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109 *฀ The฀principal฀authors฀are฀Professors฀in฀the฀Department฀of฀Environmental฀ Studies,฀GITAM฀University.฀Other฀authors฀are฀Associate฀Professor฀Y.฀Maruti,฀ and฀Assistant฀Professors฀V.฀Saritha,฀K.฀Suresh฀Kumar฀and฀B.฀Padmavathi.฀ The฀paper฀is฀based฀on฀the฀team฀work฀of฀the฀authors฀as฀well฀as฀researchers฀ and฀ students฀ of฀ the฀ Department฀ who฀ participated฀ in฀ the฀ at฀ times฀ highly฀ exhausting฀field฀work.฀฀ 1 ฀ Rakesh฀Kumar,฀Singh,฀R.D.,฀and฀Sharma฀K.D.,฀“Water฀resources฀in฀India”,฀ Current฀Science฀89฀(2005):฀794–811. 2 ฀ Bardon,฀C.฀and฀Homman,฀K.,฀“The฀cost฀of฀inaction:฀Valuing฀the฀economywide ฀cost฀of฀environmental฀degradation฀in฀India”.฀Asia฀Environment฀Division,฀ World฀Bank฀7,฀October฀Memo,฀1995. Drinking฀Water฀Situation฀in฀Villages฀of฀฀ North฀Coastal฀ Andhra฀Pradesh฀(AP),฀India N.฀Srinivas,฀Ch.฀Ramakrishna฀and฀Associates*฀ This฀paper฀is฀based฀on฀a฀field฀investigation฀of฀10฀villages฀in฀three฀ districts฀ of฀ North฀ Coastal฀ Andhra฀ Pradesh,฀ India.฀ The฀ drinking฀ water฀ situation฀ is฀ nowhere฀ near฀ satisfactory.฀ Traditional฀ water฀ bodies฀ are฀ not฀ the฀ sources฀ any฀ more.฀ The฀ prevailing฀ precarious฀ situation฀and฀anticipated฀water฀stress฀of฀the฀future฀together฀call฀for฀ appropriate฀policy฀initiatives.฀ 1.฀ Introduction Access฀to฀safe฀drinking฀water฀is฀a฀key฀problem฀in฀India฀where฀nearly฀ 30%฀ of฀ urban฀ and฀ 90%฀ of฀ rural฀ households฀ still฀ depend฀ completely฀ on฀untreated฀surface฀or฀ground฀water.1 ฀It฀is฀estimated฀that฀about฀21%฀ of฀the฀communicable฀diseases฀in฀India฀is฀water-related.2 ฀Groundwater,฀ instead฀ of฀ surface฀ water,฀ has฀ increasingly฀ become฀ the฀ prime฀ source฀ of฀ 07 IWP Srinivas.indd 109 5/30/11 3:55:58 PM N.฀Srinivas,฀Ch.฀Ramakrishna฀and฀Associates 110 water฀in฀rural฀areas.฀It฀helped฀to฀decrease฀the฀microbial฀contamination,฀ but฀has฀brought฀out฀newer฀problems฀like฀fluorosis฀and฀arsenicosis.฀ 2.฀ Water฀Situation฀in฀Rural฀AP Drinking฀Water In฀ rural฀ households฀ only฀ 14%฀ have฀ access฀ to฀ piped฀ water฀ schemes฀ for฀ their฀domestic฀and฀drinking฀water฀needs.฀฀Most฀use฀water฀from฀tube฀wells฀ ฀ or฀ open฀ wells,฀ while฀ a฀ small฀ minority฀ uses฀ tanks฀ and฀ springs.฀ Hence฀ ฀ there฀ is฀ a฀ high฀ dependence฀ on฀ groundwater฀ for฀ drinking฀ and฀ other฀ ฀ domestic฀purposes.฀Nearly฀90%฀of฀rural฀households฀collect฀water฀from฀ community฀sources,฀which฀are฀often฀remote฀and฀suggesting฀that฀a฀substantial ฀amount฀of฀time฀and฀effort฀goes฀into฀water฀collection฀in฀rural฀AP. Nearly฀70%฀of฀the฀rural฀population฀is฀reported฀to฀have฀access฀to฀ safe฀drinking฀water฀as฀per฀planning฀norms฀(40฀litres฀per฀capita฀per฀day),฀ but฀this฀may฀not฀be฀accurate.