[Reader-list] Is is possible to overcome municipal problems?

[hpp at vsnl.com]

This is a translated version of a two-part article by Gobinda Ganguly
Chairman, Kamarhati Municipality, that appeared in the January 1996 and April 1996 issues of Puro Pathik, the quarterly bulletin of the Kamarhati Municipality. 

Kamarhati is one of the municipalities within the Calcutta Metropolitan Area, and lies to the north of Calcutta city, past Baranagar (another municipality). 

V Ramaswamy, Calcutta


Is is possible to overcome municipal problems?


Part One

Problem is an immense word. Again, there are various kinds of problems. It is because there are problems that there is thinking about solutions. A problem may create yet another problem. Many philosophers would contend that it is because there are problems that life continues. My discussion is not about the philosophical aspects of problems. The discussion is about civic problems and current thinking on the subject.

As soon as I mention civic problems, immediately everybody starts thinking about some problem or the other. Someone may prepare a long list of problems and say why are you running a municipality with so many problems. If you cannot do anything then please give up (office). Many would say can one survive like this ? If basic civic facilities are not available then why should I pay municipal taxes ? And so on and so forth.

My note is on the validity of this discussion and these complaints.  At the outset, for convenience of discussion, let us look at some well-known facts.

Kamarhati municipal town belongs to all of us. Its area is also a legislative assembly constituency. Kamarhati is made up of four villages. Their names - Kamarhati, Ariadaha, Dakhineswar and Belghoria.  Kamarhati Municipality has been administering an area of 10.99 sq kms since 1899. According to the 1991 Census, the population was 2.66 lakhs. Population density is 26,000. In some parts, the density is even more. 

The Kamarhati village within the municipality is almost entirely made up of bastis or slums. Other than the jute mill workers, if one takes into account the workers employed in all the other factories, then almost half the men are industrial workers. Besides, settlements of the lower-income group, middle class and poor are also significant. Being an old locality, this town has not developed in a planned manner. Streets are narrow. The narrow lanes are entirely inappropriate to today’s situation. Vacant spaces have almost entirely disappeared over the last one decade. In the last 40 years, a number of large as well as small colonies have come up. And some more have come up without any planned approach.

We are residents of this town and therefore as residents can demand to know everything about the origins and end-points of problems - this is not quite correct. Again, it is also true that many eminent people have not only thought about this beloved town’s development plans but have also done a lot of work. The responsibility for services in our town is the municipality’s. However, the structure of the services system within which municipal bodies are functioning is not only inadequate to meet citizens’ requirements. This structure and financial situation is clearly not able to keep pace with the contemporary development forces. Whatever the arrangements and systems that are developed are rapidly losing their ability to cope with problems. In this kind of difficult, complex situation, within the democratic framework, elected representatives have to continue to work to see to the well-being of citizens. I would like to highlight some well-known aspects of service-related prob
lems.

The old systems for civic services have gone through changes. Nevertheless, the civic authority has to identify some arrangements as priority problems of public life. These are - water supply, sanitation, road construction and repairs, solid waste clearance and disposal, cleaning of septic tanks, drain cleaning etc etc. And there are other tasks, which can help to create a sense of social responsibility, or build a healthy cultural environment. The civic authority cannot avoid such responsibilities. But my discussion is not about that. My discussion is on some important problems.

Water Supply System and Problems

Kamarhati Municipality had a modern water supply project, before Independence - in 1939. This was the Baranagar - Kamarhati joint water project. From this project, Kamarhati and Baranagar have been getting water on a three-eighths - five-eighths basis. As a result of this project, the water supply arrangement was quite good in terms of the population then. I might also mention that in those days the number of water supply connections in individual households was very limited. An amusing point had arisen in connection with the implementation of and distribution from this water project; that the water provided by the civic authorities was not suitable for Hindus because the water was impure through contact with leather. Those making this comment were definitely opposed to progressive thought. 

Anyhow, through this water supply system, our water requirements were met for a long time. But with the passage of time, with the growth of settlements of refugees from East Bengal, and owing to population pressures, the inadequacy of water supply from this project made citizens think anew. People started thinking about a new water supply arrangement or upgrading the existing arrangement. But upgradation does not happen just by saying so. This calls for a huge amount of finance.  The good news was that after crossing a lot of hurdles and cutting a lot of red tape, the Public Health department prepared a proposal for an upgradation project in 1956. It was several years before further hurdles were crossed and this reached the implementation stage. 

Just as the work was nearing completion, political instability began in the early 1970s. The municipal board was wound up. Democratically elected representatives were driven away from the municipality and were replaced by bureaucrats. The project came to a halt. After 1977, on regaining power, municipal commissioners came to know about the winding up of the project. Why wound up, for what - this could not be ascertained. Anyhow, under the leadership of Jyoti Basu, the project which was wound up after much money had been spent, again saw the light of day. The incomplete work on this project was completed and in 1981 water supply started from this project. Water availability from the two projects stood at 1 lakh 20 thousand gallons.  However, water supply from the 1939 works has come down for obvious reasons. Which is why current supply is less than this.

