Summary:
Surat: With majority of the cities of Gujarat getting piped water, the need of the hour is to improve water management and improve service, claimed a study carried out by the Centre for Water and Sanitation at CEPT University.
The researchers also advocated water audit and metered connections to improve monitoring.
The study titled ‘Urban drinking water security in Gujarat’ by Meera Mehta, Dinesh Mehta and Jaladhi Vavaliya was recently published in Journal of Social and Economic Development.
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Surat: With majority of the cities of Gujarat getting piped water, the need of the hour is to improve water management and improve service, claimed a study carried out by the Centre for Water and Sanitation at CEPT University.
The researchers also advocated water audit and metered connections to improve monitoring.
The study titled ‘Urban drinking water security in Gujarat’ by Meera Mehta, Dinesh Mehta and Jaladhi Vavaliya was recently published in Journal of Social and Economic Development.
As the World Water Day is observed on March 22, the experts said that the state has reduced its dependence on groundwater by expanding the reach of Narmada canal network at the cost of Rs 47,000 crore.
It has improved the water supply in north Gujarat and Saurashtra regions, improving economic growth.
‘Having achieved water security in urban areas, it is now important for Government of Gujarat and the urban local governments to focus on improving water management… Smaller cities that receive less than 70 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of water need to be provided more water.
In addition, as we have seen, higher quantity of water does not necessarily translate into higher level of service to consumers.
The high level of non-revenue water (NRW) needs to be reduced,’ mentioned the study.