International Workshop Governance of periurban Water

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International WorkshopGovernance of peri-urban
Water Sanitation services The role of
external support agenciesCape Town, South
Africa, 17-19 October 2005
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• The Chennai Case Study
• 
  M.G.Devasahayam
• 
  SUSTAIN

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Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA)
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Chennai Metropolitan Area Map
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Defining PUI

• The peri-urban interface is created by urban
  development. As urban
• activities grow and spread, links or impacts upon
  rural activities in the
• countryside are created. These cause changes to
  existing production
• systems and create new ones that can affect the
  poor in both urban and
• rural areas. Opportunities arise from easier
  access to urban markets,
• services and jobs, and the re-use of urban
  wastes. Problems arise from the
• conversion of land, urban pollutants, farm labour
  shortages and the loss of
• natural resource based means of livelihood.

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Chennai PUI A Profile

• With 46 settlements in CUA within the direct
  influence of the core City, Chennai PUI is in
  near-perfect consonance with the above
  definition.
• Chennai PUI includes statutory Town Panchayats
  and Census Towns having population of over 5000
  with 75 male working population non-agricultural
• Exponential growth spurred by liberalisation in
  real estate investment (FI), rapid road
  infrastructure, and service / industry /
  institution boom.
• Urban expansion severely stressing city resources
  - scarcity of land, pollution, lack of adequate
  drinking water and sanitation, degradation of
  coastal ecology and seawater intrusion leading
  to heavy overflow in the PUI
• Frenzied construction activity in the PUI aided
  by high FSI has led to soaring land prices, at
  places exceeding core city levels. Rapid decrease
  in rural primary activities. Poor are affected
  both in rural and urban areas.
• Most PUI in the overexploited / critical
  groundwater zone. Also dumping ground for Citys
  solid and liquid waste. Marsh/Wetlands
  (Pallikaranai) bear the brunt.
• Overlapping between the political and
  geographical boundaries of Urban/PUI
  Administrative Areas Municipality, Town
  Panchayat, Census Town, Village Panchayat. PUI
  areas are rapidly expanding beyond CUA and CMA.

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Case Study areas

• WSS case studies were carried out in two
  localities, selected because of their
• proximity to the City boundary and comparatively
  intense PUI features. These
• are
• Valasaravakkam Group (inland) consisting of the
  five administrative areas of Valasaravakkam (Town
  Panchayat turned Municipality) Ramapuram (Census
  Town) Porur (TP) Karambakkam (CT) and Manapakkam
  (CT). Area 15.03 sq.km Population (2001) 112,
  479 Decadal Growth 124.66
• Kottivakkam Group (coastal) consisting of four
  administrative areas of Kottivakkam, Palavakkam,
  Neelangarai and Injambakkam (all CT). Area 12.4
  sq.km Population 55,055 Decadal Growth 45

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Case Study Areas Map
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Case Study Findings-Water

• Quantity of water supplied through the public
  system in the PUI (10 35 lpcd) is just adequate
  for drinking and cooking.
• Poor draw water from street taps. Tap to
  population ratio highest 1/258 in
  Valasaravakkom lowest 1/31 in Nilangarai.
  Average 1/52
• Water quality varies from acceptable to
  unsatisfactory. Needs boiling before drinking.
• Boiling of water is fuel and time consuming and
  costs money. Taste differs on boiling. Most of
  the households do not boil water before drinking
  leading to chronic health problems.
• To address their health problems the poor go to
  free hospital facilities or go to private
  Doctors. On an average a household spend Rs.
  200/- a month and some up to Rs.1000/-
• Poor gets water for cleaning, washing and hygiene
  from shallow wells and ponds. Due to poor quality
  of water clothes become yellow and vessels get
  corroded. Adds to expenses.
• Women / girls are the main procurers and spend 30
  minutes to two hours in fetching water. Some of
  them have to travel more than a km to fetch
  water. Men procuring water go late for work
  losing wages. School going children suffer
  interruptions in their studies.
• Middle class with piped connection cope with the
  situation by buying water from private vendors
  that costs 5-6 paise/litre. In times of crisis
  poor also buy water from this source.
• Extraction from aquifer (virtually mining) is
  intensive to cater to the ever increasing urban
  and peri-urban demand. METROWATER themselves
  indulge in 24-hour water extraction for supply to
  the City for drinking, institutional and
  industrial purposes.         

