Emerging Challenges in ‘Water and Sanitation’ Problems and ... · 3 IIT Madras Civil Engg. Dept. Offers M. Tech - Environme-ntal Engg. 100 details not available Approx. 10 Nil

73

Abstract

India’s performance in improving access to safe water and sanitation (assessed under the

MDG program) has been far from satisfactory compared to neighboring countries with

lower economic growth in spite of Government of India’s own program ‘Total Sanitation

for All’ and increased funding. Through a brief study of Postgraduate academic programs

in ‘Public Health Engineering’ and Ènvironmental Engineering’, the author argues that it

has turned into a ‘backyard subject’ having failed to update itself resulting in failure to

produce appropriate human resources. In order to meet emerging challenges, it requires

rejuvenated academic programs to attract and motivate more bright young students with

wider exposure to the field, innovative pedagogy, and improved communication skills.

1. INTRODUCTION

In India, the subject of Public Health Engineering dealing with delivery of water

and sanitation is introduced (exposure limited to one term) in the bachelors

degree program in civil engineering, architecture and planning. Generally, as in

the case of several other specializations under civil engineering, the subject is

taught in one or two academic semesters or terms as part of curriculum. It is

taught as an introductory subject. The subject is taught in more depth at

master’s degree level in engineering and technology or postgraduate diploma.

The engineering curriculum primarily deals with ‘hardware’ related approach

(hard solutions) and leaves outside its scope the soft approaches. From

information obtained and discussed in detail in subsequently, it is evident that

over the past few decades, such postgraduate programs in public health

engineering have failed to attract both students and faculty, and gradually this

discipline has turned into ‘one of the backyard subjects’ in competitive academic

world. In an attempt to broad base the program and address some of the

emerging (environment related) issues like waste management, etc., several

academic institutions have changed their course title to ‘environmental

engineering’. However, the course contents need more significant changes in

order to enable it to meet the emerging challenges before the society. In the

relevant industry sector it is totally monopolized by local statutory bodies (third

tier of government) or their parastatal agencies and few private contractors

with no non-government players in the sector. During the past two decades,

many NGOs have entered the sector and their impact is clearly evident. The

industry sector also does not have adequate link or participation in research

Prof. Subir Paul, visiting Professor at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.Email: [email protected]

Emerging Challenges in ‘Water and Sanitation’

Problems and the Need for Appropriate Human

Resource Development

Prof. Subir Paul

Prof. Subir Paul

Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 8 - 1, 73 - 89, January - March 2011

74

and academic activities in the sector; and these factors together have resulted

in a reactive approach and have pushed it (both industry as well as academic

fields) to a `backyard’ subject. This observation is further reinforced by the

fact that in spite of growing concerns, the textbooks in the field as well as

reference books have not been duly revised and updated by the authors.

At present, due to programs like Millennium Development Goals (MDG – an

internationally supported program on ‘water and sanitation’), Total Sanitation

for All (TSA – an indigenous program by the Government of India targeting

improved access to water and sanitation by all by the year 2012). As a result,

shortage and qualitative deficiency of human resource in the field of ‘Water

and Sanitation’ are now evident. To ascertain the trend of supply of trained

manpower in the sector, the author undertook an assessment of the status of

postgraduate level academic programs of leading academic institutions of India

through a standard proforma sought information under the RTI Act, 2005. The

collected information has been processed and summarized in a tabular form

and presented in Table 1 and it presents an emerging picture of human resource

development in the sector as under:

2. STATUS OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS ON ‘WATER AND SANITATION’

Out of 7 IITs only Guwahati, Roorkee and Chennai (Table 1) offer this specialization

under M. Tech. degree and Ph.D. program, respectively with a total of 148 and

19 students were awarded degree by the 3 IITs in last decade. Whereas among

12 NITs, Allahabad, Durgapur, Hamirpur and Surat offer M. Tech. degree and

Ph.D. programs, respectively with a total of 39 and 5 students awarded M.

Tech. degree by the 4 NITs in last one decade. Other institutions offering M.

Tech., with a total of 69 students awarded postgraduate in the last decade or

equivalent programs in Environmental Engineering are taught from Delhi College

of Engineering, Delhi; Z.H. College of Engineering and Technology under the

Aligarh Muslim University are offering postgraduate degree and Ph.D. program.

During the last decade, the Jadavpur University, Kolkata under its program

Master of Civil Engineering (with specialization in Environmental Engineering)

has awarded 43 MCE degrees and 11 Ph.D. respectively to successful candidates.

