Sustainability in India

When a new village water supply system is inaugurated, everyone assumes it will last for ever - i.e., it will be sustained. But all systems need timely maintenance and attention, without which they will break down. And an unsustainable water supply causes enormous hardship to those who do not have access to alternative - private or purchased - water supply, and thus, breakdowns in water supply hit women and the poor the hardest.

There are several reasons why a rural water supply system may not be sustainable.

I. Breakdowns in service: Soon afterwards, minor problems usually emerge. A tap begins to leak or a hand pump's handle breaks. These are normal minor problems, and can be repaired. But usually there is a long gap till the problem is repaired. As a system becomes older, such problems become more frequent, and often more serious. A pump's motor can burn out, a transformer can break down, a pipeline may burst. All these can be repaired too, but these major problems take more time and money to fix. Sometimes the Rural Water Supply Department does not have the money in the current budget, and it may be 6 months before it is repaired. Tackling breakdowns in service

II. An unsustainable source: Some disruptions of water supply service may be more serious. The source of the water supply system may go dry - perhaps because a farmer has deepened the agricultural bore well close to the source of the drinking water bore well. Or because the bore well was located in the wrong place. Or because the system design had no measures to protect the source. Tackling source sustainability

III. Institutional failure: While a lot of attention is usually focused on the technical or resource reasons behind unsustainability, institutional failure is probably as important a reason for why water supply systems fail. Even the best managed system can collapse if its management passes into incapable hands. There are several aspects to good management, from creating systems (to report problems with water supply quickly, to ensure regular monthly collections, to resolve conflicts, to ensure transparency, etc.) and making sure they work, from fixing the right levels for monthly tariffs, connection charges and penalties, and collecting these charges, to ensuring that all sections of village community have equitable access to adequate amounts of safe water for domestic purposes, and earning the respect and confidence of the larger village community by providing fully transparent and efficient services. Failure of any one of these can quickly affect the others and make the system unsustainable. Tackling institutional failure

There are different factors that affect sustainability of water supply services, ranging from technical and natural resources issues, to institutional and financial. Without adequate attention to all aspects of system sustainability, with adaptive management to anticipate problems and take innovative steps to tackle change.

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Tools and Resources (India)

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