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Report summary of WELL Task No. 323 (Part B) - Pages under construction - Provision of water and sanitation services to small towns:Case studies in Uganda and IndiaAuthors: Jeremy Colin and Joy Morgan Editor: Julie Woodfield Table of contents
3. Kerala, India
Annex A List of documents consulted List of acronyms Uganda ARI Acute Respiratory Infection IDA International Development Assistance (World Bank) LC1 Local Council One (parish) LC3 Local Council Three (town) LC5 Local Council Five (District) NRM National Resistance Movement NURP Northern Uganda reconstruction Programme
India CDS Community Development Society KWA Kerala Water Authority PPC People’s Planning Campaign Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the people consulted in Uganda and India for their co-operation in producing this report, especially Mr David Kane, Ms Eva Ntege and Mr Jamil Ssebalu in Uganda and Mr Gopalakrishnan in Cochin, Kerala for their contributions. The purpose of this study was to review the planning, implementation and operation of water, sanitation and environmental health programmes in two small towns in Uganda and India, in order to identify successes and failures that can provide guidance for the development of small town programmes. This report contains the detailed findings of the field research. It is a companion report to Part A, which analyses the findings and identifies some general lessons for the management of small town water supplies and sanitation in less developed countries. 2.1 The context for water and sanitation services 2.1.1 Institutional framework in Uganda The advent of decentralisation in Uganda has resulted in an inconsistent policy and legal framework for water and sanitation services. Prior to decentralisation, the Water Statute 1995 made provision for any area to be declared a water supply and/or sewerage area and for the establishment of a water and/or sewerage authority to operate services there. It also provided for the creation of Water User Groups, Water and Sanitation Committees and Water Users’ Associations. These would collectively plan and manage water supply systems and collect user charges to fund maintenance. While local councils could organise the formation of these various groups, overall supervision of Water and Sanitation Committees and Water Users’ Associations was vested in the Directorate of Water Development. More recently, the Local Government Act 1997 has introduced further changes to the institutional arrangements for water and sanitation services. Central government has retained responsibility for the management of water resources, the environment and the formulation of health policies but district councils are now responsible for providing water and environmental health services within their area. In the case of designated urban areas within districts, water and sanitation services are vested in the urban or town council. (Small towns have populations upwards of 4,000 and generally fall in the category administered by a town council.) The government has recognised the need to harmonise the two acts and both are under review. In the meantime, the Directorate of Water Development remains the promoter of major capital investments in water and sanitation infrastructure while its former role as operator has been devolved to district and town councils. Only a few Water Users’ Associations have been formed, mostly where the Directorate of Water Development has completed a new scheme. In such cases, the Water Users’ Association members have been elected by Water User Groups and Water and Sanitation Committees, with town council officials included as ex officio members. So far, only one town (Wobulenzi; see case study below) has the Water Users’ Association assumed responsibility for the management and operation of the water supply system. Other schemes are under construction and will be handed over to recently formed Water Users’ Associations on completion from mid-2000. 2.1.2 Donor-funded schemes in Uganda Since 1994, the Directorate of Water Development has been promoting the Rural Towns Water and Sanitation Programme, which aims to provide water and sanitation facilities in 60 towns and rural growth centres spread throughout the country. Towns have been grouped into project packages, generally covering a discrete geographical area, and donor funds sought for implementation. By early 2000, several projects had been completed and several were at an advanced stage of construction, with funds being sought for the remainder. Most donors insist that every water supply project includes a sanitation component but the Directorate is not responsible for sanitation. Consequently, the facilities provided are generally limited to a few public latrines. Project guidelines prepared by the Directorate of Water Development embrace the concept of public consultation and negotiation. Through the formation of Water User Groups early in project implementation, users are encouraged to contribute to project design by selecting their preferred level of service (public standpost, yard tap, private connection etc.) In reality, the range of options is usually constrained by the type of housing occupied by each Group as few properties are suitable for internal plumbing and many people live in shared compounds where individual yard taps are not appropriate. Although users are willing to pay vendors for transporting water to their homes from springs or boreholes they often over estimate their willingness and ability to pay for a piped water supply. Experience from recently completed projects indicates that the availability of external funding and the imposition of conditions by donors have a greater influence on project design than public consultation. 2.2 Case study one: Kumi Kumi is a district in north-eastern Uganda and is named after its largest town. The 1991 census found the town population to be 11,700 but at that time many people were displaced due to insecurity in the district. The current estimate is 17,000 and the majority are from the Iteso tribe, who were traditionally cattle farmers and have maintained a strong community leadership structure. The insurgency in the area was resolved in 1992 with community initiatives, including a self-styled truth and reconciliation process. Since then, the community as a whole has been committed to the development process. 