India- Water Security for Sustainable Services at Scale

Dr. V. Kurian Baby, IRC - Netherlands

Round Table 2013 Sustainable Drinking Water Services at Scale 13 March New Delhi

The story line• Coverage 91% - cumulative investment of $ 35 billion,

annual average $4 billion• ‘Access to physical infrastructure’ and not ‘service

delivery’ • 30-35% schemes dysfunctional while another 30%

function sub-optimally • A major cause of ‘slippage’ is source unsustainability (

quantity +quality) • Investment trajectory is hardware driven – storage,

conveyance, distribution• Need U-turn – address the time-bomb of water

security /source for sustainable services at scale

Most part of India under physical

scarcity- about half of total population in

India

Source: IWMI

Per capita availability is declining….

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1960 1990 2025

Africa

Asia

MEast & NAfrica

Thou

sand

m3

World

India 1951 - 5177 m3 – 2001 ( 1820 m3) 2025

1000 m3 which is scarcity + inequity

reinforce

India 16% of world population –only 4% of water resources; Utilizable water 1123 BCM (Narasimham ( 2008) 654 BCM ) current usage 634 BCM (Plg Com 2010 )

87% of households using Tap, Tube well, Hand pump

and Covered well as source of drinking water

36% of households have to fetch water from a source

located within 500 m in rural areas/100 m in urban

areas

18% still fetch drinking water from a source located

more than 500 m away in rural areas or 100 m in urban

areas

Drinking Water: India - Census 2011

1991 2001 2011 -

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

50.00

32.30 36.70

43.50

30.00

41.20 42.00

32.20

18.20

11.00

Source of Drinking WaterTap, Hand pump & Well: Census 2011

Tap Hand pump/ Borehole Well

Indicate rising

demand

Till 1960,s investments

dominated by communities

and in sources

1966 1974 1980 1985 1990 1994 2000 2007 20080

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Drinking water

Perc

enta

ge o

f Hab

itatio

ns

Slippage

Community /HH investments crowded out & public investments skewed heavily towards distribution & storage – ignoring source

Community investments coming in as coping costs – in storage, pumping, distribution, purchase – ignoring source

Of 5723 total blocks - 839 (15%) over exploited; 226 (4%) critical and 550 (10%) semi-critical (CGWB 2010)

Source: Adapted from GoI

Capital expenditure dominates

Recurrent expenditure and support effort dominates

Coverage rates

Sector effort and costs

25% 50% 75% 100%

Danger zone: as basic infrastructure is

provided, coverage risks stagnating at around 60 – 80%

Capital maintenance expenditure dominates

Effort and costs/financing needs ith increased coverage

India RWSS in Transition - Sustainability Concerns Change

Source: Triple S

India has entered the II Phase – deteriorating will

source push back…..

India RWSS: Graveyard of Investments

Service Level (access, quantity, quality…)

1 2 3 4 5 Years

Causes : Source un sustainability (40%) Poor design, no ownership, inadequate service/technology , lack of capacity/ incentives, no O&M, water quality, no back support, O&M anarchy -decentralized problems not solutions

Capital investment/Project approach

30 to 50 % of facilities are no longer functioning after a few years -- of 1.66 million habitations in India - 0.12 million quality affected and 0.44 million slipped back fully/partially

Kerala Case - High drop out ratio as 70% community schemes suffer source unsustainability

Critical water scenario

• India’s water resources are dwindling - overuse, competing use and pollution

• Low investment in …water security are growing concerns (World Bank, 2005; Mason and Calow, 2012).

• Irrigation accounts for 80% of usage in rural India• 60% of irrigation and 80% of rural drinking water

come from ground water (World Bank, 2005). • Drinking water services face critical ground /surface

water situation, competing user demands, and increasing pollution

water security for sustainable inclusive service delivery +

development

WATER SECURITY: SCHEMATIC FLOW

AGRICULTURE HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT

SERV

ICE

LEVE

L

SUST

AIN

ABIL

ITY

DEM

AND

M

GT

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

RESOURCEQUANTITYQUALITY

SYSTEMSTECHNICALO&MFINANCIAL

ENVIRONMENTENV: FLOWCLIMATE CHANGESANITATION/MSWM/ HYGIENE

GOVERNANCEPOLICYFINANCINGINSTITUTIONMANAGEMENTREGUATIONTARIFF /COST RECOVERYINCLUSIONEQUITY

EXTERNALITIES

NET INFLOWX-M

Source: FAO adapted

Drinking Water security• Drinking water security means providing every

human with enough, safe water• for drinking, cooking and other domestic needs &

for livestock• Including periods of drought and flood • At all times and in all situations ( sustainably)• Means Quantity, quality, equity and

