1. Ensuring
efficient water supply
The Malkapur 24X7 water supply project is the
first public sector initiative to ensure safe water provision to the entire
town and check inequalities in water distribution.
Despite the implementation
of the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (1972), the Rajiv Gandhi
National Drinking Water Mission (1986) and Natioanl Rural Drinking Water
Programme (2009), a large proportion of rural households in India face severe
health risks and hardships on account of lack of access to safe and clean
water. Most of the initiatives for ensuring water supply to such households
have a large private sector base, leading to high cost of services being passed
on to consumers as well as unsustainability of the programme.
Against this background, in
2010, the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran and the Malkapur Nagar Panchayat
launched a water supply project for provision of safe water to the entire town
around the clock. It is a first public sector initiative in the country. It
utilises a variety of innovative approaches to maintain the physical and
financial sustainability of the system. These include the use of a model based
on WaterGEMS software, high density polyethylene pipes to check leakages and
ensure durability, automated meter reading system, and a telescopic tariff
system. One of the most significant factors for the success of the project has
been the extensive involvement of all stakeholders at every stage of project
development.
Currently, the Malkapur
24X7 water supply system is successfully supplying water round the clock to the
entire town with 110 lpcd, having reduced the consumption of water by nearly 30
percent. The operational cost of the system has decreased by INR 75,000 per month.
The quality of water supplied under the system has consistently been adjudged
100 per cent potable. Revenue generation has drastically increased to show a
surplus of INR 4 lakh per annum instead of hitherto existing deficit of INR 30
lakh. The project received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public
Administration in 2009-2010 and the Urban Water Awards for Technical
Innovations awarded by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of
India in December 2011.
2. Sustainable
development in north east India
NERCORMP, a joint development project of IFAD
and Government of India, works towards the objective of creating livelihood for
vulnerable groups while contributing to environmental conservation.
The North Eastern Region
Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) aims to address the existing
issues of inefficient government service mechanism in the livelihood sector and
the absence of ideal development projects in the north-east region of India.
The project, implemented jointly by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development and the Government of India represented through the North Eastern
Council, brings together the knowledge, expertise and ideologies of the
government, IFAD, local civil societies and the communities to unleash the
potentials for development tapped in the backward areas.
This case study captures
the impact of the project in Meghalaya, and describes the bottom-up model as
the project emphasizes on active community participation in the planning and
implementation processes. Formation of community building organisations are a
key to implementation - Natural Resource Management Groups and Self Help Groups
are formed in the project villages for this purpose.
Further, NERCORMP assists
in generating various livelihood options focused on agriculture and forest
based, such as organic agriculture, sustainable shifting cultivation, livestock
and fisheries, forestry, Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), medicinal and
aromatic plants, and non-farm enterprises such as eco-tourism, handloom and
handicrafts. While creating these livelihood opportunities, efforts are made to
conserve the rich biodiversity in the region. A major endeavour in this
direction has been the awareness campaigns that were taken up to demonstrate
effective environment friendly ways of managing shifting cultivation.
While the absence of
efficient local NGOs is identified as its major challenge, its sustainable
success in the conflict areas is highlighted as the project’s major impact in
the region. Nevertheless, positive response to the initiatives in two hilly
districts of the Meghalaya has encouraged the Government of India to launch its
second phase in 2012. The Planning Commission, the Ministry of DoNER and the
North Eastern Council will be supporting the activities of this phase.
3. Smokeless
stoves for rural homes
TIDE, a Karnataka based NGO, disseminates
smokeless stoves among rural women in the state using a gender sensitive market
driven approach.
In 2002, Technology
Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE) launched the smokeless stove dissemination
programme in Tumkur district of Karnataka to address the concerns of
livelihoods and environment preservation. After the initial needs assessment,
TIDE identified the Sarla stove, designed by the Centre of Science and
Technology, to be the most effective as it was easy to build, use and maintain.
Moreover, it required only agro waste as fuel, which is very accessible to the
rural community.
TIDE designed the programme
such that it acts as an income generating opportunity for rural women but also
promotes use of better stoves. With the assistance of local NGOs, rural women
were trained in the construction of the stoves and spreading awareness among
the community about the new technology. Today, some of these trained women work
as stove entrepreneurs who construct and supply smokeless stoves in the
region.TIDE’s greatest achievement lies in the fact that it has transformed
rural women into green-energy entrepreneurs, giving these women a confident and
independent existence. These women have created an alternative livelihood
option for themselves by overcoming the constraints of mobility.
Furthermore, TIDE has made
available effective smokeless stoves to reduce the drudgery that rural women
face while using traditional stoves and also to protect the rural environment.
Till date, the stove entrepreneurs have collectively built about 20,000- 22,000
Sarala stoves in villages of Karnataka, enabling rural households to lead safer
and healthier lives.