2.2.1 Institutional context Kumi Town Council is responsible for the four wards of Kumi town. In the hierarchy of Ugandan local government it is at LC3 (Local Council 3) level and as a Town Council has responsibilities over and above those assigned by the Local Government Act to other LC3 councils. In particular, it is responsible for water and sanitation services, a responsibility of the district authorities (LC5) in other LC3 administered areas. In recognition of their additional responsibilities, Town Councils are permitted to retain all municipal revenue from taxes, levies and other dues whereas other LC3 councils retain only 60 per cent. The council is chaired by the mayor and the chief executive is the Town Clerk. Each of the four wards has an elected councillor, and there are also councillors elected to represent youth, women, the disabled and other special interest groups. The full council meets at least quarterly and has standing committees that meet more frequently. The General Purposes Committee, comprising two ward councillors and the members for youth and women, is responsible for water, sanitation, garbage collection, health and related activities. The administrative structure of the council is shown below. Figure 1. Structure of Kumi Town Council Water services are the responsibility of the Water Department, which is headed by the Water Officer. Sanitation and health education are the responsibility of the Health Department under the Town Health Inspector. The council collected a total revenue of USh14,813,527/- during 1999 from graduated tax, property tax, service user fees, revenue from departments e.g. cost sharing of medical services, urban authority permits and others. They achieved 94 per cent and 66 per cent of their anticipated revenue collection in 1995/6 and 1996/7 respectively. To this they added a USh 9,603,500/- conditional grant received through Kumi District council from central government, other monies from central government funds and grants from Irish Aid. Funds are allocated to priority areas by committees of elected representatives, with assistance from the district administration. The council has adopted a ‘master plan’ in the form of a town map with zones designated for residential, commercial and other uses. Applications for building works are submitted to the Planning Section of the Engineering Department for scrutiny and from there to the General Purpose Committee for approval. A more comprehensive development plan for the town is under preparation. 2.2.2 Health situation Reliable morbidity figures for the town are not available, but district health information for 1997 based on returns from government health centres and hospitals indicates that 39 per cent of outpatients under 5 were diagnosed with malaria and 34 per cent with Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) (non pneumonia). Diarrhoea was the third most common diagnosis but was much less common with only 6.4 per cent of under 5 year outpatients affected. In outpatients over 5 years the most common diagnosis followed a similar pattern. Trauma is more common than diarrhoea, and includes accidents and injuries. Figure 2. Diagnosis at Kumi town health centre for outpatients aged under 5 years (1997) According to medical personnel this is typical of the morbidity in Kumi, both within the town and in the rural parts of the district. The incidence of diarrhoea is surprisingly low but medical staff confirmed that it was less of a problem than malaria and ARI. Even during a cholera outbreak in 1997-8 that affected many Ugandan districts and caused significant morbidity and mortality, Kumi was not seriously affected. 2.2.3 Sanitation and preventative health services Public toilet facilities in the town are inadequate. There are two public pit latrines in the town, one near the bus-park and another near the market and these are provided free of charge. They should available during daylight hours but the latrine near the market was locked when visited during this study. According to market traders, the keyholder is often absent. Under the World Bank-funded Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme Phase 1 (NURP 1) a third public toilet, with septic tank, was built beside the new market but construction was never completed and water has not been connected until now. It is a traditional Buganda role for the household head to finance major initiatives such as construction of a toilet and the role of the woman to keep the toilet clean and maintain domestic hygiene. Health and hygiene education is provided by the Town Health Inspector and her team with the support of the Kumi District Health Inspector. Around the time of the 1997-8 cholera outbreak, household latrines and handwashing with soap after defecation were heavily promoted, as was confirmed by Town Council staff and townsfolk (women, men and children) interviewed during the study. This campaign helped to raise latrine coverage to 58.8 per cent by May 1998, with 20 per cent of people washing hands with soap after defecation and 20 per cent with water only according to a municipal survey. (A later survey by the parish chiefs gave a figure of 70 per cent coverage but the Health Inspector believes this to be unrealistic). These figures are significantly higher than in many other small towns in eastern Uganda. Hygiene promotion is an official responsibility of the town health inspectorate, but one that is ignored or undervalued in many towns; Kumi is an exception. The major constraint facing staff is a lack of education materials and limited knowledge of effective health and hygiene promotion techniques. The current approach is limited to home visits, lectures and enforcement. Occasionally officers have failed to enforce public health legislation because the landlords of tenanted property are apparently above the law. Drainage construction is the responsibility of the Works Department and has been improved in the town centre along feeder roads. Drain clearance is organised by the Town Engineer via a local contractor, while solid waste disposal is organised by the Health Inspector via another contractor. 2.2.4 Water services The original Kumi town water supply was planned in the 1950s and comprised a piped system pumped from a lake 16km from the town. This was bombed in 1984 during the insurgency, and in 1994 a new system was designed under Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme (NURP), based on boreholes and springs close to the town. There was, however, little or no consultation with the communities that used the main spring and, fearing the loss of their traditional source of water, these people vehemently opposed the scheme. Instead the NURP used four boreholes with pumps and overhead tanks, feeding a piped distribution network with public kiosks and some household connections. During the first dry season after commissioning, the boreholes proved inadequate and in 1999 two more were drilled under contract from the Directorate of Water Development. Together with two of the NURP boreholes, these now provide the bulk supply to the town. Borehole yields are low and in February 2000 water was available for only two hours per day. The yield is entirely insufficient, particularly in the dry season. In Uganda, drilling contracts tend to encourage quantity rather than quality and require deep drilling into the cracked impervious basement rock instead of the more productive aquifer in the regolith (interface between the soil and the impervious basement rock) (Groundwater Research Group Ontario et al, 1994). Contractors tend