NOVEMBER 2004 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1

A NEWSLETTER FOR WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN MADHYA PRADESH (INDIA)

Water for Asian Cities Programme in India: The Rationale

UN-HABITAT under the Water for Asian Cities densely built-up and developing areas of the city Important
Programme in India has planned to work in four centers, the project will hardly give any benefit to
cities of the state of Madhya Pradesh, viz. Bhopal, the slum dwellers and the poor households living in • The Board of Direc-
Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur for which Asian De- thinly populated settlements. WAC Programme,
tors of Asian Devel-
velopment Bank has approved a loan of US $ 200 therefore, proposes to address this challenge
million predominantly for the improvement and through interventions which shall encourage both opment Bank (ADB)
expansion of urban water supply, sewerage and pro-poor investments in these slums and squatter Manila has ap-
sanitation, water drainage and solid waste manage- settlements as also through income generation for
ment. Implementation of this ADB project shall the urban poor through community based water and proved a US$200
benefit the population of these four cities including sanitation services. million loan on 12
the poor outside the slum settlements, slum dwell-
ers (Table below) will not have any direct benefit December 2003 to
until additional investments are made to improve help improve basic
tertiary distribution within slum settlements.
urban services in
Similarly for the sanitation component, only a small six of the largest
percentage of poor households (4%) will benefit
which will be able to connect to the sewerage net- cities in Madhya
work. As the sewerage network will only be in the Pradesh, India.
City Total Population Recognised Estimated Slum Slum Population Illegal Colonies2
(2001 Census) Slums1 Population to total Popula- (No.)
(in thousand) (No.) (As per MCs) tion • The State Cabinet
(in thousand) Percentage
Bhopal 1433.88 487 432 30.1 131 has approved this
Gwalior 826.92 149 478 57.8 265
loan and recom-
Indore 1597.44 406 260 16.3 349
mended to the
Jabalpur 951.47 331 400 42.0 47
Govt. of India for
Source: ADB PP/TA Report on IUD in M.P.
Note 1: Recognised slums are notified by the municipal bodies, are generally scattered all over the city and lack basic infrastructure facilities. In addition to taking further steps
these slums there may be more slums that are not identified by the Municipal Corporations and have not notified and included in the list
Note 2: Illegal Colonies are settlements not registered with city Municipal Corporations and have poor physical and social infrastructure facilities. A sizeable
percentage of population lives in illegal colonies outside slum settlements.
to make the loan
effective
INDIA – UN-HABITAT Partnership
The Government of India has been a long-term first WAC Ministerial Forum in March 2003 at the Inside this issue:
partner of both UN-HABITAT and ADB. UN- World Water Forum in Osaka, Japan.
HABITAT has implemented a number of projects Sanitation Gap in MP 2
and programmes with the Government of India As a first step to implement the Water for Asian
such as the Sustainable Cities Programme, Urban Cities after its launch in March 2003, UN-HABITAT
Management Programme, Design of Refuse Collec- and ADB fielded a joint mission to the Ministry of WAC Interventions in 2
tion Vehicles in Pune, Waste Recycling and Reuse Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Indore
in Kanpur and most recently on Integrated Urban (MOUDPA) in India from 15 to 17 April 2003. The
Basic Services for Improved Health and Livelihoods main aim of the mission was to brief the Govern- UNHABITAT and WSSCC 3
in Lucknow, Rajkot and Vishakapatnam. ment of India about the WAC Programme and re- PARTNERSHIP
questing the selection of cities in India to join the
The Government of India also hosted the Regional WAC Programme. Subsequently an initial assess- Sector Reform WSS Pilot 4
Consultation for Water for Asian Cities in New Delhi ment mission was fielded to Madhya Pradesh from Projects in Madhya
in April 2002. The Government of India attended 27 April to 6 May 2003 exploring the feasibility of
the launch of the WAC Programme and also the one or more cities for Water for Asian Cities MDGs on Water and Sani- 4
tation
WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN INDIA