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Case Study Findings-Sanitation

• Public toilets are virtually absent and where
  available unfit to be used because public on the
  whole do not have a sense of ownership of these
  facilities. Most of the poor residents have to
  use open fields, beach and canal banks for their
  daily ablution. Women are the most affected.
• Due to open field defecation and sullage flow
  from houses, sanitation is affected severely.
  This is compounded during rainy season.
• General attitude towards solid waste is apathetic
  and littered waste is collected by the panchayat
  irregularly (many times at a periodicity of one
  week) and this adds further to the sanitation
  problem.
• Provision for sanitation take a lower priority to
  water supply and solid waste clearance. Final
  disposal is a serious problem due to
  non-availability of landfill sites.
• There is no under ground sewer systems at present
  except in Valasaravakkam where an underground
  system was constructed by taking loan from
  TNUDP-WB. Local body was burdened with interest
  even while construction was on. Scheme cannot be
  effective unless increased water supply becomes
  available.
• In recent times sanitation problems have
  increased due to hectic construction activities
  and faulty arrangements for debris / solid waste
  / waste water removal.

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Case Study Findings-Institutional

• TWAD Board which earlier had the responsibility
  of designing and constructing water supply and
  sewerage systems in the PUI has given it up.
• In 1978 CMWSSB (METROWATER) took over the
  responsibility for construction, operation and
  maintenance of WSS in the CMA that includes PUI
• In practice, METROWATER is confined to the City
  and a small AUA (10 sq.km.) but has future plans
  to build centralised water supply distribution
  system for a length of 898 kms to AUAs and DUAs
  after finalising funding arrangements!
• Chennai PUI comprise mostly of independent
  municipal and village panchayats at the lowest
  end of the LG system who are mandated to provide
  water, health and sanitation.
• LG entities do not have technical, financial and
  managerial assets / resources to carryout this
  important function and cannot by themselves be
  expected to provide satisfactory WSS service to
  their residents especially the poor.
• Private players extract water from the PUI and
  through tankers supply to affordable groups at
  high cost. While depleting the PUI water
  resource, private operators do not serve the
  needs of the poor. This is leading to serious
  conflicts.
• Community / NGO sectors confine their function to
  regulating water distribution from public tankers
  to ensure equitable share among the poor.

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Status quo WSS practices in Chennai PUI

• Piped network provided by Panchayats
• (Household connections in some areas and public
  standpipes)
• Wells Borewells
• Provision by tankers
• Sewage connections to select areas leading to
  centralized
• treatment (small proportion)
• Community Latrines
• Providing garbage collection in select areas

• Buying from licensed tankers
• Buying packaged water (cans, bottles, sachets)
• Private builders/suppliers own water supply
  systems (RO Plants-recent trend)
• Household Septic tanks / soak pits
• Dumping of garbage in roads

• Individual wells borewells Rainwater
  harvesting
• Unauthorized connections / procurement
• Community lavatories by NGOs
• Community SW collection by NGOs in select areas.
• Open defecation and pollution of surface water
  streams

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PUI-WSS Policy Implications

• Conflict Resolution
• Pro-poor Focus
• Sustainability
• System Structure
• Governance

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Conflict Resolution

• Between the opulent consumer (gated communities)
  and the deprived poor
• Between prosperous water sellers and working
  villagers losing their livelihood because of
  ground water depletion
• Between METROWATER claiming to extract water only
  from abundant areas where farmers are ready to
  sell and the ecosystem suffering irreparable
  damage due to aquifer drying, salinity, seawater
  intrusion and soil degradation.
• Villagers who sold water till recently now
  purchasing water.
• Rural Urban divide on water rights and
  entitlements.
• PUI as urban environment sink. Loss of wetlands
  and green cover
• The housing crisis for the poor
• Public vs. Private toilets.