Gross faculty specializing in the field of ‘Water and Sanitation’ strength in the

IITs, NITs and other Institutes are 15, 17 and 13 only. There is acute shortage of

faculty in all academic institutions including those offering master’s level courses

in ‘Public Health Engineering’ or ‘Environmental Engineering’ dealing with the

topic ‘Water and Sanitation’. A question arises whether this small turn out of

M. Tech. degree and Ph.D. holders are adequate for over 800 class-I and class-

II cities as well as increasing number of mega projects in India? Or is it a case

that this subject of ‘Water and Sanitation’ is being dealt with by graduate civil

engineers with exposure limited to the introduction to the topic only. If so,

Prof. Subir Paul


75

S.N.. Name of

Institute

Post

graduate

programs

offered in

the field

of Public

Health

Engineering

(or related

to Water &

Sanitation)

or Any

other

name)

Total no.

of

students

who

completed

M. Tech.

program

during last

10 years

No. of

students

who

completed

M. Tech.

program

in the

field of

PHE (or

water &

sanitation)

during

last 10

years.

Total no of

Ph.Ds

awarded

during last

10 years.

No. of

Ph.Ds

awarded in

the field

of PHE (or

water &

sanitation)

during last

10 years.

No. of

faculty

with

speciali-

sation in

the field

of PHE

Any

comments

on trend

of

students

opting for

opting for

course on

‘Water &

Sanitation’

for M.

Tech or

Ph.D.

program

1 IIT

Guwahati

Civil Eng.

Dept.

offers

M. Tech.

programme

offered.

Ph.D

programme

offered -

details not

furnished.

No

comment

(Syllabus

attached)a) M.Tech.

in water

resource

Engineering

and

Manage-

ment.

b) M.Tech.

in

Environm-

ental

Engineering

a) water

resource

Engineering-

36

b)Environm-

ental

Engineering-

29 29

a) Water

Resource

Engineering-

03

b)Environm-

ental

Engineering

01

a) water

resource

engineering-

07

b)Environm-

ental

Engineering-

07

2 IIT

Roorkee

Civil Engg.

Dept.

offers

M.Tech -

Environme-

ntal Engg.

19 19 Nil (detail

attached)

96 812 8

3 IIT

Madras

Civil Engg.

Dept.

Offers M.

Tech -

Environme-

ntal Engg.

100 details not

available

NilApprox. 10

per year

approx. 20

per year

details not

available

Total 148 19 15

Table 1 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)

Note: 4) IIT Delhi, 5) IIT Bombay, 6) IIT Kharagpur, 7) IIT Kanpur - Do not offer any M. Tech / Ph.Ds

programme in this field.

Prof. Subir Paul


76

S.N.. Name of

Institute

Postgraduateprogramsoffered inthe fieldof PublicHealthEngineering(or relatedto Water &Sanitation)or Anyothername)

Total no.

of

students

who

completed

M. Tech.

program

during last

10 years

No. ofstudentswhocompletedM. Tech.programin thefield ofPHE (orwater &sanitation)duringlast 10years.

Total no of

Ph.Ds

awarded

during last

10 years.

No. of

Ph.Ds

awarded in

the field

of PHE (or

water &

sanitation)

during last

10 years.

No. of

faculty

with

speciali-

sation in

the field

of PHE

Anycommentson trendofstudentsopting foropting forcourse on‘Water &Sanitation’for M.Tech orPh.D.program

1 Sardar

Vallabh-

bhai NIT,

Surat,

Gujarat

CivilEnginee-ring Dept.offers

a) WaterResourceEngineering

b)Environ-mentalEngineering

8 a)water

resource

enginee-

ring- 1

Attach

booklet,

semester

wise

syllabus

2 Motilal

Nehru

NIT,

Allahabad.

Civil

Engineering

Dept.

offers

a) Enviro-

nmental

Engineering

28 2 No

comment

75 6 5

3 NIT

Maulana

Azad,

Bhopal

Civil Engg.

Dept.

offers

a) Enviro-

nmental

Engineering

Details not

furnished

w.e.f.2007PublicHealthEngineeringis renamedas Environ-mentalEngineering

National Institute of Technology (NIT)

424 a)water

resource

enginee

ring-22

b) Environ-

mental

engine-

ering-08

a)water

resource

enginee-

ring-09

b)Enviro-

nmental

enginee-

ring-08

4 NIT

Raipur

NIL 2 NILNIL 0 2 2

5 NIT

Warangal

Information

collectionprocessinitiated,and whenready thecompleteinformationshall befurnished.

Prof. Subir Paul


77

6 NIT

Durgapur,

West

Bengal

Started in

2009-10 a

course

named

Env.

Science

and

Technology

(M.Tech)

Nil N.A.

(attach

Sem. wise

detail)

524 0 13 1

7 NIT

Hamirpur

(HP)

Civil

Engineering

a) M. Tech

and Ph.D

in Water

Resource

Engineering

b)Ph.D in

Environmental

Engineering

Nil(01

student in

Environmental

Engg. and

01 student

in Environ-

mental

Engg. Ma-

nagement.

Syllabus

received

02 02 Nil a)water

resource

engineering-

03

b)Environ-

ment

engineering-

02

Total 538 17

Note: NIT Kurukshetra, 9) NIT Silchar, 10) NIT Rourkela, 11) NIT Tiruchirappalli, 12) NIT Jamshedpur

do not offer M. Tech / Ph.Ds program in this field

S.N.. Name of

Institute

Postgraduateprogramsoffered inthe fieldof PublicHealthEngineering(or relatedto Water &Sanitation)or Anyothername)

Total no.

of

students

who

completed

M. Tech.

program

during last

10 years

No. ofstudentswhocompletedM. Tech.programin thefield ofPHE (orwater &sanitation)duringlast 10years.