Editorial:
Covering the Sanitation Gap in Madhya Pradesh
Local Governments have
to link household service
provision with Commu-
nity level planning to
balance local/household
needs with wider societal
ones.
One of the major impediment to achieve the Develop-
ment Goal relating to sanitation is that sanitation and
hygiene has much lesser consideration during the
planning, budgeting and implementation phases.
Water supply generally receives lion’s share of effort
and resources compared to sanitation. All the MDGs
relating to gender, education, slums and poverty re-
duction are unlikely to be met unless sanitation in-
creases dramatically. Therefore, sanitation not only
lies at the heart of poverty reduction but is also a
Central plank of all the MDGs, not just those directly
referring to water and sanitation. Sanitation inter alia
covers:
Š Safe collection, storage, treatment and disposal of
human excreta; Š Management of solid waste; Š
Drainage & disposal of sullage / grey water; Š
Drainage of stormwater; ŠTreatment and disposal of
sewage effluents; ŠCollection and management of
industrial waste products; and ŠManagement of haz-
ardous wastes.
While the whole problem cannot be solved simultane-
ously, more important aspects of sanitation in a given
situation need to be attended to. Each city has to work
out what is important, sensible and cost effective ap-
proach for sanitation in the short and long-term.
In the case of Madhya Pradesh, as a very high percent-
age of population defecates in the open, it remains the
largest single challenge and no real progress can be
made unless access starts to increase. However, health
gains of universal access to basic sanitation shall ac-
crue if people (a) use the available sanitary facilities,
properly and (b) practice some key hygienic behaviours.
Therefore, Hardware alone will not be sufficient. Hy-
giene promotion and social marketing are needed in
tandem with hardware provision. Advocacy, awareness
and education are needed must crucially to bring in
behavioural change as also to reform institutions, or-
ganisations, systems of societal norms as well as rules
and regulations under which they operate. Also sanita-
tion has public good aspects (primarily environmental
protection and public health). Therefore, local Govern-
ments have to link household service provision with
Community level planning to balance local/household
needs with wider societal ones.

Water Conservation and Demand Management:

WAC Interventions in Indore
The present water supply to Indore is falling far short of the demand. Water is reaching the customers for only a few hours per day at best. The
main reasons being the limited amount of raw water pumped to the city and the condition of the distribution network, which is having estimated
leakage losses and illegal connections of up to 50%. The present deficit in water supply is generally met by pumping of groundwater from numer-
ous tube wells. With increasing population, their numbers have increased exponentially, resulting in over-exploitation of groundwater. The IMC has
already initiated schemes to recharge groundwater through various methodologies of rooftop rainwater harvesting and guiding the water into the
ground through sink wells.
To meet the shortcoming in bulk water supply, the ADB project intends to double the amount transported from the Narmada River to Indore. Simul-
taneously, Water Demand Management interventions need to be initiated by WAC to provide adequate water resources management tools, i.e.
assessment of safe Yields, drainage management, aquifer assessment and management strategy, management of land use and soil erosion,
water quality management, communication and participatory development, institutional development and capacity building, and development of
WC&DM Strategy.
The second problem of leakage losses can at the moment only be approximated as few bulk supply lines and individual connections are metered.
Intervention by WAC could include a comprehensive WDM programme on the supply side, focusing on technical issues, tariff structure, awareness
creation, water education, demonstration projects of various aspects of WDM, capacity building and documentation of good practices.
Thirdly, WAC programme would assist in initiating a comprehensive groundwater study to determine safe yields and provide management tools for
the optimum utilization of groundwater. Ultimately, all these components can be brought together in a system of Integrated Water Resources Man-
agement, which allows the urban water supply management to make well-founded decisions on allocation of water and management resources.
The role of Water Conservation and Demand Management measures for reduction of water losses and efficient water utilization in all spheres of
water sector is becoming increasingly important. To address this issue a collaborative project (Managing Water for African Cities Programme) was
initiated by the UN-HABITAT and UNEP in 1999. The objective of the programme is to improve Urban Water Resource Management practices in
selected African Cities by enhancing awareness, promoting effective policies programmes and investments and by building capacity at a city level
and in key national and regional institutions. This can also be affectively used for Indian cities.
Through a joint initiative, the UN-HABITAT produced a Cookbook on Water Demand Management which aims at providing water suppliers with
same guidance on how to manage their water losses. Lot of training programmes based on this are being organized at international level.
Initiatives such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Campaign (WASH) - a partnership between WSSC Council and UN-HABITAT have gained mo-
mentum and received a high-level of political support and universal acceptability. UN-HABITAT will also develop E-learning Toolkit for Indore,
Madhya Pradesh.