to spend insufficient time in borehole siting, well development and pump-testing and it is possible that with better planning and drilling, higher yields could have been achieved in Kumi. The only reasonable sources of additional water are two lakes some 10km and 16km distant from the town, but developing these would cost USh1.5/- billion or USh2.5/-billion depending on the source. This will require external funding and Kumi was included in a proposed North Eastern Towns Water and Sanitation Project promoted by the Directorate of Water Development with potential funding from BADEA (Arab Fund). Loan conditions were deemed unattractive and the government declined the loan. Kumi is presently included in Phase III of a Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project earmarked for World Bank funding but no agreement has been finalised. For now, the piped system is being supplemented by 5 boreholes with handpumps on the edge of the town centre, plus 3 springs some 2 km from the centre (but not those at the centre of the earlier dispute) and a very active cadre of private vendors. The piped system is operated by the municipal Water Officer and his support staff of 7, though 4 posts were vacant in February 2000. Water is sold through 15 kiosks located throughout the town, each operated by an attendant paid by the council. At the time of the study, 2 were closed due to lack of water and of the 13 in operation, 9 were operated by women. Water is sold at USh 50/- per jerry can and the money is collected by the attendant who remits it to the council. People patiently line up at the kiosks to fetch water, even before the taps are opened. Those who do not have time to queue pay USh 150/- per 20 litre jerrycan to vendors who obtain their water from the same piped supply or from nearby handpumps and springs. Kiosk users interviewed did not express dissatisfaction at the operation of the system apart from the chronic shortage of water which has led to restrictions on the use of private connections; only 15 were operational at the time of the study. Elected leaders have not made any promises of better water and sanitation services to the people. This is a realistic response to the water shortage and the cost of reinstating the old surface water scheme. What the elected officials have promised is to notify District and Central government of the serious shortage and to request assistance in the form of a grant or loan. This has already been done. There are no water user groups to look after kiosk users’ interests as the council feels that people have adequate representation through their ward councillors. User groups have been formed, however, for the handpump supplies and some users report that they pay a levy of USh 500/- per month to the user group committee for repairs and maintenance. Users feel that the committees do not function well and that repairs are not carried out when necessary. In one instance a school headmistress paid for pump repairs and attempted to recover the money from the committee and users. At some pumps, self-appointed caretakers assume responsibility for general cleanliness and order but, despite support from the Health Inspector, receive no payment from the council or water users’ group. Water user groups have also been formed at some springs close to the town centre but these are barely active. These springs are used by local residents and vendors who transport water to town for a charge of 100/= per 20 litre jerry can. One of the strongest flowing springs was recently rehabilitated by the council with support from Irish Aid, and a barbed wire fence was erected to keep cattle away from the source and surrounding area. Some residents were suspicious at first and at night would cut the barbed wire, but later realised that access and control of the spring was unchanged. 2.2.5 Water demand Table 1 shows the various sources and uses of water in Kumi town. The volume of water used for each purpose varies each day. On average, residents’ self-assessed consumption was 24.4 lpcd for drinking, washing and bathing purposes. Alcohol brewers appear to use about 100 litres for that purpose, once or twice in a week. Collection time varies with age and gender. Men collecting water are mostly vendors and bully women and children so that they can have priority even when women have been queuing for as long as 2 hours. Children have lower priority in the queues than women. Water shortage is the main complaint and people said this limited consumption, and affects both hygiene practices and health. Shortages can also result in fights and disputes at water points and may be a deterrent to business investments in Kumi town centre. As water collection takes several hours each day per family it reduces the time available for other productive activities and attending school. Water collection after dark also increases the vulnerability of women and girls to physical attack. Such constraints create considerable dissatisfaction among residents but this does not extend to Kumi Town Council; people generally believe that officials are trying to rectify the situation and to have the well-being of residents at heart. TABLE 1 TABLE 2 2.2.6 Financing arrangements The Town Treasurer maintains an account for water services which is kept separate from other council revenues and expenditures. Revenue from water sales at kiosks is remitted daily to the Town Treasurer and receipts are checked against meter readings to ensure full collection. All expenditure relating to water services including staff, power, transport and materials is taken from the water account. Since July 1999 the council has received a conditional grant from central government for water services. This is to be used for operation and maintenance expenditures, but not salary costs. The consolidated accounts for water services for the ten-month period March - December 1999 are shown below. TABLE 3 FIGURE 4 Wobulenzi does not have a physical development plan but the newly appointed Town Engineer is preparing a status report on roads, water and buildings as a precursor to preparation of a zoning plan. At present, building applications are submitted to the council and construction works are inspected by the Town Health Inspector or Health Assistant. 2.3.2 Health situation As in Kumi, health information is collected only from government health centres and hospitals; data is not collected from private clinics even though they account for the majority of curative health services in the town. In 1999, 53 per cent of under-5-year outpatient diagnoses were for malaria, and 27 per cent were for ARI (non pneumonia). Worms was the 3rd most common diagnosis, accounting for 8 per cent of the total. Diarrhoea accounted for only 1 per cent. Diagnoses for outpatients over 5 followed a similar pattern with malaria at 39 per cent, ARI (non-pneumonia) at 32 per cent, worms at 6 per cent and diarrhoea at 1 per cent. Trauma is more common than diarrhoea, and includes accidents and injuries.
