Identifying areas of benchmarking -Field Practicum Report

FIELD PRACTICUM

 REPORT

DECEMBER 2017

       I.            SECTOR:   Drinking water

Drinking water crisis has become severe over the past decade, all over India. Increasing demands on available water resources for intensive agricultural practices and industrial use, together with deteriorating water quality, constrain drinking water availability despite massive outlays for drinking water and sanitation infrastructure. Drought conditions may further worsen the drinking water availability situation in areas where water stress already exists and in areas prone to drought.

Although droughts are being combated with reactive measures and attention is being given to the quantity of water available to communities, the quality of the water is being neglected by local administrations. Lack of infrastructure and facilities to monitor and maintain adequate water quality is evident in most cases. Furthermore, in most of the villages, users are unaware of the quality of the water being supplied to them for drinking. Under drought conditions, the quality of water tends to be overlooked, and priority is given to quantity. Hence, it is essential to examine the quality of the drinking water used by those rural communities in drought-prone areas that lack a proper water supply infrastructure.

The chosen study area is a drought prone area and field work was concentrated on the drinking water quality and accessibility in the particular village.the possible suggestions and interventions are given based on analyzing the on hand collected data from field and DISTRICT GROUND WATER BROCHURE TIRUVALLUR DISTRICT published by Ministry of Water Resources Central Ground Water Board, South Eastern Coastal Region Chennai.

    II.            SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:

a.     Basic details of the village:

Thirupandiyur is a village Thirupandiyur village panchayat; kadambathur taluk in thiruvallur district .it is located 24 km towards south from district head quarters tiruvallur. This place is in the border of the thiruvallur district and Kanchipuram district.

Population of Thirupandiyur :

Total Population :6,829  (Male Population: 3,428        Female Population: 3,401)

79% of the whole population are from general caste, 16% are from schedule caste and 5% are schedule tribes. Child (aged under 6 years) population of Thirupandiyur village is 10%, among them 55% are boys and 45% are girls. There are 1801 households in the village and an average 4 persons live in every family. The total geographical area of village is 1260.65 hectares. Thirupandiyur has a total population of 6,829 peoples. Sriperumbudur is nearest town to Thirupandiyur which is approximately 15km away.

Sex Ratio - Females per 1000 Male

As of 2011 census there are 992 females per 1000 male in the village. Sex ratio in general caste is 1000, in schedule caste is 965 and in schedule tribe is 955. There are 815 girls under 6 years of age per 1000 boys of the same age in the village.

Literacy

Total 4543 people in the village are literate, among them 2440 are male and 2103 are female. Literacy rate (children under 6 are excluded) of Thirupandiyur is 74%. 80% of male and 68% of female population are literate here.

Workers profile

Thirupandiyur has 46% (3122) population engaged in either main or marginal works. 58% male and 34% female population are working population. 47% of total male population are main (full time) workers and 10% are marginal (part time) workers. For women 24% of total female population are main and 10% are marginal workers.

b.     Details on drinking water availability in village:

Facility for providing drinking water in the village:  people are depending upon panchayth pipe line. The water is pumped from nearby lake into panchayth tank of 18000 liter capacity. And some households have own tube and bore wells in accordance with the financial status. For having an individual panchayat pipe line, they have to pay a fee of 600 rs per year.

Frequency of distribution:  panchayth pipe line is distributing drinking water from morning 6 to 8 AM.

Human resources: a person from panchayat is assigned to look after the regular functioning of the panchayat water tank. No other human resources are connected with drinking water supply in the panchayat.

Quality of drinking water:  relatively hard, colourless, odorless and mild salinity.

