A STUDY OF WATER SCARCITY IN SMALL TOWNS: A CASE

STUDY OF DEOGHAR, JHARKHAND

NISHANT KUMAR

M2013CODP019

SYNOPSIS SUBMISSION UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

REKHA MAMMEN

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCINCES

MUMBAI
INTRODUCTION

Water is the most critical resource and is expected to become highly scarce in future with
increasing demand from household, industries and agricultural sectors. This is one of the
most important sources for development in country. In recent years many parts of the
country are undergoing through severe water crisis. Jharkhand is one such state where
water problem has reached to a level from where it needs urgent attention both from the
government and non-government sectors.

During summer temporary measures are taken by governments to keep their constituents
happy. But little sustained effort has been made to deal with the root of the problem: the
overuse of precious groundwater and the inadequate measures taken to replenish it. As a
result, water levels have fallen precipitously in many districts. Not only is there much less
water available but what exists is also undrinkable.

Several studies on water scarcity have been conducted on big and metro cities-the
economic hubs of the country from where the policy emerges but very few studies are
there to highlight the situation of water scarcity on small towns of India. Access to water
for the urban poor living in the towns and cities of Jharkhand is a major issue that needs to
be addressed. The failure to ensure potable water to the urban poor in Jharkhand raises an
important issue in water rights.

Water problem in Jharkhand especially in urban areas are increasing year by year and in
past 20 years the groundwater level has decreased to a level, from where the both rural
and urban community is finding it extremely difficult to have access to water for daily use.
While the crisis in urban areas can be felt by community people both in domestic and
industrial sector, in rural areas the crisis is directly affecting the agricultural sector. The
growth and development of agriculture and allied sectors in Jharkhand face serious
problems due the scarcity of ground water.
This research has been conducted with an intention to study the issue of water scarcity in
small towns in India by conducting a case study in Deoghar town of Jharkhand. Deoghar is a
small city in North Jharkhand and is suffering from acute water shortages throughout the
year especially in the month of summers. This research will try to understand the reasons
for water crisis in Jharkhand. Simultaneously it will make an attempt to understand the
water distribution system of Municipal Corporation of Deoghar and various steps taken by
district government to deal with the issue of water scarcity. It will study the difference in
access to water across the town with respect to varying socio-economic background of the
people and the impact of water scarcity on population of Deoghar.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The problem of water scarcity is emerging as a critical challenge to sustainable

development in the 21st century. It’s a global issue now. To understand the problem there
is a need to explore the relationship between urbanization of cities and water management.

In 2013, the Ministry of Water Resources revealed the fact that in 158 districts, there are
areas where the groundwater is now saline. There is excess fluoride in parts of 267
districts, nitrate levels are beyond permissible levels in 385 districts, groundwater is
contaminated with arsenic in 53 districts and in 270 districts there are areas where the
water has high levels of iron.

A study conducted by Karen L. O’Brien and Robin M. Leichenko of World Bank gives data of
Houses with water connection in India. The report says that only 69 % houses of large
cities have legal household water connection. The condition is even worse in small cities
and rural areas with 45% and 9% household connection respectively. According to United
Nations normal Requirement of water per capita per day in urban area is 135l. Most of the
small and medium cities are unable to meet this demand. No major Indian city has a 24
hour supply of water, with 4 to 5 hours of supply per day being the norm.

Rainwater conservation is considered as an important source to replenish groundwater.

Since the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state from Bihar in 2000, the population has
increased rapidly and several multi-storey buildings have come up. These buildings go for
deep boring and as a result all the ground water is being pumped out from the ground.
Every inch of land is being used up to build concrete structures and buildings. Therefore,
there is no place left for the rainwater to seep into the ground, so the water level is not
even being recharged as much as it should. On the other hand "Extensive deforestation,
urbanization and industrialization have led to uneven spread of rainfall which has affected
the ground water table.
Constructing water recharge pits is considered as an important way to conserve rainwater.
It is very easy. If every household makes a recharge pit in their premises, the rain water
will reach the ground water thus increasing the level. There is even a provision under the
Municipal Act of Jharkhand, which says that the map of a multi-storey building will be
passed only if it has an effective recharge pit but very few buildings in the city are following
this rule. If we look at the distribution of these recharge pits in Jharkhand, currently 3/4th
of the available recharge pits are located in Ranchi-the capital city of Jharkhand. Newly
sanctioned pits are also located more in capital city than small towns. This clearly shows
the focus to develop the big cities and a very little or no attention on small towns.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To understand the water management distribution in the city

 To understand differences in access to water across the population of Deoghar town

 To assess the impact of water scarcity on population of Deoghar Town.

