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Boiling Point
Front cover of Boiling Point issue 49
Issue 49 (2003) Forests, fuel and food
ArticleToll on Human Resources due to lack of Energy, Water, Sanitation and their Health Impacts in Rural North India
AuthorDr Jyoti K Parikh, Vijay Laxmi, Shyam Karmakar, Pramod Dabrase?


[top] [end]Introduction

A comprehensive survey was conducted covering 10 265 rural households from 118 villages in three states of Rural North India (RNI) comprising:
  • Uttar Pradesh (includes Uttaranchal) – flood plain of the Ganges
  • Rajasthan – dry desert
  • Himachal Pradesh – mountainous region

The survey, which aimed to address issues of energy, water, sanitation and health, included a health survey of 58 768 individuals. However, health results are presented here only for direct responses reported for adults (above age 15 years). The three states were selected to reflect the socioeconomic groups and differing terrain within the region. The sample was random and representative of the villages and households of Rural Northern India.
Box 1 Choosing households

Stage 1: Districts from each state were selected. Stage 2: The number of households selected in each district was based on the distribution of all rural households in these districts. Stage 3: The villages were grouped according to size of population: fewer than 1000; 1000–3000 and 3000–5000. Villages with populations of more than 5000 were excluded from the sample because they resemble semi urban areas. Stage 4: Households within villages were selected using systematic random sampling.

The data were analysed and the results scaled up to gain some macrolevel policy insights for Rural North India. The three sampled states cover much of this region, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Percentage of Rural Norht India represented by sample households
Table 1: Percentage of Rural Norht India represented by sample households


[top] [end]Survey design

The survey was conducted at individual, household and village level.

[top] [end]Individual level

  • Physiological characteristics: age, sex, height, and weight and behavioural characteristics such as smoking habits and literacy.
  • Occupation, time activity pattern, cooking involvement, years of cooking and other behaviour.

Figure 1: Polluted kitchen environment due to cooking
Figure 1: Polluted kitchen environment due to cooking
Household level data was collected to get a comprehensive picture of socioeconomic conditions, energy use pattern, water and sanitation related facilities:
  • housing characteristics, number of rooms, type of house and type of kitchen, location of kitchen, number of doors and windows in the kitchen
  • cooking behaviour, environmental priorities of women, number of meals cooked using different fuels, hours of cooking, cooking involvement of different age groups and type of involvement (Figure 1)
  • willingness to pay to improve water and sanitation facilities
  • energy-use pattern included information on consumption of biofuels and commercial fuels for cooking, place of procurement of cooking fuel, time, distance and effort involved in procurement, progress along the energy ladder etc.
  • people’s willingness to reduce the impact of indoor air pollution including information on people’s choice for type of intervention, reason for not using clean fuels, willingness to pay for additional clean fuel and additional demand for kerosene in the area
  • water availability, source of collection, efforts required to fetch water, problems faced in collection, quality, storage and filtering practices, etc.
  • data on availability of sanitation and sewerage facilities and willingness to contribute to improve water, sanitation and sewerage facilities was also collected through the survey.

Box 2 Energy in Rural North India

Biofuel
  • 96.6% households use biofuel for cooking
  • 56 million tonnes biofuels are gathered annually (Figure 2)
  • 35 million households spend 8000 million hours annually in gathering biofuel
  • Forests contribute 39% of the fuelwood needed
  • 33 % of rural households are willing to contribute to the cost of reducing smoke in their kitchen

Kerosene
  • 4.9% of households use kerosene for cooking
  • 34% of the households that use kerosene as a cooking fuel buy it on the open market
  • 97% of households procure it from fair price shops
  • 1.8 million households use 1.74 million tonnes of kerosene per annum for cooking and lighting
  • 49% of households are willing to pay more than the market price to purchase kerosene for cooking

LPG
  • 4.95% households use LPG for cooking

Biogas
  • 0.2% of households use biogas for cooking

Electrification
  • 63% of households are electrified.

Figure 2: 35 million households spend 8000 million hours annually gathering biofuel
Figure 2: 35 million households spend 8000 million hours annually gathering biofuel


[top] [end]Village level surveys

  • Validation of data acquired at household and individual level (Figure 3).
  • Overall picture of the village.