Figure 5. Diagnosis at Wobulenzi health unit for outpatients aged under 5 years (1999) FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6 2.3.3 Sanitation and preventative health services In 1996, President Museveni promised better water and sanitation services in Uganda. This promise was fulfilled in Wobulenzi by provision of a new piped water supply. More recently the Mayor also made promises, to extend piped water to outlying areas of the town and to improve solid waste management and excreta disposal. Extensions of the water supply network have not taken place but measures have been taken to improve solid waste management, including the provision of 3 garbage bunkers, employment of 22 garbage collectors and the use of a tipper lorry to dispose both domestic waste and waste from 5 public toilets. This investment was 75 per cent donor-funded under the IDA-funded Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project, with the municipality paying the remainder. Residents seem generally satisfied with council garbage disposal services, and those interviewed said they had seen considerable improvements over the twelve months since the initiative started. The Town Health Inspectorate is responsible for solid waste management, household latrine coverage and hygiene education but concentrated mostly on monitoring the garbage collection service; nobody we spoke to had reported attending any hygiene education. Latrine coverage was found to be roughly 58 per cent in 1998 and may now be as high as 70 per cent according to a survey by councillors. Many of the toilets seen were simple pit latrines in a poor condition (rough wooden slabs without covers often sited near to homes and kitchens). It is a traditional Buganda role for the household head to finance major initiatives such as construction of a toilet and the role of the woman to keep the toilet clean and maintain domestic hygiene. The Health Inspectorate is also responsible for 3 public latrines, which are operated by a single contractor. The toilets are pit latrines with vent pipes and the contractor also provides soap and water. Users are charged USh 100/- to use the toilet, which is expensive; the number of users is low. Handwashing practices after defecation are believed to be roughly 10 per cent with soap, 20 per cent with water only while 70 per cent do not wash. At the time of the study, the Health Inspector had only 4 posters as hygiene education materials. Although her professional training included the use of participatory approaches she does not use them in her work; instead, she and her assistant use a combination of inspections, negotiations with landlords and enforcement. A constraint on the work of the health inspectorate is late-payment of salaries. 2.3.4 Water services The IDA-funded Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project, which is promoted by the Directorate of Water Development, recently funded a new piped water supply system for Wobulenzi. This serves most of the town but people living on the periphery take water from nearby springs or boreholes operated by user groups under the nominal supervision of the council. Wobulenzi Water Users’ Association operates and maintains the new scheme along with a smaller, pre-existing one comprising a borehole with motorised pump serving 4 private connections and a standpost with 8 taps. This was installed by the Directorate of Water Development but later taken over by a users group as the directorate failed to maintain it. The Water Users’ Association took it over in 1998. The recent project aimed to be demand-driven project and considerable efforts were made to sensitise and mobilise communities from the start by forming water user groups. Many user group members were landowners or other elite and influential people. Through the user groups, communities were given a choice between a point source (spring or borehole) and a piped system. The respective construction and operating costs were discussed with the user groups and all 32 chose a piped water supply. The technical design was then developed, and the source included two new deep boreholes and an existing one, a booster-pump and service reservoir. The piped network covers most of the town and feeds 31 kiosks plus 64 private connections and 6 institutions. All taps are metered. The kiosks are nominally managed by water users’ groups but in practice these are barely active, though each does have an attendant who charges USh 25/- for a 20 litre jerrycan and records the daily meter readings and revenue in a register. Kiosks are officially open from 7.00 am until 7.00 pm with a one hour lunch break. In reality opening times vary and were much fewer. Recommendations regarding community management, including positive gender impact initiatives, were all suggested at an early stage of the project planning process. These were based on the experience from the previous water supply scheme and point sources but were not incorporated into project implementation. Had they been taken up, the outcome in terms of community involvement and benefits might have been more positive and equitable. The new scheme was commissioned in June 1998 but has been severely hampered by a fluctuating and intermittent power supply (a problem made worse on occasion by non-payment of bills). Diesel standby generators are available for one borehole and for the booster pump but due to high running costs they are rarely used. Consequently the water supply scheme is often not functioning despite considerable excess capacity. 2.3.5 Wobulenzi Water Users’ Association The Association was established in 1998 under the Water Statute 1995. Inconsistencies between this Act and the Local Government Act have led to disagreements between the council and the Association over ownership of assets and responsibility for providing water services. The chairman of the Association is a former Town Board Chairman and losing mayoral candidate in the 1998 elections and there has been much politicking between him and the current mayor. Members of the Association’s committee were elected in 1998 at a council attended by members of the 31 water user groups. The committee comprises a chairman, vice-chair (currently the only female member), treasurer, secretary and one ordinary member. The committee meets at least once a month and to manage the day to day operations The Association has employed 40 staff, which include:
