E-Paper
Move to reform governance of urban water supply, sanitation
CIVIL ENGINEERING department of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) is going to organise a week-long refresher course on 'Governance of Urban Water Supply and Sanitation' from December 11.
CIVIL ENGINEERING department of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) is going to organise a week-long refresher course on 'Governance of Urban Water Supply and Sanitation' from December 11.
Being sponsored by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, the course is aimed for urban sector professionals and is being organised under the initiative of the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO)— a Technical Wing of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. CPHEEO deals with the matters related to urban water supply and sanitation including solid waste management in the country.
Elaborating the backdrop in which the course is being organised, Course Co-ordinator and Assistant Professor in the MNNIT Department of Civil Engineering Dr RC Vaishya said that the water supply and sanitation (WATSAN) sector in India is experiencing financial, institutional and organisational challenges that require systematic reform in existing governance and service delivery arrangements.
"Serving the urban population in India with clean water and sanitation services remains a vital public health task. Presently the WATSAN service levels in India are quite low and unsustainable," Dr Vaishya said.
He claimed that despite the efforts of government and other agencies, a high percentage of urban population in India especially the poor still lack reliable and clean water supply and sanitation services.
"Though 82 per cent of population has access to safe drinking water, only 63 percent have access to tapped water within their premises. This poor level of water services constitutes a serious public health risk. High infant mortality rate is major indicator of risk faced by the society. A number of factors are responsible for poor level of water supply and sanitation services. The WATSAN sector lacks commercialisation and customer orientation," Dr Vaishya added.
In short, Dr Vaishya said, the key challenges being faced by the Indian WATSAN sector includes: Institutional complexity- involvement of multiple agencies such as PHEDs, municipalities, boards, State Government resulting in lack of clarity of roles and accountability.
Low tariff and cost recovery besides inappropriately targeted subsidies, lack of consumer orientation, high unaccountability for water-- both commercial and physical losses, high staff ratio (20-30/1000 connections) as well as lack of professional and managerial capability along with lack of effective MIS.
"Given the magnitude of challenges faced by urban authorities in India, there is clear and crucial need for development of appropriate tools and methodologies that detail how to implement programmes of good and effective urban governance model," he added.
Dr Vaishya said that the successful management development model will contribute to the necessary sector changes which requires that key stakeholders— including national and state government institutions, municipalities, water boards, private sector, training organisations, civil society institutions and donors— to consider them in an institutional context.
Dr Vaishya said that the faculty for the training programme will comprise of experienced academicians from reputed institutions like IITs and NITs. Also the working professionals will be invited for the expert lectures.
He said the Course would prove useful for middle level Engineers (EEs/AEs/Senior JEs) as well as other officials of Government Departments involved in water supply and sanitation sector.
The timings of the course shall be from 9.30 am to 5.15 pm with lunch break from 1.15 pm to 2 pm. Technical visit to nearby city is also part of this course.
