Consumer orientated Sustainable Water Service Delivery, A Reality or Fata Morgana?Conference Paper

Authors: Brecht Mommen & Pravin More

Table of contentTable of contentBackgroundOdisha Case

StudyRecommendation

s

BackgroundBackgroundDrinking water supply schemes have suffered from

poor upkeep. Responsibility for operation and maintenance

(O&M) of water supply schemes lies with the PRIs but in many states this responsibility is poorly defined and not supported by transfer of adequate funds and trained manpower to the PRIs.

PRIs and Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) are not willing to take over completed schemes in which they were not involved at the planning and implementation stages.

Inadequate water resource investigation, improper design, poor construction, substandard materials and workmanship and lack of preventive maintenance also lead to rapid deterioration of water supply schemes.

Faster, Sustainable and more Inclusive Growth, Draft Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan, Planning Commission, Government of India, August 2011.

Odisha Odisha Case Case ContextContext

Distribution in Distribution in AccessAccess

LEGEND75 - 8080 - 8585 - 9090 - 9595 - 100

Odisha: Drinking Water

80 km

40 mi

N

Baleshwar

Khordha

Puri

Jagatsinghpur

Kendrapara

Ganjam

Rayagada

Gajapati

Bhadrak

Koraput

Malkangiri

Kalahandi

Balangir

Nuapada

Nabarangpur

Kandhamal

Boudh

Nayagarh

Dhenkanal

Cuttack

Keonjhar

Mayurbhanj

Angul

BoudhSambalpur

Bargarh

Sundargarh

Jharsuguda

Sonepur

Source: NFHS 2006

Source: Census 2011

Water QualityWater QualityKoraput water quality lab findings 2010: Out of 1598 samples, only 9% of the samples were found to be chemically & microbiologically safe

Currently, O&M cost are based on estimates from the 1980s,

O&M costs long term predictions can assist planning and monitoring

Costs elements are;◦ Operating costs, overhead and

monitoring ◦ Annual and periodic

replacements◦ Human resource◦ Depreciation (?)

Influenced by; life span, technology type, serving population, ground water level etc.

Costs and Financing;Costs and Financing;Existing SourcesExisting Sources

InstitutionsInstitutions

AccountabilityAccountability

ElectionsLobbyAdvocacy

Order/ circular, instruction

Source: WDR 2004

Human Resource CapacityHuman Resource CapacityThe lack of capacities of the PRI members is one of the root causes of their limited capacity to maintain their water sources

Faster, Sustainable and more Inclusive Growth, Draft Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan, Planning Commission, Government of India, August 2011.

Human Human Resource Resource Capacity; Capacity; • High number of

vacancies within RWS&S structures

• JE II for O&M under PRI • Ratio of sources per

SEMs is increasing- more work with less

• Lack of job descriptions and competency framework within RWS&S

• Capacity building institutes of SIRD, IGTC and KRC provide trainings for PRI and RDD departments- however capacity building seems to be entail ad-hoc trainings and lack a systematic approach

RWS&S posts: vacancies and posts filled; Source: RWS&S figures May 2012

Ratio # sources per SEM:Source: RDD annual reports

Water Quality part II:Water Quality part II:Sanitary SurveySanitary SurveyA tool to assess the risks related to Water Quality

Sanitary survey results in Sanitary survey results in KoraputKoraputKoraput field findings of 1593 samples during 2010:•High prevalence of risks, more than half the sources have more has 5 risks•Not a clear relation between the number of risks present and contamination

Risks Self AssessmentRisks Self Assessment

• Self assessment can be done by community/ PRI

• Action plans can be guided & monitored by self-assessment

Government led supply lines: ◦Spares procured from private sector at

block level, using fixed tariffs set CE RWS&S

A tri-party MoU between PRI-RWS&S and SEMs ◦small parts given to SEM, ◦big parts kept at the block

Regular O&M trough SEMs ◦SEMs receive a flat rate for regular O&M

and ◦variable fee for unregularly O&M

Spare part supply chains & Spare part supply chains & Private Sector Private Sector

Supply lines: public vs Supply lines: public vs privateprivate

Source: Narkevic 2005

Odisha

Supply linesSupply linesRethink the supply lines to reach the optimum inTransparency: what being procured at which price and did it reach the place?Availability/ accessibility: access to spares should not cause delays in repairsCost Effectiveness

Innovative contractsInnovative contracts

Source: A. Oyo, Spare Part Supplies for Hand pumps in Africa RWSN/ WSP 2006

RecommendationsRecommendations Adopt a Life Cycle Service approach;

◦ Develop Costs and Financing overviews ◦ Determine the service levels◦ Decisions based on life cycle costs by one department

Review the positioning of institutions to achieve sustainable service delivery

Strengthen a holistic Human Resources approach by a comprehensive competency frameworks and capacity building plans

Strengthen accountability by decentralization and the short route of accountability.

Improve water quality by; ◦ Adopt the sanitary survey checklist to develop and

monitoring water safety plans at community and GP level,◦ Align water quality monitoring with the water service

providers Explore improved Spare part Supply lines &

Innovative Service Models