Kerala is considered as the land of water resources with high rainfall, rivers, backwaters, lakes and many streams. However, Kerala is frequently facing drought and acute water scarcity in many districts. In the State, majority of people in rural areas are depending on unprotected wells, tanks, rivers and streams for their water needs. The urban areas are also not fully covered by protected water supply services. Though Kerala has given utmost importance for water supply schemes during Five-Year Plans, provision of potable water supply across the State remains an area of serious concern. The approach to 13th Five-Year Plan is to assure drinking water supply to the entire population, give special focus on drinking water supply for scarce urban area, pay special attention to protect wells and take appropriate measures to diminish distributional loss.
Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and KRWSA (Kerala Rural Water and Sanitation Agency) are the major implementing agencies in drinking water sector. The role of Local Level Institutions is also important in this regard. As part of providing safe drinking water to every citizen, Government of India assists the States in the execution of urban and rural water supply schemes. Similarly the State also has programmes for improving water supply in rural and urban areas.
Water Resources
Kerala has 41 west-flowing and 3 east-flowing rivers originating in the Western Ghats. Out of the 44 rivers, there are only 4 medium and 40 minor rivers in Kerala and the State does not have a single major river as per the national norms. The State is also blessed with a number of lakes and backwater lagoons. But shortage of drinking water is a serious concern in many parts of the State. Deficiency in rainfalls, which is prime source of our water resources, has affected drinking water availability in the State. This shortage in rainfall will affect all sectors in the economy including agricultural sector.
Kerala receives two monsoons every year. The average rainfall of the State is 3,055 mm, which is two times more than that of national average. In Kerala 69 per cent of the annual rainfall is received during the Southwest Monsoon (June to September) and 16 per cent is during Northeast Monsoon (October to December) and the remaining is from the Summer Rains. Due to the physiographical pattern of Kerala, the water drains very fast into the sea. This results in scarcity of water in many parts of the State during non-monsoon period. Monsoon rains received in the year 2017 is below the normal rainfall. Statistics shows a 9 per cent negative variation in actual rainfall from the normal rainfall during the 2017 monsoon season. Table 4.2.6 shows district wise variations in the distribution of rainfall in 2017. The deviation was largest in Wayanad district (37 per cent). Highest rainfall was received in Kasargod (2,645.6 mm) and lowest in Thiruvananthapuram (764 mm). Wayanad district with 37 per cent shortage of rainfall is the most sensitive and fragile spot in our monsoon system. This is quite alarming and forces one to consider revising the development strategies in the district.
| District | Actual (mm) | Normal (mm) | Departure (%) |
| Kerala | 1,855.9 | 2,039.6 | -9 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 764 | 871.3 | -12 |
| Kollam | 1,355.5 | 1,332.3 | 2 |
| Pathanamthitta | 1,754 | 1,715.7 | 2 |
| Alappuzha | 1,585.8 | 1,745.9 | -9 |
| Kottayam | 1,929.1 | 1,897.3 | 2 |
| Idukki | 2,057.6 | 2,276.2 | -10 |
| Ernakulam | 2,002.9 | 2,065 | -3 |
| Thrissur | 1876 | 2,197.5 | -15 |
| Palakkad | 1,521.7 | 1,572.7 | -3 |
| Malappuram | 1,926.9 | 2,060.4 | -6 |
| Kozhikode | 2,521.6 | 2,603.1 | -3 |
| Wayanad | 1,652.1 | 2,632.1 | -37 |
| Kannur | 2,301.3 | 2,669 | -14 |
| Kasargod | 2,645.6 | 3,007.5 | -12 |
| Source:-Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram | |||
Drinking Water Availability
As per NSSO 69th round, 85.8 per cent households in rural India has sufficient drinking water, which is 89.6 per cent for urban India. Among the States, Uttar Pradesh (97.1 per cent) has the highest proportion of rural households having sufficient drinking water and Jharkhand has the lowest (70.3 per cent). Similarly, Punjab (99.5 per cent) and Kerala (29.5 per cent) have the highest and lowest proportion of households having improved source drinking water in rural area respectively. In case of improved source of drinking water in urban areas also,Kerala has the lowest percentage (56.8 per cent). (Appendix 4.2.16). District-wise analysis of drinking water availability based on location is given in Figure 4.2.1 and Appendix 4.2.17.
