Operation and Maintenance (O&M)

This presentation by Dr.Nanoti at the 'International Conference on Health and Environment' organised by Centre for Science and Environment  explains the method and importance of regular monitoring of drinking water quality in urban areas.Read More

The presentation begins with the argument that managers of urban water supply systems stand to benefit from the fresh perspective offered by an external assessor.

This report by the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB) describes the various intervention measures chosen to reduce the ecological footprint of the Sangamam housing project at Auroville. These measures include water harvesting, recycling and waste management. 

Auroville is located in Tamil Nadu, south India, about 12 kms north of  Pondicherry and 150 kms south of Chennai/Madras, adjacent to the Coromandel Coast. Auroville’s development is closely related to that of the surrounding villages. There are 13 such villages in the immediate vicinity of Auroville, and altogether 126 villages in the wider bioregion of 825 sq.kms. Read More

This field note by the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) documents some of the alternate approaches for Operation and Maintainance (O&M) of rural water supply that are already in practice in various parts of Maharashtra, in a context where the state government agencies responsible for construction and management of rural water supply systems have been found to be facing limitations in O&M arrangements.

The traditional approach to provision of rural water supply in India has been supply driven, with emphasis on norms and targets and on construction and creation of assets, but with very little concern for sustainable arrangements for better management and maintenance of the facilities built. The viewpoint that users are ‘beneficiaries’ rather than empowered stakeholders among the service providers has led to alienation of the users. Read More

This article by Philippe Cullet in the Economic and Political Weekly discusses the central government policy for drinking water supply in rural areas. It examines its evolution from the 1970s onwards and focuses, in particular, on the reforms of the past decade, looking more specifically at the Swajaldhara Guidelines. These reforms are of capital importance because they seek to completely change the rural drinking water supply policy framework.

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