Total no of

Ph.Ds

awarded

during last

10 years.

No. of

Ph.Ds

awarded in

the field

of PHE (or

water &

sanitation)

during last

10 years.

No. of

faculty

with

speciali-

sation in

the field

of PHE

Anycommentson trendofstudentsopting foropting forcourse on‘Water &Sanitation’for M.Tech orPh.D.program

1 GGSI

university,

Delhi

a) M.Sc(Environm-ental Man-agement)Differentfrom PHED

0 InformationnotavailablewithExaminationDivision

No

Comment

Other Reputed Academic Institutes

769 78 InformationnotavailablewithExaminationDivision

2 ZakirHusainCollege ofEng. &Tech.AligarhMuslim,University

Dept. ofCivil Engg.offers M.Tech -Environ-mentalEngg.

Not

furnished

Syllabus

attached

Not

furnished

Not

furnished

6

Environmental

Engg

Prof. Subir Paul


78

3 Delhi

Technolog-

ical

University

(formerly

DCE,

Delhi)

Environme-

ntal Engg.

26 Syllabus

attached –

No other

Comment

86 no

information

with DTU

7 regular,

5 contrac-

tual

4 Jadavpur

University,

Kolkata

M. C. E. -

Env.

Engineering

43 11 Syllabus

attached

Not

furnished

Not

furnished

Not

furnished

Total 69 11 13 + 5

(contract)

whether investment in the sector is best utilized or not. What are the options

for ensuring supply of well trained human resource in the field?

Demand for trained manpower has only increased with the introduction of

programs like Millennium Development Goals or MDG, Total Sanitation for All

(TSA), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and River

Pollution Control program, etc. In view of the gigantic backlog in delivery of

water and sanitation as well as increasing level of urbanization, there is no

reason to believe that investments in the sector could decrease in the foreseeable

future. Clearly the subject with its opportunities need better projection among

the young aspirants in the community. Most institutions have renamed the

subject from ‘Public Health Engineering’ to ‘Environment Engineering’

attempting only half-hearted restructuring of the curriculum. There exists a

wide disparity in course contents offered by academic institutions; yet emerging

issues in the field (also the community needs) are not met adequately. This

indicates that academicians are not fully aware of the need to reorient the

subject to serve emerging sanitation and environmental concerns. The number

of faculty in the field is also declining due to lack of challenges, research

support with funding, etc. compared to other fields of study. The faculty in

consultation with specialists from related fields needs to carry out soul searching

to recast academic curriculum and revitalize this field of study. For successful

revival of the academic programs, the pedagogy and teaching methods need

more creative inputs are needed. The students need wider exposure to the

related field and develop improved communication skills. Increased access to

water and sanitation for both rural and urban communities has already emerged

as one of the key challenges in the entire tropical developing world and it is

even more so on the face of impact of global warming.

3. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDG), 2010

According to 2010 data released by the Joint Monitoring Program by WHO and

UNICEF – Regional Perspectives for South Asia, Southeastern Asia, West Asia and

Prof. Subir Paul


79

Table 2 Drinking Water Coverage Data for South Asia

Notes: N indicates data not available. * includes Iran & Maldives

Country Population Drinking Water Coverage (%)

(2008) Urban Rural Total

(Change 1990 > 2008) (Change 1990 > 2008) (Change 1990 > 2008)

Afghanistan 27208 24 N >16 N>62 N>22 N>N N>39 N>61 N>4 N>44 N>52

Bangladesh 160000 27 28>24 60>61 12>15 0>0 76>78 24>22 6>6 72>74 22>20

Bhutan 687 35 N>81 N>18 N>1 N>45 N>43 N>12 N>57 N>35 N>8

India 1181412 29 52>48 38>48 10>4 8>11 58>73 34>16 19>22 53>66 28>12

Nepal 28810 17 43>52 53>41 4>7 5>10 69>77 26>13 8>17 68>71 24>12

Pakistan 176952 36 57>55 39>40 4>5 9>20 72>67 19>13 24>33 62>57 14>10

Sri Lanka 20061 15 37>65 54>33 9>2 6>22 56>66 38>12 11>28 56>62 33>10

South Asia* 1668748 31 55>51 36>44 9>5 9>11 60>72 31>17 21>23 54>64 25>13

Tota

l

(x 1

,000)

Urb

an (

%)

Pip

ed o

n

pre

mis

es

Oth

er

Imporv

ed

Unim

pro

ved

Pip

ed o

n

pre

mis

es

Oth

er

Imporv

ed

Unim

pro

ved

Pip

ed o

n

pre

mis

es

Oth

er

Imporv

ed

Unim

pro

vedImproved Improved Improved

Africa during the ‘2010 International Water Week held at Stockholm’ in

September 2010, the following picture emerges. Drinking water coverage trends

during1990-2008 in Southern Asia indicates that population percent (urban

and rural combined) having access to piped (on premises) water supply increased

from 21 to 23 in India from 19 to 22, with corresponding percent among the

rural population also increasing from 9 to 11 in India from 8 to 11. But in the

case of urban population it decreased from 55 to 51 in India from 52 to 48.

