Unreliable Piped Water Supply in Aizawl City

This paper examines the piped water distribution system and the degree of water supply unreliability as well as the strategies employed by residents to cope with the unreliable piped water supply. Data was gathered via questionnaire administered to 750 respondents’ mainly female household heads. Based on the Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) 2020 report of population (3,59,829) and the Government of India 10th Plan recommendation of standard norms of the per capita water supply (135 lpcd) the water demand in the City worked out as around 48.57 million litres per day (MLD). However, in the present situation the PHED makes available only about 22.99 MLD of water to the City residents. Thus, it can be estimated that there is a large gap between the supply and the demand, which is as high as 25.58 MLD. This translates to about 47.33 per cent of water demand not satisfied by supply. Findings also show that the coping strategies employed by residents include: storage (100 per cent), collection (62.11 per cent), purchased (58.86 per cent) and pumping (3.63 per cent). A shortage of water supply in cities is often taken as a sign of failure of the government.