The World Resources Institute (WRI) launched on 14th August a new report titled "Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water
Access in the Global South", whose "analysis of 15 cities shows that
vast segments of the urban population in the global south lack access to safe,
reliable and affordable water." Given below are some comments on the
report. The report can be found at
1. The emphasis and recommendation of the report that "Cities and water utilities should extend the formal piped water network to improve water access" is very important and well-taken. Access to affordable water of adequate quantity and quality is a basic human right and piped water in urban areas is the best way to meet this goal as today millions are deprived of it. We would add that while universalisation should be the ultimate aim, the poor and the marginalised settlements must be the priority ones to get access.
2. It is very important that the report has recognised and
highlighted that both privatisation and commercialisation of water
supply have failed to meet the needs of the people, particularly
the poor and the marginalised. Privatisation and commercialisation
(the latter is when the ownership or control of the water system
is in public hands, but the operations are on a purely market
based, commercial principles). As the report notes - "private
sector involvement did not solve the problem of inadequate
access..." and "Corporatized utilities adopt commercial market
principles ...However, corporatization has not substantively
improved low income communities’ access to water services." The
important lesson that would have been good to be explicitly
articulate is that supply of water of adequate quality and
quantity is a social responsibility of the state the state needs
to fulfill it on a priority basis.This is important because even
today, there is pressure to push privatisation or
commercialisation of water supply.
3. The report says that "It is widely recommended that households not spend more than 3–5 percent of their average household income on both water and sanitation services per month." This should be worded and emphasized differently. As access to water is a basic human right, the report should have taken a stand that such supply must be ensured regardless of the capacity of the household to pay full or any charges. Where payment is possible, it may be limited to the 3-5% range as suggested, but it should be clear that this is secondary to the principle that access should not be denied on the basis of inability to pay.
4. The report criticises "intermittency" as a serious issue and one of its recommendations is to address intermittency - that is, reduce or eliminate it. We agree that this can be an important long term goal, (of 24x7 supply) as it has several advantages including convenience. However, to ensure and maintain continuous supply has very heavy costs, and we feel that this can come in the way of meeting the more important and highest priority target of first ensuring basic supply to all. Some of the problems of intermittency can be taken care of by ensuring regularity (predictability) for ensuring convenience,
and better maintenance of pipeline network to ensure non-contamination. Continuous supply can be brought in as a target in the next phase. It may be mentioned that the 24x7 supply logic and need was pushed heavily in the late 1980s and 1990s to to push privatisation.
1. The emphasis and recommendation of the report that "Cities and water utilities should extend the formal piped water network to improve water access" is very important and well-taken. Access to affordable water of adequate quantity and quality is a basic human right and piped water in urban areas is the best way to meet this goal as today millions are deprived of it. We would add that while universalisation should be the ultimate aim, the poor and the marginalised settlements must be the priority ones to get access.
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| Photo Credit: Manthan Adhyayan Kendra (Gaurav/ Rehmat) |
3. The report says that "It is widely recommended that households not spend more than 3–5 percent of their average household income on both water and sanitation services per month." This should be worded and emphasized differently. As access to water is a basic human right, the report should have taken a stand that such supply must be ensured regardless of the capacity of the household to pay full or any charges. Where payment is possible, it may be limited to the 3-5% range as suggested, but it should be clear that this is secondary to the principle that access should not be denied on the basis of inability to pay.
4. The report criticises "intermittency" as a serious issue and one of its recommendations is to address intermittency - that is, reduce or eliminate it. We agree that this can be an important long term goal, (of 24x7 supply) as it has several advantages including convenience. However, to ensure and maintain continuous supply has very heavy costs, and we feel that this can come in the way of meeting the more important and highest priority target of first ensuring basic supply to all. Some of the problems of intermittency can be taken care of by ensuring regularity (predictability) for ensuring convenience,
and better maintenance of pipeline network to ensure non-contamination. Continuous supply can be brought in as a target in the next phase. It may be mentioned that the 24x7 supply logic and need was pushed heavily in the late 1980s and 1990s to to push privatisation.
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