Willingness to Pay for Access to Improved and Reliable Piped Water: A Contingent Valuation Study in Kerala, India

Kuttanad lies at the very heart of the backwaters in Alappuzha district, southern part of India. It is the area with the lowest altitude in India, and one of the few places in the world where farming is carried out below sea level. The place is an amazing labyrinth of shimmering waterways composed of lakes, canals, rivers and rivulets. However, it is an example of scarcity among plenty in case of potable water. In the research study, the amount that the people of Kuttanad are willing to pay for accessing pure and potable water is estimated using contingent valuation method. Double bound dichotomous choice method is used to collect the WTP information and the actual amount people are willing to contribute is estimated using a logistic model. Using the model it was found that the people are willing to pay USD 0.67(1) per kilolitre of water. This means a family of four members is ready to pay around USD 5.64 per month if they get potable quality of water through pipeline at home. This is a very significant result considering the fact that currently a household pay an average of just USD 0.69 per month for the existing pipeline connection.