During the same period in India, coverage of improved drinking water increased

from 72 to 88 percent (urban and rural combined) with those of rural population

from 66 to 84 percent and urban population 90 to 96 percent. When it is

compared with status in neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh,

Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the emerging picture on access to drinking

water is as shown in Table 2.

It is evident from the Table 2

a) Southern Asia is on track to meet the MDG drinking water target except

Bangladesh which has recorded progress but it is insufficient. However,

India’s position in respect of access to safe drinking water is worse than

Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the urban context and Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and

Sri Lanka in the rural context respectively.

b) Even in urban settlements (India and other countries), it is difficult to

provide coverage to 100 percent population with ‘piped on premises’ water

supply (which is without water quality guarantee at consumer end) and the

Prof. Subir Paul


80

Table 3 Sanitation Coverage Data for South Asia

Country Sanitation Coverage (%)

Urban Rural Total

(change 1990 > 2008) (change 1990 > 2008) (change 1990 > 2008)

Afghanistan N > 60 N > N N > 38 N > 2 N > 30 N > 16 N > 50 N > 20 N > 30 N > N N > 47 N > 16

Bangladesh 59>56 27>26 7>15 7 >3 34>52 16>24 10>16 39>53 34>52 18>25 10>15 33>7

Bhutan N>87 N > N N >9 N >4 N>54 N>N N>35 N >11 N >N N >N N>26 N>9

India 49>54 19>21 4 >7 28>18 7>21 1 >4 2 >6 90>69 18 >31 6 >9 2 >6 74>54

Nepal 41>51 24>30 5 >4 30>15 8>27 2 >7 5 >6 85>60 11 >31 4 >11 5 >6 80>52

Pakistan 73>72 6 >6 14>17 7 >5 8>29 1 >5 20>26 71>40 28 >45 3 >5 18>23 51>27

Sri Lanka 85>88 7 >7 4 >3 4 >2 67>92 2 >3 15>4 16 >1 70 >91 3 >4 13 >4 14 >1

South Asia 56>57 18>19 3>10 23>14 13>26 3 >6 3 >10 81>58 25 >36 7 >10 2 >10 66>44

Notes: N Indicates data not available. * inclues Iran & Maldives

Impro

ved

Share

d

Unim

pro

ve

Open

defe

cati

on

Impro

ved

Share

d

Unim

pro

ve

Open

defe

cati

on

Impro

ved

Share

d

Unim

pro

ve

Open

defe

cati

on

category of ‘other improved’ water supply is found to play a role as important

as `piped on premises’ water supply. In the case of rural settlements the

contribution of ‘piped on premises’ (which is a key component of government

plans in India) is insignificant compared to òther improved’ water supply.

For rural settlements in India, the government may achieve better success

if interventions are based on òther improved’ forms of water supply.

Improved sanitation facilities (urban and rural combined) India has a coverage

of 25-50 percent which is similar in the case of Afghanistan, Pakistan and

Nepal, but way behind Bangladesh and Bhutan (51-75 percent) and Sri Lanka

(75-100 percent). When sanitation coverage in urban areas is compared in

South Asia, it is observed that India along with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal

and Bangladesh all has same coverage of 51-75 percent, which is behind Bhutan

and Sri Lanka both having coverage of 75-100 percent. During the period 1990

to 2008 in the urban sector in Southern Asia, it is observed that population with

access to improved sanitation has increased only from 56 to 57 percent in India

from 49 to 54 percent, shared sanitation facilities from 18 to 19 percent and in

India 19 to 21 percent, and unimproved facilities from 3 to 10 percent (in India

4 to 7 percent). Comparing rural sanitation, it is found that, Afghanistan,

Pakistan and Nepal are in the category with 25-50 percent coverage, Bhutan

and Bangladesh with 51-75 percent coverage but Sri Lanka with 75-100 percent

coverage. During the decade 1990 to 2008 in the rural sector in Southern Asia,

population with access to improved sanitation has increased from 13 to 26

percent (in India from 7 to 21 percent), shared sanitation facilities from 3 to 6

Prof. Subir Paul


81

percent (in India 1 to 4 percent) and unimproved facilities from 3 to 10 percent

(in India 2 to 6 percent) resulting in marginal reduction in percent of population

without access. There is a marginal reduction in population practicing open

defecation in Southern Asia out of which about 86 percent is in India alone (see

Table 3).

a) Southern Asia except Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh is not on track to

meet the MD sanitation targets. India’s position in respect of access to

safe sanitation is worse than Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka in

the urban context and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in

the rural context respectively.

b) In urban settlements the practice of open defecation is most common in

India and Nepal. In rural settlements the practice of open defecation is

most common in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Nepal.

