Introduction
Water is arguably the most important natural resource for human
development, economic growth, and sustainability of the
environment. Access to clean water is the most basic human
need for life and health, and without it people cannot survive.
Water plays a crucial role in determining where communities
settle and how big they will be able to grow. Besides being the
“elixir of life,” it is also essential for socioeconomic development,
agriculture, industry, power generation, and other daily
activities .Due to the growing population and the shortage of
water around the world, it is said that future wars will be fought
over water issues.
Although water is used for many purposes, its most important use
is for drinking. Drinking water, after irrigation, is the second
largest water sector in terms of volume. Around the world,
systems of providing drinking water are under increasing pressure
to provide more and more water of better quality. The increasing
demand for water is due to the growing population, urbanization,
and also a rise in the global standard of living. A higher standard
of living corresponds with an increase in water use, and also a
demand for a higher quality of water. As water is a finite resource
that is difficult and expensive to collect and transport on a mass
scale, the supply is not able to keep up with the growing demand.
For this reason, water regulation and management is a critical
issue to study.
Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General, says,
“Access to water is a fundamental human need and therefore a
basic human right.” Despite the wide acceptance of the fact that
having access to drinking water is a basic right by many
international organizations and national governments in theory, in
practice water is still not being provided to everyone. The
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and
Sanitation (JMP) 2008 report states that 884 million people, one-
eighth of the world’s population, do not have access to safe water.
Further, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that
about 10% of the world disease burden is preventable by
managing water in a better way, and about 62% of this prevention
can come from fixing the drinking water and sanitation sectors
alone.
India, especially Rajasthan, has more than its share of water
problems. Rajasthan is India’s largest state, covering about 10%
of its total area and housing 5% of the population, but it
possesses only about .16% of country’s water resources. The
lack of water to begin with has made the government’s task of
providing water to its citizens difficult. Poor rainfall and excessive
dependence on groundwater, both for irrigation and drinking
purposes, along with the over-exploitation of these sources has
made the task of providing a safe and potable water supply even
more impossible in recent years. However, a Rajasthan High
Court order states that, “drinking water is a fundamental right
under Article 21[Right to Life] of the constitution and the state is
duty bound to provide safe drinking water to every citizen.”
Therefore, it is important that the limited amount of water
Rajasthan has now is managed correctly so that the state can
provide clean water to all.
This study analyzes government policies in relation to clean
drinking water management in Jaipur and the surrounding area. It
focuses on two current policies being implemented by the Public
Health and Engineering Department (PHED) in urban and rural
areas: the Bisalpur Water Supply Project (BWSP) within the city,
and the Rajasthan Integrated Fluoride Mitigation Program
(RIFMP) in the villages. It outlines the steps that the government
is taking to implement these programs, and analyzes their
effectiveness in providing an adequate supply of clean drinking
water to the people. Water policy goals, taken from India’s 11th
Five-Year Plan, the Rajasthan State Water Policy, and the
Planning Commission of India’s Water Policy and Action Plan for
2020: An Alternative, are used as a standard against which to
measure the progress of the two programs. Also, public opinions
are used to evaluate both the current water situation and the
impacts of these programs.
