Perspectives on Governance in the India Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector

Hemant Khosla, Aidan CroninJune 2012

India

Population (million)227 367 646 857 874 1225

MDG target (85%) has been reached!

Investment in rural drinking water supply(State + Centre)

Source: Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Govt. of India

The policy environment - NRDWP

Shift from ground water sources to conjunctive use of different sources.

Emphasis on community-based drinking water management.

Strengthening Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance. Linkages to other programmes particularly Sanitation &

Health. Convergence of resources and investments with other

Government programmes and schemes.

Strategic Plan for Drinking Water and Sanitation for 2010-22 finalised - Stress is placed on drinking water at household level through piped water supply, metering and service agreements

O&M of RWS: allocations and incentives

10% allocation under NRDWP Finance Commission grants

for PRIs to partly meet O&M costs

Incentive to States based on Management Devolution Index

One-time incentive to GPs/ VWSCs

State allocations for O&M of point sources / hand pumps

Challenges in rural drinking water sector

Coverage Moving up the Drinking Water

Ladder O&M is essential to keep moving

up the ladder and reflect good governance

Effective groundwater legislation and enforcement.

Strengthening Water Quality ManagementDecentralisation/ community involvementEquity, as per NRDWP guidelinesGood governance

Challenges..

Factors affecting O&M of Rural Water Supply

Technical design of the water supply scheme. Leakages / water losses. Agency carrying out the O&M and its competency. Establishment and recurring costs; life cycle costs

including preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance.

Cost recovery. Preparedness for emergency breakdown. SOP – Emergency: Water and Sanitation.

Interventions for improved O&M

Segregation of schemes into categories: Multi-village schemes; Individual village level schemes; Point

sources/ handpumps

Working out operational mechanisms and life cycle costs.

Identification of competent organisation/ agencies for carrying out O&M - Specialised agencies/ contractors.

Capacity building at various levels. Empowerment and Devolution

Structured approaches help……

Source: Arghyam Presentation at the India WATER Quality workshop & Exhibition, Nov 2011.

Projects range from 2.5 yrs to 5 yrs

3 3 5 20 1

14 12 10 24 1

Assessment of baseline

Preparatory phase: planning & support activities

Community based water quality monitoring

Safe water implementation

O&M phase

Technology # of people served

Capital costs

($)

Annual O&M

costs ($)

Cost/ 10 yrs @ 10%

d.r. ($)

10 yrs capital cost ($)

Deep Tube Well (DTW) 50 744.6 10 806.0 16.12DTW Tara-Dev (DTW-T) 50 893.1 14 979.1 19.58Rain Water Harvesting (RWH)

50 855.3 25.5 1,012.0 20.24

Pond Sand Filter (PSF) 50 558.8 80 1,050.4 21.01Dug Well (DW) 50 772.6 80 1,264.2 25.28Pond Sand Filter (30 HH) 150 558.8 80 1,050.4 7.00DTW-Multiple Connection (DTW-MC)

200 1,344 40 1,589.6 7.95

Mini Piped Deep Well (GOB) 500 9,000 1,350 17,295.2 34.59Piped Deep Well (DPHE) 2500 43,285 6,780 84,945.2 33.98Piped River Abstraction 2500 44,533 6,780 86,193.2 34.48Piped Impoundment 2500 48,244 7,627 95,108.6 38.04

Life cycle cost of rural water supply scheme

Source: Comparison of ten year life cycle costing or rural water supply options in Bangladesh, Dr. Yang Zheng, UNICEF-Dhaka

Improved Governance

Good governance triggers Demand responsive approach.

Community involvement ensures quality, impact, sustainability & equity.

Gender issues – how to strengthen? Social capital building is key to sustainability –

successful evidences from WASMO-Gujarat, Gram Vikas-Odisha.

Devolution of powers – ownership of water management by the user groups/ community.

Empowerment resulting in decision-making, implementation and management.

Cost - effective implementation, willingness-to-pay

Ensuring monitoring, social audit, transparent mechanisms – high level of satisfaction.

Efficient & sustainable O&M.

Management Devolution Index

To improve RWS service delivery:Financial assessment and viability of O&M systems.Regular monitoring & quality assurance measures for smooth O&M Addressing leakages of funds / corruption - Audits: Financial, Technical and Social audits. Community involvement in planning and O&M of different types of schemes – especially point sources & individual village schemesWhat is the role of private sector for O&M? can it lead to better service delivery, recovery costs, consumer redressal & satisfaction. Improved Governance can be achieved via participation, monitoring, empowerment, review.

Summing Up

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