why have ro plants failed in karnataka raichur case study

STUDY OF WATER PLANTS IN RAICHUR DISTRICT : Why have these plants failed ?

RAICHUR DISTRICT

• 5 Blocks• 165 Gram Panchayats• 1094 Villages• 2411 Habitations• 29.92 lakhs population• 2873 schools/ Anganwadis• 2083 with Drinking water facility• 916 water quality tested • 157 quality affected habitations (124-fluoride, 4- Iron, 16- salinity, Nitrate- 8, Arsenic- 5)• Total labs-7 ( 1 DL, 3 BL, 3 SDL)

Source: NRDWP website

BACKGROUND The following study is aimed at studying and surveying the

260 water plants which are already installed in the district undertaken by Swami Vivekananda youth movement as per the instructions of Zilla parishad CEO and district collector of Raichur.

Three main vendors i.e. SMART, DOSHION and PAN ASIA are involved in installation of these plants all over Raichur district whose functioning and performance vary drastically which is highlighted in the study.

The case studies tries to capture varied reasons and issues concerning the operation of these plants till date and measures to be taken for restoring them to their full capacity and thereby fulfilling the purpose of their instalment. It also serves as learning tool for the plants that are commissioned to be installed in near future.

JAGREKAL CASE STUDY:

Taluk/ GP Raichur / Jagrekal

Village Jagrekal

Households/Total population 1250 households / 3215 ( 2011 census)

Vendor Doshion

Installation of plant Around one half year

Source used & owned by Bore well (1 inch) / GP

Power used & owned by 3- phase supply/ GP

Pricing 3 Rs

Capacity 2000 litre tank

Coverage/No. Of cans 3-5 % / 10-15 cans

Current condition Working

Case of breakdown, problem faced with plant

Motor issues, plant has been in operation only from past two weeks.

Operator salary No fixed income, salary from No. cans sold.

Observation One of the GP members operates the plant currently and source water fluoride is low (0.58). Issues with plant infrastructure with floor tiles broken due to weight of water tank and the plant has been operational from past few weeks.

Meerapura case study:


Village Meerapura


Vendor Doshion

Installation of plant Around two year



Pricing 3 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans Not used till date

Current condition Not Working


Motor issues and power fluctuations , plant has been not in operation

Operator salary No salary paid

Observation The vendors have not responded to any technical problems of the plant and has been in operation only few months before it faced motor issues. The fluoride level of Source water is around 1.35 on higher level.

Amnapura case study:


Village Amnapura


Vendor Smart




Pricing 4 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 60% / 135 cans



Plant has been in operation with no major problems

Operator salary 2000/month from vendor

Observation Unlike other plants, the technicians from vendors respond to any technical problems of the plant . The fluoride level of Source water is more than 2 ppm and villagers never used this water for drinking before the installation of plant .

Marchvardi CASE STUDY:

Taluk/ GP Raichur / Malsanpura

Village Marchvardi


Vendor Smart




Pricing 5 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 25-30 % / 55 cans



Plant has been in operation but with very low usage


Observation Unlike other plants, the plant is situated little outside the vincity of village which could be problem for accessing it especially in summer.

Malsanpura case study:

Taluk/ GP Raichur / Malsanpura

Village Malsanpura

Households/Total population 400 households / 900( 2011 census)

Vendor Doshion




Pricing 5 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 25-30 % / 65 cans



Plant has been in operation but with source water supply problem.


Observation The waste water of plant is let into dry well next to it and this plant shares its water source with common bore well provided for the village creating water supply problem in peak hours i.e. during pumping.

Erakal Case study

Taluk/ GP Maanvi / Vatgal

Village Erakal


Vendor Smart


Source used & owned by Surface water from near by lake / GP


Pricing 4 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 25-30 % / 60 cans when functional


Problem faced with plant Lack of proper maintenance

Operator salary 2000/month fixed but not paid

Observation There is problem with location of plant as there is no proper outlet for waste water from the plant. Interestingly, they plan to shift the plant to higher altitude to solve this problem which never existed when plant was installed initially and where source water has only 0.5 fluoride level content.

