Government Of Assam Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Neer Nirmal Pariyojana, Assam (World Bank Aided Project)

A Brief Overview of NNP, Assam

With an objective to improve piped water coverage integrated with sanitation services in the rural areas through decentralized service delivery systems, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (MoDWS), Government of India and Government of Assam has jointly developed a dedicated project “Neer Nirmal Pariyojana” with the assistance of the World Bank. The project has been undertaken in 4 states of the country viz. Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

In Assam, the Project is being executed under the aegis of Public Health Engineering Department of Government of Assam. The objective of the project is to provide 24x7 metered water supply to selected Gaon Panchayats in the project districts @70 LPCD in a more sustained manner.

Within the scope of the project, Assam has undertaken seven Large Multi-Village Schemes (LMVS) covering parts of the districts of Kamrup (M), Jorhat, Hailakandi, Sivasagar, Morigaon and Bongaigaon in two batches during the period 2013-2020. Out of these seven districts, the first three districts are taken up in the first phase and the remaining at the second phase. The project also includes Water Supply, Sanitation, SLWM with total beneficiary participation in the targeted districts in both the phases. The districts in both the batches are selected on the basis of water quality issues and low coverage of house connection.

The project promotes decentralized service delivery arrangements with increased -participation by the PRIs and communities and enhanced accountability at all levels and placing GPs and communities in the central role. For the purpose of implementing the project at the district level, Multi Village Water and Sanitation Committee (MVWSC) are involved in implementing, monitoring and overseeing project interventions/activities. The Gaon Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committee (GPWSC) are formed as sub-committees of GP, and are responsible for implementation of the project.

To achieve the goal, the project enhanced community ownership through token community contribution towards capital expenditure is envisaged. Community contribution will form about 1% of total Project cost.

An amount of Rs. 450 per household will be collected as an upfront, one-time, contribution from the beneficiary household (Rs. 225 for SC/ST household) as Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Contributions in the form of Community Contribution.

The fund sharing pattern is as follows:

The Project comprises of three major components:

Component A: Capacity Building and Sector Development

The project aims to provide capacity support to the participating communities and the PRIs and enable local communities to participate in planning and construction of RWSS facilities and subsequently operate and maintain the systems on their own.

Component B: Infrastructure Development 

The scheme uses surface water sources, where locally available ground water has quality and quantity problems. The project involves the construction of conventional water treatment plants, elevated service reservoirs for each village/GP, and piped distribution networks to provide house connections to all households.

Component C: Project Management Support

The Project has adopted a robust Project management framework at the state level and has set up Project Management Units at various levels for effective and efficient project implementation, monitoring and oversight.

The objective of the project is to ‘Provide improved piped water supply and sanitation services for selected rural communities in the target states through decentralized service delivery systems.