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Pro-poor Focus

• WSS system and structure in the PUI should be
  designed so as to provide the basic level of
  services to the poor without interruption.
• This cannot be achieved through charity approach,
  but by a conscientious drive for physical
  infrastructure service improvement on priority
  basis.
• This is because for the poor communities in PUI
  the pressing problem is not income but affordable
  access to basic WSS infrastructure.
• It is the responsibility of the LG to provide for
  this infrastructure because they are the ones who
  have been mandated. Central/State Governments who
  have the resources should provide the same.
• Poor cannot be served through the capital
  intensive, supply-driven WSS network because such
  formal systems have severe spatial and
  non-spatial limitations.
• Alternative is to have a decentralised,
  non-formal system that is cost-effective and
  amenable to participatory development and
  management through community mobilisation.

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Sustainability Issues

• Water resource base within the PUI and water
  mining
• External sources and their limitations
• Aquifer / ground water depletion and recharge
• Restoration of of silted reservoirs,
  abandoned/encroached water bodies, polluted water
  courses and disappearing wetlands
• Water harvesting, waste-water recycling and
  reuse.
• Quality of water pollution, salinity, sea-water
  intrusion
• Land use - compatibility with water resources
• The urbanisation model. Concentrated corridor
  concept with high FSI. Huge commercial complexes
  and rich gated communities with unlimited water
  use.
• Present water management system centralised,
  capital intensive sourcing and long pipelines /
  thousands of diesel guzzling lorries for
  distribution.
• Desalination groundwater and seawater
  emerging as alternative!
• WSS accessibility for resident and migrating
  poor.
• Public vs. private toilet provisioning open
  defecation

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Planning for Sustainability

• Resource mapping of the entire PUI
• Accounting complete entities population
  covered- industries/companies, commercial
  establishments, apartment complexes, colleges,
  hospitals, individual households
• Estimation of current projected population
  including permanent floating with emphasis on
  the poor who cannot buy water.
• Inventory of the available water resource
  natural, harvested, storm water, waste water to
  be recycled / reused and protective mechanism
  like marsh / wetlands
• Preparation of complete Water Mass Balance
  Total water requirement categorizing the break-up
  quantity quality of water required depending on
  the intended usage (for Class 1 2). Adopt
  reasonable norms.
• Sanitation strategy public and private
• Evolving decentralised participatory WSS system
  structure
• Networking the stakeholders - Government bodies,
  private sector, community, industry, NGO and
  strategizing their roles to make the system /
  structure work.

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WSS System.
SOURCE OF WATER
EXTRACTION / IMPORT
TREATMENT STORAGE
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
SURFACE WATER
GROUND WATER
OTHER (Technological)
USAGE WASTAGE
COLLECTION
RECYCLE / REUSE / DISPOSAL
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WSS Structure.
Raw Water Treatment Storage

• Level of treatment
• Mode- insitu / centralized
• Storage Planning

Distribution Usage
Source of Water

• Adequacy of Quantity population, usage pattern
  etc.
• Recharging pattern rate
• Quality

• Distance of the source to usage point
• Mode Pipe / truck / others
• Usage Domestic, Industrial, Commercial,
  Agricultural
• Cost Benefit Analysis
• Access to the poor

Sanitation

• Public/Community toilets
• Open defecation
• Solid waste

Collection

• Quantity of municipal wastewater / effluent
• Sewage system Capacity
• Source Segregation strategy
• Method of collection
• Collection efficiency