Coverage
The total water supply schemes of KWA in operation as on March 31, 2017 in the State is 1,073, with a total installed capacity of 3,367.13 MLD (Million liters per day)which means the average per capita availability of piped water is 104.20 liters per day. Out of 1,073 schemes, 989 are rural and 84 are urban water supply schemes. There is a decrease in number of water supply schemes in operation in the State, as 1,078 schemes were under operation in previous year. Thrissur has highest number of water supply schemes (119)followed by Ernakulam (98). The least covered district under water supply schemes of KWA is Wayanad (27) (Appendix 4.2.18) However the LPCD (liters per capita per day) varies in different habitations in all districts. The highest LPCD is in Ernakulam (201.35) and the lowest is in Kasargod (35.77) as on March 31, 2017 (Appendix 4.2.19). But after accounting for the high percentage of non-revenue water, the per capita availability is much less and also the schemes are mostly located in urban areas. Number of Water Supply Schemes of KWA transferred to Local bodies as on March 31, 2017 is 477. District -wise details of water supply schemes transferred to local bodies are given in Appendix 4.2.20
KWA distributes water through House Service Connections (HSC) and street taps. Water Supply schemes of Kerala Water Authority covers 1.81 crore population of the State which accounts for 54 per cent of the population. 54.19 per cent of rural population and 54.36 per cent of urban population is covered by piped water supply. KWA aims to cover 100 per cent population with 100 LPCD for rural and 150 LPCD for urban areas.
Ernakulam district with coverage of 83 per cent population has the highest coverage among 14 districts of Kerala, followed by Thiruvananthapuram District (72 per cent) and Thrissur (71 per cent). The coverage is the least in Kasargod district (21 per cent). Details are given in Figure 4.2.2 and Appendix 4.2.21.
Source: KWA (Data as on September 30, 2017)
Regarding drinking water supply in rural areas, Kollam district has the highest coverage of 75 per cent, followed by Ernakulam district (74 per cent), Thrissur (68 per cent) and Alappuzha (68 per cent). Idukki (29 per cent) has the lowest coverage due to its special natural geographic features followed by Kasargod (28 per cent). The average rural coverage of the State is 54 per cent (Figure 4.2.3).
Source: KWA
Regarding drinking water supply in urban Kerala, Kasargod has the lowest coverage of only 10 per cent. Ernakulam has the highest urban watersupply coverage of 87 per cent, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (76 per cent), Thrissur (72 per cent) and Palakkad (72 per cent) (Figure 4.2.4).
Source: KWA
Total water supply connections of KWA as on March 31, 2017 including domestic, non domestic and industrial shows an increase of 283496 more connections than the previous year. Water connection for industrial use is only 1,623. Total street taps is 214,097, which is an increase of 6,063 as compared to previous year. The total number of street taps in Panchayats is 159,463, Corporations 20239 and Municipalities 34,395. Data shows a decrease in the number of street pipes in Panchayats as compared to 162,568 in 2015-16 (Appendix 4.2.22).
Slipped Back Habitations
The District-wise details of habitations covered and slipped back under water supply schemes of KWA are given in the Table 4.2.7. There were only 17 slipped back habitations in the previous year. The percentage of slipped back habitations increased from 0.14 per cent in 2015-16 to 0.71 per cent in 2016-17. The highest number of slipped back habitations are reported in Thrissur District (57). There are no cases of slipped back habitations in Pathanamthitta and Wayanad.
