How Far We Are in Achieving SDGs 2030: Evidence from West Bengal | Md Sahidul Islam

Abstract

In this paper, we underscore the acute drinking water distress in West Bengal, highlighting the promise of the United Nations’ SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). In every summer season, groundwater drastically plummets, exacerbating the drinking water crisis in the state. Drawing on field observations, government documents, and community interviews, we highlighted systemic negligence, policy ineffectiveness, and the unmet promises of rural water governance. We call for urgent policy interventions and decentralized planning to achieve water security and uphold the right to safe drinking water.

Introduction

It has been almost one decade since the United Nations’ 192 member countries adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on an ‘urgent call’ to achieve by 2030 [1]. At this juncture, with only five years to go, how far have we reached to fulfil these urgent Goals? In this study, we intend to point out the acute water scarcity in reference to the promise of SDGs-6, which clearly stated, “By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” in the context of West Bengal. The standard narration is ‘localization of SDGs,’ which implies implementing global goals in the local community. In this regard, localization of ‘ensuring access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’ in the districts of West Bengal has mainly remained ineffective as of 2025.

The growing water crisis in West Bengal

The onset of the summer season every year sadly reminds us of the famous line by ST Coleridge: “water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Since last decade, every summer ushering with threats to human lives, livestock, and agriculture, we face an acute drinking water crisis as groundwater tables plummet, tube wells fail, and lack of piped water supply exacerbates the situation. Water scarcity is not just an environmental problem, but a failure of governance, infrastructure, and climate adaptation.

It is our common notion that the Ganga River flows in our state, so we will not have groundwater scarcity. Unfortunately, it’s the opposite. Groundwater has been declining faster for decades across districts in the Gangetic basin area of our state. Groundwater usage has also increased manifold due to increased population and several developmental activities [2]. Groundwater extraction, even at an individual level, has resulted in unregulated and unplanned abstraction, particularly from near-surface aquifers. Consequently, during the summer season, acute drinking water shortage affects everyone.

Climate change and water distress

It is cognizant that climate has changed over time, causing substantial adverse impacts on the environment, including drought, floods, erratic rainfall, landslides, etc. Rapid climate change hits every walk of life and disrupts the whole ecosystem. We know that last year (2024) was the hottest year of the century, and this year (2025), perhaps, is going to follow the same trend. Rising temperatures and erratic monsoon patterns have interrupted groundwater availability. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology alerted that Eastern India (particularly West Bengal) has experienced a 25% decline in monsoonal rainfall over the last two decades, intensifying water stress [3]. While SDG 13 (Climate Action) calls for resilience-building and sustainable water management, most of the rural communities in West Bengal remain overlooked and unsupported in this regard. The lack of provision of climate-adaptive measures, such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge projects, and drought-resistant infrastructure, leaves the region highly vulnerable.

Ridiculous public policy implication

Public policy always aims to solve public problems, affecting every citizen directly or indirectly. Thereby, public policy plays a vital role in driving the socio-economic development of a society. At times, it is echoed ‘that once a policy is made by top-level actors, the implementation happens automatically by subordinates in the global public policy discourse. Similarly, in Indian policy discourse, a common narration is ‘policy is good, but implementation is poor [4].’ Unfortunately, this is reflected in the localization of ensuring access to safe drinking water for all. There are several welfare schemes and policies in India, but their implementation disappoints us. For example, we take the ‘Jal Jivan Mission’- Har Ghar Jal (JJM) launched by our honourable prime minister in 2019 to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India [5]. In 2025, if we look at the implementation status of this mission, we observe a very dismal picture, particularly in West Bengal.

Our state severely lags other states in the country in implementing JJM — as of 2025, only 55% of rural households have access to tap water, far below the national average (80%) [6]. In contrast, many states like Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana, and Haryana have already achieved 100% coverage under the program. Of the total 22 districts (except Kolkata), several districts like Birbhum, Murshidabad, Malda, Purulia, and Uttar Dinajpur have access to pipe water connections of less than 40% [6]. Even within the district, some blocks have almost zero access to piped water, such as the Beldanga-I CD block. This shows a higher deprivation of the district and a lack of adequate mission implementation.

Conclusion and Recommendation

To address the acute water scarcity problem compounded by climate change, the government needs a comprehensive, holistic approach combining immediate relief with long-term sustainability. Despite having both central policy (JJM-Har Ghar Jal) and the state’s Har Ghar Nal Yojana, most of the HHs from the district are deprived of safe piped drinking water. It is well established that top-down policymaking is likely to fail unless it includes local context-specific factors or a combined approach; the effectiveness of these policies remains inaccessible to the larger population. However, we must provide some suggestions for consideration. First, it needs to proactively accelerate the implementation of JJM policy leveraging the state’s schemes to ensure universal access to treated drinking water, engaging all stakeholders like community-based organizations, civil society, academia, etc. Second, the over-extraction of groundwater must be intensely monitored through stricter policies and promoting local water management committees. Third, regular quality monitoring and affordable water treatment plants must be enhanced through localized water filtration. Fourth, we need to take the issue of climate change seriously. We must adopt climate-resilient water strategies emphasizing rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and watershed management. Finally, most importantly, we need to keep our governance system very transparent, ensure community participation through a robust grievance redressal system, and make the government accountable.

In sum, the acute drinking water shortage in the district is not just an environmental crisis but a systemic governance failure. Despite magnificent commitments to SDG 6 and SDG 13, local realities reveal a very unsatisfied picture: the gaps in implementation. If immediate and sustained interventions are not considered, hundreds of people will continue to suffer, and the global sustainability agenda will remain an unfulfilled promise.

Reference:

[1] United Nations (2025) The 17 Goals, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development, UN.
[2] Government of West Bengal (2022) Report on the dynamic ground water resources of West Bengal as on 31st March 2022.
[3] IIMT (2021) Quarterly e-Newsletter of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, 3(2).
[4] Ayyar, R. V. (2009) Public policymaking in India. Pearson Education India.
[5] Government of India (2024) Jal Jeevan Mission, A Milestone in India’s Rural Water Revolution, Government of India, Press Information Bureau, GoI.
[6] Government of India (2025) Tap water supply in households (HHs), ?West Bengal.