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH DESIGN

The research has adopted a mixed method model for data collection. Depending on given
research problems and objectives, a mixed method model has to be put in operation. The
research is explanatory in nature so as to assess the nature of the water scarcity of the town. The
tools for data collection were finalized after thorough review of literature and the first visit of the
universe of study. Qualitative method which includes in-depth interviews and focused group
discussions was used to assess the nature of water scarcity in the city and to know the water
management and water distribution across the city while quantitative method which included
survey forms were used to know the difference in access to water across the city and the impact
of water scarcity on the population of Deoghar. Interviews were conducted with the officials of
the district municipal corporation to get the valuable data. FGDs were conducted with the local
community members and shopkeepers of the town to know about the problems. The presence of
the Baidyanath Dham temple attaches a valuable importance to the city and hence an attempt
was made to understand the water administration of the temple through interview schedule and
FGDs.

The mixed method has its own advantage as it gives researcher an opportunity to explore the
issue through different lenses using different research tools.
RESEARCH METHODS AND TOOLs

The tools were finalized according to the objectives of the research. The first objective was to
understand the water management and distribution in the city and hence interviews were
conducted with the public works department engineers of Municipal Corporation of the city and
the chief executive officer of the Deoghar municipal corporation. To understand the water
distribution in temple premise interviews were conducted with officials of the temple
administration, contractors of the private water suppliers, project manager of the Punasi Dam
project and FGDs were held with the local residents of the Kunda Thana and local shopkeepers.

To know about the other two objectives i.e. to understand the differences in access to water
across the population of Deoghar town and to assess the impact of water scarcity on population
of Deoghar town, survey forms were distributed across six wards of the city covering 45
households. The whole city has been divided into thirty-five wards and sample size of six wards
including 45 households were selected keeping in mind the socio-economic factors of the
respondents and the degree to which the wards of the city face water scarcity. The selected six
wards represent localities which has severe problems of water scarcity. This was known after
pilot study of the universe of study and discussion with few permanent residents of the town. The
number of households in each ward has been selected according to population distribution in
each ward. The city is growing rapidly to include sub urban areas into its ambit so two wards
representing such areas were also selected to know the problems faced by the newly residents of
the city.

SAMPLING
The researcher has used three different localities where survey forms were distributed through
purposive sampling. Purposive sampling is a method where researcher has an idea while
choosing his sample method that who would be appropriate for the study. The six different areas
are represented by separate wards and an attempt has been made to compare the access to water
at two levels i.e. at difference in access within a ward and difference in access across six wards.
SAMPLE SIZE
Table 1: Sample size

Sr. No. Locality with Ward No. Sample size

1. Karnibag ( Ward No - 19) 15
2. Vilasi Town (Ward No –23,28,29,30) 15
3. Castair’s town ( Ward No – 34) 15

Two of the wards selected for the study i.e. ward No. 19 and ward No. 34 are the biggest wards
of the city and has maximum population hence sample size were kept as 15 for each of the ward.
The whole of Vilasi town has been fragmented into smaller wards and includes ward no. 23, 28,
29 and 30 and hence a sample size of 15 were fragmented into 4, 4, 4 and 3 in the ward no. 23,
28, 29 and 30 respectively. Survey forms were filled up after taking the consent of the
respondents and they were informed about the purpose of the study.
FIELD RESEARCH (EXPLANING THE STRUCTURE OF DATA COLLECTION)

The data was collected from various stakeholders that can be classified as following:-

1. Deoghar Municipal Corporation – Deoghar is a Municipal Corporation city the

district of Deoghar. The Deoghar city is divided into 35 wards for which elections
are held every five years. It has population of 203,123 of which 107,997 are males
while 95,126 are females as per report released by Census of India 2011. Deoghar
Municipal corporation administers over 36,768 households and it looks after the
issues of basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build
roads within Municipal corporation limits and impose taxes on properties coming
under its jurisdiction.
It takes care of the water distribution across the city and there is a chief executive
officer appointed to look after the smooth functioning of the corporation. The data
collected from the Municipal Corporation were helpful to understand the water
management in the city. The study includes interviews from PWD engineers to
know the pattern.

