FEATURE

As s ummer approaches the main concern of rural India, more so in north Bihar, is water both for drinking and irrigating the small land holdings of the marginalised farmers. However, for the last three to four years the villages of Basokubouli, Rajwa panchayat of Tajpur block, and Chandauli, Pusa block, Samastipur, have had no drinking water problem, and their fields have been green with cash crops of seasonal vegetables. Both villages have tuned into the Community Owned Mini Drinking Water Supply System (COMDWSS) seen as the panacea for the state.

The shallow hand pumps which were pumping out bacteria contaminated water have been replaced with model stand post taps on raised platforms releasing pure water pumped up by 2HP submersible pumps from 300 to 350 feet deep bore wells. Stored in large overhead tanks, hamlets of 100 to 150 households are assured of water round the year. A tap is shared by five households and since community ownership was initiated at Basokubouli in 2014 the sharing has been harmonious. Each household pays for the water and there are water users groups as well as a water management committee that meets regularly