Quality of services delivered: (community perception) – from the household interactions conducted during the field visit the community is satisfied with the current water supply. They have informed that during summer season, in the previous years they have faced severe drinking water scarcity.

c.      Major issues/concerns/problems noted regarding drinking water:

1. Water quality is not normal.

2. There is no proper maintenance of panchayat water tank.

3. No constant drinking water supply.

4. The lake from which water is collected is polluted. Degree of pollution has to be identified.

5. Open defecation is very common in the village, which in turn pollute the water sources.

6. Majority of the houses lack toilet facilities.

d.     Details as per the collected secondary data:

1. Presence of chemical constituent’s more than permissible limit is found in water samples collected. The study by CGWB (Central Ground Water Board) reveals most of the water samples collected was above the permissible limit of drinking water standards in villages of Thiruvallur district.

2. Type of water usually found is: CaCl2, NaCl & mixed type

3. At present, groundwater is available only below 60 feet and resources dry up fast during summer. Complete dependency on the drinking water supplied by the local body.

4. For evolving policies to the best use of water resources, it is important to make an assessment of their magnitude, distribution and scope of utilization. It becomes necessary to have an idea of the present and future demands of water for various purposes.

5. There is no systematic study on potability of groundwater .The structural and functional attributes of water have to be analysed, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in order to have a widespread evaluation of the water quality necessary for judging its suitability for drinking purpose.

6. Meteorological information:  The climate of the district is moderate neither too hot nor too cold but humidity is considerable. Both the monsoons occur and in summer heat are considerably mitigated in the coastal areas by sea breeze. The months between April and June are generally very hot with temperature going up to an average of 37.9ºc. During the winter (December - January) the average temperature is 18.5º c.

7. The average normal rainfall of the district is 1,104 mm. out of the total, 52% of the rainfall occurs during the northeast monsoon period and 41% during south west monsoon period. The district mainly depends on monsoon rains and faces distress conditions in the event of the failure of monsoons.

 III.            AREAS FOR BENCHMARKING:

1. Physico-chemical analysis of water samples of village panchayth.

2. Water resource mapping.

3. Creation of data base including the climate pattern, monsoon availability etc.

4.  Initiatives from panchayat authorities for providing continuous water supply.

5. Providing human resource the maintenance of panchayth water resources and water tanks.

6. Cleaning and conservation measures of the lake and other water sources has to be undertaken as immediate actions.

7. Rain water harvesting can be implemented in the panchayat.

8. Peoples should be trained and created awareness regarding different water polluting sources and their effects.

9. Water auditing in the panchayth level has to be initiated.

IV.            AREAS FOR BENCHMARK INTERVENTIONS OVER A SPECIFIC PERIOD

Sl NO.	INTERVENTION AREA	ACTIVITY	TARGET VISUALISED
			2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
1	Quality of drinking water	Physico-chemical analysis of water samples of village panchayth.	Yearly quality check of water samples should be carried out.	“	“
2	Identification of village water sources	Water resource mapping.	Participatory mapping technique to identify water resources in the village
3	Preparation of a water data handbook for village.	Creation of data base including the climate pattern, monsoon availability ,ground water availability etc.	1. Seasonal calendar can be formulated. 2. Working committee in the panchayat can be constituted for collecting water data.	1. publishing of village water handbook.	1. Revising and publishing new edition of the hand book.
4	environment generation  by panchayat for water conservation.	1. Initiatives from panchayat authorities for providing continuous water supply. 2. Providing human resource for the maintenance of panchayth water resources and water tanks. 3. Cleaning and conservation measures of the lake and other water sources has to be undertaken as immediate actions.	1.24 hours drinking water supply in every household of the panchayat. 2. Posting an employee for the management of panchayth water resources. 3. Massive cleaning operations have to be undertaken with citizen participation. 4.ensuring community participation in conservation programmes.	1. Water auditing in panchayth level.	2. reducing LPCD consumption of the village through scientific interventions.
5	Adopting Sustainable and replicable water conservation methods	1. Rain water harvesting can be implemented in the panchayat.	1. Feasibility study of installing rain water harvesting at village level. 2. Awareness and training classes about the usage and significance of water conservation.	1. Installing of affordable water harvesting mechanisms in each individual households.

 **This report is prepared as part of the course curriculam