This Association is undoubtedly overstaffed and the workload of the manager and accounts officer do not justify the appointment of full-time personnel. The project under which the new scheme was built required the formation of user groups and payment of community contributions towards the USh 1.21 billion /- (USh 114 thousand /- per capita) capital costs. This was intended to foster a sense of ownership and ensure community commitment. Water user groups were also set up for point sources. While the Water Users’ Association was elected from the user group members, the sense of community ownership has been lost and most users view the Association as an institution much like the council. The external employment of a manager and accounts officer has added to the sense of estrangement between the Association and user groups. The community contributions collected by user groups were deposited in specially-opened bank accounts. The signatories of these accounts are reported to be project personnel from the Directorate of Water Development and not user group members, since the funds were to be used to offset construction costs. None of the user group members interviewed knew what had happened to their contributions but many thought it had been used to pay ‘fat’ salaries to Association staff. The Association manager believed that the contributions were used to pay for electricity connections to the boreholes, while the mayor said they were being used to pre-finance private connections. This confusion has added to the alienation between water user groups and the Water Users’ Association. A further contention relates to allowances. When the new scheme was commissioned, user group committee members were paid an allowance of USh 5,000/- per month as compensation for the time spent on user group business. When continuation of this allowance proved prohibitive a few months later, payment was suspended, after which most groups became inactive although the treasurers still take responsibility for banking the money collected by attendants. Most communal water points have been constructed on land ‘donated’ by various landlords who were members of water user groups. With the suspension of the allowances, some are threatening to reclaim the donated land. While these may be idle threats made as a bargaining tool for reinstating the allowances, they highlight the estrangement between user groups and the Association. 2.3.6 Water demand Out of total water consumption in the town, roughly 35 per cent is from kiosks in the town centre, 1 per cent from house connections and yard taps and 64 per cent from non-piped supplies on the outskirts (springs, boreholes with handpumps, ponds below springs and rainwater collection). Both demand and revenue are currently at roughly one third of the levels anticipated in scheme design and there appears to be a mismatch between supply and documented revenue. Assessment of the ability and willingness of users to pay for water has proved complicated in Wobulenzi. A 1999 financial analysis indicated that the ability of domestic users to pay for water falls in the range of 3-5 per cent of household income but people are clearly paying more: an average family of 5 supported by one person earning the average daily-wage-rate of USh 2,500/- and consuming 20 litres per person per day from the piped supply would be spending 6 per cent of their daily income on water. For families purchasing water from vendors this could account for up to 24 per cent of their income. When the new scheme was proposed, user groups were consulted on their willingness to pay for water. At the time they were being charged USh 20/- per 20 litres from the existing scheme while vendors charged USh 100 to USh 150/- for the same quantity. A charge of USh 50/- per 20 litres was suggested for the new scheme but residents resisted and a compromise was reached at USh 25/-. Now, however, some people are buying water from neighbours with house connections at USh 50/- per 23 litre jerrycan. Wealthy residents and commercial entrepreneurs have indicated that they could spend considerably more for a reliable water supply on the premises. Political differences between the mayor and the Water Users’ Association chairman have also affected willingness to pay, and some supporters of the mayor avoid using the piped water system. Recently, a number of landowners who were also councillors took over some boreholes provided by the NGO Plan International and waived all user charges, instead funding operation and maintenance costs from their own pockets or from the USh 2 million allocated for handpump repairs in the Wobulenzi Town Council budget. This has had a serious effect on the new piped water scheme. The relationship between the council and the Users’ Association is, however, now improving. As in Kumi, the system of paying for water on the spot means that it is generally women who make the payments. It is unlikely that men would take on direct responsibility for water bills unless a monthly charge was levied on the head of the household (70 per cent of household heads are male in Wobulenzi). Water sources and uses are set out in Tables 3 and 4 below. Collection times differ by age and gender, with male vendors bullying women and children to secure priority access, causing women to wait even longer for their turn in the queue. Children (both boys and girls) tend to have lower priority than women and it takes them the longest time to collect water. One idea proposed by Tadria (1994) was for some extra taps to be allocated solely for vendors. This has not happened and the issue of bullying at water points continues to be a problem. TABLE 4 On average, residents self-assessed their water use at 19.8 lpcd for drinking, bathing and laundry purposes. Our findings suggest that this may be about twenty per cent less than in Kumi. Car washers appear to use about 460 litres a day on average. As a result of power problems, the piped supply is sometimes out of order for 2 to 3 days, and low pressure extends the time taken to fill a jerrycan. Residents are dissatisfied with both the Water Users’ Association and the Water User Groups, claiming that they are inactive, do not call meetings and do not inform residents of problems in the water supply. Animosity exists at all levels from the residents, user groups, users’ Association council and employees in the water office. 