The government has yet to assure domestic and international players in water that development, not merely fixing infra issues, is indeed in place, says Ramani Iyer.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), launched in 2005 and now extended to 2014, aimed at urban development, but until now, as the High-Powered Expert Committee recoÂgnises, has been largely directed at bridging the infrastructure investment deficits rather than improving service delivery improvement or provide incentives for better performance.
A vital part in the development of a vibrant market is the role of the private sector. There are only a few truly international players who have completed 'model' projects. Yet the numÂber of local entities willing to enter the water markets is still very poor. The reasons are usual apathy to government contracts with impliÂcations on the bottom line.
Towards actionable policy: A couple of policy measures initiated by the MoUD conÂsequent to the issue of the National Water Policy address some of the issues that were delineated earlier and are meant to assist Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and state govÂernments to help them to move forward. They are 'Improving Urban Water Supply and SaniÂtation Services' and 'Checklist for Submission and Scrutiny of DPR (Water Supply)'.
Ashok Singhvi, Joint Secretary of MoUD, identifies the realisation that increasing access to infrastructure is not usually the solution, and creating infrastructure and not addressing management of Urban WSS services does not lead to sustainable services. Emphasis should be on clarifying the mandates of service providers, impÂroving governance of WSS service proviÂders, ensuring predictable and cost-effective financing of operations, building capacity, etc.
A critical component of the exercise is preparation of a Doable Project Report with meagre resources, many ULBs do not have traiÂned manpower to map the existing infraÂstruÂcture and then undertake the forward planning exercise. Some state govÂernments have underÂtaken this task by setting up agencies at an apex level. However, it has built-in bureaucratic hurdles and lacks a cohÂerent approach.
The second part of the government's conÂtribution is the 'Checklist for Submission and Scrutiny of DPR (Water Supply), which is quite simple to use. If the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) are compiled diligently, passing the cheÂckÂlist is simple though one would imaÂgine alloÂwances for errors in estimation would be in place.
Sporadic success stories: There are some exemplary cases in India of successful appliÂcation, although not all in PPP. In Malkapur, a small town in Maharashtra, 35,000 households get 24×7 protected water supply. All households have water meters and the bills are paid every month. Surat City Municipal Services for drinking water supply, sewerage collection and treatment, and solid waste treatment have been in place for over seven years. Navi Mumbai's drinking water supply network, IT-enabled administration of the process of billing and even obtaining a water connection is exemplary. There are many local models from JUSCO, Jamshedpur in water supply projects. Models of integrated water and sanitation management like the Israeli state-owned enterprise Mekorot are available to authorities to seek guidance.
If these examples must become the norm in all the 3,500 ULBs in India, a bottom-up appÂroach can ensure a proper assessment of ground realities that need to be built into the process.
Until the government gives them the conÂfidence that urban water and sanitation projects are viable which will contribute to their top line, the players will continue to shy away.
The author, who has been on national committees on water policy, is with Forbes Marshall, which builds steam engineering and control instrumentation solutions for process industries.
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