Anandkal case study

Taluk/ GP Maanvi / Pamankallur

Village Anandkal


Vendor Doshion


Source used & owned by Bore Well (2 inch) / GP


Pricing 4 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 15 % / 25-30 cans




Operator salary 3000/month fixed from vendor

Observation Decreasing level of usage among the villagers due to dislike of taste from the plant water and also the affordability factor as most are used to normal bore well water which has fluoride level of 1.02.

Havrapura Case study


Village Havrapura


Vendor Smart



Power used & owned by Single phase supply/ GP

Pricing 6 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 15-20 % / 35-40 cans





Observation Decreasing level of usage due to presence of migration in the village especially during summers and also the affordability factor as most are used to normal bore well water which has fluoride level of 0.78. Also, the operator stays in another village

Benchmardi case study


Village Benchmardi


Vendor Smart



Power used & owned by Double phase supply/ GP

Pricing 4 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 10-15% / 35-40 cans



Plant has not been in operation as operator has closed down the plant.


Observation The operator has not been paid from past 4-5 months and thus he has refused to work and closed down the plant. The bore well dug specifically for plant is being used as hand pump by villagers around which has fluoride level of 1.43.

Ellarpura Case study


Village Ellarpura


Vendor Smart



Power used & owned by Single phase supply/ GP

Pricing 6 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 80-90% / 35-40 cans



Plant has been in operation consistently with very high usage level.


Observation The vendor has not collected the amount generated from the plant for past four months from the operator and also the plant filters are not changed from past six months for the vendor has been unreachable to operator. Source: 1.2

Allapura case study

Taluk/ GP Maanvi / Allapura

Village Allapura


Vendor Smart



Power used & owned by Double phase supply/ GP

Pricing 6 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 40-50% / 150 cans



Plant has been in operation consistently with good usage level from other villages.


Observation The plant generates very good income with good number of sales and interestingly, another well known person in the village collects the amount from operator and then gives it to vendor.

Nagadenni case study

Taluk/ GP Maanvi / Allapura

Village Nagadenni


Vendor Smart




Pricing 5 Rs


Coverage/No. Of cans 70% / 15 cans



Plant has been in operation consistently with good usage level from other villages.


Observation Though the plant has good coverage it caters to very small population and thus the income generated is minimal and this is only plant which gave free can to the school near by as instructed by vendor.

Observations The above case studies indicate the different challenges and

interferences these plants counter at various stages of implementation from all stakeholders involved.

Most of the plants are installed next to government primary schools where land belongs to panchayat but these schools are not provided free water cans though directed by the panchayats.

The vendors form the most important link in operating and functioning of these plants successfully along with the other stakeholders involving local operators and the panchayat.

Most of these operate only during specific time both in morning and evening in the presence of operator and thus reducing the accessibility to the plant and additionally operator have to store source water for these plants during 3 phase power supply which requires their presence other than plant operation not observed in many plants.

CONCLUSION The conclusions from study of water plants from an other district like

Kolar which has completely different backdrop in location, stakeholders and community applies to even Raichur district as the involvement of local level institutions like gram panchayat and PDO’s is crucial in running these plants successfully which varies constantly among constituencies due to local and cultural dynamics.

Most of the plants installed or commissioned in the district are from the state with very few plants installed from private/ CSR sector and thus creating transparency and accountability in implementing the scheme is of utmost importance as most of the local level stakeholders like panchayat, PDO’s and community itself has no definite arrangement in place to operate/maintain the plants themselves without the involvement of vendors.

Finally, responsibility of Vendors to maintain and operate these plants should addressed clearly with all concerned parties from state to effectively manage these plants.

why have ro plants failed in karnataka raichur case study

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