2. Temple administration – The Baidyanath temple administration which comes under

direct control of the office of the district collector was an important informant as far
as to know the water administration in the temple is concerned. There are two
wings for the temple administration-one headed by the officers of the city
administration and another by elected members of Panda Samiti. Interviews were
taken from the members of both the wings in order to know the water
administration in the temple premise is concerned.

3. Punasi Dam project – Punasi reservoir scheme is located in village Punasi in the
district of Deoghar. The scheme consists of Dam across river Ajay. The scheme has
one main canal of length 77.94 km, branch canal and distributaries. The scheme will
 provide irrigation in 24290 ha land of Deoghar district. But the project has drawn
several criticisms with it as the construction has led to displacement of hundreds of
households resulting in the protest from their side. The rehabilitation process has
not been finished yet and not even half of the displaced households have been given
adequate compensation and alternate source of livelihood. The interviews were
conducted with the project head of Punasi dam in order to know both positive and
negative impact of the project on population of Deoghar city.

4. Community Members – Local community members were the biggest source of

information. People with different socio-economic background from different wards
who are living in the city since long were contacted and FGDs were conducted with
them to know the ground level situation and the impact of water scarcity on the
households. An attempt was made to know the alternate source of water connection
available and measures taken by them during acute water shortage in summers. The
information was collected using both survey forms and FGDs.
 FINDINGS
The study was based in Deoghar district of Jharkhand, India. The district was formed on 1st
of June 1983 by separating Deoghar sub-division of the erstwhile Santhal Parganas district.
Deoghar district is located in the northern Jharkhand and is an important Hindu pilgrimage
Place with the Baba Baidyanath temple being one of the twelve Shiva Jyotirlingas. Deoghar
district is one of the major tourist destinations in Jharkhand and attracts tourists from all
over the world. The holy month of Shravana as considered by Hindu religion attracts lakh
of devotees from all parts of the country. It lies between 87°4' E to 96°9' E longitude and
between 24°5' N to 25°5' N latitude. It has a total area of 2479 Sq Kms. A population of
203,116 lives in this District which makes it 5th populous District in Jharkhand. Males
constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Deoghar has an average literacy rate of
66.34%, lower than the national average of 74.4%. Male literacy rate is 79.13% and female
52.39%. Important rivers flowing in the district are the Ajay, the Patro etc. The climate
condition of the district is generally dry and Deoghar is also considered a health resort. The
monsoon generally breaks during the month of June.

Deoghar has a huge religious significance in the local areas of Bihar and Jharkhand and as a
result lakh of people arrive in the district which aggravates the water problem more in
month of summer. People in Deoghar are dependent mostly on wells and bore wells for
extracting water for household use. The city is facing an acute water shortage. Ground
water level is sinking. A study done by the state’s groundwater directorate says that: water
table of Deoghar has dropped by an average of three meters between 2009 and 2012, from
17 meters to 20 meters. Eight years ago, the decline in water table levels before and after
the monsoon was in centimeters. Now it is in meters.
THE DEBATE OF ECONOMIC Vs. PHYSICAL WATER SCARCITY

According to United Nations there are two type of water scarcity- Physical water scarcity
and economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is a condition where there is
inadequate amount of water in an area to meet the demand of the people. It is often caused
by less rainfall which results in the groundwater depletion. On the other hand economic
water scarcity is a situation when the area instead of having adequate amount of
groundwater faces water problem due to inability to fetch groundwater. The inability can
be in the form of underdeveloped infrastructure or lack of fund to extract groundwater. A
map issued by United Nations projects Deoghar town under economic water scarcity.

After the interviews were conducted with the CEO of Deoghar Municipal Corporation and
PWD engineers who are involved in water management it appears that Deoghar city is
suffering from physical water scarcity unlike UN projection of the city being suffering from
economic water scarcity i.e. it is fast becoming a dry region and if not met with urgent
attention from the government policies, it will lead to migration of original residents to the
other cities.