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 NOVEMBER 2004
UNHABITAT and WSSCC PARTNERSHIP
WATER, SANITATION and HYGIENE (WASH) CAMPAIGN
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all campaign (WASH) is a con-
certed advocacy and communications campaign to mobilize political
awareness, support and action to end the suffering of the 1.1 billion
people without access to safe water, and the 2.4 billion without ade-
quate sanitation.
The most important contribution of WASH has been to bring sanitation
and hygiene under the spotlight among the policy makers. Statistics
indicate that some 36 per cent of water related sicknesses could be
attributed to inadequate sanitation, some 35 per cent to water and its
quality, while hand washing can reduce sicknesses by 35 per cent.
Hygiene brings water and sanitation together and helps to get the most
out of water and sanitation. Access to basic hygienic sanitation is a
human right. UN-HABITAT’s partners in Brazil were launching the
Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) campaign in Habitat Debate,
September 2003. The joint effort of UNHABITAT and the Water Supply
and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) have led to bringing
WASH now to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Access to clean water and sanitation facilities is a key indicator of
progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, but all
too often, investments in the sector have tended to by-pass the poor,
who are in dire need. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for
water and sanitation are really quite modest. In the 1980s, the world
set the goal of water and sanitation for all by 1990. A few years before
that, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1977, access to safe water had
been recognized as a universal human right - by definition a right of all
people in all countries. In contrast, our goals today are only to halve
the proportions without affordable access to safe water and adequate
sanitation by 2015.
In April 2001, UN-HABITAT and the Collaborative Council jointly
launched the Urban Wash Campaign in Africa during the first Global
Urban Forum held in Nairobi. This innovative initiative has helped a
great deal to raise awareness of the importance of water, sanitation
and hygiene among policy-makers, professionals and the media since
it was first launched in Bonn during the Ministerial Water Conference.
UN-HABITAT’s strategic vision touches human society in general. UN-
HABITAT has been innovative and effective in slum-upgrading strate-
gies for the adaptation and expression of global norms related to urban
governance, urban poverty, slums, shelter and basic services at the
city level. The common priority is to address the needs of the urban
poor, particularly women and other vulnerable people living in poverty.
From page 1:
Programme. It has now been decided in principle to cover all the four ADB Project cities (Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur) under the Water for
Asian Cities Programme.
A Stakeholders’ Consultation was organized by UN-HABITAT, jointly with ADB in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in August 2004 with a view to assess
capacity building needs and priorities within the framework of the ADB investment project. The Government of Madhya Pradesh expressed its
appreciation for the effective outcome of the Stakeholders’ Consultation. An Implementation Strategy for WAC programme in India is now being
developed by UN-HABITAT in consultation with its partners.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
The objectives of the UN-HABITAT’s Water for African Cities Pro-
gramme and the Water for Asian Cities Programme are to reduce the
urban water crisis in cities through efficient and effective water demand
management, to build capacity to reduce the environmental impact of
urbanisation on freshwater resources and to boost awareness and
information exchange on water management and conservation. These
programmes focus on the identification and promotion of such ap-
proaches in order to support the slum dweller target of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) and the relevant principles and commit-
ments of the Habitat Agenda.
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is a
leading international organisation that enhances collaboration in the
water supply and sanitation sector to accelerate the achievement of
sustainable water, sanitation and waste management services to all
people, with special attention to the un-served poor, by enhancing
collaboration among developing countries and external support agen-
cies and through concerted action programmes.
For the Urban WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) campaign, UN-
HABITAT and WSSCC are in close partnership, which will enable both
to be pioneers in the creation of a coalition between the local bodies
and governments on one hand, and civil society on the other. Unless
people are really brought into the centre of all planning, action and
implementation, the real goal will never be achieved and it will not be
sustainable.
Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka Executive Director, UN-HABITAT re-
marked at the launch of the WASH Campaign organised by UN-
HABITAT’s partners in Brazil that UN-HABITAT, like all other support-
ers of the hygiene, sanitation and water goals, needs to advocate for
all the MDGs, and to put water and sanitation issues at the centre of all
goals.
No doubt, the task ahead is a daunting one. However, with the requi-
site political will and existing donor goodwill, it is achievable. Now is the
time to get all hands on deck – communities, governments, and devel-
opment partners will need to pull together to restore hope for the mil-
lions in the slums across the world for whom clean water, sanitation
and hygiene facilities are a matter of life and death. This is our ultimate
goal at UN-HABITAT.
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WATER FOR ASIAN CITIES PROGRAMME IN INDIA

