Thread by @leofsaldanha

"The deaths in Raichur — where the water purification plant was not cleaned for years — are a grim reminder that the government should clean up water supply systems under its 314 urban local bodies."

Read more at: deccanherald.com/specials/insig…

When I read this today, I wonder what it is that our system of administration cannot fathom.

#Raichur is fabled for an extraordinary system of #water #harvesting pioneered by Leonard Munn, a Britisher who built over 1500 wells to provide the people of the region good, clean drinking water.

Munn died in the area and his remains are at Lingsugar (See: tinyurl.com/MunnWells . See also how water was harvested and kept clean for the luxury of kings over centuries, at p 25: ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/15321… )

And to think in the 21st century people are dying because they drank water they were provided by the Raichur City Municipality, is not merely astonishing, but downright criminal.

Here's why:

With about Rs. 35 crores loan from @ADB_HQ in 2008-9 (and we still probably are paying back the loans, perhaps only the interest), Raichur and several others north Karnataka town's urban water and sewerage systems were upgraded

(See: adb.org/sites/default/… and adb.org/sites/default/… ).

Which means this havoc in peoples' lives shouldn't have occurred at all. Instead, they should all have been receiving healthy water, which they could trustingly consume.

Clearly, that has not been the case, if these deaths are any indication. And for every death, there are thousands who have suffered grave illnesses.

This was anticipated in 2000 when @esgindia1 worked with support from #AsiaUrbs Prog of @EU : to develop a comprehensive plan to safeguard Raichur from its persistent water and other environmental problems.

We worked with several Deputy Commissioners (Mr. Kumar Naik now Addl Chief Secretary; Dr. Parshwanath; Mr. Tushar Girinath, now BBMP Commissioner) and Municipal Commissioners, and also then and now MLA Syed Yasin. The outcome was a project called "Community Access 2000”

(See: esgindia.org/sites/default/… )

And this is an extract from the report:

"Despite its proximity to two major rivers, Raichur has a chronic water shortage. The water supply system, developed in 1936, supplies only 4 million gallons per day, against a demand of 9 million gallons.

To meet the severe shortage, the Karnataka Urban Water Supply Sewerage and Drainage Board, administered by Karnataka State, has proposed a Rs.28 crore water supply scheme for the city.

The easiest source is tapping ground water, a practice that is increasing at an alarming rate and resulting in rapid depletion of aquifers.

Sanitation and SWM have become great public health concerns.

Of the 110 tons of solid waste generated every day, less than half is disposed of, mostly as landfill. Much of the rest is left untreated to become a breeding ground for disease.

With underground drainage covering only 30% of the city area, the moat around the historic city fort has become the city’s main sewer and carries sewage into neighbouring ponds and tanks, and even rivers, with only one preliminary treatment at an oxidation plant."

22 years later, we still have the same situation we assessed and offered comprehensive remedies for.

Building on Munn's concept, and also with support from rainwater harvesting expert Shivakumar AR - to harvest the surface runoff, based on which the entire city could be water secure for centuries - by cultivating good water.

Which, of course, were discarded as they were not budget heavy.

If this is the situation in a city which has Krishna to the north and Tungabhadra flowing to its south... one shudders to imagine the condition of other cities.. and villages, say in Chitradurga, Davanagere, Koppal, etc.

The question also needs to be asked how ADB even considered the project it financed a success. And what about the Public Accounts Committee of Karnataka and @IndianCAG?

Are people so helpless with the prevailing state of our administration?

Should we not demand better accountability and transparency from our administration, and deeper decentralisation and public oversight?

deccanherald.com/specials/insig…

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