Compared to Southern Asia the picture of water and sanitation coverage in

highly populous South-eastern Asia is much better due to which evaluation slabs

are marked upwards. During the period 1990 to 2008, changes in coverage of

drinking water (urban and rural combined) having access to piped (on premises)

water increased from 17 to 33 percent, but coverage of other improved water

sources decreased from 55 to 53 percent of population with corresponding

figures for the urban sector being improved sanitation increasing from 41 to

52 percent and shared sanitation reducing from 51 to 40 percent; rural sector

6 to 16 percent and 57 to 65 percent respectively. During the same period,

changes in Sanitation facilities (both urban and rural combined) with improved

sanitation facilities increasing from 46 to 69 percent (urban & rural combined),

urban area 69 to 79 percent and rural 36 to 60 percent of population; shared

facilities increasing from 6 to 9 percent (urban and rural combined), 8 to 10

percent (urban) and 5 to 8 percent (rural); and unimproved facilities decreasing

significantly from16 to 8 percent (both urban and rural), 10 to 3 percent

(urban) and 18 to 12 percent (rural) respectively. Thus it has resulted in significant

reduction in percent of population without access to Sanitation facilities.

Southeastern Asia has met the MDG drinking water targets and is now on track

to meet the MDG sanitation targets.

As in the case of South East Asia the status of water and sanitation coverage in

Western Asia is much better as a result of which the slabs for evaluation are

marked upwards. During the period 1990 to 2008, changes in coverage of

drinking water (urban and rural combined) having access to piped (on premises)

water increased from 78 to 82 percent, with contribution from other improved

sources remaining unchanged at 8 percent. While the urban scenario remained

unchanged with piped on premises supply and other improved sources at 93

Prof. Subir Paul


82

percent and 3 percent respectively; but rural scenario improved from 55 to 61

percent and 15 to 17 percent respectively. During the same period changes in

coverage of improved sanitation facilities (urban and rural combined) increased

from 80 to 85 percent, shared sanitation facilities from 2 to 5 percent and

unimproved sanitation dropped from 10 to 7 percent respectively. Corresponding

picture of urban and rural areas, improved with respect to sanitation facilities

from 96 to 94 percent and 53 to 67 percent, shared facilities from 1 to 6

percent & 2 to 5 percent and; unimproved facilities from 3 to 0 percent and 26

to 18 percent respectively. Thus, it has resulted in significant reduction in

percent of population without access to sanitation facilities. Western Asia is on

track to meet the MDG drinking water and sanitation targets though reaching

the last 10 to 15 percent of the population may be a challenge.

Africa was earlier considered as hopeless experiencing worst situation under

the MDG program, but with over a decade long effort with external and

international support that also exists in the case of Southern Asia, most exciting

breakthroughs have occurred in Africa providing hope for the future. Half of

African population is extremely poor (living on less than a dollar a day) with

diseases like AIDS, malaria, TB etc. were out of control with existence of other

epidemic diseases. A major part of Africa was facing civil war, violence and

acute corruption with shattered economy etc. In spite of continued violence

and lack of good governance, in Africa, there has been a significant improvement

on all fronts of MDG program including higher children’s participation and

enrollment in schools.

The above study of India’s performance in respect of increasing ‘access to safe

water and sanitation’ (through comparison under the MDG program) with those

of various developing nations in Asia and Africa is relevant due to the reasons

that India had an excellent political stability with steady economic growth and

during the last decade, the issue of ‘improved access to water and sanitation’

has been on the agenda of the central government. With the intent to address

the issue at a faster pace, the government evolved its own program under the

title ‘Total Sanitation for All’ to be achieved by the year 2012, and India is

generally considered to possess adequate well trained human resources in most

fields. This should have resulted in much higher rate of success in increasing

access to water and sanitation both in urban and rural area to be seen under

the MDG program. But in reality, India’s position is far worse than South Eastern

Asia as well as the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan

and Sri Lanka.

4. RECENT STATUTORY INITIATIVES ON WATER MANAGEMENT

Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) objectives set forth

“A National Water Mission (under the Ministry of Water Resources, GOI) which

Prof. Subir Paul


83

will be mounted to ensure integrated water resource management helping to

conserve water, minimize wastage and ensure more equitable distribution both

across and within states. The Mission will take into account the provisions of

the National Water Policy and develop a framework to optimize water use by

increasing water use efficiency by 20 percent through regulatory mechanisms

with differential entitlements and pricing. It will seek to ensure that a considerable

share of the water needs for urban areas are met through recycling of waste

water, and ensuring that the water requirements of coastal cities with inadequate

alternative sources of water are met through adoption of new and appropriate

technologies . . . The National Water Policy would be revisited in consultation

with States to ensure basin level management strategies to deal with variability

in rainfall and river flows due to climate change. This will include enhanced

storage both above and below ground, rainwater harvesting, coupled with

equitable and efficient management structures”.

