WATER SITUATION IN BIHAR

[A] An Overview of Bihars Water Resources

The average annual rainfall in the state is approximately 1200 mm but

87% of this precipitation is limited to three monsoon months. The
intensity can be gauged by the fact that this yield is achieved only in 100
hours. There is regional imbalance in the rainfall ranging from approx.

1000 mm (Patna) to 1800 mm (Purnia).1

River Ganga is the main course of drainage dividing the state in two main
regions, viz. North Bihar and south Bihar (earliest known as Central Bihar

before the bifurcation of the state).2

The orgin of the all rivers of North Bihar is Nepal. Major rivers of north are
Ghaghra, Gandak, Bajmati Adhwara, KaulaBalan, Kosi for Mahananda.
Major rivers of South Bihar are Karamnasha, Saru, Puapeen, KiulHaror,
Badua, Chandan and Bilaszi, most having their origins and linkages in

Jharkhand, M.P. and U.P.3

The water balance available in the state is approximately 17% of the total
national average of surface water. The state witnesses recurring floods

1 State Water Policy, Government of Bihar, Public Health Engineering Department,

March, 2010, available at: http://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/bihar%20state%20water
%20policy%202010.pdf
2 Id.
3 Id.

and drought. 71% of the states, mainly the northern part, are flood

prone.4
Exploitation of ground water in the state is 43% at present indicating
sufficient stock of water resources. All blocks in the state are categorized
as safe, except 4 blocks which are categorized as semi-critical.5

[B] An Overview of Bihars Water Supply

Source: Houses Household Amenities and Assets, Figures at a Glance,

Bihar, Census of India, 2011

4 Id.
5 Ground water scenario in India, November 2014, Central Ground Water Board

As per Census 2011, the state has less than 19 million households, of
which only 4.4% have access to tap water. A total of 3.1% households

only use tap water from treated sources.

When it comes to the urban population, while 20% of the households
use tap water, 15.1% of the total households use water from tap that is

treated.
There is huge disparity between the urban and rural scenario of water
supply in the state. As can be seen from the Table, the percentage of
households who use tap water in rural areas is a meager 2.6%, almost

10 times less than that of the urban areas.

And, when it comes to using treated tap water, it comes down to paltry
1.6%, also nearly 10 times less than that of the urban areas. It means
a huge 98.4% of rural households may not have access to treated

water.
Drinking water supply services in rural areas consist of hand-pumps,

traditional wells, ponds, canals etc.

Hand pumps remain the major source of drinking water in rural areas
supplying water to 91.4% households. The total number of hand pumps
installed by PHED as on 31st April 2012 are 828272, out of which

667163 are reported functional.

84.93% of population in Bihar

has

access

to

minimum

daily

requirement of 40 Liters of drinking water. 15.07% of the population is

getting less than 40 Liters Per Capita per Day of drinking water.6
In 2014-15, as many as 24.3 thousand hand pumps have been
installed under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
The goal of NRDWP is to ensure that, by 2022, every rural household in
the country has access to at least 70 litres of water per capita per day
(lpcd) within their household premises or at a distance of less than 50
meters from their households.7

6 Id.
7 Economic Survey 2015-16, Government of Bihar, Finance Department

The contribution of private hand pumps in water supply is also

significant as they are quite high in number. The accessibility of

drinking water is easy due to groundwater availability at low depth.

The average population served per source is 110 against the

Government of India norm of 250 persons per source. 8

66.78% of the existing 906 pipe water schemes are functional in the
state. Remaining 33.22% schemes are non-functional. 9 Major reasons
for the inappropriate functioning of the schemes are non-availability of
electricity, theft of wires and transformer, mechanical and civil fault,
etc.

[C] INFORMATION

ON

WATER QUALITY

The state government's recent water quality mapping of the entire

state indicates that the drinking water sources in rural areas are not

safe in most of the area.

In about 6599 habitations the water quality is affected, as on April,
2014, of which 5348 are affected with Iron, followed by 893 with
excess fluoride, 357 with arsenic contamination and 1 with nitrate

(Source: DDWS website).

Apart from chemical impurities, fecal contamination of water is

prevalent in many water sources.

