brm - water issues in shillong

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Proposal-4 Water Issues in Shillong, Meghalaya’s Capital City Introduction: With rapid urbanization, Shillong has seen substantial changes in every aspect, some good, some not so good. Water shortage problems, changes in its climate pattern, traffic- clogged roads and a degraded environment are some among the many. There has never been a more urgent need to address such issues, one of the most important being that of water scarcity in the city. Deforestation and climate change besides other factors are responsible for water scarcity across the globe including Mawsynram - the wettest place on earth, suffering from acute drinking water shortages, but mismanagement is the main problem in causing water scarcity. Wastage of drinking as well as non- drinking water in form of washing, irrigation, etc. is a major issue. The region is already experiencing huge variability in monsoon patterns. For instance, precipitation variation in the region ranges from 25-45%, which is very high (the normal range is 5-10%). Owing to it, even the farmers in the region are much stressed. For example, the abundant natural springs in Meghalaya could to be scientifically developed to providing safe drinking water in the state, especially in rural areas," said an environmentalist. The urban areas, including Shillong, have several natural springs. Lack of official initiative to harness the bounty of nature in a comprehensive manner is missing. Problem Statement and Objectives:

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Page 1: BRM - Water Issues in Shillong

Proposal-4

Water Issues in Shillong, Meghalaya’s Capital CityIntroduction:

With rapid urbanization, Shillong has seen substantial changes in every aspect, some good, some not so good. Water shortage problems, changes in its climate pattern, traffic-clogged roads and a degraded environment are some among the many. There has never been a more urgent need to address such issues, one of the most important being that of water scarcity in the city.

Deforestation and climate change besides other factors are responsible for water scarcity across the globe including Mawsynram - the wettest place on earth, suffering from acute drinking water shortages, but mismanagement is the main problem in causing water scarcity. Wastage of drinking as well as non-drinking water in form of washing, irrigation, etc. is a major issue.

The region is already experiencing huge variability in monsoon patterns. For instance, precipitation variation in the region ranges from 25-45%, which is very high (the normal range is 5-10%). Owing to it, even the farmers in the region are much stressed.

For example, the abundant natural springs in Meghalaya could to be scientifically developed to providing safe drinking water in the state, especially in rural areas," said an environmentalist. The urban areas, including Shillong, have several natural springs. Lack of official initiative to harness the bounty of nature in a comprehensive manner is missing.

Problem Statement and Objectives:

The problem of water shortage in Shillong is ever on the rise. It is high time that we find the various causes for the same and come up with possible solutions to deliver a better and sustainable standard of living to not only the urban population, but also rural. The root cause of the problem will have to be found out and further implementations suggested for the same.

With a daily average leakage of ten million liters of water and poor water harvesting methods, the State capital is facing water shortage, especially in areas with a floating population of students.

The increase in population in Shillong has mounted pressure on the existing civic infrastructure. The Shillong Municipal Board also lacks technical expertise to meet the challenge of providing potable water to all.

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School children sacrifice their study-time to fetch water from 'leaked pipes' by the street even in the 21st century, which is indeed a pity, considering Shillong being a capital city. This standard of living is dismal and it for sure needs a relook.

In this research we intend to study the various supplies of water in Shillong, ranging from Municipal Body supplies, rainfall, etc. We then intend to study the demand of water in rural as well as urban areas, taking into account irrigation, drinking water consumption, to name a few. Various current issues of unprecedented water losses which can be avoided will be dealt with and the possible root cause/s thus found out This and other such parameters will then define the causes for water issues in Shillong and how, if at all can it be harnessed for a better future for the people of Shillong.

Hypotheses:Hypothesis 1:Water issues in Shillong arise due to the lack of concrete administrative steps and poor municipal services.Hypothesis 2:Water issues in Shillong are due to the man-made interruptions in the ecology like huge amounts of deforestation, polluting of River Umiew and huge amount of mining and quarrying.Hypothesis 3: Water scarcity in Shillong is due to the huge losses that occur during distribution.Hypothesis 4:A metered system and levying (direct/indirect) water tax can help in arresting the water shortage.

