Community‐Led Solutions to Rural Water Scarcity in India: Insights From the Water Poverty Index Approach

ABSTRACT This study assesses water scarcity in rural India using the Water Poverty Index (WPI). The study considers WPI in three communities to comparatively assess the factors that contribute to the level of water poverty in the comparable communities. We created community profiles to evaluate water scarcity across five components of the WPI framework: resources, access, capacity, use, and environment. The overall WPI score recorded for the respective communities includes Kalinagar (42), Barapita (53), and Nagla Chandi (41), all of which fall within the unsafe categories. Component indices highlighted binding constraints: Capacity = 0.00 (Kalinagar), 0.25 (Barapita), and 0.00 (Nagla Chandi); Access = 0.43, 0.29, and 0.57; Environment = 0.00, 0.46, and 0.20, respectively. In Nagla Chandi, a co‐designed package (Village Water and Sanitation Committee, waste management protocols, price rationalization for treated water, and 20‐L storage) increased treated water patronage from a mean of 3–23 households. Correspondingly, the village WPI improved from 48.6% (unsafe) to 65.6% (safe), driven by gains in Capacity (0 → 0.50) and Environment (0.20 → 0.40). This research highlights the need for sustainable water management interventions and greater community involvement in rural areas. The limited community participation in water management and local oversight of the water supply systems is highlighted as a pressing area for policy intervention. Use of the WPI not only helps to determine the level of water poverty in a community, but it also helps to identify the areas for policy intervention and for defining community‐based solutions to address water scarcity challenges and for sustainable water management. The WPI can thus be an important tool to help address water scarcity across rural India by identifying the local challenges to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 6.