John Thompson works on power, policy and sustainability issues in food and agriculture, water resource management and rural development. He is a STEPS Centre member, IDS Fellow and joint Co-ordinator of the Future Agricultures Consortium. He presents two crucial agricultural water issues to take priority on World Water Day.

Organizer: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT)

This chapter from the book 'Reclaiming Public Lives' by Transnational Institute describes the case of a small village in the state of Kerala, India, which faced an acute drinking water crisis and describes how people’s initiative, together with the involvement of the local panchayat and the support of the state government, could successfully address the issue of scarce drinking water in the village.

This document describes the Karnataka Municipalities Act and includes:

• Details such as the short title, extent and commencement of the Act
  
• Definitions of the terms used in the Act
• Constitution of municipal areas
• Transaction of business by municipal council
• Municipal property and fund
• Obligatory and discretionary functions of municipal councils
• Municipal taxation
• Recovery of municipal claims
• Improvement schemes and improvement boards
• Powers and offences
• Prosecution, suits and powers and police
• Municipal accounts and administration reports
• Control
• Rules and bye-laws
• Appointment and powers of municipal commissioner or chief officer and other municipal officers
• Town panchayat
• Provisions for the conversion of panchayat area into a smaller urban area and for amalgamation and division of smaller urban areas

The Government of India launched the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in 1972-73 to ensure provision of adequate drinking water supply to the rural community through the Public Health Engineering System.

The second generation programme started with the launching of Technology Mission in 1986-87, renamed in 1991-92 as Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission. Stress on water quality, appropriate technology intervention, human resource development support and other related activities were introduced in the rural water supply sector.

The third generation programme started in 1999-2000 when sector reform projects evolved to involve community in planning, implementation and management of drinking water related schemes, later scaled up as Swajaldhara in 2002.

The Rural Water Supply (RWS) sector has now entered the fourth phase with major emphasis on ensuring sustainability of water availability in terms of potability, adequacy, convenience, affordability and equity while also adopting decentralized approach involving PRIs and community organizations.

The workshop was organised in response to the implementation of two water supply projects in Bangalore and Mysore as a part of the Water Sector Reforms under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the increasing trend of privatisation under the water sector reforms in cities like Bangalore and Mysore.

It was felt that there was a need to raise awareness among citizens and groups in Bangalore and Mysore regarding the implications of privatisation and the mechanisms through which privatisation was being introduced in the cities in India. 

Mazhapolima is a community based well recharge programme, initiated by the Thrissur District Administration in collaboration with the Panchayat Raj Institutions in the District, and implemented by networking NGOs/CBOs, households, departments and agencies, research institutions, private sector and all other key stakeholders, who are either a water user or a water provider/planner.

Diversity of approaches and implementation arrangements according to location specific needs centered on sustainable outcome and service levels are the underlying tenets of the programme. The programme envisages recharging of about 4.5 lakh open wells in the district to ensure sustainable access to water.

Organiser: Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Topic: Training on customized free and open source 'Gram Panchayat QGIS' software

Duration: Feb 8th-12th, 2010 (Mon-Fri)

This report describes a time-bound plan for rural infrastructure by the Government of India in partnership with State Governments and Panchayat Raj Institutions