Abstract:
The rural water supply system operated by the CBOs as an alternative approach to provide
safe drinking water to the rural people. These schemes experience several issues including
sustainable challenges particularly in Ampara district of Sri Lanka. This study focuses on the
selected CBO-managed RWS schemes and their sustainability challenges using case study
method. Three CBO schemes were selected in Veeracholai, Malligaitheevu and Kannahipuram
villages in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka in order to examine the sustainable condition using
qualitative measure. This institutional case study aimed to investigate the nature of community
participation and sustainability issues of RWS schemes in the selected areas in Ampara district.
Each institutional case is unique and represents the problems in operating rural water schemes
and sustainability issues. Three case studies were conducted in three different locations in
Ampara district and presented key discussion in an interpretative method. Based on the case
study analysis, this study observed that community participation has not been adopted in an
expected level in operation and maintenance of RWS schemes. Further, this study noticed that
CBO-managed RWS schemes struggled to ensure their long term success and sustainability
due to numerous factors. Each case is unique, however, each scheme has similar and different
challenges. The common issue of each case is the sustainability challenge due to the
environmental, financial, technical, social and institutional factors. This case study helps future
researchers to investigate further challenges and postulate sustainable mitigation measures to
overcome the issues.