Although the UN data projects Deoghar under economic water scarcity zone i.e. it says that
the region have water but due to lack of infrastructure and inability to fetch underground
water, the problem of water scarcity arises but in reality same is not the case. Deoghar city
is suffering from physical water scarcity i.e. it is becoming a dry region. As explained by
PWD engineers underground water source are of two types - stock zone and fractured
zone. Stock zone have stored water and they get exhausted after a period of continuous use
while fractured zone have flow of water between two huge rocks inside the earth. The
stock zone may be considered as a pond under the ground and a fractured zone is like
Underground river which keeps on flowing. The data released by Municipal Corporation of
Deoghar in form of official bore well dug in last 10 years shows that 90% of area of
Deoghar comes under water stock zone and not fractured zone. This they claim by using
our recent GPS system. This is the reason why most of the bore well in the city is not
success. In some cases even if the bore well finds water, it gets exhausted after a point of
time and hence people go on to dip two-three bore wells. UN data doesn't go with that
much detail while dividing regions under different type of scarcity zone. They simply see
whether underground water is available or not. Of course water is there available in
Deoghar but it is in the form of stock zone (pond) and not fractured zone and as a result
Water is getting exhausted in the city. Thus using the municipal data and the past 10 years
bore well trend it can be claimed that Deoghar comes under physical water scarcity zone.

The problems behind the scarcity are manifold. The single most factor is decreasing
groundwater level in the city. In most of the areas ground water level has decreased rapidly
and has gone down by 1metre – 2metre. Due to this reason bore well has been banned by
Municipal Corporation. It would not be wrong to say that the city administration has failed
to deal with the water problems in the town. To start with, when bore well was banned in
the city in 2006, 60% of houses had no water connection and hence they went on to dig
bore well which further deteriorated the groundwater situation. Data revealed by the
Municipal Corporation shows that more than 60% of these bore well were not successful
and were not able to fulfill the water demands of the people. As a result people started
practicing deep bore well which goes deep inside the earth up to 600-700metre. But this
was very expensive for middle class populations so they went on to dig 2 or 3 bore wells in
the same plot of land. So basically with new constructions of houses and expansion of the
city, water issue remained in the lowest priority for the government. Most of the areas in
Deoghar city like those of Panda Gali and Vilasi town have water problems throughout the
year while other residential areas like Castair’s town, William’s town, Belabagan face
problems in summers mainly in the month April, May, June.
Understanding the water management and distribution of Deoghar town

With respect to first objective that was to understand the water management and
distribution system in the city, interviews were conducted at various levels in the
municipal corporation.

According to Deoghar Municipal Corporation, the whole city has been divided into 35
wards. The number of wards has been increased after the city became a Nagar Nigam in
2010. Prior to 2010, the city was divided into wards based on 1982-83 division which was
made immediately after the formation of Deoghar district. These 35 wards have been
divided into two zones for the purpose of water supply. 40% of houses come under zone 1
which has water supply and rest of the 60 % houses come under zone 2 where currently
there is no water supply however the work is going on and it is expected to get complete by
2016.Water infrastructure in zone 1 was made way back at the time of the formation of
district i.e. in 1983. Later when Deoghar became a nagar nigam, a whole new plan was
made to divide the city into two zones. Zone 2 has mainly newly constructed houses.

Although deep boring has been banned by the district administration due to decreasing
groundwater level but local residents are practicing digging bore well because as of now
district administration is not capable of providing them any alternative source of water.

The sources of water are rivers flowing through the periphery of the city i.e. Ajay and
Dharbha. Both are seasonal rivers but for the purpose of water supply Municipal
Corporation is heavily dependent on these two rivers. But as the city face immense
problems in summers especially in the month of April, May and June as these rivers go dry
so the administration has started looking at the alternate source for water supply. Beside
these two rivers, DMC have various water supply plans known as yoznas situated in the
middle of city that are being used for water supply in populated areas. They conduct deep
boring to supply water from these centers. These are the areas which are densely
populated and come under ward No. 29, 30, 32 and several other wards.
The various Yoznas are Hanskup Jalapurti Yoznas situated in ward no. 24. There is another
one situated at Bazaar Samiti i.e. in the centre of the city. There is also one at Rohini jalasay
yozna which is used to supply water in Rohini. Earlier the area of Rohini was not under
direct jurisdiction of Deoghar. When Deoghar became a Nagar Nigam in 2010 , 44 villages
including Rohini village came under Deoghar municipal corporation. Except Rohini village,
all these areas are yet to get water supply as the corporation is working on creating
adequate infrastructure. Rohini already had a common water source but now that is under
DMC jurisdiction.

