Moa Jamir
Many readers may have been pleasantly surprised when they were informed by a news item on Sunday that all existing un-metered water connections will eventually be replaced by metering system in the urban sector and administrative headquarters of the State.
The astonishment was nothing to do with the fact that the water connection is transiting to a metering system, but to be educated that the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) is actually involved in water supply to the general public in both urban and rural sectors of the state.
Ignorance on the part of the consumers might generate such reaction but the failure to fulfill public’s expectations over the years has diminished their confidence on the department. It is a misconception that the PHED is supposed to provide drinking water to every household, however, growing consumers’ dependence on other sources for water consumption only magnifies its failure.
For instance, only a small fraction of the population of the State is using water supplied by the department.
According to 2011 Census, out of 76732 household in Dimapur, only 4,378 (or 5.71%) receives tap water from treated sources. In Kohima, only 5.43% receives treated tap water while 22,215 (42.61%) receives it untreated. The data for other districts are no better.
Bifurcated in 1974 from the Public Works Department (PWD) with a vision and responsibility to provide “safe and potable drinking water supply, safe disposal of solid and liquid waste and environmental hygiene” in the State, the PHED has always been an agency making bold statement often ‘high on promises but tepid in execution.’
A huge drinking water project envisioning supplying of potable water to Dimapur and Chumukedima in 2002 apparently leaked out along the way. In 2011, PHED Minister announced that the department has drawn a road map with a vision to reach safe drinking water to all villages in the state in keeping with the department’s declaration during the formation of DAN ministry. Apparently, the ruling government outlived the declaration.
However, such failure does not deter it from making another bold announcement that the state will achieve total sanitation by 2012 as part of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) launched by the Government of India (GoI) in 1999. It was jolted out of its slumber when data put out by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in early 2015 informed that the state, along with Goa achieved the dubious distinction of building ‘zero toilets’ out of more than 4.3 million toilets constructed in India under sanitation campaign in financial year 2014-15.
“Due to financial crunch faced by the State Government, no fund was released to the department till February 2015. Hence, no toilets could be constructed” PHED Director clarified to the media when the embarrassing news emerged on the face of its bold promises though the GoI had sanctioned Rs. 2087.22 Lakh for implementing Swachh Bharat Mission Programme in the State for the year 2014-15. Most recently, the department announced that it is targeting ‘Open defecation free’ (ODF) in Nagaland by 2018.
Nonetheless, one cannot help but remain skeptical as such targets are habitually unrealistic.
The annual Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Report of the State often belie such tall claims. For starters, the 2014 CAG Report noted that process of planning was devoid of comprehensive assessment and often implemented without proper study resulting in huge wastage as well as low quality execution. Fund misuse and misappropriations were not anomalies but norms.
The department is not always at fault though. The State government’s failure to come up with matching contribution and the neglect of various components as envisaged in the scheme guidelines by those at the helms of affairs are equally to blame.
Thus, the department needs to put its act together for once and match its bold promises with equal outcome to rescue its depleting credentials with the public.
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