| Sl. No. | Districts | Total Habitations |
Slipped Back Habitations |
% to Total Habitations |
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | 1,462 | 17 | 1.16 |
| 2 | Kollam | 2,260 | 002 | 0.09 |
| 3 | Pathanamthitta | 1,491 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 4 | Alappuzha | 1,178 | 5 | 0.42 |
| 5 | Kottayam | 2,195 | 10 | 0.46 |
| 6 | Idukki | 822 | 5 | 0.61 |
| 7 | Ernakulam | 1,538 | 19 | 1.24 |
| 8 | Thrissur | 2,774 | 57 | 2.05 |
| 9 | Palakkad | 1,883 | 15 | 0.80 |
| 10 | Malappuram | 1,972 | 10 | 0.51 |
| 11 | Kozhikode | 1,455 | 10 | 0.69 |
| 12 | Wayanad | 461 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 13 | Kannur | 1,395 | 1 | 0.07 |
| 14 | Kasargod | 665 | 1 | 0.15 |
| Total | 21,551 | 152 | 0.71 | |
| Source: KWA | ||||
Quality of Water
Majority of drinking water sources in our State are getting polluted due to unscientific sanitation practices and indiscriminate dumping of waste. Such supply sources are bacteriologically and chemically contaminated. Though Kerala has been achieving improvements in many sectors, performance in water quality management is very poor, which has adverse impacts on health in particular and economy in general. The District wise contamination of tested sources is given in Figure 4.2.5.
Source : NRDWP-Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation,GOI
Population density, indiscriminate use and rampant pollution of water bodies results in increasing number of water borne diseases. The use of polluted water causes several water borne diseases, which may be fatal. Data on the number of water borne diseases shows an increasing tendency over the years. Cases reported in 2012 and 2015 were 366,463 and 470,863 respectively. This further increased to 497,027 in 2016. Data for the first quarter of 2017 shows the figures to be 97,089. Detailed data on waterborne diseases is given in Appendix 4.2.23.
In order to assure the quality of water resources in Kerala, Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) implements a project Establishment of Mobile Testing Laboratory for the Quality Assurance of Water Resources in Kerala” with the support of Water Resources Department, Government. of Kerala. This mobile laboratory is aimed to raise the awareness of the communities with respect to protection of source of water. Services of the mobile laboratory was extended to approximately 120 Panchayaths, 15 Municipalities and three Corporations. More than 3,000 samples were tested using the facility. A drinking water card was provided to people after testing and this activity helped local inhabitants gain awareness about their water quality.
Sewerage
Thiruvananthapuram city has 37 per cent coverage for sewerage with about 90,000 connections. Guruvayur drainage with 3 MLD STP is almost completed except some finishing mechanical works. The project is to provide an effective drainage system to cover the entire inhabitant areas under Guruvayur Municipality. Ernakulam has a small system with 1000 connections. Two projects for Kollam and Kozhikode are in progress. Thiruvananthapuram Sewerage Scheme was formulated during the year 1931 based on the principle of separate system, dividing the area into different blocks topographically for effective drainage of waste water. The scheme area was divided into seven blocks viz. A, B, C, D, E, F and G, facilitating efficiency of the sewerage system by laying main sewers, collecting sewers, branch sewers, etc., in combination with pumping stations and pumping mains up to the disposal point. The first block Block-A” was commissioned in 1945. Later, Block B was commissioned in 1965 and Block C in 1970. Block D and E were partially commissioned in 1994 and 1990 respectively. Sewage farming was the treatment method adopted that time, located at Muttathara. Thiruvananthapuram Sewerage Scheme covers partially the old Corporation area, having an extent of 74.93 sq. km. with 50 wards. Presently sewerage facility is available fully or partially in blocks A to E. During the year 2013, a sewage treatment plant was commissioned with a total capacity of 107 MLD. Sewages from 10 pumping stations located in the various blocks are fed to the STP. Presently the plant is utilized for the commissioned areas of blocks A to E. The works are taken up under AMRUT and State Plan schemes for extending the sewerage facility to the non covered areas and also for rehabilitation of existing schemes.