But the most important of all is new Punasi dam which is under construction. It is an
ambitious plan which is expected to solve all the water related problems. According to
DMC, after its completion they will be in position to supply water to houses of both the
zones. It will be one of the biggest dam in Jharkhand and the plan was initiated after
keeping in mind the ongoing water crisis.

There was a controversy in the initial phase as those whose land was taken for the project
were protesting against the construction but the district administration has settled the
issue now. The top officials of district administration along with Member of Parliament
Nishikant Dubey visited the place and made sure that all of the local residents should be
given appropriate compensation and an alternate source of livelihood as the land which got
accumulated by state was arable. This was followed by another clash between Nishikant
Dubey (MP of Godda) and Mayor of the district Ramnarayan Khaware . But finally the
administration has been successful in settlement of all the issues and work for the dam
construction is going smooth now.

The findings in the form of interview says that Deoghar is not yet ready for privatization of
water as far as making service available to the people is concerned. However in Jharkhand
there are some cities like Jamshedpur and Ranchi where a portion of water management
has been given to private bodies and such districts are yet to know the outcome of such
practice in small towns but as of now there is no such possibility in Deoghar town.
THE ISSUE OF CORRUPTION

At a time when it is confirmed that the city is fast becoming a dry region, it was decided by
the district administration to construct few ponds in the outer area of the city from all sides
and simultaneously increasing the depth of existing ponds. The attempt to increase the
depth of existing ponds and lakes has its own problems. What is happening now is that in
the process of deepening existing ponds, the concerned departments consisting of Public
works department (PWD) make estimates prior to deepening the pond. The MGNREGAS
workers are employed for the task under the supervision of private contractors. The
private contractors for their benefit and in a hurry to finish the project have discovered a
new loophole. To quote one example what happened in one of the pond in Kunda thana is
that a contractor was asked to deepen the pond level by 9 feet down the earth. They
employed MGNREGA workers and dug 3 feet and the soil taken from these 3 feet depth
were kept aside thus making a heap. As the estimates were made prior to the task, the
private contractor made it a measurement of 9 feet and gave it to government official. Thus
the actual goal to deepen the pond was not achieved. This type of loophole is rampant
everywhere and hence diminishing the credibility of Public works department.

Keeping in mind the water scarcity issue and to deal with it, the state government law says
that the map of multi-storey building in all the district of the state will be passed only if it
has an effective mechanism to construct recharge pits in the households. The law is hardly
being followed by people in Deoghar. As far as constructing recharge pits are concerned, it
has altogether a different story to tell. In 2006 rainfall had worst impact in the city and
people had to suffer a lot. Given in this backdrop, government decided to construct few
recharge pits in several areas of the city. After that PWD went on to dig deep bore well in
order to fulfill supply water demand. Several of these deep boring were not success. Now
government bodies’ especially top officials from Municipal Corporation have ordered to
convert these deep bore well into water recharge pits to be used for rainwater
conservation. But it is not possible because water recharge pits have completely different
structure and it is wastage of both time and money to take an attempt to construct water
recharge pits in 600 feet deep boring. Government at the same time has taken no steps to
construct new recharge pits since its promise in 2006.
WATER MANAGEMENT IN TEMPLE PREMISE

Baidyanath dham is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the country and the history of temple
goes back to Treta Yug at the time of Lord Rama. Being a holy city the place attracts lakh of
devotes throughout the year. The administration of the temple since historically was in the
hands of local priests who used to administer the temple affairs with the help of donations
received by the devotees. With the increase in number of devotees in successive years and
with the city becoming a district in 1983, the temple administration drew attention of
district administration and hence a separate office was set up in the temple premise to
administer the temple services and to look after the needs of devotees. Next few years
witnessed more direct involvement of city administration when 24 hours police services
were deployed in the temple to help the devotees. The temple premise has been expanded
since then and few rest houses have been constructed for the devotees. Recently a flyover
was made which starts from Shiv Ganga lake and reaches directly to the temple premise.

