Tanker-free Maharashtra by March 2000 may just be a pipe dream

The `tanker-free’ masterplan has identified more than 27,000 villages, out of 40,000 in the State. In over 14,000 of the identified villages, the programme is being implemented by the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, in about 9,000 through respective Zilla Parishads and in over 4,400, by the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA). Apart from the villages, more than 25,000 hamlets have been identified by the Government.

The rural water supply programme is expected to cost Rs 7,292 crore.

In urban centres, the focus will be on 147 ongoing water supply schemes and 203 newones. Together, these are expected to cost Rs 7,718.76 crore.

A cursory look around the rural parts speaks of a government on the move: Everywhere, one sees new handpumps fitted on tubewells or overhead reservoirs in different stages of construction.

A closer scrutiny, though, reveals the politics of expediency. For, in its haste, this government seems to have overlooked sustainability.

Ghogra village in Narkhed Tahsil of Nagpur district best illustrates this. About 10 years back, an overhead tank was built and an intake well dug in a small stream near the village at considerable cost. A few years later, it was discovered that the intake well would work only during the monsoon and the early part of winter. It ran out of water for the rest of the year.

No steps had been taken to make use of excess rain water to recharge groundwater around the well. Now, another well has been dug and a new overhead tank built at a higher cost.

A little distance away is Lohara village. Residents get water in their tapsfor 30 minutes, every 24 hours, according to Police Patil Ramdas Katole. Here again, the well was dug and the tank constructed, but the electric pump never came. Some years back, the Gram Panchayat dug into its resources and bought a pump. But, again, because no measures have been taken to recharge the groundwater, the well is almost dry at this time of the year.

In the shadow of the overhead tank sits a desolate-looking handpump. The shrubs and garbage around it show it hasn’t been used for years. The reason — it pumped water for a couple of years then ran dry.

In Karanjia, a tiny township about 75 km from Nagpur, more than 20 village youths found employment opportunities open up, the moment Wardha was declared `tanker-free’, nearly three years back.

Every morning, they sweat it out in open rickshaws, pulling water from the solitary village well and carting it to doorsteps. Twelve canisters of water cost between Rs 15 and Rs 20.

In almost every village, there are derelict tubewells dug undernumerous schemes by different governments. The mindlessness of this expenditure is seen in the tiny hamlet of Dabha, a little distance from Karanja.

It has a population of not more than 150 but boasts of two handpumps. One has run dry and the other yields a few drops after a lot of coaxing and cajoling. A village youth, Pravin Kadu, pointed towards a small masonry well while struggling to load a couple of canisters on to his bicycle. “That’s the only source of water for the village now,” he said.

In contrast to this scenario is village Dhawsa, about 10 kn from Karanja. Surrounded by lush fields, this village stands out like an oasis. It has two perennial borewells in a nearby stream. At this time there is not a drop of surface water in the stream but the electric pumps on both wells keep chugging 24 hours a day.

These wells even supply water to Karanja and other villages through pipelines. The secret of success here is that underground bunds and other techniques of holding groundwater were employedwhen digging the borewells.

There are many tried and tested techniques of recharging groundwater reserves, but with a government in a hurry, these are not likely to be given much attention.

The Maharashtra Water Supply and Sewerage Engineers Association has cautioned the government against hurrying through with this programme. At a convention in Nagpur some months back, the engineers had described the March 2000 deadline as “unrealistic and impractical.”

It is possible that March 2000 will find Maharashtra becoming `tanker-free’ on paper. The question is, for how long? The answer is, probably not even till the next election.