The existing National Water Policy (2002) is undergoing a major revision and

due to be finalized in 2012. There has been other national level policy initiatives

through the ‘National Urban Sanitation Policy (2008)’; ‘Rajiv Gandhi National

Drinking Water Mission’; `National Rural Drinking Water Program’; `Total

Sanitation Campaign 2007' and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal

Mission (JNNURM – a Government of India program to fund urban infrastructure

in 63 selected cities in India) and River Pollution Control programs etc. resulting

in manifold increase in investment flowing into the sector and generating large

number of projects. Considering status of water resources and demand pattern,

many individual states have made their own policy and statutory initiatives and

others may follow as shown below:

(a) Highly water stressed Rajasthan State – Rajasthan State Water Policy

(2010); Rajasthan State Sector Policy for Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation

(Draft) 2010; Rajasthan Township Policy 2010 dealing with among other

items, mandatory initiatives on Water and Sanitation in Township schemes

with area upto 10 hectares.

(b) Madhya Pradesh – Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Madhya Pradesh

(2008) – Recent initiatives and Issues; Water and Sanitation in Madhya

Pradesh (2005).

Many other states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and West Bengal,

etc. have formulated comprehensive water policy documents. Delhi has earlier

made the first statutory initiative vide order dated 20 June 2001 from the

Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India for mandatory ‘Reuse of processed

sewage and wastewater in all premises discharging wastewater in excess of 10

Cu. M. per day through on site treatment – but even after a period of over 10

Prof. Subir Paul


84

years, no treatment model or models have been made available by any agency

for ready adoption at project level.

Perusal of proposed interventions on aqua and sanitation infrastructure under

the proposed City Development Plans (CDP) for various cities under the JNNURM

program reveals that while each of the CDPs aim at increasing network coverage

to supply water to the unserved sections of the community as well as increasing

per capita daily water consumption to 135 LPCD or more - thereby being an

agent of increasing gross water demand as if water is only a consumer product

instead of limited natural resource. None of the CDP proposals are found to

address the issues of (i) water demand management, (ii) holistic protection of

water sources (iii) water quality protection and environmental water requirement

in the source water body, etc. proposals are not based on alternative approaches

and strategies and their evaluation. There is a serious doubt whether such

increased investment alone shall really improve access to water and sanitation

for the urban poor as investment alone can not solve the problem on a sustained

basis. Targeted increase of water efficiency by 20 percent in the domestic

sector can not be achieved by installing so called ‘water saving fixtures’ alone.

It can only be achieved through effective `Water Demand Management’. India

like all the large countries has a diverse ecological settings and uneven distribution

of both surface and ground water. With increasing water stress, among the key

concerns is protection of water quality of the limited water sources. India can

not afford to allow water quality deterioration due to unsafe disposal of

deficiently processed wastes. A very carefully worked out region based strategy

essential to successfully delivering increased access to safe ̀ water and sanitation’

to the urban and rural communities in India on a sustained basis as well as

protect them from increasing water stress. In view of gigantic backlog and

required investments, India can not afford to build an aqua infrastructure

today for increasing access to safe water today (whether under the MDG/ TSA

or JNNURM programs) and then modify it again tomorrow to meet the challenge

of increasing water stress. The questions that arise are - whether the (a)

Available human resource in the sector is competent? (b) Country produces

adequate human resource (quantity as well as quality) to meet the challenges

ahead in the sector? (c) Current academic programs address all the hard and

soft issues? In case the human resources available in the sector is grossly

inadequate, how these investments in the sector shall bear fruits without

adequately trained human resources in the sector? This calls for serious

introspection on adequacy of human resource and urgent need to restructure

formal education and training in the field of ‘Water and Sanitation’. India also

needs to develop more firm commitment to the cause – as it was heard during

the Stockholm Conference that ‘sewage may be a dirty word for many but for

the people working in the sector, it is their bread and butter’. Otherwise

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India’s program of `Total Sanitation for All’ shall be soon proved as a `hollow

slogan’.

4.1 Socio-economic and Social Dimension

Access to safe water and sanitation is now an important component of human

development. Though the urban poor has limited capacity to pay for the service,

their access to safe ‘water and sanitation’ is vital not only for their own

survival in urban areas but without it, this vulnerable section of population shall

pose public health risk to the city. With the urban poor constituting about 30 to

40 percent of population of most large cities, the cost of (minimal) access to

safe water and adequate sanitation has to be kept low so that cost recovery

improves or quantum of subsidy is low in the case of subsidy. Besides, availability

of space within the premises, caste and ethnic factors in many states of India

are important influencing factors in household sanitation even among those

who can afford individual water connection and toilets. Our waste management

strategies need to recognize and integrate the role of the urban poor who play

a significant role in high proportion of recycling (leading to reduction in quantity)

of wastes whereby their health safety while handling waste needs to be improved.

Also, reuse of wastewater (treated and untreated wastewater irrigation for

fodder, vegetables and fish production etc.) supports livelihood of the urban

poor in many cities in Asia, which represents an indirect cost recovery.

