Importance of water supply in sanitation promotion

The study discusses the experience of a village in the semi arid area of Gujarat, India, where inadequate water supply was an impediment in the implementation of sanitation programme. The village had a total population of 7050 people. The undulating topography was affecting access to water supply to about 211 households counting to 45 per cent of 466 households falling under the low socio-economic segment. Though these households were falling under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)1 benefeciaries, they did not go for sanitary latrine construction due to non availability and accessibility of water supply. With the catalytic inputs from the project partners and active collaboration of government agencies the construction of a supplementary water tank with standpost cum washing platforms assured water supply making sanitation interventions easy for the underprivileged segments.