Jharkhand ropes in private sector to manage drinking water supply

After Delhi indicated last month that it would rope in the private sector to help get over it water woes, it is the turn of India's eastern state of Jharkhand to bring in the private sector to manage supply of drinking water.

The state announced earlier this month that it has entered into an agreement with a Mumbai-based company under the public private partnership mode for the same.

The private company that has been engaged by the state is expected to ensure water supply and levying of proper charges for the water consumed.

The entire state is reeling under a severe water crisis as most of the major rivers - Koel, Shankh, Swarnarekha, Paras and Dewaki - are running dry. Also, the state has not received adequate rainfall for past two years and has been declared drought-hit six out of the past 10 years.

The time is right to involve the private sector, but already some doubts have been raised by none other than the state's top bureaucrat. Jharkhand's new Chief Secretary S K Choudhary is unsure of the viability of the PPP scheme.

He has reportedly said that the state drinking water and sanitation department (DWSD) should go for a pilot project first before implementing the scheme in the state capital. The scheme was either likely to make water unavailable or make it costlier to poor people, it is being felt.

The civil servant feels that mere rules and regulations would not solve the water crisis unless there was a general awareness about water conservation.

No doubt, the thinking is in the right direction. But, does that mean that the private sector cannot bring in its expertise to resolve long-standing water problems in the state. For too long, the state's people have suffered.

Jharkhand could look around and see how some of the states that have brought in the private sector have progressed.