We know that there is a deep impact and deep
relationship between water supply and sanitation and the overall development of
people living in a city or village, hence, it is imperative to look at the emerging
trends in the supply and access of water in the post liberalization Indian
society that we are part of at present. The state of water and sanitation in
Indian cities is abysmal. Market driven approach in delivery of basic services
such as water supply and sanitation has its advantages but more often than not
we hear about its adverse effects than its positives. At present most of the water
supply and sanitation schemes run in the state are Mission led initiatives like
the JNNURM. Also, we shall look at the contrasting difference in the supply of
water in cities and rural areas. This shall be done with the help of critically
evaluating two newspaper articles which focus on water supply and allocation in
the state of Maharashtra.
The first article is a recent piece from The Indian
Express titled ‘Making urbanisation potable’ by Isher Judge Ahluwalia. Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia is a prominent Indian economist and former chairperson of the high-powered expert
committee on urban infrastructure services. She is also the wife of Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, India. The article is roughly an
evaluation of JNNURM initiative in provision of water supply in Maharashtra. The
mission used project-oriented fund transfers as a driver of change for reforms
at the state and the urban local body (ULB) level, to improve the condition of
Indian cities. Maharashtra Sujal Nirmal Abhiyan (MSNA) is a good example of a
state-led programme of integrated management of water and sanitation in the era
of JNNURM. It covers all ULBs (a total of 250 cities), except Mumbai, for
delivering water (24x7) and sanitation in a sustainable manner. Three sets of
reforms in three sequential phases have been identified as ULBs prepare for the
sustainable provision of water and sanitation in the cities and towns of
Maharashtra. Phase I focusses on water audits, energy audits and provisions for
operation and maintenance. The requirement of a water audit is a major reform
for the success of the programme. The reduction of non-revenue water is the
core part of the strategy as distribution leaks are plugged and a system for
effective billing and collection with differentiated tariff is put in place.
Financial protection is provided by ensuring that separate accounts are
maintained for water and sanitation in ULBs. Once the building blocks are in
place in Phase I, the ULBs can move to Phase II, with pilot experiments for
delivery of water 24x7. The Phase II reforms include benchmarks for individual
metering and collection at 80 per cent each, tariff framing, provision for
sewerage and solid waste management. Phase III is the culmination of the
reforms with 24x7 systems of water delivery, 100 per cent efficiency in
metering and collection, and a sewerage system which includes sewage treatment
plants.
I beg to differ from the rosy picture of modernity
and success of the scheme in these cities. If we look at overall development of
the country then such mission led initiatives in which grants from the Centre shall
only be provided to those ULBs that fulfill certain criteria is in itself
flawed. The ULBs that will be equipped to have enough capacity to fulfill these
criteria would most likely be the richer ULBs catering to the richer population
on the whole. In such a scenario the neglected small towns shall further remain
neglected and the big towns that have more manpower and skill shall further
prosper. In such a scenario there shall be more pull towards these towns
leading to more polarity and regional imbalance in terms of infrastructure
provision. Secondly, if we carefully read at the mandates of the Phase I reform
we can observe that more than the provision of water and sanitation to all
persons in the society, the mission seems to be more concerned about the
amounts of water lost, effective billing and petty opportunity to cash upon
that water which is most often than not being used by the unorganized sectors.
This is being done by using tools like water auditing and provision of bulk
meters. A positive outcome coming out from this kind of water auditing shall be
the identification of loss of water in the organized sector but there also we
must note what implications it would finally have. Charging additional money
from them will still not be the right solution to it as it would still mean
inequitable distribution. Hence, the first prerogative of the Govt. shall be to
provide water to each and every household before retorting to accounting for
water thefts and cashing in on that water.
The second article is another recent piece from The
Hindu titled ‘How the other half dries’ by P. Sainath. P.
Sainath is the Rural Affairs Editor for The Hindu and has done extensive work
on social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermaths of globalization
in India. The article focusses on the equitable supply of water in Maharashtra
and highlights some of the illogical market driven decisions in the drought hit
state of Maharashtra. The author highlights how the developers were now selling
king size apartments with private swimming pools whereas several villages in
the same state are depending upon water tankers since they have no other water
source. And one must consider them lucky if you get to see the face of these
tankers twice a week. Furthermore, there are dozens of water theme parks that
are proposed in the same area. There have been huge diversions of water in the
last 15 years to industrial projects and to private companies also in the
lifestyle business leading to wide protests and blood sheds.
“The trends in
diversion for lifestyle-entertainment though, are not new. In 2005, a huge “Fun
& Food Village Water & Amusement Park” popped up in Nagpur (Rural)
district. That, in a period of real water stress. The Fun “Village” had 18
kinds of water slides. It also had “India’s first snowdrome” along with an ice
rink. It is not easy to maintain snow and ice in 47° heat. That took huge
amounts of electricity in a region seeing 15-hour power cuts. It also guzzled
massive amounts of water.” (Sainath, 2013)
Such is the catastrophe in the country with regard
to distribution of water. He also elaborates on the cropping choices and provision
of irrigation facilities. He argues how two – third of the sugarcane is being
grown in the drought prone areas which require high amount of water and
similarly the emerging trend of rose gardens which requires an even higher
amount of water. If this is not enough, there are 22 golf courses in the
pipeline, Golf courses use huge amounts of water and also use vast amounts of pesticide that can seep into and affect the
water of others as well.
He closes his
article with a brilliant line, “For the rich, there is never a scarcity. For so
many of the rest, their hopes evaporate by the day”. As urban polarity
increases it is the duty of the planner to bridge this gap. The first step
towards bridging this gap can be provision of water and sanitation service to
all the people equitably by adopting suitable technology and strategy keeping
in mind the peculiarity of the site.
References
Ahluwalia I. J. (2012) “Making urbanisation
potable”, The Indian Express,
Published on December 27 2012.
Sainath P. (2013) “How the other half dries”, The Hindu, Published on February 27,
2013.