2.3.7 Financing arrangements Wobulenzi Town Council does not make any provision for operation and maintenance of the water supply in its budget, nor does it receive any of the revenue collected by water user groups. Instead the revenue from each kiosk is deposited in a special bank account and at the end of each month the Users’ Association reads the meter and bills the Users’ group at a rate of USh 1,000/- per m3. The Association base their calculations on a charge to consumers of USh 1,087/- per m3, but 20 litre jerrycans stretch with use to an average of 23 litres, so that users are effectively under-charged. This, plus the cost of operating a bank account leaves little cash to pay the attendant after the Users’ Association bill has been settled. Attendants were initially paid a flat rate of USh 30,000/- per month but several kiosks did not generate sufficient revenue to cover their salaries, let alone the cost of producing water. The system was therefore changed in 1999 and attendants now receive a salary based on 40 per cent of sales revenue to a maximum of USh 30,000/-. This provides some attendants with the same salary as before while others receive much less and feel that the Users’ Association owes them money. There is also no incentive for attendants to sell more than 75m3 per month. Private connections and institutions are billed monthly by the Users’ Association at the same rate of USh 1,000/- per m3 and bills must be paid within 14 days. The Users’ Association accounts were not seen but, according to the accounts officer, total monthly revenue is in the range USh 2.5 million /- to USh 3.0 million /- while expenses (mostly salaries and electricity) amount to roughly USh 2.6 million /-. By January 2000, cumulative arrears had reached USh 1.5 million /-. The Association has tried to cover the shortfall by delaying payments to suppliers, notably the Uganda Electricity Board, cutting salaries and allowances, reducing maintenance and relying on the Directorate of Water Development for repairs and spare parts following expiry of the contractor’s guarantee period. Unaccounted for water is estimated by the Association at 30 per cent, and is reportedly due to leakage; the researchers were told that illegal connections were not possible. An independent study in 1999, however, found no leaks and reported that all meters were functioning accurately. Extrapolating from the bulk water meter reading of 69,299 m3 taken at the time of the field visit, an estimated USh 69.2 million /- could have been raised from water charges since commissioning the plant in June 1998. This corresponds to an average monthly supply of 3,465 m3 and revenue of USh 3,465,000/- per month, providing a surplus of USh 815,000/- per month (total USh 16.3 million /- since commissioning). This assumes that the meter was new, accurate and reading zero when it was installed. Up to 1,000 m3 of the unaccounted for water may have leaked in the commissioning, but the bulk of the missing surplus (USh 16.3 million/-) is unaccounted for. The Users’ Association aims to resolve its financial problems (despite the water shortage) by extending the distribution network to unserved outlying areas and encouraging private connections and vending from private connections. Typically, new connections cost USh 150,000/- but applicants are now being allowed an initial charge of USh 50,000/- with the remainder to be paid in monthly instalments over 12 months. Over 100 applications have been received but few connections made as the Association is waiting on the Directorate of Water Development to provide the necessary materials. 2.3.8 Issues arising
2.4 Conclusions The very different institutional arrangements for water supply services in the two towns reflect the confused policy and legal framework for water and sanitation services in Uganda. Both case studies were examples of poor water supply systems, but with different reasons for failure:
The research suggests that in small towns, the essence of good water supply and sanitation services lies in a clear and simple management structure with full accountability to the community. More specifically: 2.4.1 Roles and responsibilities The conflicting provisions of the 1995 Water Statute and the 1997 Local Government Act have created an open forum for political wrangles. The statutes require harmonisation and logically, responsibility for water and sanitation services should lie with local councils, which in the urban context would be town councils. Once the institutional arrangements have been clarified, each stakeholder should be encouraged to fulfil their agreed roles. 2.4.2 Accountability Town councils need to be more responsive to the needs of their people, and here again a simple management structure would help by enhancing transparency and promoting trust - especially trust in financial management. Good publicity around any loan or grant-aided investment (including income/expenditure accounts and development plans) would further increase accountability and encourage the community to monitor closely the use of the funds. Transparency was proving highly effective in Kumi where, despite the failings of the water supply scheme, the council was winning support from its residents due to its openness about the problems faced. 