Let us again go back to the past, because it is necessary to know about some developments during the period 1950 - 1981 and thereafter. The deep tubewell sinking programme shows how, in a situation of growing population pressure and consequent scarce supply in relation to demand, despite acute financial difficulties, elected representatives are thinking about enhancing water supply. The first deep tubewell was sunk in our municipality in 1957. Since then, deep tubewell water has been supplementing the supply from the project. I may mention that this supply was largely in the older localities. Inclusion of the newer areas came much later. I shall return to that later. 

Deep tubewells are an unstable element within a water supply system. This cannot lead to a permanent solution to the water supply problem of a town. On the contrary, because of the iron content in the water from deep tubewells, this is not potable. besides, a deep tubewell can at best provide water for 7 - 10 years; yet, within a few years, they start failing. Deep tubewells can become inoperative for a variety of reasons. Owing to the lack of any alternative arrangement between the tubewell becoming inoperative and getting repaired, citizens and their elected representatives have to face a lot of hardship. The high iron content also means that pipe lines are affected. Everyone knows that iron deposits are formed inside the pipes, and hence water flow and pressure declines. Thus, from time to time, pipes have to be cleaned out. But it is not possible to undertake this pipe cleaning in the manner that it should be. The pipes need to be entirely pulled out and struck closely s
o that the rock-hard deposits fall out. It will not be difficult to appreciate that this is impossible to undertake. So in order to maintain the water pressure, we clean the pipes from inside from time to time. This has to be done fairly regularly.

To maintain the water supply from deep tubewells, the municipality has been systematically increasing their numbers. At present, 26 are in operation. By combining deep tubewell water and the project’s supply, the municipality has been able to meet about 80 % of the locality’s requirements. To provide water in other areas, pipe lines have to be laid. Though pipes have been laid in quite a few areas, it has not yet been possible to lay pipes in some areas. There is a plan to do this. 

There is a need to look at some other aspects of water supply.

Part Two

In the past few years, water supply has been augmented by incorporating new areas. However, despite that effort, a number of streets, lanes and whole localities (both new and old) remain excluded. The municipality is trying to get these service deficient areas serviced with piped water supply at the earliest. These new areas are provided with groundwater through deep tubewells. Water supply network is being expanded by digging new deep tubewells, as well as maintaining the older ones. The number of these deep tubewells is quite significant. The deep tubewells are mainly located by the roadside, as suitable spots for siting them are hard to locate, and in most cases electricity is not available for their operation. As a result, starting of pumps is delayed - and hence despite the wholehearted effort of the municipalities, the projects are delayed.

A table is provided below to give an idea of the water supply infrastructure.

Item	             1977	      1996

Deep tubewells	      9	               26 (3 yet to be operational)

Pipe line	    60,212 m	       2,23,524 m

House Connections    3000	        18,726

Stand post	     175	        598

Hand tubewells	      360	        560

Water supplied	42,55,200 ltrs	   2,57,70,000 ltrs


The number of deep tubewells that went defunct between 1977-1996 stands at 10.
A new 30 million gallon, Baranagar-Kamarhati water supply project was started. Through this project, four other municipalities, North Dum Dum, Panihati, Khardah and Titagarh are serviced, in addition to the two mentioned above. On completion of this project, 30 million gallon water can be provided during the 24 hrs of the day.

People generally thought that with the initiation of this project there will be no more water shortage in these six municipalities. This notion has proven to be wrong. With only the initial stage of this project being over, it is functioning only to a third of its capacity, and for only 12 hours. As a result, all the areas that are supposed to fall under its ambit are not serviced by this project.
This project has led to an increase in water pressure in the supply network. However, since it is not functioning for 24 hours, the pressure is far below optimum. It can only be optimised after completion of the project.

There is a huge cost involved in the whole process of providing potable water to the consumers. This cost is escalating day by day. It is known that the municipalities are morally bound to provide water to the consumers. However, it is a sad state of affairs that the water supply scenario is being hit the most because of our negligence. The amount of water wasted stands at 40 % People must be made aware of this loss and of the benefits associated with reducing the wastage of water. The major benefit will be an instantaneous increase in water pressure in the supply network, leading to a more equitable distribution of water. Leaving taps open means that the people at the far end of the pipeline get less water. So it is necessary to try to reduce water wastage - and hence people must be more cautious. It is also prudent to conserve water so as not to deplete the groundwater resource on which the whole supply network is dependent.

The thinking that water has no price, has to change - in the public interest.