Page 37 - Annual Report

TWM’s interventions have covered 4 core areas:
a) Improving water quality through affordable
and innovative technology interventions at the
community and household levels.
b) Ensuring access to water by improving delivery
at household level, while promoting
community institutions to ensure sustainability
of systems.
c) Promoting water as a Common Property
Resource and encouraging conservation to
make villages and communities self-reliant
vis-à-vis their drinking, domestic and livelihood
water needs.
d) Promoting improved sanitation and hygiene
practices through behavioural changes.
In the last 5 years, Tata Water Mission has
covered over 3.5 million beneficiaries from over
5,500 villages in 15 states across India. TWM’s
initiatives include both direct on-ground
interventions as well as knowledge and
policy-level partnerships. Through a grounded
Overview experience working with communities, and
policy-level experience at the macro level, the
following are some of the key learnings from
India accounts for about 16% of the world’s
population, but only 4% of the global freshwater the last 5 years:
resources. Over the past few decades, the nation i. Effective Behavioural Change Communication,
has consistently drawn upon critical groundwater based on scientific knowledge and translated
resources, which account for 40% of the total water into local languages, has worked well to
supply. Today, India is undergoing the worst water trigger and drive sustainable change.
crisis in its history, and is projected to reach water ii. Integration of all water verticals is required to
scarcity levels in the absence of change. Currently, ensure holistic planning and implementation.
more than 600 million people face high to extreme
water stress, with 75% of households not having iii. Use of enhanced technology for data
access to drinking water on their premises. A recent collection has helped in reducing time taken
study estimates that in a business-as-usual scenario, for planning and implementation.
the country’s water demand is expected to rise to a iv. Partnerships with like-minded organisations
level that is twice the available supply by 2030. This has multiplied impact with minimal
would translate into ~40% of the population not investment.
having access to drinking water, and 6% of the
country’s GDP being lost due to water scarcity by
2050. And that would be the biggest humanitarian
crisis in the history of independent India.
The Trusts are committed towards the goal of
improving the quality of human life, focusing on
improving access to safe water and environmental
sanitation. In order to address the situation, the
Trusts initiated the Tata Water Mission (TWM) as an
integrated initiative, with an aim to create a healthy
future for underserved communities through
provision of safe, assured and adequate drinking
water, improved sanitation and hygiene facilities.

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