India: Water woes? No more for Khadu, Jasmatpur

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First Posted: 27 Mar 2006 01:57 am

Water woes? No more for Khadu, Jasmatpur

Express India - March 26, 2006

By Shubhlakshmi Shukla

Ahmedabad - AFTER almost two years, two villages in Surendranagar district will have access to clean drinking water once again. The Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Water and Sanitation Management Organisation have jointly revived two defunct de-fluorination plants in Khadu and Jasmatpur villages in Wadhwan and Dhrangadhra talukas respectively, in the district.

For two years the villagers were forced to drink water with excessive fluoride as the two plants had shut down due to lack of maintenance.

But this time round, the GWSSB and WASMO plan to make the plants self-reliant to ensure they don’t shut down again due to similar problems.

And they plan to replicate the work in all such affected areas in the state. The two plants were set up along with 236 others across the state under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in 1993 at a total cost of Rs 19.50 crore, to provide clean drinking water in pockets where the fluoride content exceeded the WHO permissible limits.

However, after more than a decade of service, all the 238 plants closed down primarily due to lack of proper maintenance.

The plants were maintained and operated for the first three years by GWSSB after which they were handed over to the gram panchayats. Due to lack of trained personnel and a non-participatory approach by the gram panchayats themselves, the plants started becoming non-functional.

According to WHO guidelines, 1.0 mg/litre is permissible while BIS has set it at 1.5mg/litre.

Surveys showed that in many of the villages the fluoride content was 3 mg/litre. While the GSSWB provided the technical assistance for the maintenance of the plant, WASMO conducted awareness campaigns on water and sanitation, and held training and capacity-building exercises with help of NGOs to maintain the village’s drinking water supply and sanitation systems.

‘‘Fluoride content cannot be removed through filters. Nor does it have specific taste and odour so the de-fluorination plants were a necessity,’’says V.M Shah, manager of Water Quality department, WASMO.

Officials say, the DF plants ceased to function due to erratic power supply, lack of financial assistance and awareness.

‘‘There was the lassitude and the lack of participatory attitude in the village panchayats,’’ says P.G Majethia, unit manager, WASMO, Surendranagar.

Other than lack of financial support in operation and maintenance, the panchayats found that the purchase of alum, to isolate the fluorine, was proving to be a costly affair.

‘‘After reviving the DF plants in Khadu and Jasmatpur villages, the Gram Panchayat will charge Rs 20-25 from beneficiaries every year to make them self-reliant. The funds will be used to maintain the plant,’’ says Majethia.

SOURCE:
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstor ... sid=175386