Changing Lives: Uttarakhand Transforms Its Water Supply Services

Ever since she got married thirty years ago, Anita Devi endured the daily grind of collecting water for her family living on the outskirts of Dehradun in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand.

“Water used to be a never-ending problem for us,” Anita recalled. “We had to carry it down from the top of the hill or from the river below.”   Most of the time she needed her children to help her, which made them late for school. Still, the water was never enough to meet the needs of the family or of the cow they raised for milk.

Others living on the periphery of Uttarakhand’s rapidly growing towns – Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Haldwani – faced much the same situation.  Many waited in line for hours each day to collect a few buckets from government tankers, while those who could afford it bought water at high prices or spent large amounts to dig a borewell of their own. Even those who had a municipal connection at home had to install elaborate infrastructure to store, pump, and purify it, because they could never be sure of the water’s quality, and the supply was seldom reliable.

The good news is that things are changing. Today Anita has a water connection at home which provides her with 16-24 hours of clean water every day. “We don’t have to go down to the river anymore, nor wait for a tanker, or stand in line to collect it,” she said, delighted.

Citizens now enjoy a far better quality of life

Anita is not the only one who is overjoyed with the Uttarakhand government’s path-breaking initiative, supported by the World Bank.  She, along with nearly 544,000 others living in 22 of the state’s peri-urban areas are among the first to receive a continuous supply of clean water at home.  

This has made an enormous difference to the lives of the women whose primary duty it was to collect water. Now that they are free from this drudgery, they have the time to take up jobs outside their homes or support their families through other income-generating activities. 

The water is also of high quality. “Earlier, the region had a high incidence of water borne diseases,” pointed out D.K. Bansal, General Manager of the Uttarakhand Jal Nigam (UJN), the state’s water agency that implemented the program.  “This has come down significantly.”

In Haridwar district, Savita Yadav, a homemaker, is particularly thankful that she no longer needs to boil the water for her family.  “Our children now drink water straight from the tap and they don’t face any problems,” she said, relief writ large on her face.

Interestingly, after all the households started getting a regular supply of clean water, more and more people have begun moving into these areas for the better quality of life they provide.

Citizens save time, effort and money

In a forward-looking move, the program ensured that all water connections were metered and billed. Everyone pays a minimum of Rs 220 a month for the first 20,000 liters, while those who use more pay Rs 15 for every additional 1,000 liters consumed. Monthly water bills amount to Rs 350 on average, with a few high-volume consumers paying between Rs 600 to 800 a month.

“Residents are increasingly willing to pay because they see several financial benefits in the new system,” explained Mathews Mullackal, who led the World Bank team that supported the program. “In fact, bill payments have increased dramatically, growing from 30-40 percent to 70 to 90 percent over past the year alone.”

While those who did not have a water connection at home are willing to pay because they have been saved hours of drudgery and no longer need to buy water or dig borewells, those who were connected to the unreliable municipal supply are happy because they are saving on other expenses.

For instance, now that the water comes with enough pressure, residents no longer need to pay for electricity to pump it to the upper floors.  “The saving on electricity is a big benefit for us,” pointed out Poonam Bishnoi, a homemaker, standing next to her double-story house in Haridwar district.

What’s more, residents do not need to maintain costly water pumps or pay to repair them after every breakdown, which used to be a frequent occurrence.

And, since the water is cleaner, they no longer need to install expensive systems to purify it. “Earlier, I needed an RO (reverse osmosis) filter that cost me Rs 18,000,” said Uday Ram, Poonam’s neighbor. “On top of that, I had to pay Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000 a year to service it. Now I have done away with the filter altogether,” he said, glad to be rid of the extra expense.  

All told, the new system works out well for the users.

Water is now used more wisely

Besides, now that consumers are required to pay for water, they have begun to use it more wisely. “When water was free, people used to wash their cars liberally,” recalled Bhavdesh Kumar Rajput from Haridwar district.  “But now, they use just one bucket,” he said, chuckling at how quickly his neighbors had changed their extravagant ways.

But that’s not all. Complaints are attended to regularly. “When everyone was getting water and I wasn’t, I called the agency,” recounted Anita Aswal from Haridwar district. “They promptly sent someone to fix it, and within half an hour we started getting water.” Surveys show that 97 percent of complaints are resolved within 48 hours.

Agencies recover operational costs, save both water and electricity

And it’s not just the citizens who have benefited; the state’s water agencies have as well. “In 20 of the 22 areas where we implemented the program, we are recovering our operational costs and administrative expenses,” explained Jaspreet Singh, an executive engineer. “This makes the systems self-sustainable.”

Water leakage has also reduced significantly. “In the older systems, more than 40 percent of the water was wasted,” recounted Namit Ramola, superintending engineer with UJN. But after the program introduced advanced leak detection technology, water losses have come down to an average of 25 percent, a critical saving for a water-stressed country. This was one of the first times such technology was used in India.

“We are also saving energy,” added Jitendra Singh, his colleague. “Since the system is more efficient, we need much less energy to pump the water through the pipes.” This alone is helping the water agencies save Rs. 22.5 crores (approximately $2.7 million) a year, in addition to reducing CO2 emissions equivalent to the planting of 4,500 trees​.

Customer-centric thinking

So, how did Uttarakhand turn the situation around so dramatically?

“Shifting the water agencies’ focus from just building infrastructure to providing efficient, sustainable, and high-quality services proved to be the game changer,” explained the World Bank’s Mathews Mullackal.

Bharti Rawat, an executive engineer with UJN, acknowledged how the World Bank program helped her change her thinking: “Earlier, I was only focused on construction. Once this was done, I thought my work was over.”  

“Now we look at how the scheme is operating,” added her colleague Jaspreet Singh, an executive engineer with the program support unit. “That’s how we determine success or failure.”

In the years to come, it will be critical for the state’s water agencies to follow these benchmarks and maintain these high levels of service.

For now, however, D.K. Bansal, UJN’s General Manager, is proud of what they have achieved. “I can say for sure that the water supply systems we have developed are of an international level,” he said confidently.

Meanwhile, Anita Devi has more time to work in her fields, collect fodder for her cow, take up construction jobs nearby and look after her home and children. Her children too can now focus on their studies as a steppingstone to a better future.

Given the success of this initiative, Uttarakhand now aims to provide all its people with a continuous supply of piped, treated and pressurized water by 2030, with at least 60 percent of connections being metered and billed.

Other Indian states can learn from Uttarakhand’s example that what truly matters is not just building new infrastructure but also delivering a consistently high quality of service. By doing so, they too can help the country address a long-standing challenge, improve the quality of life for the people and free up their time to take up jobs outside their homes.