4.2 Environmental Dimension and Link to Carbon Emissions

Due to emerging shortage and deteriorating quality of both surface and ground

water, water sources are increasingly stressed and water conservation is essential

for every city in India. Soil, water and air pollution is created by unsafe dumping

of deficiently processed solid waste and wastewater (both sewage and industrial

effluent). Environmentally safe waste processing at terminal facilities prior to

its disposal has become extremely important and urgent. Instead of putting in

energy for waste processing, recovery of energy from waste needs to be

practiced. As there is a shift from chemical and mechanical options for treatment

of wastes towards biological and bio-degradation based solutions. Academic

programs need to recognize and integrate the same under new curriculum.

Supply and distribution of treated water, collection and processing of waste

water and solid waste etc. in a city, consume a substantial amount of power

which causes GHG emissions at the site of power generation (from conventional

source). These operations not being energy efficient and effecting saving in

power consumption shall result in reduction of GHG emissions. On the other

hand, anaerobic decomposition of all bio-degradable waste releases GHG

emissions when methane gas escapes in the atmosphere. But, when methane

gas is captured and converted into energy, there is a double benefit: (a) methane

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is not released in atmosphere to cause warming, and (b) energy is produced

from (waste) renewable source without emissions. In aerobic processing,

methane is not produced but it involves supply of air which involves high amount

of energy or power. Thus, water supply and waste management in urban

settlements is closely related to GHG Emissions.

5. CURRICULUM NEEDS TO RELATE MORE TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Rapid urbanization rate has created increased demand, due to increase in

population and expansion in settlement area, for extended service coverage of

water supply and sanitation network. Urbanization being the key driver, there

is needed to appropriately relate the academic programs on water and sanitation

to urban planning and development. Though, under graduate and postgraduate

planning curriculum provides an introduction to the subject limited to one

term, no academic program exists that studies in depth ‘water and sanitation’

related to cities and its growth. Several decades back, the design principles

under the Public Health Engineering were originally developed for design of

water supply and drainage system for buildings, which are still under application

for large cities having spread over much larger area and grown in complexity.

The result of this deficiency is evident in capacity mismatch between distribution

and collection networks and terminal facilities. Previously, storage and distribution

of water, conveyance of waste and wastewater were given more importance

than their processing. Whereas in present day context, processing and safe

disposal as applicable at the terminal and facilities are of equal importance.

Now, the challenge before settlements is that while coverage of water supply

needs to be extended to the urban poor, it shall have to be achieved through

improved water management and without creating additional water stress to

the limited water source.

5.1 Emergence of Project Level Sanitation

Currently, urban expansion in large cities are taking place at a rapid pace

through addition of large number of mega projects that create major impact

on water and sanitation related infrastructure in the settlement. The cities

suffer from a backlog in service coverage, capacity limits and poor cost recovery

for city infrastructure and addition of such mega projects in the city further

aggravates the problem. The mandatory environment clearance through

submission of ‘Environment Impact Assessment’ which applies to all large projects

and emergence of ‘Green Building Concept’ have created need for (a) water

demand management and water conservation, (b) on-site processing of sewage/

wastewater for reuse, (c) zero or minimal discharge of solid wastes and (d)

high capacity rain water harvesting, etc. that needs to be integrated into the

management of water supply and sanitation at project level.

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5.2 Revitalization of Academic Curriculum on Water and Sanitation

To rejuvenate the academic programs dealing with ‘Water and Sanitation’, the

following approaches are needed viz. (i) revival of existing academic programs

at the engineering institutions, (ii) creation of Centers of Excellence on

‘Environmental Engineering’ at selected IITs, NITs and other institutions

distributed in various zones in India, and (iii) introduction of new curriculum on

‘Water and Sanitation’ that lays more stress on soft strategies and integration

with social and environmental dimensions at the Schools of Planning and

Architecture which may also be provided with ‘Centers of Excellence in Water

and Sanitation’. All the Centers of Excellence need to be provided with comparable

funding as in the case of development of basic sciences introduced recently by

the Ministry of Human Resources to attract bright students when the academic

programs in basic sciences have declined. Such efforts have already started

bearing fruits in the fields of basic sciences. In order to turn the academic

programs dealing with ‘water and sanitation’ from the backyard to the main

stream, infrastructure development support, scholarships and research facilities

are needed to be created through HRD, UGC, CSIR and DST funded projects. As

new disciplines and curriculum are introduced, the existing ones remaining in

the backyard, even though it may be due to lack of proactive and competitive

approach of the sector itself. By keeping a backyard academic subject, it can

not deliver its due role the society expects. The academic sector also needs to

actively participate in the various ongoing national and international initiatives

on ‘water and sanitation’, which is lacking.

