Gravity-based water supply system in Sikkim

Community Water Plus, a research project, has investigated twenty case studies of successful community managed rural water supply programmes across 17 states in India. Through these case studies, the research has gained insight into the type and amount of support to community organisations that is needed, and the resources implications of this 'plus' – in terms of money, staffing, and other factors.

This document presents the inputs that contributed to improving water supply to households by the Rural Management and Development Department in Sikkim. Sikkim is one of the smallest and sparsely populated states in the country, but with one of the highest GDP per capita and a strong track record in local self-governance. The State has achieved near 100% coverage in drinking water provision with piped supply systems. Given the systems of local governance and the water sources prevailing across the State, there are Gram Panchayats (GP) and Water User Associations managing their drinking water supply systems extremely well. The best performing two Gram Panchayats, Melli Dara Paiyong and Gerethang Labing, and one Ward (Zitlang) Water User Association are studied in detail and presented in this case study.