Literature Survey:

In the last three years, the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme suffered 30 breakdowns. The factors responsible for the breakdowns were due to dislocation and bursting of pipes, and disruption in power supply. Out of these, 13 cases were on account of power shutdowns - seven times in 2008, three times each in 2009 and 2010 till date. 1

Supplies:Meghalaya is a land with verdant hills and fast flowing streams. Most of the villages are

situated on the top of the hills and the sources like streams and rivers flow at the bottom of the hills. In some places, springs at higher altitudes are available, but due to vagaries of rainfall and deforestation in the catchment area as also due to shifting cultivation, the yield of the springs is decreasing gradually. Ring wells or Shallow wells are not successful in hilly areas. Ground water

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potentiality of the state has not been explored fully. Some deep tube wells and hand tube wells sunk along the plain areas adjoining Assam and Bangladesh border were found to be successful.

With the increase in population and man-made activities, the quality of water is also degrading continuously. In Meghalaya, the task of providing safe drinking water supply is almost entirely rested with State Public Health Engineering Department.

Ideally, the approach is to tap underground water, which is more or less found to be free from any harmful objects and does not require any treatment except chlorination. These are cheaper both in terms of capital and recurrent cost. The various methods of ground water, as practiced in the state are: Ring Wells Dug Wells/Drinking Wells Spring Tapped Chambers (STC) Shallow Hand Pump Tube Wells India Mark-II Hand Pump Tube Well Deep Tube Well with Power Pump

Water is supplied in Shillong municipality area from:(i) Municipal Sources and(ii) Greater Shillong water supply scheme (G.S.W.S.S.)

Outside Shillong Municipality area but within Shillong urban Agglomeration, water is supplied from the following water supply schemes, which were implemented & being maintained by PHED:(i) Mawlai Umsohlang WSS for Mawlai(ii) Pynthorumkhrah WSS for Pynthorumkhrah(iii) Umkhen WSS & Lum Demthring for Nongthymmai area(iv) Nongmynsong WSS for Nongmynsong area

The following water supply schemes in Shillong Urban agglomeration were implemented by PHED but maintenance is done by the local committee.

(i) Madanrting WSS for Madanrting area(ii) Pohkseh WSS & Lawjynriew Lumiablot WSS for Nongthymmai area.

In Mawlai &Nonthymmai area, supply is also made from GSWSS. In areas outside Shillong Municipality, the supply position is more or less adequate & since one single agency i.e. PHED is looking after the operation, there is no problem encountered in day to day maintaining the supply.

The responsibility of P.H.E.D. in Shillong Municipality area is to generate required quantity of water from Greater Shillong water supply scheme at Mawphlang Treatment Plant and

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release to 13 Zonal Reservoirs located in different parts of Shillong City for distribution of water to consumers. The water distribution system is designed for drawal of individual house connection from the common point provided in the distribution network. However, presently water is supplied through zonal reservoirs. Excepting few localities, the house owners are yet to switch over to the new system and it is difficult to ensure sustained and equitable supply till this change over is affected. The Department has also approached local leaders and Public representatives to motivate the consumers to switch over to the system provided in the network. Till such time, the system of supplying water from GSWSS through zonal reservoirs will have to be continued & involvement of two agencies cannot be avoided. The position of laying of distribution network in different zones under GSWSS are as below:

Sl Zone Phase Position Localities

1 Zone-X I Completed Mawprem, Jaiaw, Mawkhar, SouthEast Mawkhar, Barapathar.

2 Zone-VIII I Completed Mawlai

3 Zone-I I Completed PB, Jail Road, Oakland, Assembly Areas

4 Zone-II I Completed Lachumiere, Secretariat Hill

5 Zone-VI I In Forest Colony & Lawmali area, water is supplied through SMB tank. In Polo Hills, Golf Link and Polo, Mawpun Club area, Pynthor and 4th Furlong, water supply to entire zone has been provided from laid pipe lines of GSWSSS. These localities are also getting water from Local sources.

Pasteur institute, Lawmali, part of Mawlai Mawroh, Polo Bazar, Polo Hills, Forest Colony, Nongmali

6 Zone-III II Completed Laitumkhrah

7 Zone-IX II Completed. In Laban & Kenches trace, water is supplied through Zonal Tanks/Municipality Tank. In Rilbong area, the water from GSWSS has been supplied to house owners through municipality pipe line.

Laban, Bishnupur, Rilbong, Kenches Trace

8 Zone-V II Work completed. Water released in Nongrim Hills, Lawjynriew, Nongshilliang, and Lumiablot. Testing is in progress for areas of Pohkseh & Rynjah.