As far as administration related to water facility is concerned, since historically there is a

well in the temple premise that is being used for various purposes but in the 90s when the
number of devotes started growing, administration felt the need to construct water tanks
to be used for purposes like drinking water, sanitation and for cleaning purpose. Since then
5 big tanks have been constructed and water points have been made in the several places
in the temple. The tanks have proper water supply connection and it gets water from deep
well boring in Bara Bazaar. Deoghar Municipal corporation is directly involved in the
construction and maintenance of tanks and water points. However the problems occur in
the month of summer and hence there were attempts to dig few deep well borings in the
temple premise itself but that was not feasible and met with opposition with local pandas.
As a result a deep boring was dug outside the temple premise but it failed. These days the
administration is planning to find alternatives as the current source which is located in
Bara Bazaar is highly unreliable. The number of devotes are increasing every year and
hence the issue of water has to be met with urgent attention from the city administration.
There was a time in 80s and 90s when the Hanskup well located in the premise was the
only source of water in the temple but now the well remains dry for the most of period in a
year. The water of the well is considered sacred and is used strictly only by the devotees to
offer prayer to god. The water of the Hanskup well is not used for any other purpose.

A devotee needs water from drinking purpose to taking a bath or for sanitation purpose.
But as most of the visiting devotees take bath in the Shiv Ganga Lake situated nearby
temple as that is considered sacred, the temple administration have to take care primarily
about the drinking water and sanitation facility. Two public toilets have been constructed
outside the temple premise for that purpose. One major other area where the temple needs
water is for cleaning purpose. The temple is supposed to be cleaned twice everyday by the
cleaning workers and we need a lot of water for that purpose.
DATA ANALYSIS

Through the use of various tables, the researcher has tried to analyze the data and co-relate
with the research objectives.

As stated earlier the whole city has been divided into 35 wards however if one assess the
city with area wise distribution the city has been divided into 9-10 big localities also known
as Mohallas in the local term. If a Mohalla comprises of larger area it has been further
divided into several smaller wards for effective distribution. In this research, three big
localities have been selected by the researcher as his sample size. These are Karnibag
which comes under ward no. 19, Castair’s town which comes under ward no. 34 and Vilasi
town which has been divided into four wards i.e. ward no. 23, 28, 29 and 30. Vilasi town is
a bigger area and hence it has been divided into smaller wards for effective administration.
These areas are selected because of their large population and continuous water shortage
issue throughout the year. 15 houses were selected from each Locality.

Table 1: Sample size

Sr. No. Locality with Ward No. Sample size

1. Karnibag ( Ward No - 19) 15
2. Vilasi Town (Ward No –23,28,29,30) 15
3. Castair’s town ( Ward No – 34) 15
 Name of No. of Average Average annual Income of Households
locality with Househol size of Below 1 1 lakh-3 3-5 lakh Over 5
Ward no. ds family lakh (In lakh (In (In Rs.) lakh (In
Surveyed Rs.) Rs) Rs.)
Karnibag, 15 6 0 2 4 9
Kunda Thana(
Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 6 0 6 9 0
(Ward no.
23,28,29,30)
Castair’s Town, 15 5 0 0 8 7
Bajla Chowk
(Ward 34)

Table -2

The table given below shows the average size of the family and family income of the
households in each of three wards. The table also shows the socio-economic background of
the people selected for the study. The average size of the family in Karnibag (Ward no. 19)
is 6. While the average size of the family in Castair’s town and Vilasi town are 5 and 6
respectively.

When one talks about Karnibag, none of the households selected for the study has average
annual income less than Rs. 1 lakh. Two houses have annual family income between Rs. 1 to
3 lakh, 4 houses between Rs. 3-5 lakh and a total of 9 households having annual family
income of more than 5 lakh which shows that area is economically well.

When it comes to Vilasi town, none of the households selected for the study have annual
family income less than Rs. 1 lakh. The No. of households with annual family income of Rs.
1-3 lakh and Rs. 3-5 lakh are 6 and 9 respectively. None of the households have annual
family income more than Rs. 5 lakh.

In Castair’s town none of the households have annual family income of less than Rs. 3 lakh.
A total of 8 households are earning between Rs. 3-5 lakh annually and 7 households over
Rs. 5 lakh.