Sector Reform WSS Pilot Projects in Madhya Pradesh

The ninth five-year plan for the country had estimated the required funds for full coverage to be approximately Rupees 40,000 crore, including
the costs of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and quality control.-On average as suggested by the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water
Mission (RGNDWM), about 6 percent of the capital investment is required annually for appropriate repairs and maintenance of the system. It is
clear that such resources cannot continue to be provided through 10 percent of Minimum Need Programme (MNP) /Accelerated Rural Water
Supply Programme (ARWSP) plan funds, and limited non-plan resources of the States. Given the economic and financial scenario, it is difficult
to visualize public resources of such magnitude being available and hence the need for involvement of communities, institutions, and the private
sector is urgent

To promote community participation in Rural water supply and Sanitation project. Sector reform pilot projects were introduced in the State of
Madhya Pradesh, India. A total of 3062 schemes were sanctioned under sector reform pilot project. Of these, 1843 schemes have already been
completed and handed over to the communities for their running and maintenance. The implementation of the pilot project up to the point of
creation of the hardware is remarkable, but once the installation of hardware is complete, the subsequent management activities do not come up
to the true project expectations. Now the state has adopted this as a successful model and this model is to be initiated in all the districts of the
state

MDGs on Water and Sanitation

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly (the Millennium Assembly) in September
2000. Most of the world’s governments and international agencies have committed themselves to the MDGs. The most relevant of these for
water and sanitation is MDG of addressing the following targets:
• Target 10: to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
• Target 11: to achieve by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

The world summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 added another relevant target:
• To halve by 2015 the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation

Editorial Team
Editorial Board Gopal Reddy, Secretary, UADD, Government Board
Savitur Prasad, Director, Govt. of India
UWSEIMP Project Director/ Deputy Project Director
Debashish Bhattacharjee, ADB, India Resident Mission
Professor H.M. Mishra, State Academy of Administration

Guest Editor P.S. Mathur, CITI Foundation, India

Managing Editor Kulwant Singh, CTA, WAC Programme

UN-HABITAT
Water for Asian Cities Programme Office
EP-16/17, Chandragupta Marg, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi - 110021 (India)
Tel: +91-11-24104970 - 73
Fax: +91-11-24104961
Email: Kulwant.Singh@unhabitat.org
Website: www.unhabitat.org & www.unwac.org

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