A revolution quenched a village’s thirst
Written by Courtesy , Harsha , express buzz.com Monday, 01 February 2010 14:00
A report about Kinnigoli in expressbuzz.com
A revolution quenched a village’s thirst
Courtesy , Harsha , express buzz.com
MANGALORE: For years now, Rama Poojary, an agricultural worker, from Gutthikadu village has not gone to bed without dropping a little part of his day’s wages in a box. The money in the box goes towards paying his monthly water bill on time, a task he never fails to do.
Poojary is not alone, all the 186 beneficiaries of the ‘Community-controlled water management system’ are equally prompt in settling the water bill.
The water supply system in Gutthikadi and Thokur — cluster 1 villages — are well managed, cost-efficient and financially self-sufficient. The consumers do not mind paying for services to private service providers within the deadline, says Pramod Kumar, Zilla Panchayat member, Kinnigoli.
In the late 90s, a string of villages reeling under water scarcity in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts were identified by World Bank and subsequently by Rajeev Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme for the implementation of community-based pilot projects.
The projects, however, failed at most places owing to poor infrastructure and lack of co-operation from local people.
Former president of Yuvaka Mandali, T G Bhandary, says that when the water-supply system in Thokur was handed to the community, it had various liabilities including pending bills to Mescom. “Problems like tank-seepages and lack of trained plumbers still bother us,” he says.
In Gutthikadu, Kumar says, the motivating factor for the community to take control of things was the thought that an efficiently-run water supply network could prove to be a permanent solution to the region’s water woes.
Water supply models in Thokur and Gutthikadu depend on open wells and bore-wells. Thokur started by fixing a regular tariff of Rs 100 for the first 10,000 litres and Rs 10 for every additional 1,000 litres of water. By plugging leakages, the tariff was reduced to Rs 75.
Gutthikadu adopted similar steps and ploughed back its profits (Rs 1.27 lakh as on October 2009) to reduce tariff from Rs 50 to Rs 40. Kumar now aims for a tariff as low as Rs 25 by minimising power consumption.
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