Nongthymmai, Umpling, Rynjah

9 Zone-IV II Work completed and testing is in progress. Malki, Dhankheti area

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Issues:The Public Health Engineering (PHE) department now wants the government to change

its present rule of allotting water connection to individual household units to individual families.Although water loss from the intake to the out-take source is a universal phenomenon,

but PHE wants to stop people drawing water through “illegal means” from its Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) distribution pipe running from Mawphlang to Shillong, adding to its leakages.

In the State capital, water is supplied to the people by the PHE department and the Shillong Municipal Board. However, water crisis remains a major concern in many localities, especially in Laitumkhrah, Nonthymmai and Malki having a huge student floating population.

One of the reasons for the illegal connections is the present rule which allows one water connection for a household unit. With people letting out their households on rent in the State capital, the single water connection does not suffice for the people dwelling in it. Therefore, illegal means are adopted to draw water.

Thus, it was suggested to the government that water connection should be given according to the number of families residing in a household unit. Then, the metering system can be implemented and people would pay according to the water drawn. 2

Municipal services have a direct and immediate effect on the quality of life of the people in the city. Poor municipal services can also limit city’s attractiveness for business or industry and thus limit economic opportunities for its residents. Therefore, the biggest challenge for the urban management agencies is to provide its citizens with reliable services that are financially and environmentally sustainable.

Providing adequate potable water supply to the city is an obligatory function of all the Municipal Governments in the country. The process involves obtaining raw water from available sources, filtering, treating and distributing it to the consumers. Apart from these physical processes, Municipal governments also has to manage other aspects of the supply system such as attending to complaints, charging customers for services and making investments to ensure sustained supplies.

Another alarming reason is that the discharge of the main Water source i.e. UmiewRiver has reduced considerably in the past years due to massive deforestation in the catchment areas. Umiew river watershed above the intake point is relatively undeveloped at present, but quarrying, farming and tree felling, which are being practiced, could be detrimental in the long run and the yield of the Umiew is bound to reduce substantially. The available quantity of water is just sufficient to meet the demand of about 50% of population of Shillong. The rest of the population depends upon private wells, vendor tankers, small springs etc.

Apart from that, the region is already experiencing huge variability in monsoon patterns. For instance, precipitation variation in the region ranges from 25-45%, which is very high (the

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normal range is 5-10%). A 2006 study published in the journal Science has predicted that extreme events--such as rainfall of more than 150mm in a day--will increase 38% by 2050. 3

Irrigation facility in the region is very poor, perhaps the lowest in the country. The total gross irrigated area is barely 0.56 million hectares in the NER, which is approximately 10 per cent of the total gross cropped area. As the major/medium irrigation projects did not succeed in the past, the utilization and development of ground water is most desirable in the valley plains. The hilly terrains at the same time require innovative water harvesting methods to capture the monsoon water for post-monsoon period. Rooftop and bamboo pipe water harvesting systems are popular in the hills. 4

An image taken from near Laban area

An example solution: Levying Water TaxIt is believed that 20 million gallons of drinking water is wasted daily due to leaks and

misuse. In a significant step towards levying of water tax in the city, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the KMC will launch a pilot project to supply round-the-clock water to a ward in Behala to determine misuse and wastage of filtered water. The pilot project will be launched in ward number 132 where drinking water will be supplied for 24 hours. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) supplies drinking water three times a day ~ in the early morning, afternoon and evening. The KMC has never carried out a study on misuse and wastage of drinking water.

The pilot project will measure the quantum of misuse and loss of drinking water and will be able to determine the loss KMC is incurring. The running cost is going up due to rise in the price of electricity it is difficult to supply water without levying water tax.Though it is difficult to install water meters but annual water tax has become mandatory for the smooth running of the water supply system. 5

Work Plan:We will try to find out the water issues in Shillong after doing through quantitative and

qualitative research. The issues as mentioned above are multifaceted and hence detailed work plan has to be done. Apart from the normal water issues faced, the people of Shillong face quite different problems when compared to other parts of India. The behavior of the people as the government officials will be learned through in depth interviews conducted from the diverse groups.

In-depth Interviews with Family Households

The problems faced by family households could be gauged by conducting interviews with individual members. The issues faced by individual house hold members vary and it is

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important that the interview covers the wide range of issues rather than general concern. The problems faced by people of Shillong thus could be gauged from interviews. More importantly the problems faced by individual persons when being at diverse places could be identified. For example, the head of the family would face different problems when being at home as well as at home. So these issues have to be carefully taken into consideration.

