Drinking Water and Sanitation in Uttar Pradesh : A Regional Analysis

This paper highlights the inter-regional disparity in coverage of drinking water and sanitation services in Uttar Pradesh and measures the impact of literacy rate, female literacy rate and per capita income on sanitation. The secondary level data are collected from the National Family Health Survey, District Level Health Survey, Uttar Pradesh HDR Report, Census and NSSO to assess the above objective. The analysis of access to drinking water and sanitation shows that the provision of piped water supply still remains an unachieved goal in Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, it shows that a large part of the Uttar Pradesh households depend on their own private tubewells and pumps for their daily water needs. Uttar Pradesh has low coverage for both household sanitation and drainage service compared to all India level. As per the Census 2001, there are about 2.58 crores of households in the State and only 28 per cent households have individual household toilets. The paper reveals inter-regional disparity in Uttar Pradesh in the availability of drinking water and sanitation. A multiple linear regression model is used to estimate the impact of various determining factors, i.e. literacy rate, female literacy rate and per capita income on sanitation facilities. The results reveal that female literacy rate plays a significant role for improving access to sanitation facilities. So, the highest priority to female literacy and schooling should be given in the development programmes for improving the conditions.