Abstract:
An escalation in the population, pollution and contamination of fresh water
bodies in the island nation exerts a strain on adequate supply of fresh water. When it comes
to fresh water supply the condition in the dry zone is far more acute than in the rest of the
island. This feature is intensively felt in the Jaffna peninsula. In consideration of this
situation, the researchers deliberated on applying traditional concepts with modern
alterations to conserve and store rain water at household levels. Thus, the researchers had
taken effort to (i) ascertain consumer willingness to join, (ii) ascertain consumer willingness
to pay for the bid and (iii) identify the socio economic factors influencing the choice of
individuals. The city of Jaffna within municipal limits was selected for this purpose and
around 300 respondents were picked randomly corresponding to the population of the
relevant secretarial divisions. The collected data were analyzed within the frame work of
contingent valuation (CV) method, using Probit and Multinomial Logit Regression. The
results revealed that household WTJ depends on education, household size, income, media
exposure index and real estate extent. These factors again influenced positively and were
statistically significant. Similarly household WTP is positively influenced by education, age,
household size, media exposure index, real estate extent and income which were statically
significant. Thus, increasing media exposure relevant to the immediate need, extending a
knowledge of the ground reality in a wide range, making available credit facility essentially
for the institution of RWHS for the economically unstable, will make the supply of RWHS
for all possible, thus making the storage and use of fresh water a success in the peninsula
region.
