Conjoint assessment of rural water security and system sustainability in Nagpur, India
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
ISSN: 1759-5908
Article publication date: 23 March 2022
Issue publication date: 20 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
In spite of the growing usage of “water security” as a policy template, the sustainable delivery of adequate quantity/quality of water remains a major challenge, specifically in the rural areas of developing countries. Focusing on the specific case of Nagpur (India), this study aims to establish a broader understanding of rural water security and (water supply) system sustainability issues at grassroots-level.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking due account of the existing assessment methods and the study context of Nagpur, contextualized indicator-based frameworks have been developed for conjointly assessing both the research subjects. Within the identified eight rural clusters (comprising 72 settlements), focus group discussions (with the residents) and semi-structured interviews [with the members of village water and sanitation committees) (VWSCs)] are then conducted to methodically investigate the local stakeholder perception.
Findings
Through the rural water security (state change) assessment in selected settlements, the water accessibility indicators are consistently reported to have witnessed mostly positive changes, whereas contrasting changes have been reported for various indicators of availability, quality and risks. Superimposing these findings with those of system sustainability assessment (e.g. only 56% VWSCs are reported to be actively functioning), it has been realized that the sustainability of water supply systems is imperative to attain water security goals in the long term.
Originality/value
Through the conjoint assessment of water security and system sustainability issues, this research responds to the growing call for a broader consideration of these concepts. Moreover, it reports practical ground-level challenges based on primary surveys.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Taikichiro Mori Memorial Research Grants 2021 of Keio University, Japan. Also, V.S. is thankful to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan, for providing the scholarship.
Citation
Sukhwani, V. and Shaw, R. (2022), "Conjoint assessment of rural water security and system sustainability in Nagpur, India", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 351-367. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-08-2021-0093
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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