A comparative study of these wards tells us that Karnibag is most affluent area in economic
terms followed by Castair’s town and Vilasi town.
Name of No. of NO. of No. of houses No. of houses No. of houses
locality with Households houses having involved in borrowing
Ward no Surveyed having water access to Conflict due water from
shortages public source to common private
of water in source of source
case of water
shortage

Karnibag, 15 14 11 7 5
Kunda
Thana( Ward
no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 15 13 8 2
(Ward no.
23,28,29,30)

Castair’s 15 9 5 3 5
Town, Bajla
Chowk (
Ward no-34)

Table -3

The above table reveals the four very important information i.e. number of houses having
water shortage, number of houses having access to public source of water in case of water
shortage, number of houses involved in any kind of conflict due to common source of water
and number of houses borrowing water from private sources.

A total of 14 households out of 15 households surveyed are suffering from water shortage
in Karnibag. In Vilasi town all the households surveyed are having water shortage issue.
While in Castair’s town only 9 households are having water shortage issue.

While all the areas are having serious water shortage issue, the problem is most prevalent
in Vilasi town followed by Karnibag and Castair’s town respectively.

When it comes to the number of households having access to public source of water in case
of water shortage, it is most prevalent in Vilasi town where a total of 13 households are
having access, followed by Karnibag with 11 households out of 14 houses suffering from
water shortage having access to public source of water. In Castair’s town only 5 households
out of 9 households suffering from water shortage are having access to safe drinking water.
This shows the critical condition of Castair’s town where despite having water shortage
issue, very few public water source have been installed by government. Vilasi town has
most public water source followed by Karnibag and Castair’s town.

Water shortage issue also results in people borrowing water from private bodies. The data
shows that 5 out of 14 households suffering from water shortage issue borrow water from
private body in Karnibag. 2 out of 9 households suffering from water shortage borrow
water from private bodies. While the number of households in Castair’s town borrowing
water from private source stands at 5 out of 9 household suffering from water shortage
issue. Most of the people who opt for private water source are from Castair’s town followed
by Karnibag and Vilasi town. Only 2 households in Vilasi town borrow water from private
bodies. This also shows an interesting fact that only those households who are
economically well and are capable to borrow water from private bodies are doing so with
maximum number of people belonging from Castair’s town followed by Karnibag.

When several people have access to common source of water, it very often leads to conflict
among the community members. Sample survey shows that in almost all the areas people
are involved in some kind of conflict due to common source of water. 7 out of 11
households having common source of water are involved in conflict in Karnibag. While the
number stands at 8 out of 13 and 3 out of 5 in Vilasi town and Castair’s town respectively
who are involved in conflict.

The findings of several FGDs conducted in the crowded area of panda Gali in Vilasi town
tells an altogether picture about people’s initiative for water management. Panda Gali is
known for its narrow street having congested houses and deep water scarcity issues. There
are few bore wells at a distance of 1 km (approx) but only few of them works thus making
the working ones crowded. There are wells also but most of them are dry. There are very
few wells which contain water throughout the year and hence people of that area have to
rely heavily on a single source. Since there are number of families dependent upon a single
source of water, it often leads to conflict among the people. As a result they have found a
solution to the conflict in which they divide the time of 48 hours i.e. 2 days among more
than 20-25 households in which every household gets a time of around 2 hours to extract
water from the well. This they do by fixing water pump machine in the well. So once if a
household extract water for two hours, their turn will come only after 2 days.
Name of the locality with No. of No. of Houses
having access to
Ward No. households safe drinking
water
Surveyed

Karnibag, Kunda Thana( 15 14

Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 8
(Ward no. 23,28,29,30)

Castair’s Town, Bajla Chowk 15 13

( Ward no.- 34

Table - 4

The table given above shows the number of Houses having safe access to water or the
houses using water filter in their home. According the survey, Karnibag has most of the
households having access to safe drinking water with 14 out of 15 houses surveyed
followed by Castair’s town with 13 houses. In Vilasi town only half of the people surveyed
are having access to safe drinking water.

