Jalanidhi

WORLD BANK aided KERALA RURAL WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION PROJECT 

Jalanidhi -  Phase-1

Over the last fifteen years since its inception, KRWSA, which was constituted as a special purpose vehicle to implement Jalanidhi, a Rs.381.5 Cr., World Bank aided rural water supply and sanitation project, has acquired unique expertise in establishing rural water supply and sanitation schemes based on the cardinal concepts of sector-reforms, namely, demand responsiveness, community ownership and sustainability of investments through cost recovery. The Gram Panchayats have a pivotal role in implementing community based water supply projects under Jalanidhi. KRWSA has also established a wide network of NGOs in mobilizing communities towards implementing the participatory, community driven water supply & sanitation facilities owned and managed by them. This model of scheme implementation under JALANIDHI has demonstrated successfully an equitable, inclusive and decentralized delivery system mainly benefiting the SC,ST (16%) and BPL  category (52%) of rural households in Kerala.  With the lessons learned from the initial phase, KRWSA has expanded this demand responsive and decentralized service delivery approach to almost the whole state from the initial four districts done on a pilot basis in 2005. New institutional and financing models, such as, G-PAT (Gram Panchayath Action Teams), Ward Level Committees (WLCs) and Scheme Level Committees (SLCs) for large water supply schemes with intensive involvement of GPs and also collaborations with Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for major schemes where bulk water is supplied by KWA and distribution by KRWSA through Gram Panchayath have since been introduced successfully. KRWSA was the nodal Agency of the State Government for the implementation of Rain Water Harvesting Programme in the State. For this the Rain Centre, a separate cell for monitoring the activities, was set up under KRWSA. Further KRWSA is appointed as WSSO of Govt of Kerala to coordinate water related activities in the State. Jalanidhi phase-1 was implemented during the period 2000-2008.

3,694 small water supply schemes and 16 large water supply schemes were commissioned benefiting 10.56 lakh population. In addition to water supply schemes other components like ground water recharge activities, latrines, environmental sanitation measures, Rain Water Harvesting etc. were also undertaken and successfully completed under the project. Phase-1 project achievements are summarized below

Sl. No.	Items	Achievement
1	No. of small Water Supply Scheme Commissioned/proposed	3,694/2,500
2	No. of large water supply scheme Commissioned /proposed	16/6
3	No. of House holds Covered through commissioned schemes	1.92 lakhs
4	Total population covered through commissioned schemes	10.56 lakhs
5	Total No. of new latrines constructed	68,023
6	Total No. of latrines conversion from single pit to two pit	24,194
7	Total Environment Management Units (Compost, soak pit etc)	89,319
8	Drainage Constructed in Metres	68,362
9	No. of BGs where GWR done	1,013
10	No. of Rain water Harvest units constructed	13,304

 

JALANIDHI- II

Jalanidhi-II is a sequel to the Jalanidhi-I and is intended for implementing during 2012-17. The World Bank approved a credit amount of US $155.3 million (credit No. 5027-1 N) for implementing the project for a total estimate of Rs. 1,022.30 Cr.  Project agreements were signed on 12th February, 2012 and it is effective from 17.04.2012.

It is targeted to complete the entire project within 5 ½ years from 1-1-2012 to 30-6-2017. The project aims to cover about 18 lakh rural people for water supply & sanitation services. The project aims to cover 200 Grama Panchayaths of Kerala.
The main components of the programme are

• Water Supply Scheme including rehabilitation of single GP KWA schemes (3,938 schemes)
• Multi GP KWA rehabilitation  ( 5 schemes )
• Preparation & Development of water security  plan for the GPs
• Ground Water Recharge (Check dams, percolation tank, nala bund, point recharge well, drilling tank etc  in 200  GPs)
• Environment Sanitation (Solid /liquid waste management- Community biogas (1,500 Nos.),  HH level compost units (18,000 Nos), drainage (136 Nos), HH level biogas ( 2,700 Nos), plastic recycling & shredding units (30 Nos), piloting  latrine solution for water logged areas (15 Nos), piloting regional septage (1 No), Pay and use toilet (100 Nos)
• Tribal development programme in 22 GPs (Implementation of above components)

The highlights of Jalanidhi II Project are:

• Demand driven approach- Unlike a supply driven approach hitherto followed, this project is implemented based on the need of the people expressed through their willingness to pay and to participate in project planning implementation and post commissioning operations. This inculcates a sense of ownership in the people.
• Cost sharing / Ownership and financial viability   – To ensure ownership of the project, 10% of the capital costs is borne by the beneficiary community. Of the remaining, the Grama Panchayath bears 15% and 75% by the Govt. The Users meet 100% of the recurring costs of operations and maintenance. This lightens the burden on the state exchequer, thereby helping the Govt utilise this money for other priority needs.
• Community Contracting - The users themselves are fully involved in all the activities right from identifying their sources, deciding on the technology to be utilised, community contracting and implementation till the operations and maintenance aspects of the schemes. All contracting of goods, works and services are done at the user level itself for which adequate training in terms of World Bank procurement procedure is provided and guidelines made available to communities.
• Pro-poor Approach - Special efforts have been taken in the project design to include the poor and vulnerable user groups. This is done by constituting special category beneficiary groups with lesser cash contribution than the general category BGs. The project has been so designed to incorporate the beneficiary contribution either through cash or labour. There is also a separate Tribal Sub-Project, a special component for the tribals in the project area.
• Community Empowerment – Capacity building and equipping the community to operate the project is a major thrust area of this project as this is planned, designed, implemented, owned and operated by the users themselves. This will not only ensure the involvement of the people but will also chart a new path to community-based responses for meeting local needs.
• Integrated Approach – In order to ensure sustainability of safe drinking water, components like watershed development, environmental sanitation, health, hygiene and sanitation education and women empowerment have been integrated into the project design
• Utilisation of available resources- The schemes, already operational in these project areas, are also rehabilitated and handed over to the User groups. This ensures efficient utilisation of investments made and the existing beneficiaries will also get improved service delivery.
• Dovetailing with Decentralised Planning - This project is being operationalised through the Grama Panchayaths and the beneficiary groups, thereby acknowledging and strengthening the efforts of decentralised planning in Kerala.
• Support system in GP (GPST) to provide ON site clearances and approvals that are required for the project.
• Reduced cost sharing / Cross subsidisation of capital cost for the inclusion of vulnerable groups such as SC/ST/Fisherman etc
• Due consideration and weightage in GP & BG selection to water quality affected area.
• 100% grant in aid for Ground Water Recharge / Community based Second generation sanitation issues
• To ensure more ownership by GPs, they are delegated as Co-owners in managing the community assets
• Upfront preparation of water security plan to ensure proper source selection ground water proposals assessment etc. This document can be used for future investment decision in water sector for the GP
• Federated arrangement of BG/WLC to ensure proper institutional sustainability and better management of water resources.
• Simplified bi-lateral agreement to ensure proper accountability for the service provider.