Niladri Chakraborti

Introduction: India no longer lives only in village. The size of its urban population has increased 15 times since 1901. Rapid pace of urbanization has given rise to plethora of complex problem including prolific growth of slums in Indian cities. Indian Census 2011 is giving a paradoxical statistics of about the drinking water coverage of Indian slums irrespective of their legal status 74% of households located at slums are having access to tap water, where as urban as a whole has coverage of 71%. This statistics reveals that more slum people are enjoying access to ‘improved’ water sources than their non-slum counterparts.  Global access to safe drinking water is assessed jointly by WHO & UNICEF and they consider “use of improved sources” as an indicator. However, use of ‘improved’ source doesn't account for water quality and associated risks of the water sources for microbial contamination. Here comes the relevance of the current study.
Objective: To explore the magnitude of safety and quantify the risk associated with water supply in the context of enhanced coverage of so-called “improved” drinking water sources in the Indian slums with evidence from Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha.
Methodologies: It is a quantitative study where sanitary inspection was carried out for all the stand posts (293) from 155 slums across 21 wards of Bhubaneswar cities with a WHO recommended standard format. Followed by it water sample form each stand post was tested for presence-absence of fecal coliform with with H2S vial and with DPD – FAS titration based filed kit to test presence of residual chlorine and its measurement . ArcView GIS 3 was used to prepare the map of the study area. SPSS 16 was used to analyze the data and all parametric statistical tests viz. chi-square test(CI 95%), logistic regression(CI 95%) and odds ratio calculation(CI 95%) and central tendency calculation was conducted    .
Results: The median risk score for stand post is 4[IQR 2, 6] means on average each stand is associated with 4 sanitary risks. Majority (45%) of the stand post was found in intermediate risk category. 10% of the sources were identified with fecal contamination on the day of inspecting. Surrounding area insanitary (OR= 3.77; p=.024) and leakage in pipeline (OR=3.095; p=.004)) are two factors found strongly associated with the fecal contamination of the water.   
Recommendation: It is evident from the current study that the staggering coverage of improved water sources in urban slums can’ not ensure safe water supply to its inhabitants. Increasing water supply coverage should be accompanied with increasing drainage coverage. A single department or agency cannot sort out the multi dimensional problems associated with urban water supply specially at slum level. A coordinated effort from various departments can only take care of such problems to a greater extent.

The study was aimed to obtain baseline data on KABP of the community related to water, sanitation and hygiene. The survey population was chosen from four GPs and six municipal wards of Kandi block of Murshidabad (WB). The study was taken up in conjunction with SPADE, a West Bengal based renowned NGO. A sample size of 503 households was considered for this study.  It was conducted from September to December 2011.The result conclusively shows that possession of toilet at home  has a significant association with caste (p<.05) and so do the water treatment. There was not much difference among the APL & BPL card holder in terms toilet possession. Rather populations with exposure to audio visual media are more likely to have toilet at their house. With the increased distance of the water source the sanitation coverage get reduced (p<.05) which again proves that without accessibility of water the sanitation coverage cannot be improved. Water based vector borne disease like Chikunguniya was found strongly associated with poor drainage. Among water borne disease Dysentery was found associated with the presence of toilet at home.    From the overall survey results it reflects that there is a great need for revisiting the Behavioral Change Communication strategy of govt. (Managed to spend only 7% of total allotment in 2011). A community equipped with proper information and education can only adopt hygienic behavior and contribute in operation and management. With 40% of population defecating in open and 8% population unaware about the implications of the unsafe water are more likely to suffer from water borne diseases.  A variety of factors viz. socioeconomic, socio-demographic, pathogenic conditions were taken into consideration. Composite KABP score was calculated in corresponding to different factors. Based on the score several inferences were drawn and suggestions were made.

Developing nations are witnessing rapid pace of urbanization since the second half of 20th Century. According to United Nation, urban population will increase more than 2.5 billion in between 2010-2050 in less developed regions. More and more people will now live in cities. Climate change will invariably affect those cities, as they are mostly located in climate sensitive zone i.e. either on flood plain or on coastal zone. The urban water system, which includes water supply, wastewater treatment and storm water drainage, is particularly in risk, as climate change will manifest itself through the alteration of hydrological cycle. The rapid pace of urbanization is already posing growing challenges towards maintaining a safe and adequate water supply and wastewater services for urban residents. In developing nations the core aspects of urbanization is the fastest urban population growth together with inadequate planning, pollution, poverty, competing demands on resources, all contributing to water stress.  Urban water consumption is likely to be doubled by 2025. Cities are also characterized by the predominance of impermeable surfaces-which are less capable of absorbing increased rainfall and therefore increase the intensity of rainfall run off- and are prone to urban heat island effect, which amplifies the heat. Integrity and functionality of water supply system, wastewater system and storm water system will be affected to varying degree. When prolific growth of urbanization is happening in many developing nations with dwindling water resources, city and water managers are left with no choice but to think of adapting climate changes in their prospective planning. Though uncertainty remains regarding the expected manifestation of climate change, yet the potential impacts of it on urban water systems cannot be ruled out. Such anticipated impacts has a considerable magnitude of  knock-on-effect on the other urban systems as water plays a pivotal part of functioning those system and of maintaining the quality of life in wider sense.  “Adaptation Strategies” will help in reducing or avoiding impacts of climate change, at the same time some “Mitigation Strategies” can be co-opted  to keep a check on the production of Green House Gasses by the operation of urban water utilities.