Role of water supply and sanitation in hill area development using GIS techniques: a case study of Shillong urban agglomeration, India

Aparesh Patra, Rolta Thales Ltd
Debendra Kumar Nayak, North-Eastern Hill University

Access to water is a fundamental need and constitutes one of the most important human rights. But most cities in the developing world and in hilly and mountainous regions suffer from acute shortage of water both in quantity and quality. Shillong is located in the Meghalaya plateau, an extension of North-Eastern Himalayan. The city has witnessed unprecedented population growth in recent years largely due to migration from the neighbouring states of India as well as across the border. Most of the springs are unprotected. The situation worsens in the dry months when the springs too dry up. Over 30% of the households were selected by random sampling technique from each durbar as well as wards in 2006. The study also investigated sanitation. The disparity in mere availability of water was found to be phenomenal. The paper makes an attempt to provide policy guidelines in this direction.