Project on sustainability of drinking water sources

Centre for Science and Environment in partnership with the Department of Drinking Water Supply will conduct training programme, research and monitoring for sustainability of drinking water sources.

1. A regular training programme, structured at two levels for:

• Engineers and other water officials in charge of rural water supply.
• Panchayat members who will act as master trainers to train community groups and other groups.

2. Regular research and documentation of the state of sustainability of water resources across the country that will feed into the training programme.
3. A school programme to educate teachers and students through model projects that will incorporate both water harvesting and waste water treatment and reuse.

As a part of the research programme, CSE member visited Sundergarh and Khurda districts of Orissa. The Rural Water Supply (RWS) is in the process of handing over the water supply for the households to the Gram Panchayat (GP). The RWS plans to pump the groundwater and store it in the overhead tanks. Then the tanks will be connected to the households. There will be two hours of supply in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Once the whole network is ready, the GP will manage the water supply system.