฀Water฀quality฀is฀a฀problem฀in฀the฀state.฀ Coastal฀ salinity฀ and฀ fluoride฀ are฀ the฀ most฀ common฀ quality฀ problems฀ for฀groundwater.฀Seawater฀intrusion฀has฀occurred฀in฀the฀coastal฀regions฀ and฀ aquaculture฀ is฀ also฀ affecting฀ coastal฀ zone฀ aquifers฀ since฀ the฀ tanks฀ are฀ located฀ in฀ sandy฀ areas.฀ Fluoride฀ affects฀ interior฀ semi-arid฀ areas,฀ especially฀ Nalgonda,฀ Anantapur,฀ Cuddapah,฀ Gunter,฀ Nellore,฀ Chittor,฀ and฀ Krishna.฀ But฀ more฀ than฀ half฀ of฀ the฀ quality฀ affected฀ habitations฀ are฀yet฀to฀be฀covered. Rainfall Rainfall฀ varies฀ considerably฀ across฀ the฀ state.฀ For฀ example,฀ although฀ average฀ annual฀ is฀ 1000mm,฀ the฀ southwestern฀ area฀ of฀ Rayalaseema฀ district฀typically฀receives฀less฀than฀700mm.฀One฀third฀of฀the฀population฀ of฀ AP฀ lives฀ in฀ a฀ drought-prone฀ area.฀ Droughts฀ tend฀ to฀ hit฀ the฀ Rayalseema฀ and฀ Telangana฀ districts฀ most.฀ One฀ in฀ five฀ years฀ on฀ the฀ average,฀ the฀ state฀ rainfall฀ is฀ below฀ 750mm.฀ However,฀ drought฀ years฀ are฀often฀consecutive. Irrigation Organized฀ large-scale฀ irrigation฀ began฀ during฀ the฀ 19th฀ century฀ and฀ continued฀after฀Indian฀independence฀in฀1947,฀the฀Krishna฀delta฀scheme฀ 07 IWP Srinivas.indd 110 5/30/11 3:55:58 PM [3.137.192.3] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 13:35 GMT) Drinking฀Water฀Situation฀in฀Villages฀of฀North฀Coastal฀Andhra฀Pradesh 111 and฀ the฀ Nagarjuna฀ Sagar฀ project฀ being฀ the฀ most฀ prominent.฀ But฀ in฀ recent฀times฀the฀area฀irrigated฀by฀surface฀sources฀has฀decreased฀(down฀ from฀ 3.1฀ mha฀ in฀ 1980–81฀ to฀ 2.8฀ mha฀ in฀ 1997–98),฀ because฀ of฀ poor฀ maintenance฀ or฀ management฀ problems฀ of฀ surface฀ irrigation฀ systems,฀ and฀a฀shift฀towards฀groundwater-based฀irrigation฀or฀conjunctive฀use฀of฀ surface฀and฀groundwater. Tanks Andhra฀ Pradesh฀ has฀ a฀ large฀ number฀ of฀ water฀ collection,฀ storage฀ and฀ percolation฀ tanks฀ of฀ various฀ sizes฀ and฀ types.฀ Tanks฀ were฀ an฀ important฀ source฀ of฀ irrigation,฀ especially฀ in฀ the฀ interior฀ semi฀ arid฀ parts,฀ where฀ they฀ help฀ in฀ areas฀ not฀ amenable฀ to฀ irrigation฀ by฀ large฀ ฀ irrigation฀projects,฀and฀play฀an฀important฀role฀in฀groundwater฀recharge.฀ But฀ since฀ the฀ 1960s฀ there฀ has฀ been฀ a฀ continuous฀ decline฀ in฀ the฀ ฀ area฀ irrigated฀ by฀ tanks,฀ with฀ a฀ sharp฀ decline฀ since฀ 1980.฀ Poor฀ maintenance฀ has฀ reduced฀ storage฀ capacity฀ and฀ made฀ tanks฀ vulnerable ฀ to฀ breaches฀ during฀ heavy฀ rains...

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