If we compare this table with previous table showing economic status of the areas, it is
obvious that access to safe drinking water is directly related to economic status of the
households.
Name of the locality with No. of No. of houses

Ward No. households having water

Surveyed recharge pits

Karnibag, Kunda Thana( 15 0

Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 0
(Ward no. 23,28,29,30)

Castair’s Town, Bajla Chowk 15 0

( Ward no.- 34

Table - 5

Rainwater conservation is considered as in important way to deal with water scarcity

issues and finds a place in the law also where every multi-storey building is supposed to
construct an effective mechanism for water recharge pits in order to get its map passed by
Municipal Corporation. The rule is hardly followed by anyone. Further, it is bound to
applicable for multi-storey buildings only thus keeping most of the households outside the
ambit of the law. A survey conducted in the Deoghar city says that not even a single
household out of 45 households surveyed have water recharge pits in their home nor they
have any such plans to build it in future.
Name of the locality with No. of No. of houses

Ward No. households having water

Surveyed supply

connection

Karnibag, Kunda Thana( 15 8

Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 15
(Ward no. 23,28,29,30)

Castair’s Town, Bajla Chowk 15 10

( Ward no.- 34

Table -6

The city has been divided into two zones for water supply and at the time of the survey
only 40% of households coming under zone 1 has water supply connection. The above
table says that only half of the households in Karnibag have proper water supply
connection. Vilasi town is one of the oldest areas in the city and hence all the households
surveyed have water supply connection. 10 out of 15 households in Castair’s town have
piped water supply connection. The table shows that figure is worst in Karnibag, Also to
note that the availability of water supply connection doesn’t ensure that the house is
getting regular water from Municipal corporation. This is illustrated through other table
given below.
Name of the locality with No. of Average time an
Ward No. households household gets
having water water in a day ( In
connection minutes)
Karnibag, Kunda Thana( 8 36
Ward no. 19)
Vilasi Town 15 30
(Ward no. 23,28,29,30)
Castair’s Town, Bajla Chowk 10 40
( Ward no.- 34
Table – 7

While calculating the average time, the table includes only those households who have
piped water connection of Municipal Corporation. The average time of water availability in
any of the ward doesn’t exceed 1 hour. Vilasi town has lowest duration of water availability
of just half an hour per day. In Karnibag 8 households having water connection get water
supply for 36 minute in a day on an average. In Castair’s town 10 households having water
connection get water supply for 40 minutes in a day on an average.

Name of the locality with No. of No. of water

Ward No. households sources used by
Surveyed households
(Average)

Karnibag, Kunda Thana( 15 2

Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 3
(Ward no. 23,28,29,30)

Castair’s Town, Bajla Chowk 15 2

( Ward no.- 34

Table - 8
Due to water shortage in the month of summers, people have to rely either on public water
source or they go on to construct another source of water in their households. Most of the
houses opt for constructing an alternative source of water in their home to avoid public
source of water which is known for frequent conflict and burden of carrying water from
certain distance. However not all of them are capable to doing so because of economic
constraint. The data shows that out of the 15 households surveyed in Karnibag, every
household are having at least two source of water on an average while in Vilasi town every
household have constructed 3 source of water on an average. In Castair’s town also the
average number of water sources used by each household stands at two.

Locality with ward NO. of No of No. of Houses

no. Households households having regular
storing water health issues
in their home due to water
issues
Karnibag, Kunda 15 12 13
Thana( Ward no. 19)

Vilasi Town 15 15 12
(Ward no.
23,28,29,30)

Castair’s Town, Bajla 15 7 5

Chowk ( Ward no.-
34

Table -9
The water shortage issue in the households often compels people to store water in their
home resulting in range of issues. The foremost of them being the health issues due to
contamination of water has come to the picture. When people use a pubic source of water,
they very often get a time of two hours in a day or two day and hence they try to store as
much water as they can in tubs and utensils of their home with a purpose of using it for the
next two days. The above table shows the health impacts in three areas due to water
storage in their homes for long time. A total of 12 households out of 15 surveyed store
water in their homes and 13 households suffer from health issues due to water
contamination which means that water storage alone is not the reason for health issues and
it may depend on other factors as well.

In Vilasi town all the 15 households out of 15 surveyed are storing water in their homes
and 12 households out of 15 have some kind of health issues. In Castair’s town 7 out of 15
households surveyed are storing water in their homes and 5 households are suffering from
health issues.

The table shows a clear picture that health issues are prevalent in those households where
people store water in their home. The issue of health due to water contamination will be
discussed in detail in analysis chapter.