Kerala Rural Water Supply Agency (Jalanidhi)
The water supply schemes implemented under Jalanidhi has demonstrated successfully an equitable, inclusive and decentralized delivery system mainly benefiting the SC, ST (16 per cent) and BPL category (52 per cent) of rural households in Kerala. With the lessons learnt from the initial phase, KRWSA has expanded this demand responsive and decentralized service delivery approach to almost the whole State from the initial four districts done on a pilot basis in 2005. There are two modes of action for supply of water. New institutional and financing models have evolved, such as, G-PAT (Grama Panchayat Action Teams), Ward Level Committees (WLCs) and Scheme Level Committees (SLCs) for large water supply schemes. These models with intensive involvement of GPs and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in which bulk water is supplied by KWA and distribution is by KRWSA through Grama Panchayat have been introduced successfully. KRWSA is the nodal agency of the State Government for the implementation of Rain Water Harvesting Programme in the State. For this, the Rain Centre, a separate cell for monitoring the activities, was set up under KRWSA. Further, KRWSA is appointed as WSSO (Water and Sanitation Support Organization) of Government of Kerala to coordinate water related activities in the State. Jalanidhi phase-1 was implemented during the period 2000-2008. During this period 3759 small water supply schemes and 19 large water supply schemes were commissioned benefitting 10.56 lakh population.
The main sources of water in Thiruvananthapuram are at Aruvikkara (2 Million Cubic Meter storage capacity) and Peppara (70 Million Cubic Meters storage capacity), which is 25 km upstream of Aruvikkara reservoir. Water treatment plants are at Aruvikkara, PTP Nagar and Vellayambalam. The distribution system consists of a complicated network of about 5600 km, designed for 24 hours water supply with around 2 lakh consumers.
In 2016, the annual monsoon rainfall had registered a shortfall of 34 per cent in the State. Considering the seriousness of the situation, Government of Kerala declared the entire State as drought affected. The Water Authority was forced to impose water rationing in the city for the first time in the history of the city from 18th April due to extreme scarcity of water ever experienced.
Water Resources Department had to divert water from Neyyar to the Aruvikkara for supplementing the city’s water supply. Accordingly, emergency plans were charted out to pump water from Neyyar to Aruvikkara using two dredgers. Decision was also taken to procure two new 180 HP Submersible Centrifugal pump capable of delivering 50 MLD and shifting of two 100 HP centrifugal pumps available at Vellayambalam. The pipes required for carrying the water from the reservoir to the canal was identified from the available stock to avoid the delay in implementing the project.
The work started on April 21, 2017 and was completed in a record time of 14 days. Two dredgers, one with capacity of 1 MLD and the second dredger of capacity 29 MLD pumps were operated round-the clock to transfer about 117 MLD from Neyyar to Karamana river per day. KWA, Irrigation Department, KSEB, Forest department and the District Administration worked in close coordination for the success of the project.
Meticulous planning, synergy of efforts, timely decisions and able leadership together with the hard work of a dedicated team of KWA engineers as well as staff from other departments turned this huge and tough mission into a reality. This has been a challenging work in the recent history of all the departments. This can serve as an example for future projects as how cohesion and team work can help in implementing projects.
Source: - KWAJalanidhi-II is a sequel to the Jalanidhi-I and is being implemented during 2012-18. The total population covered through Jalanidhi Project Phase I and II is 14.90 lakh as on 31.03.2017. Special efforts have been taken in the project design to include the poor and vulnerable user groups. This is done by constituting special category beneficiary groups(BGs) with lesser cash contribution than the general category BGs. The project has been so designed to incorporate the beneficiary contribution either through cash or labour. There is also a separate Tribal Sub-Project, a special component for the tribal in the project area.