2.4.3 Participation Community participation in towns is more complicated than in rural areas. In Uganda, many town dwellers live in rented accommodation and some feel little responsibility for local development while others are supportive but unable to spend much time on voluntary activities. As a result, the few who do take an active role in projects and committees are often those with political or other ambitions. Effective community participation requires the selection of representatives genuinely committed to their community, not simply those who own land, are wealthy enough to spend time on voluntary work or want to increase their power or status. Good publicity around the selection of project committee members would increase the accountability and quality of the committees. Service providers need to maintain a dialogue with users, but consultation can be counter-productive if users’ concerns are not taken on board and incorporated in service design; loyalty can be bought with promises but is lost when those promises are not fulfilled. Being responsive to users may require compromise on some issues; the service provider should not simply adhere to fixed norms and procedures. 2.4.4 Technical support Technical and managerial capacity can be low in small towns and service providers should make good use of external advice, while reserving the right to make decisions locally. In Wobulenzi, external advice at the design stage was ignored in project implementation to the detriment of both the water system and the socio-economic development of the town. 3. Kerala, India 3.1 The context for water and sanitation services 3.1.1 Institutional framework in Kerala The south western Indian state of Kerala has some of the best human development indicators in the country and the state government is regarded as one of the most forward-looking. In the Indian context, it has undergone a remarkable process of decentralisation. The state government recently transferred responsibility to local councils for development planning, health, education and a range of other functions. These locally elected councils now receive up to 40 per cent of the development funds that were previously allocated to state government departments. The process is described in detail in the following section. Not all services have been decentralised however. The Kerala Water Authority is a state-wide, autonomous body responsible for water supply. Municipalities may take over a water supply scheme, but this has only taken place in one municipality to date. There have been a number of state government programmes that are relevant. These include the People’s Planning Campaign, the Community Development Societies scheme, which brings women into the local development planning process and the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation programme, which subsidises the construction of latrines. Whilst municipalities enjoy a high degree of autonomy, they are not free to raise additional funds from the private sector. Instead, loans are obtained from Kerala Urban Development Finance Corporation and the national Housing and Urban Development Corporation. 3.1.2 Management of water supplies: existing situation Despite abundant water sources, Kerala is experiencing an increasing shortage of clean drinking water and the government estimate that only 1 per cent of the population receives an adequate, clean supply. Table 6. Domestic water supply coverage in Kerala Satisfactory safe supply 1% Inadequate supply 78% No access to safe drinking water 21% People’s Planning Campaign Handbook, 1999 Responsibility for urban water supply was shared for many years between municipalities, who managed distribution, and the Public Health Engineering Department, which was responsible for bulk supplies. In the 1980s, however, the Kerala Water Authority was set up as an autonomous body responsible for all water supply functions. Management of water supplies was not handed back to local bodies when many other responsibilities were devolved to municipal level, but a municipality may now take over a water supply scheme, subject to state approval, provided the scheme serves that municipality only. The state government may also entrust schemes serving more than one municipality to a committee with representatives from each. So far, only one municipality in Kerala has taken over the local water supply. Municipalities have one other option under the new framework: they may develop their own water supply schemes using campaign funding, without water authority approval. This provides an alternative to reliance on state schemes which are typically large, centralised and expensive; the state government have estimated that at current rates of implementation it would take up 25 years and Rs, 1,000 crore ($238 million) for the water authority to provide satisfactory coverage state-wide. Roughly 8 per cent of total campaign funds are now allocated for drinking water projects, but most municipalities have used the funds to extend an existing piped supply scheme. This involves depositing funds with the water authority, which then undertakes the work direct. Unfortunately, such ‘deposit works’ are not subject to the same deadlines as regular campaign projects and the water authority have proved extremely slow in implementing them. Government procurement procedures are partly to blame; local water authority offices are not authorised to purchase materials, which are provided centrally. Such problems probably explain a decline in water supply projects under the campaign from 1998 to 2000. 