The Government of Gujarat established the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) in 1987 with the primary responsibility of water supply. Its mission is to ensure sustainable water supply and sanitation services in the rural areas of Gujarat State as a prerequisite for an elementary level of health in society. The GWSSB plans, implements, and operates various drinking water and sanitation schemes in the state and is responsible for the maintenance of hand pumps and regional water supply systems.

The GWSSB is a strategic partner of the Water Supply Department. Its present role is focused on the semi-bulk transfer of water, the development of new water sources and the recharge of existing sources.

From 1997 to 2002 the GWSSB was the nodal agency and the implementing authority of the Ghogha project. Its present role in the Ghogha project is the provision of water through the Mahi network to project villages. Its responsibility ends at the village sump inlet valve.

The Gujarat Jalseva Training Institute (GJTI) was established by the GWSSB in October 1988 with financial support of the World Bank. The primary aim was to enhance and upgrade the technical competence, professional skills and the behavioural attitude of the employees of the GWSSB to enable them to meet the challenging needs in the field of drinking water supply and sanitation. The Institute caters to the training needs of GWSSB as well as local government bodies, partner institutes and other stakeholders in the sector. It also conducts short-term programmes for rural communities to create mass awareness about water and sanitation related issues.

The GJTI is a key institute for imparting national and international level training in the drinking water supply and sanitation sector. It has also worked as a supporting and nodal institute for implementation of several national level programmes such as Sector Reform Pilot Project, HRD and IEC. WASMO draws upon its expertise for training of various stakeholder groups. A Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) has been created to meet the future capacity building needs of WASMO and other partners.

UNICEF works in more than 90 countries around the world to improve water supply and sanitation facilities in schools and communities, and to promote safe hygiene practices. In emergencies it provides urgent relief to communities and nations threatened by disrupted water supplies and disease. All UNICEF water and sanitation programmes are designed to contribute to the Millennium Development Goal for water and sanitation: to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.

UNICEF provides institutional support for the implementation of the Swajaldhara programme in nine districts of the state namely, Ahmedabad, Dangs, Gandhinagar, Kutch, Mehsana, Rajkot, Surat Vadodara, and Valsad, districts. It meets the professional and operational costs of the Core teams that includes personnel for water engineering, community mobilization and documentation and communication. These Core teams assist the District Water and Sanitation Committees that are responsible for implementation of the Swajaldhara programme.

It also supports workshops and training programmes, like orientation workshops on the reform-based programme for villagers and district level implementation staff, regional consultations for the review of the programme, the State level workshop on flourosis and fluoride mitigation strategy etc. With support from UNICEF a ToT for school principals and teachers is being implemented in Kutch district for ‘Maintenance of School Sanitation and O&M of the Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting Structures’. Under this training programme 1375 schools of ten talukas of Kutch will be covered during July- December 2006 in 46 batches. The trainings will be carried out in consultation with the District Primary Education Programme officials. The objectives of the 1 day training programme will be to:

• Sensitise the teachers regarding Child Environment Corner, importance of rooftop rain water harvesting structures (RRWHS), and water quality surveillance
   

• Development of a plan for the implementation of the Child environment Corner and sanitation in schools
   

• Sensitising the target group regarding the maintenance of the assets developed under the WASMO programme, which would benefit the school children
   

• Imparting information and skills for the O&M of the RRWHS constructed in the primary schools and training on personal health and hygiene.

UNICEF has also provided accounting kits, water quality field testing kits and O&M kits which are disseminated to the Pani Samitis at the time of various trainings like financial management and post-construction (O&M) training etc. These kits come in very handy for the rural community and they are better able to maintain their records and carry out the basic repair and maintenance activities.

UNICEF has developed several educational films on Child Environment Corner, Cluster Storage Strategy, RRWHS etc. screenings of which have been done in Rajkot and Vadodara for the benefit of the Core Teams, DWSCs and representatives from the ISAs and other. Distribution of the CDs to these key players in the implementation of the Swajaldhara programme is also planned so that they can be used at the field level for awareness generation and information dissemination.

The Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd. (GWIL) has been established as a vehicle to implement the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Canal Based Drinking Water Supply Project. Its main aim is to ensure drinking water security in the state through bulk transfer of drinking water. The project envisages laying of 2700 km bulk transmission pipelines, distribution network and treatment plants to make safe and adequate water available on a permanent basis to more than 8215 villages and 135 townships in the state at an estimated cost of Rs 76,000 million.

Significantly, the GWIL has already completed 1323 kMs of bulk transmission pipelines connecting 1600 villages and 52 urban centers in the districts of Ahmedabad, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Rajokt, Junagadh, Jamnagar and Kutch. In this way it plays a pivotal role in the new strategy adopted by the Water Supply Department of the Government of Gujarat (see Strategy).

Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited (WAPCOS) is a Government of India undertaking. It is a Public Sector enterprise under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Water Resources. WAPCOS was founded in 1969 by the Government of India to make India’s expertise in Water, Power, Infrastructure and allied sectors available for the benefit of developing countries. It is now recognized amongst the top ranking consultancy organisations of the world in these sectors. WAPCOS has been operating in more than 35 developing countries apart from the Indian sub-continent.

WAPCOS’s involvement in the Ghogha project began with a contract for performance evaluation of the ISAs and an impact assessment of the ISA activities in project villages. Next, two other assignments were given to WAPCOS:

In 1982 the Forests and Environment Department of the Government of Gujarat established the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation as an autonomous Society and Trust for the cause of nature conservation. The main objectives of the GEER Foundation include education and research in the fields of ecology, forest, wildlife, biodiversity and environment. The GEER Foundation also runs the Centre for Participatory Management of Natural Resources (CPMNR) which promotes participatory approaches to learning in the field of natural resources.

The GEER Foundation is a close ally of WASMO, contributing to the water sector in different ways. Its Director, C.N. Pandey, is a member of WASMO’s Governing Body as well as the Recruitment and Personnel Committee. He also serves as a resource person for various training and orientation programmes. The GEER Foundation broadcasts episodes on WASMO and the water and sanitation sector in its radio programme “Hariyalu Gujarat” aired on All India Radio.

The Bhavnagar Social Forestry Division of the Gujarat Forest Department was approached by WASMO to implement the pastureland development component of the Ghogha project. The work is being undertaken as a part of a natural resources management programme, with the active support and involvement of the ISAs and Pani Samitis.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare aims at better health for the people of Gujarat through its health care delivery system. Health care is more than ‘medical care’. It involves promotion, protection and restoration of the health of the people. The Department provides integrated health services through its Primary Health Care network spread across the state. Presently its health care is focused on the rural communities where the quality of health services is low.

WASMO has invited the Department of Health and Family Welfare to co-operate in the ERR Project by promoting safe drinking water and environmental sanitation practices through its Primary Health Centers (PHCs). For a start 51 PHCs in four earthquake affected districts have been identified. The central theme of the project is to develop PHCs as a vehicle of water and sanitation facilities where IEC material depicting safe use of drinking water would be displayed. PHCs will thereby demonstrate how waste-water disposal can lead to reduced water related health problems.

Next