Details of District-wise population covered as on March 31, 2017 is given in Appendix 4.2.24. Sanitation activities of KRWS as on March 31, 2017 is summarised in Appendix 4.2.25. Total number of Ground Water Recharge (GWR) structure as on March 31, 2017 is 2,429. Most numbers of GWR structures are in Kottayam (833). There are no GWR structure made by KRWSA in Alappuzha and Ernakulam. Similarly, total number of Rain Water Harvesting tanks installed by KRWSA in the State are 24,666. The highest number of tanks have been installed in Idukki (7,149), followed by Kottayam (4,664), Kasargod (2,765) and Palakkad (2,242 (Appendix 4.2.26). As per KRWSA data as on March 31, 2017, out of 5,072 schemes, 1,293 schemes are defunct. This is due to technical, social and financial issues which cropped up during its operation. Number of schemes implemented, functional and non functional as on March 31, 2017 is given in of Appendix 4.2.27.
The project is aimed at replenishing and rejuvenating water resources in Kattakada, in Thiruvananthapuram District. In order to sensitize and involve the students in water conservation activities, clubs were formed at the school level. Mass awareness programmes such as rallies and public functions were organized with the support of students, Kudumbashree workers, NGOs, National Service Scheme(NSS) units, youth clubs and Students Police Cadet. Apart from awareness programs, activities such as rejuvenation of ponds and artificial recharging of wells in schools were also taken up under this program. ‘Jalamitram’ volunteer groups are selected by Suchitwa Mission and Youth Welfare Board as part of Jalasmarudhi for protecting water resources. The project involves drawing water from abandoned granite quarries and routing the supply to a recharge pit that is positioned close to the targeted wells in a manner that facilitates gravitational flow of water. The flow of water from the quarry pits is regulated using a tap. As part of the programme, the catchment area of six ponds of Kattakada Legislative Assembly has been covered with coir geotextile for water conservation. Rain pits have been proposed and as the first phase, rain pits has been done in 6 wards (one in each Panchayath) of the Kattakada LA. A separate project for the reuse of used water in Malayinkeezhu School is on process. Kannancode ward in Pallichal Panchayat successfully recharged 10 wells using the water from the defunct granite quarries.
Support of Jalanidhi: Communication and capacity development unit [CCDU] of Jalanidhi had conducted a total of 7 trainings for the Jalasamridhi programme in Kattakada. Out of the 7 training programmes, 6 were done at the Panchayat levels and one at the block level. The participants of the trainings were representatives of Schools (teachers and students), ASHA workers, Anganwadi teachers, Kudumbashree, Preraks, KSPU, NGOs etc. Training was imparted to these focused groups in water conservation,water quality issues,remedial measures, water quality testing of individual/common water sources with water quality field testing kit.
CCDU had provided 250 field testing kits and 2500 H2S strips for bacteriological testing as well as result formats for result entry and got a feed back in 7066 tested results. The rest of the data is expected to be received by end of this month. The data analysis will also be done and cost effective water quality (WQ) remedial measures will be appraised to the rural public explaining the severity of WQ issues. The data base in WQ issues will be reviewed periodically and the awareness created to the public will enable GPs to periodically monitor the WQ. The CCDU is intending to make the GPs responsible for monitoring the WQ of the private and public water sources from which the rural population is drawing drinking water. This will be undertaken with the total involvement of the rural community and with the support of self help groups in the GPs.
Issues and Concern
Ever growing demand for safe drinking water is the major challenge for the State. Available sources of unpolluted water in the State are scarce and fast depleting. Transition to city centered growth may result in large concentration of population in various urban areas. This clubbed with lack of proper sanitation system, will pollute the available water sources. Industrial growth is also a major contributor in pollution of water sources. The magnitude of the drinking water crisis in our State demands expeditious implementation of mitigation measures to address the challenges faced today. The major areas that needs to be addressed on immediate basis are, water quality and pollution, ground water depletion, scarcity of rainfall, sewerage, non availability of data, streamlining or integrating the activities of various agencies involved in drinking water and sanitation, rainwater harvesting,ground water recharge, harvesting the surface water runoff and drought. Use of local expertise in the construction and maintenance of water systems, flow of funds to the sector and construction of new water system would equip the State to address the challenges faced in the water sector.