 years old when I started seeing pools of blood whenever I used the toilet. Until I was about 35, the hemorrhage did not stop,” he laments.

He vowed never to let his children experience the same thing.

Bhutan, Thimphu: interim water project tackles water shortages

An interim water supply project will hopefully provide relief to residents in south and north Thimphu city who have been going without water for almost four days a week. Authorities are blaming an unprecedented construction boom and the increasing population for the capital city’s persistent water shortage problem, despite an ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) water supply project [1].

Indra, a Jungshina resident said, for the last three days, they had been waiting for water to fill up their tanks, in absence of which residents normally fetched the precious resource from far away sources.

“Even when we have water flowing down our taps, they’re usually timed and rationed,” he said. An Olakha resident Nima Gyem said it was a growing inconvenience to have to store water in empty buckets and pots in preparation for days without water.

“To fetch water from a far away place travelling by taxi is both expensive and difficult, especially when you have school going children,” she said.

The Thimphu City corporation (TCC) interim water supply project, worth 8 million ngultram (US$ 180,000), plans to rehabilitate and restore existing water channels from Ngabironchu, and supply water to some 200 households in the north, and another 200 households in the city’s south, which are not covered by teh ADB project. The community will be asked to contribute labour, while the city corporation will contribute 20 per cent of the labour charge. The TCC expecst that the project will be completed by September 2011.

[1] ADB – Urban Infrastructure Development : Bhutan

Source: South Asian Media Net, 12 Apr 2011

India, Nepal: poor sanitation in jails

Prisoners in Orissa state, India and in Sunsari District, eastern Nepal, are being deprived of proper sanitation and safe drinking paper, according to local newspaper reports.

India, Orissa

At a meeting in April 2011 on jail administration, Orissa’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked officials about sanitation and drinking water arrangements in state prisons. Inspector General of Prisons Pranabindu Acharya said he was making arrangements for aqua guards (water purifiers) in some of the jails. In most of the jails toilet facilities were poor and insufficient for the inmates, officials admitted. With more than 12,000 inmates in 86 jails in the State, overcrowding was a problem in at least 18 jails. In many jails, “conditions are appalling”, especially in tehsil (county) level jails where not even rudimentary conveniences have been provided.

While the Directorate of Prisons has made arrangements to invest 13.7 million rupees (US$ 305,000) for water supply and sanitation in at least 24 jails, the Chief Minister asked for a greater allocation of funds.

Source: The Pioneer, 08 Apr 2011

Nepal, Sunsari

The 524 inmates and staff at the regional jail in Jhumka, Sunsari district, have been deprived of safe drinking water and well-managed toilets.

“The jail administration has made written requests to the jail department and Ministry of Home Affairs several times for managing safe drinking water and constructing well-managed toilets but to no avail,” said jailor Bhojraj Regmi.

Source: Naya Patrika / NGO Forum, 09 Jan 2011

Related news: Human rights: UN investigator tells of horrors and insanitary conditions of world prisons, E-Source, 12 Nov 2009

India, Mumbai: tribals up in arms against five key water supply projects

More than five projects aiming to augment water supply for the growing Mumbai metropolitan region are facing opposition from locals and the tribal population in rural areas. They are demanding that they get water first before going ahead with the projects. The projects, financed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), involve extending dams or building new ones and the displacement of villages.

In early April 2011, there was a mass protest against the state government’s move to divert water from the Surya irrigation project in Thane to the extended western suburbs of Mumbai.

“We have no issues with Mumbai getting water, but what about the tribals here who do not get water despite having dams in the region. The Surya dam was constructed from the funds meant for tribal development. The state government is spending Rs 1,000 crore [US$ 222 million], but is not ready to invest Rs 20 crore and provide water to the tribals,” said Chintaman Vanga, BJP MLA from Vikramgadh, who is spearheading the agitation here. Almost every dam that will provide water to Mumbai is being built in these tribal belts, but the water woes in the region continue.