[top] [end]Health

  • A questionnaire produced by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK in 1986 for respiratory symptoms was followed, which included
  • Measurement of PEF (peak expiratory flow), an indicator lung function and the extent to which it is impaired, was also conducted.
  • Symptoms of diseases such as worms in stool, diarrhoea and jaundice were recorded.

Figure 3: Woman wearing air sampler to measure pollution levels
Figure 3: Woman wearing air sampler to measure pollution levels


[top] [end]Toll on human resources

[top] [end]Smoke-related diseases

Analysis of the prevalence of respiratory diseases shows that 24 million adults (17% of the total rural adults) show respiratory symptoms. Out of these, 15 million adults (13% of the total rural adults) have serious respiratory symptoms. These respiratory symptoms, confirmed by medical practitioners, are shown in Figure 4 and indicate that:
  • 6 million adults (4.3% of the total rural adults) suffer from bronchitis
  • 4 million (2.9%) suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis
  • 3 million adults (2.1%) from chest infections
  • 2 million (1.45%) from bronchial asthma.

Bronchitis and pulmonary tuberculosis are strongly associated with indoor pollution, and the latter two may possibly act as triggering factors.
Figure 4: Prevalence of respiratory diseases
Figure 4: Prevalence of respiratory diseases


[top] [end]Water-related diseases

Prevalence of water related diseases is recorded in 13 million adults. These diseases occur mainly due to unhygienic conditions and the non-availability of clean drinking water.

Water related diseases, measured in the previous one month showed that of the 13 million adults (9.4% of total adults):
  • 5.5 million adults (3.9%) pass worms in stool *7.8 million adults (5.7%) suffer from diarrhoea; lasting more than 2 days
  • 1.7 million adults (1.2%) suffer from jaundice in past 2 years





[top] [end]The cost of respiratory and water-related diseases

Despite considerable government subsidies to health centres, the rural adult population spend considerable sums of money on healthcare, as shown in Table 2 and Figures 5, 6 and 7.
Figure 5: Respiratory disease cost
Figure 5: Respiratory disease cost
Figure 6: Costs associated with eye disease
Figure 6: Costs associated with eye disease
Figure 7: Costs associated with water-related disease
Figure 7: Costs associated with water-related disease














[top] [end]Economic burden due to energy, water, sanitation and health problems per year

The economic burden comprises the time spent in both water and fuel collection, the direct expenditure on health by adults, and the economic value of working days lost due to the health impacts of poor energy, water and sanitation provision – as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Economic burden due to energy, water, sanitation and health problems (per year)
Table 2: Economic burden due to energy, water, sanitation and health problems (per year)


[top] [end]Download the original article

pdf file link Toll on Human Resources due to lack of Energy, Water, Sanitation and their Health Impacts in Rural North India by Jyoti K. Parikh, Vijay Laxmi, Shyam Karmakar and Pramod Dabrase (121 KB)

[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 49: Forests, fuel and food

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Forests, fuel and food - Sustainable commercial firewood - Super-insulated housing for Northern Asia - Insulative ceramics for improved cooking stoves - Implementing policy decisions to conserve forest reserves in Tazania - Fuelling development - Participatory approach for linking rural energy transitions and developmental needs in Uttar Pradesh - Decentralised household energy planning for selected villages in Shivalik belt of Haryana, India - Livelihoods in the urban biomass sector - realities and threats - Toll on Human Resources due to lack of Energy, Water, Sanitation and their Health Impacts in Rural North India - Gender dimensions in household energy - What's happening in household energy BP49 - Energy News From Practical Action BP49



2007-06-29 16:05:582007-06-29 13:35:230general<_owner>2154<_group>127<_origin>1vieweditIndividual levelVillage level surveysHealthSmoke-related diseasesWater-related diseasesIntroductionSurvey designToll on human resourcesThe cost of respiratory and water-related diseasesEconomic burden due to energy, water, sanitation and health problems per yearDownload the original articleContents: Boiling Point 49: Forests, fuel and foodhomeforumviewHEDON homeHEDON forum helpHEDON forum startHEDON forum contentsHEDON copyright notice