Deep tube wells are yielding arsenic-free water whereas in fluoride-

affected areas the fluoride content is increasing with depth. 10

During rainy season floods in the northern Bihar drinking water
becomes unsafe due to fecal contamination causing increase in

8 Final Report, Assessment of Rural Drinking Water Supply Services for The Rural
Water Supply and Sanitation Program In Bihar, available on:
http://www.bswsmpatna.org/informatorybook.html
9 Id.

incidents of diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, intestinal

helminthiasis, jaundice, cholera etc.
Water Quality Affected Districts
13 Arsenic
Prevalence Districts

11 Fluoride
Prevalence Districts

9 Iron
Prevalence Districts

1. Saran

1. Kaimur

1. Supaul

2. Vaishali

2. Rohtas

2. Araria

3. Samastipur

3. Aurangabad

3. Kishanganj

4. Darbhanga

4. Gaya

4. Saharsa

5. Buxar

5. Nalanda

5. Purnea

6. Bhojpur

6. Shiekhpura

6. Katihar

7. Patna

7. Jamui

7. Madhepura

8. Begusarai

8. Banka

8. Begusarai

9. Khagaria

9. Munger

9. Khagaria

10. Lakhisarai

10. Bhagalpur

11. Munger

11. Nawada

12. Bhagalpur
13. Katihar

Source: Public Health Engineering Departmnet, Govt. of Bihar

10 Testing and Mapping of Drinking Water Quality in the State of Bihar, Public
Health Engineering Department, Government of Bihar, Patna, 2008.

Arsenic Affected Districts:

Iron Affected Districts:

Fluoride Affected Districts:

Source: Public Health Engineering Departmnet, Govt. of Bihar

[D] SANITATION COVERAGE

IN

BIHAR

Source: Houses Household Amenities and Assets, Figures at a Glance,

Bihar, Census of India, 2011.
As per the latest Census 2011 figures, 76.90 percent of the states
households do not have a latrine within their own premises, compared
to 80.8 percent households in 2001. This decadal decrease of only 3.9
percentage point is very small and is a matter of concern.
In urban areas, this figure is 31 percent but in rural areas almost 82.40
percent of households do not have toilets inside their premises.
And Bihar scores poorly in sewerage facilities and other basic
amenities. While 75.80 percent of the total households of the state
defecate in the open, in rural areas this number is as high as 81.40
percent and in urban areas it is 28.90 percent.

[E] Drinking Water and Sanitation: New Interventions

A scheme called Lohiya Swachhatta Yojana with a budget of Rs.

1431.12 crore was sanctioned to cover APL families excluded from
Swachh

Bharat

Mission

(Gramin)

for

household toilets in rural areas.

A state-level Training-cum-Research

construction
centre

of

'Pranjal'

individual
has

been

established under Bihar State Water and Sanitation Mission of the

Department of Public Health Engineering.

Under Mukhyamantri Chapakal Yojana, a target of 5 hand pumps per
Gram Panchayats in rural areas, 3 hand pumps per ward in Nagar
Nigam, 2 hand pumps per ward in Nagar Parishad, 1 hand pump per
ward in Nagar Panchayat of urban areas and 100 hand pumps per
Hon'ble Member of Bihar Legislative Council was set to strengthen the

drinking water supply in all districts by 2015-16.

Under Mukhya Mantri Kshetra Vikas Yojna, 382 Ghats and public ponds
were constructed. Presently, another 301 schemes with a cost of Rs.

18.80 crore are under progress.

Implementation of multi-villages piped water supply scheme based on
surface water (Ganga River) with 5 years operation and maintenance
was started in 2015, to provide potable drinking water in 111 arsenic
affected villages. These affected villages are Matihani, Barauni and
Begusarai blocks of Begusarai districts. In 45 villages in Biddupur block
and adjoining areas of Vaishali district, 130 villages in Simari block and
adjoining areas of Buxar district and 25 villages of Maner block of

Patna district, a similar scheme is under progress.

Nitish Kumars new Seven Resolves (Saat Nischay) plan intends to
connect 17.9 million rural households and 1.6 million urban households
with water pipelinesa total of 19.5 million households in 5 years under
'Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal' (piped drinking water to every household)
scheme.