Stakeholders
Treatment Disposal

• Public State / LG
• Private Service Providers
• Community Sector NGO -
• CBO SHG
• Consuming Institutions / Industries
• Households / Individuals
• THE MATRIX.gt

• Quantity
• Mode- Centralized / at source
• Cost
• Disposal Method

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WSS in PUI Stakeholder Matrix for Networking
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Governance Imperatives

• 1. Distinguish sourcing, supply, distribution and
  delivery functions.
• 2. Separate regulatory-executive roles and
  establish regulatory mechanism.
• 3. Enforce laws to prevent indiscriminate water
  mining
• 4. Decentralise and devolve authority and
  responsibility to LG, Communities, NGOs and
  private enterprises in accordance with the WSS
  system / structure
• 5. Appropriate legal / institutional mechanism to
  link the multitude of local
• bodies with supporting managerial/technical
  expertise
• 6. Build and sustain LG capacity for effective
  WSS delivery
• 7. Subsidise the poor while achieving full cost
  recovery for the WSS through
• user charges in the long run.
• 8. Human Resource Development leading to more
  effective institutions.
• 9. Use of Technologies more appropriate to local
  conditions.
• 10. Determine water rights and entitlements in an
  equitable manner

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Regulatory Mechanism

• Suggested functions of the Regulator are
• Adjudicate on water rights and entitlements
• Licensing all WSS providers defining the service
  area and cost of service
• Monitor service standards, quality, customer
  protection and imposing
• sanctions for failure to meet agreed
  standards.
• Aspects to be considered while setting up the
  Regulatory mechanism
• Water supply and sanitation sector has functions
  across several
• Government departments and Community
  organisations. Its regulatory function should
  therefore give all stakeholders an opportunity to
  participate in the decision making process.
• Potable water and sanitation being a basic need
  with health, economic and social implications its
  administration should be apolitical.
• Independent and professional decision-making is
  essential to foster financial and technical
  efficiency in the sector.
• Pricing, cost recovery subsidy issues need to
  be addressed.

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Sustainable Resource Management Plan as
Governance Tool

• Compile and evaluate results from case studies
• Undertake planning and technical studies, surveys
  and other research activities as follow up
• Investigate existing regional and local
  mechanisms for Sustainable Resource Management
  (SRM)
• Formulate Sustainable Resource Management Plan
  for the PUI focusing on land use, water and
  sanitation.
• Integrate Supply and Demand Side Management.
• Consider water resource based zoning for land use
  and building activities
• Build in decentralised WSS options capable of
  stakeholder implementation.
• Make WSS access to the poor an important
  component of SRMP.
• Develop guidelines for implementing SRMP through
  regional and local planning / governance
  instruments
• Provide SRM awareness and training to all
  stakeholders, particularly LG
• Distribute and disseminate information

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Role of External Support Agencies

• The PUI WSS crisis is real and imminent
• Technology, methodology and solutions are
  available to resolve the crisis
• What is lacking is appropriate Policy,
  Institutional frame-work and effective system of
  governance. Also absent is a resource planning
  and management tool for ensuring sustainable WSS
  governance in the PUI
• External Support Agencies can play a facilitating
  and supportive role in formulating policies,
  designing PUI-WSS systems, structuring
  institutions and instruments, preparing SRMP,
  evolving management tools for sustainable WSS
  governance and building LG capacity to implement
  and manage WSS projects.
• Chennai PUI could be the starting point. Tamil
  Nadu has a special funding vehicle (TNUDP - WB)
  for mobilizing resources for basic urban
  infrastructure investments. Institutional
  development and capacity building in ULBs are the
  key components of this Project.
• Most of Chennai PUI is also covered under GoIs
  Megacity Programme with special emphasis on slum
  improvement and water supply.
• All cities/towns in India (numbering 28 at
  present) with IT and service industry potential
  are facing similar PUI crisis. They also need
  special attention.

Thank You