Low sustainability of drinking water schemes in India: a case study of water surplus north Indian state, Himachal Pradesh

Since the first five year plan India has spent a lot of resources for the provision of drinking water to its citizens on regular basis yet the results are not very satisfactory. In the performance audits and status survey conducted by the Government agencies have reported low sustainability of Rural Water Supply Schemes (RWSS). The planners in the country attribute this low sustainability to certain reasons mostly related to climate change, demographic changes and changes in monitoring practices. To understand this phenomenon of slipback, a case study on water supply status was conducted in the north Indian mountainous state, Himachal Pradesh, having average annual rainfall as 1111mm The survey of 3452 households revealed that low sustainability is due to deficiencies in planning, execution and operation methods/ practices. The planning and execution of RWSS need adaptation to climatic, demographic and social changes.