environmental security

Source: GoI- WSP-SA 2012

Water Security: Prospects are Challenging• Over dependence- ground water anarchy• Climate change will aggravate the situation• Source unsustainability accounts for 40-60%

under capacity utilization/unsustainability• Source sustainability hither to rather ignored

in RWSS investments – fragmented • NRDWP 2010 guidelines/XII Plan recognize a

positive move yet partial (in convergence, regulation,

decentralization, inequity)

Water security – Key pillars

Water security implies effective response to changing water conditions in terms of quantity, quality, equity & sustainability

• Convergence• Public Investment - refocus on source• Decentralised governance

Need U-Turn in Trajectory of Neglect

• Government role is to ensure access to adequate and quality water as basic human right

• Improved service delivery impossible with out water security

• Public investment in ground water limited –shift investment focus to source sustainability and water security

STATE

MinisterWRD

MinisterRural

Development

MinisterUrban Affairs

Minster Panchayath

MinisterAgriculture

Principal Secretary

WRD

Principal Secretary LSGD

Secretary AGRI

Department of Irrigation

Department of Drinking Water

Major Irrigation

Minor Irrigation

KWA KRWSA

Commissioner RD

DirectorPanchayath

DirectorUrban

Soil Conservation Watershed

Municipality Corporation

Dist. Panchayath

Block Panchayath

Grama Panchayath

Institutional Maize - How to converge?

Barriers to convergence Description

Policy incoherence Weak policy coherence and harmonisationWeak legislation Water Acts / legislations archaic lack enforcement capacities

Political factors Coalition politics necessitate berth leading to fragmentation of ministries

Institutional Fragmentation into vertical line departments

Budgetary fragmentation Budget allocations in line with departmental fragmentation

Financial auditing Accounting and auditing practices are in line with dept fragmentation

Supply / top-driven delivery models

Weak participatory / consultative approached

Hardware driven engineering top-down solutions

Accountability

Decentralisation

Vertical accountability mechanisms with weak horizontal flows

Poor decentralisation – even reversals -top-down approaches

Perverse incentives Fragmentation has perverse incentives including corruptionTechnical barriers Drinking water quality protocol, technical manuals etc.

Convergence Framework MenuHigh Decentralization Medium Decentralization Weak DecentralizationSub-National PRI lead + regulation Stakeholder partnership Departments as Technical

support Units

PRI centric NGO /SPV facilitated Departments as Technical

support Units

Department lead PRI focused NGO /SPV Technical

support

Watershed master plans Plan/budget convergence Institutional convergence Participatory bottom up

Watershed master plans Plan/budget convergence Institutional convergence Participatory bottom up

Policy/planning alignment

Budget alignment Institutional alignment Participatory/adaptive

National /State Policies – alignment Frameworks Incentives + grants Monitoring

National /State Policies – alignment Frameworks Incentives + grants Monitoring

National /State Policies – alignment

Frameworks

Incentives +grants

Monitoring

Unsustainability – result of ‘’Hydroschizophrenia”?

• ‘’Hydroschizophrenia”- Schizophrenic view of indivisible water resource – not recognising unity and integrity of hydrological cycle (Llamas and Martinez-Santos 2005; Jarvis et al 2005) – uncoordinated fragmented approach – Cause?

• ‘’Vicious infinite regress” - attempt to solve a problem in same lines reintroduces the same problem infinitely (Wittgenstein 1953, Section 239) Effect?

Way Forward

• Gravity of problem known – water is indivisible yet heavily contested

• Contours of prescriptions and isolated best cases available

• Yet Water security elusive and prospects worsening• Need new approaches, new elements & new ideas

What innovative solutions for India to get out of this ‘’vicious infinite regress’’

THANK YOU