At present, eligibility criteria for admission in the Master of Engineering/

Technology programs in India is limited to Bachelor’s Degree holder in (Civil)

Engineering which have less participation from women compared to several

other fields. Although deficient access to ‘water and sanitation’ affects women

more and under privileged sections (ethnically backward) of the community;

their participation in academic programs covering the subject has been very

low and not much effort has been made to correct the same by opening up

appropriate opportunities. One of the creative initiatives is to open opportunities

for the underrepresented sections of the society by introducing new postgraduate

degree in Infrastructure Planning with specialization in Water and Sanitation’

under the planning curriculum at the Schools of Planning and Architecture having

intake among the graduate in architecture, civil engineering; and masters

degree holders in law, sociology, economics, geography, etc. with the advantages

that incumbents for the program shall also have better gender representation

as well as broader interdisciplinary approach. The students also need

encouragement and incentives in the form of scholarships and grants to meet

project expenditure, laboratory support, etc; as in the case of basic sciences

and engineering.

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5.3 Research Activities

As in the case of other fields, research activities are important not only in the

topics or aspects relating to the emerging issues related to ‘water and sanitation’

crisis in urban and rural areas, and its impact from climate change. Virtually,

there is no research activity in the field of ‘water and sanitation’ sector in

India and there is an urgent need to boost research in the sector which is

adversely affected due to lack of industry participation and funding. Urban

local bodies and its parastatal agencies enjoy a total monopoly in the ‘water

and sanitation’ (urban) sectors as there are no private players and non-

government investment in the sector. Though, the sector is as large as any

other sector in India, the industry sector does not take any initiative in supporting

research activities. Every industry sector is required to invest in research and

help expand its knowledge territory. Being the largest players in the market,

the urban local bodies as well as all agencies (government or private) dealing

with ‘water and sanitation’ are under key obligation of supporting and funding

research activities in the field – failing which there is no other body to do so. As

the government has initiated creation of funds for expansion of road

infrastructure through a levy on fuel (petrol or diesel), central and state

governments need to levy a collection of a small percentage of turnover

(irrespective of profit or loss) from the urban local bodies and parastatal bodies

(as largest players) engaged in the field of water and sanitation to support

required research activities, energy conservation and other innovations in the

field of ‘water and sanitation’ and also help the government to formulate

research vision and set priorities. Such levies shall be eligible for tax rebate as

in the case of industries.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The academic programs dealing with ‘Public Health Engineering’ or

‘Environmental Engineering’ are devoid of interaction and support from its

industry sector i.e. agencies dealing with ‘water and sanitation’ in the field.

Young students are unable to find their role models to inspire and motivate

them though India has several icons like Sunita Narain of ‘Center for Science

and Environment’ (initiated with late Anil Agarwal) pioneer in environmental

journalism and advocacy and sustainable development – a source of support to

all non-governmental ventures in water, sanitation and sustainable development.

• Rajendra Singh of the Tarun Bharat Sangh has been highly successful in

creating local water sources instead of expensive water transfer over long

distances by using low cost earthen and masonry dams and water impounding

structures through community action in the Thanagazi block (area 50,000

acres), district Alwar Rajasthan. The entire block has benefited with boost

in agricultural production and increased access to safe drinking water. He

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has further succeeded in reviving water flow in 5 more rivers in the arid

zone of India, and demonstrated the potentials of soft strategies.

• Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International, has created various

low cost models for improved and shared sanitation solutions better suited

for peri-urban and rural applications. He advocates dry toilets with a vision

of eliminating manual carriage of excreta from manually serviced toilets.

• Sant Seechewala, inspiration for Sant Seechewala was in respect of its

historical association with Guru Nanak and several Gurudwaras located on

its banks for his work of reviving 146 km. long highly polluted ‘Kali ben’

river in Punjab through community action and without a single sewage or

effluent treatment plant – water from the revived river is now used by the

local people for irrigation and drinking water. This is in marked contrast to

the cities finding so difficult to deal with ever increasing pollution of rivers

and surface water bodies.

Formal educational programs dealing with the subject of ‘water and sanitation’

in India has failed to integrate the contribution of these icons in the formal

academic curriculum. Their works can be effectively used to motivate students

besides appropriate incentives.

REFERENCES

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program – Snapshots on MDG Regions in Southern Asia,

South-eastern Asia, Western Asia and Africa) released during ‘2010 International Water

Week held at Stockholm’ (Sep 2010).

Millennium goals, ten years on – by Jeffry Sachs, published in the Indian Express Daily on

Sep 21, 2010.

Incorporating Environmental Aspects in Architectural Curriculum – published in January

2002 issue of ‘Vastu Sambad’, the official news letter of the Northern Chapter of the

Indian Institute of Architects.

National Water Policy (India) prepared by under the National Action Plan on Climate Change

(NAPCC).

Safe Reuse of Treated Wastewater in Large Residential Estates’ – by Subir Paul; a poster

presented at the 2010 World Water Week Workshops held at Stockholm International Water

Institute, (SIWI) Stockholm – held during 5-11 September, 2010.

Non-competitive Water Source for Restoration of Keoladeo National Park - Bharatpur, India.’

- by Subir Paul; to be presented at the 35th Water Engineering & Development Centre

(WEDC) Conference to be held at Loughbourough, UK – to be held during 5-8 July 2011.

(Communicated).

Prof. Subir Paul


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