In January 2011, the Forest
Department of the Government of Karnataka included the Sarla Stove in their
"Hasiru Gram Yojane"(Green Village Program) and is now placing orders
with TIDE’s stove entrepreneurs to create smokeless villages. These women
travel across the state on behalf of the Forest Department to construct
smokeless stoves.
4. Green
sustainable homes
Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment
(GRIHA) is a national design evaluation rating system for buildings and its
construction, operations, maintenance processes are ranked from the perspective
of energy efficient technologies.
The
construction developers/owners are to register their buildings online to get it
rated under GRIHA benchmarks. The evaluation system has been
designed by GRIHA expert evaluators, in compliance with Energy Conservation
Building Code (ECBC), National Building Code 2005 (NBC) and Environment Impact
Assessment. They are ranked on the basis of using renewable energy, recycled
resources, rain water harvesting and other such techniques.
There are certain benefits for GRIHA certified
building owners as getting 50% rebate on premium by developers, rebate on
property tax for five years and 90% of registration fee refund if all
conditions are met and finally GRIHA rated buildings are ensured to have 30-40%
reduction in operation cost with negligible impact on project cost.
Till date, 108 projects with 10 crore square feet have
registered with GRIHA. Under private institutions/corporations FORTIS
Healthcare, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Welcomegroup were covered. Under
national government institutions, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),
Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Ministry of Health are some examples. In future, it plans to be involved in specific airport
projects, small homes and educational campuses as well.
5. Community
Solar Power Plant Project
The Community Solar Power Plant project in
Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh illustrates how the use of solar energy through
participatory processes can transform rural India.
In
January 2009, addressing the need to harness alternative sources for
electrifying rural villages, Scratec Solar, a Norwegian company, partnered with
Development Alternatives (DA), an Indian non profit organisation, to pilot the
Community Solar Power Plant (CSPP) project in two villages: Rampura and
Gopalpura in Jhansi district,
Uttar Pradesh.
The
initiative uses solar technology and emphasises participatory processes for
electrifying villages. A Village Energy Committee (VEC) was formed and trained
to operate and maintain the solar plant locally.
The
project boasts of a unique consumption based tariff structure which simply
follows the principle of ‘pay according to your usage’. Villagers willingly pay
the variable cost which depends on the units they consume.
CSPP
has changed the lives of villagers in Jhansi. With a new, environmentally
friendly source of electricity, entrepreneurial activities are undertaken,
students can study for extra time, the streets are well-lit and safe, and women
can engage in extra income generating activities like sewing.
6. Husk Power
Systems: Electrifying Rural Bihar
Husk Power Systems (HPS) is a rural
electrification company that uses a renewable energy source to produce and
supply electricity at a low cost and in an environmentally friendly way.
HPS has emerged as a role
model in the renewable energy sector by revolutionising rural electrification
in India. HPS is an innovative social enterprise that promotes decentralised
power generation and distribution to remote villages of India. The platform is
a biomass gasification technology that converts rice husks into combustible
gases that can drive generators to produce electricity. Running on an
environmentally friendly model, HPS ensures sustainable electricity to even the
most remote parts of the country.
To date, HPS has installed
60 power plants that reach more than 250 villages and approximately 1,50,000
people in rural Bihar. By using a renewable energy source, the electricity is
supplied at a much lower cost than that of conventional modes such as kerosene
lanterns for households and diesel generators for commercial use. Through its
generation of employment, reduction in carbon emissions, and overall
contribution to improved well-being of Indians, HPS is drastically changing the
landscape of rural Bihar
7. Bachat Lamp Yojana - CFLs for electrification
Bachat
Lamp Yojana process/ Source: Bureau of Energy Efficiency
The Bachat Lamp Yojana is a scheme developed by
the Bureau of Energy Efficiency that replaces incandescent bulbs with Compact
Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to avoid carbon dioxide emissions, overheating and
overconsumption of electricity in households.
The Bachat Lamp Yojana
envisages the provision of Compact Flourescent Lamps (CFLs) to residential
households at the same cost as that of an incandescent lamp (ICL). To make the
CFL available at a cost equivalent to ICL, the funds from the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) are leveraged. Once the CFLs have reached their end of life,
suppliers arrange for the collection and scrapping of CFLs in an environment
friendly manner. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) coordinates the
implementation of the Bachat Lamp Yojana in various states by supporting CFL
manufacturers, traders and investors and through collaboration with Electricity
Distribution Companies (DISCOMs). It also takes on the responsibility of
providing monitoring services through 2012. CFL use is monitored in groups of
sample households in selected areas to provide data on usage and to verify
carbon dioxide emission reductions under the CDM project.
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