This might take about 1 week

INDEPTH INTERVIEW WITH PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

We will also have in-depth interviews with some official of Public health engineering department of Shillong so as to know water issues in Shillong from their point of view. The water-related problems in Shillong have been regarded as due to unplanned use and abuse of natural resources and gross negligence and pollution. The views and explanations from government officials would give a clear idea on the actual situation linking the problem. The over exploitation on account of increase in population, deforestation, diverse land use pattern, pastoral and agronomic activities, shifting cultivation, unplanned development and unscientific mining and quarrying can also be identified.

The loopholes pointed out in the Meghalaya Protection of Catchment Areas Act, 1990, emphasizes on reviewing the act by incorporating adequate legal sanctions, authority and sweeping power as far as conservation of catchments and implementation of remedial measures are concerned. The legal as well as the social aspects of the issues could be gauged from the interview discussion with them

This again will take approximately 1 week

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONThe other major objective is to actual issues pertaining to water conservation in Shillong

by considering a right mix of inputs from diverse mix of population as well as public department. The expectation of general public from public health departments about the service quality, availability and also their concerns or apprehension about water issues could be learned.

This will take two weeks.

SAMPLING AND QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN AND SURVEYBased on focused group discussion and literature review we would formulate a

questionnaire for the household and officials that we have selected after sampling (the size of the sample will be based on time and resource availability) for furthering our knowledge of the

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perceptions, expectations and apprehensions of users of water resources in the areas as well as facilitators.

Also we want to gauge information about few characteristics of segment

1) Demographic pattern of water usage2) Decision making authority of public health officials3) Awareness of water resources and their conservation4) Influence of Water harvesting methods5) Concerns and motivation of water conservation

This process will take 2 weeks

INDUSTRY EXPERT INTERVIEWS

We will conduct interviews with industry experts so as to understand the concern of them regarding water issues in the region. The potential problems which might be encountered in the future could also be determined. This will help us in understanding the underlying problems or issues associated with the steps taken. This will also ensure a smooth and safe conservation of water in the future. This process will take 1 week.

Draft Report

After this based on our findings a draft report will be made for review by our guide and then based on the recommendations and certain gaps that are left to be addressed the feedback will be looked carefully and the report improved accordingly. This should also take 1 week.

Timeline:

Name of Activity/ Time (in weeks)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

In-depth interview with Family households

In-depth interview with Public Health Engineering Department in Shillong

Focus group discussion

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Sampling and questionnaire design

Industry expert interviews

Draft report

Methodology:

The objective of the research is to identify the water problems in Shillong. For this we will do both the qualitative and quantitative analysis by collecting data through In-depth interviews and survey of samples.

Step 1: First we will conduct in depth interviews with family household of the region and public health engineering department to know about the problems facing this region in water and their expectation from each stakeholder

Step 2: We will have focus group discussion with some people of the region to understand the issues in depth and how the problems can be mitigated with the given amount of resources.

Step 3: Based on the interview insights from the above steps we will design a questionnaire and survey samples in selected regions.

Based on the data so collected we will derive the conclusion.

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References:

1. Meghalaya Times. Shillong, June’10.

2. Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Meghalayahttp://megphed.gov.in/knowledge/schemes/positu.htm

3. North-East's climate change vulnerability to be mapped: The study, which will be completed by July-end, will focus on threats to agriculture, forestry, water and livelihood.Ghosh, Padmaparna. McClatchy - Tribune Business News [Washington] 18 June 2010.http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/502517600/13BE1914F355942C719/347?accountid=39988.

4. Strategies for Agricultural Development in the North-East India: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities.Barah, B C. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics 62. 1 (Jan-Mar 2007): 13-31.http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/201565492/13BE1914F355942C719/312?accountid=39988.

5. Pilot project to measure water wastage. Publication Date: 03/03/2012. Source: Statesman (Kolkata).http://thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402018&catid=35.

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6. http://aboutmeghalaya.blogspot.in/

7. http://jnnurm.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Shillong_Chapter4.pdf

8. http://dspace.nehu.ac.in/bitstream/1/3396/2/Growth%20of%20Shillong.pdf