Page 78 - GIZ CAFRI Report

NAFCC

West Bengal

Name of the Project: Rain Water Harvesting and Sustainable Water
Supply to the Hilly Areas in Darjeeling as an Adaptive Measure to
Potential Climate Change Impacts
Project Focus: Water Harvesting, Conservation, and Management
Location: Darjeeling Municipality (10.57 Km ), Darjeeling District,
West Bengal
Project Finance: Rs. 23.12 Crore (USD 3.47 million).
Duration: 4 Years (2016-2020); Extended upto 2021; Completed
Name of Executing Entity: Municipal Engineering Directorate, Dept.
of Municipal Aairs, Govt. of West Bengal
Project Beneciaries: 3,200 BPL Families of the Darjeeling
Municipality Area

Project Area: Darjeeling, the northernmost district of West Bengal, lies in the eastern Himalayas of India at an altitude
of 6,710 feet and covers an area of 3,149 km2 (West Bengal SAPCC, 2012). Darjeeling Municipality which has been
supporting the total population of 1,20,414 (Census - 2011) has been facing severe water shortage due to high variation
in annual rainfall, increase in mean temperature, increased level of soil and forest cover erosion, etc. Only 50 % of the
district population has access to electricity and only 10 % have reliable
water supply connections. Only 30 liters of water per person per day is
available against 55 litres per person per day as prescribed Standard of GoI.

About 32 natural springs (Jhoras)
in the Darjeeling Municipal area
are under threat of contamination
which are posing problems of
health and sanitation. In the
absence of the appropriate climate
adaptation measures, the economic
losses to the district are estimated
to reach up to 3-5% of the district
GDP by 2050 (ADB Study). In
order to address the above issues,
the given project envisions to
develop rain water harvesting
infrastructure in Darjeeling for
conservation of rain water, ensure Dependency on the
improved water supply and sustain Private Water Vendors
micro-ecosystem of the region.

Drudgery of
Water Collection

78
Climate Change Interventions of
NABARD – A Glimpse