Read more: Prashant Rangnekar, Indian Express, 08 Apr 2011

India, New Delhi: nearly 400 primary schools lack safe water

Some 385 primary schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have no water purifiers. They are supplied by water tankers of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). A recent study by the MCD health department showed that 18 per cent of tanker water supplied by the DJB is contaminated. Therefore the health department recommends that children bring water from home. Chief Minister and DJB chairperson Sheila Dikshit denied that the water board’s water was contaminated.

Out of the 1,361 schools that have been fixed with water purifiers, some 50 are not working, says MCD Education Committee chairman Mahendra Nagpal. Thirty-five MCD primary schools have no water supply at all.
The MCD runs 1,746 primary schools, which enrol more 900,000 children.

Related web sites:

• Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
• Delhi Jal Board (DJB0)
• WASH in Schools

Source: Indian Express, 06 Apr 2011

Nepal, Kathmandu: water board to curb rampant groundwater extraction

The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) is going to establish 30 monitoring centres throughout the Kathmandu Valley to curb rampant groundwater extraction. The centres, which are coming into operation by mid-May 2011, will monitor the quality and quantity of groundwater.

Both individuals and institutions that extract groundwater for commercial purposes will need to apply for a license from the KVWSMB after the monitoring centres are established. There are currently over 500 tubewells operating in the Kathmandu Valley. However, only 100 of them are registered at the board. Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) already extracts a large amount of groundwater from 70 tube wells and supplying the water to its consumers. According to KUKL, the daily water demand in the Kathmandu Valley at present is 320 million litres but the supply is only around 70 million litres in the dry season and 120 million litres in the wet season.

Source: Nagarik / NGO Forum, 30 Mar 2011

Sri Lanka: Govt. aims at safe water, sanitation for all by 2020

The Sri Lankan government aims to reach 100 per cent coverage in safe sanitation and water by 2020, said Minister of Water Supply and Drainage Dinesh Gunawardena at the Fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-IV). The current coverage figure for safe water and sanitation was 85.5 per cent, the minister stated.

Sri Lanka and the Maldives were the only two countries in South Asia that had achieved the Milllennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water and sanitation.

The Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ) and Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka said nearly 200,000 people are still engaged in open defecation in Sir Lanka and urged the government commitment to provide clean water and toilet facilities for them.

Source: The Island, 04 Apr 2011

Nepal: UNICEF and Finland sign Euro 9.8 million agreement for water and sanitation

UNICEF Nepal and Finland have signed an agreement on “Aligning for Action: Sanitation and Water for all in the Context of Climate Change in Nepal”. The agreement outlines the Finnish Government’s grant of Euro 9.8 million (US$ 14.3 million) over five years for UNICEF Nepal’s Water and Sanitation Programme.

The funds will help to:

• formulate and develop a national WASH sector programme
• develop the emergency preparedness and response capacity of the Nepali government, with contingency plans in all disaster prone districts
• support other existing government programmes in the education and health sectors to promote sanitation and hygiene

Read more about Finnish support for the water and sanitation sector on the website of the Embassy of Finland in Kathmandu.

Related web sites:

• Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Western Nepal (RWSSP-WN)
• UNICEF Nepal – WASH

Source: UNICEF, 15 Mar 2011

India: US$ 2 billion unused aid for water and sanitation

India is sitting on 89.95 billion rupees (US$ 2 billion) of unused foreign aid for water supply and sanitation, according to a report by government auditor Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG).

As of 31 March 2010, unutilised committed external assistance for 16 sectors, including water and sanitation, amounted to 1,053 billion rupees (US$ 23.7 billion).

During 2009-10, the Indian government had to pay 861 million rupees (US$ 18 million)  in commitment charges  as a penalty for not utilising aid approved by multilateral and bilateral lending agencies on time. Of that amount, 532.6 million rupees (US$ 11.8 million) went to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and 272.8 million rupees (US$ 6.1 million) to the World Bank.

Source: Hindu, 18 Mar 2011