Willingness to Pay for Drinking Water in Some Selected Dryland Areas of West Bengal: A Contingent Valuation Approach

Abstract

The paper attempts to consider the valuation of drinking water using contingent valuation method in the dryland areas of West Bengal. The issue is important as in-house drinking water facilities are not available to the households in our study area and people are dependent on common-pool sources like tube-well, waterfall and watershed for drinking water in our specified dry land areas. Both ‘dichotomous-choice type’ closed ended and open ended cases are considered to examine the willingness to pay by the people to conserve and to get supply of drinking water in the dryland areas of the state. It has been estimated that the average willingness to pay by the poverty-stricken forest dwellers for the above-mentioned purpose is Rs.7.91 per month. Given that the stakeholders are poor, the amount of willingness to pay (though low) shows the willingness of the stakeholders to conserve water for drinking as they cannot survive without it.