Pallab Bhattacharyya
(Pallab Bhattacharyya is a former director-general of police, Special Branch and erstwhile Chairman, APSC. Views expressed by him is personal. He can be reached at pallab1959@hotmail.com)
A newspaper report published on the 8th of July, 2022 highlighted the malpractices prevalent in the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission based on several public complaints and the decision of the PHE authority to send the sample of pipes supplied in the project to an independent authority viz. IIT- Gauhati for verification of the quality of the items supplied brought to the fore the idea prevalent in mainland India that contractors can go away with impunity for any damage they have done in course of implementation of a project of national importance in the region. If whatever is mentioned in the newspaper report is correct, it is a welcome step adopted by the youthful minister PHED Jayanta Malla Baruah but the people of Assam will keep a close watch on the future course of action to be taken by PHE based on the report of IITG and if the government vacillates in its approach, as it is alleged to have done during the JAICA Project, the entire exercise will be treated as an eyewash. Assam with its vast water resources is in a very pitiable state as water, which comes at the basic layer of Physiological needs of the hierarchy of needs propounded by celebrated American psychologist Abraham Maslow, is not available in several areas and "Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink', as Samuel Taylor Coleridge propounded famously, in many other areas.
With the growing population and expanding economic activities in the country, there is an increase in demand for water. With the finite availability of water and competing demands, drinking water management has become a complex issue. The widening demand-supply gap is further compounded by other challenges, like groundwater depletion due to over-extraction, poor recharge, low storage capacity, erratic rainfall due to climate change, presence of contaminants, poor operation and maintenance (O&M) of water supply systems, etc. These challenges have put further pressure on the rural population, which has catered to their water needs using traditional knowledge and their water wisdom. Therefore, there is a need to provide piped water supply to the rural population to not only improve the health and socio-economic condition of local communities but also bring down the drudgery of rural women and girls.
It is in this context very important to know about Jal Jeevan Mission (in common parlance) with both the rural and urban avatars and its progress in Assam with notable hiccups. Launched in 2019, JJM envisages a supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
JJM looks to create a people's movement for water, thereby making it everyone's priority. It comes under Jal Shakti Ministry.
The mission of JJM ensures the functionality of existing water supply systems and water connections, water quality monitoring and testing as well as sustainable agriculture. It also ensures conjunctive use of conserved water; drinking water source augmentation, drinking water supply system, grey water (wastewater from non-toilet plumbing systems such as hand basins, washing machines, showers, baths etc) treatment and its reuse.
In the Budget 2021-22, JJM (Urban) has been announced under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to provide universal coverage of water supply to all households through functional taps in all statutory towns following SDG-6. It complements the JJM (Rural).
CE (PHE), Water Assam Cum Addl Mission Director JJM, Hengrabari, Guwahati-36 issued (EOI) vide EOI No. 19 of 2021-22 for empanelment of manufacturers of ISI marked high-density poly-ethylene (HDPE) pipes of various sizes to be utilized against different Pipe Water Supply Schemes (PWSS) at different locations of Assam under JJM Assam. Salient provisions of the EOI are reproduced below:
"6.17 In addition to furnishing manufacturer's test certificate by the empanelled manufacturers, each lot of materials supplied by the manufacturers must be got inspected by "Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology" (CIPET)/Project and Development India Limited (PDIL)/Rail India Technical and Economic Survey (RITES) before delivery and the test, the certificate is to be submitted with materials so delivered to the contractor and the contractor, in turn, must have to submit the same to the appropriate authority of the indenting Zone.
6.25 Use of Virgin PE 100: The bidder has to ensure that 100% virgin PE 100 material is used for manufacturing the HDPE pipes. Empanelled bidders will have to submit a monthly statement showing the procurement of virgin PE 100 and its utilization as per Annexure V. Bidder can procure the virgin from any of the manufacturers of virgin PE 100 material (IOCL/GAIL/Haldia Petrochemicals/Reliance Petrochemicals) either directly or through its authorized dealer. They can also import virgin PE 100 material. The manufacturer has to use ISI-marked masterbatch only.
"6.26 In case, the manufacturer supplies pipes at a cost below the cost of PE 100 material + 10% conversion cost, he has to submit proper justification to the office of the Chief Engineer (PHE), Assam.
6.27 In case any empanelled manufacturer is found to use reprocessed PE 100 material, it will be black listed and appropriate legal action will be taken."
The above stringent provisions indicated that the crucial elements to implement GharGhar Jal are the pipe. The long life of these pipes and the purity of water flowing through them is the sheet anchor for the success of the project and it is exactly where the PHED Minister expressed his dissatisfaction.
Experts in the domain have expressed the view that certain points, enumerated below, should be thoroughly checked by the implementing agency for clean, pure water and long life of the HDPE pipes supplied:
(a) HDPE reprocessed materials with the standard set by the EOI are not available in the Indian market.
(b) Reprocessed materials are not allowed to make HDPE pipes for causing impurity.
(c) Stringent laboratory tests of the materials are sine-qua-non.
(d) Cross-checking of certain documents to establish the high quality of the pipes supplied like (i) Checking of Monthly Purchase Invoice of HDPE food grade raw materials from available outlets like IOCL, RIL, Haldia Petrochemicals, etc (ii) comparing monthly sale report with matching purchase report as per BIS standard (iii) Raw material test report issued by manufacturers (iv) ISI marked/food grade master batch monthly purchase invoice to match with raw material weight (v) Round the clock inspection as per PNGRB norms.
Unfortunately, many suppliers/manufacturers/vendors hailing from outside Assam without any permanent interest in the State participate in various tenders floated in Assam or NE simply to garner the tax and other benefits provided in this region and the net result is poor quality of the job done without any permanent infrastructure left behind or workforce of locally trained people. With the implementation of JJM, several industries have sprung up in Assam manufacturing HDPE pipes. However, the local industries are facing a serious threat from some suppliers outside Assam as these unscrupulous manufacturers sell HDPE pipes at a very low cost by using reprocessed scrap material which is blatantly illegal. As, the use of scrap material in limited quantity in HDPE pipes, is not detected in the tests conducted by CIPET (Central Institute of Plastic Technology), which is the certifying agency for JJM, some unscrupulous manufacturers from outside Assam, use low-cost scrap material in manufacturing HDPE pipes to reduce manufacturing cost. This is not only posing a serious threat to the existing local plastic pipe industry, but it is also going to create a serious health hazard to the public who will be drinking water supplied through these pipes under JJM. As they scrape material containing carcinogenic heavy metals like Arsenic, Lead, Nickel etc., the water flowing through these spurious pipes will carry traces of these carcinogenic heavy metals, which are the main cause of cancer in humans. Thus, the use of these spurious pipes in JJM will result in an increase in cancer in Assam.
To prevent this, it is felt essential to take measures to stop the use of spurious pipes from outside Assam. This can be achieved through the following measure:
(1) Encourage contractors to buy from the local manufacturer which can be inspected by the Public Health Department frequently
(2) Affidavit from the manufacturers and the contractors stating that only virgin PE 100 material has been used in manufacturing the pipes and no reprocessed material has been used and that they will be legally liable in case it is found that any reprocessed material has been used in manufacturing the pipes.
Implementation of the above measures under the youthful and promising PHED Minister will only ensure a successful everlasting JJM in Assam and this will create a permanent political capital for him.