3.1.3 Tariffs and cost recovery Water charges are uniform throughout the state, and for domestic consumers are based on an increasing block tariff, which is revised annually. TABLE 7 Assuming that most households consume less than 10,000 litres per month, they will be charged just Rs. 22 ($0.50). Nearly all house connections are metered and where a meter is not functioning bills are based on the last metered charge. Standpost users pay nothing at all, since municipalities are liable for the bills - though many are in substantial arrears. Collection of household charges is very poor, probably in the region of 40 per cent of the amount due. Reasons include inefficient billing, non-functioning meters, irregular meter reading and illegal connections. This, plus municipal arrears, leaves the water authority unable to cover its basic running costs, let alone improve services. At the time of the study, salaries were being paid by government grant. The principal source of municipal revenue is property tax, which all property owners (domestic and commercial) are liable to pay. In practice this usually produces relatively small income because: a) the tax rate, set by the state government, is very low - currently 12 per cent of annual rental value, a theoretical value long overdue for revision. It is revised every five years. b) collection efficiency is very poor and action against defaulters rare. 3.1.4 Decentralisation: the Kerala People’s Planning Campaign The decentralisation of public services has been achieved through a variety of methods, notably the People’s Planning Campaign (PPC), the Community Development Societies (CDS) and multilateral or NGO funded projects. These initiatives have been responsible for both water and sanitation projects. The People’s Planning Campaign is a mechanism for decentralised planning and budgeting, established in Kerala in 1997. Through a hierarchical compilation of annual plans produced from ward to state level, it aims to identify local needs and establish local development options through a process of consultation and participation of local people. In all, it addresses twelve sectors ranging from education, water and health to housing and social welfare. (Plummer and De Cleene, 1999). The campaign functions state-wide, in both urban and rural areas. Each municipality has a People’s Planning Co-ordinator appointed from the State Planning Department and supported by a People’s Planning cell. The framework established by the campaign is underpinned by legislation plus extensive guidance notes and handbooks in the local language. These cover every aspect of the scheme, from the range of items that can and cannot be funded, to technical design, plan formulation, the function and composition of the various committees and contractual arrangements for the execution of works. Progress with the campaign is monitored closely by the state and review documents are produced with guidance on best practices. Box 1. The People’s Planning process Under PPC the lowest unit of planning is the neighbourhood committee; plans made at neighbourhood level are brought together at ward conventions in which a consolidated list of proposed projects is compiled. Ward proposals are in turn taken to municipal level and consolidated into a municipal plan. At each stage in this process some projects may be dropped or amended; there is no guarantee that all proposals will appear in the final document. Moreover, at municipal level wider considerations are brought to bear, including the need for developments serving more than one local body (a hospital, for example). Such schemes may take priority over other projects proposed at neighbourhood level and will usually be co-funded by the local bodies concerned. Within the framework described, proposals are developed and refined sector-wise under municipal level task forces, one for each sector. The task forces comprise volunteers and are advised by volunteer experts, usually retired professionals, from a municipal level expert committee. Ward proposals are reviewed and transformed into a municipal plan at a development seminar. The plan is then approved by the MLEC and submitted to the council for final approval by the District Planning Committee. This committee integrates the municipal plan with those made by rural bodies to produce a district plan, which may include a number of co-funded projects. PPC rules envisage that beneficiary committees will usually implement projects, though approved specialist agencies may be used where the nature of the work makes it necessary. Private contractors may only be used as a last resort. When a beneficiary committee implements a project, the municipality enter into a contract with the convenor of the committee, and a 25 per cent mobilisation grant is deposited in a joint account opened by the convenor and chairman. The balance is paid on completion or sometimes in instalments as work progresses. Monitoring committees constituted from among the task force members help to ensure transparency. Municipalities in Kerala have to produce development plans annually, and therefore use management information to a far greater extent than is found in most other parts of India. Training is also fundamental to the success of the campaign and is provided for key players at every level, starting from area co-ordinators and cascading down to ward and beneficiary committee members. Rather than inhibiting local initiative, the framework has freed municipalities from previous bureaucratic conventions and encourages innovation. It is important to note that the aims of the campaign are political and concerned primarily with decentralisation, not with the details of how particular services should be managed and maintained. 3.1.5 Community Development Societies The Community Development Society system pre-dates the People’s Planning Campaign and also functions state-wide. It too involves local development planning by groups, in this case groups of women from families classified as ‘below the poverty line’ using defined criteria. They are linked via a tiered structure comprising neighbourhood groups, Area Development Societies covering one or more wards and a Community Development Society at municipal level. State and central government poverty alleviation schemes are channelled through the Community Development Society network, which also receives 2 per cent of municipal revenue and campaign funds earmarked for the poverty sector. Development plans made under this scheme are incorporated into the municipal plan made under the People’s Planning Campaign, which provides the framework for all municipal planning. 3.1.6 Recent initiatives Smaller, decentralised schemes are set to receive a boost in rural areas under a new World Bank-funded project covering 80 panchayats (rural local bodies) in 4 northern districts of the state. Under the project, panchayats (rural councils) and beneficiary groups will develop and operate stand-alone water supply schemes independently of the water authority. 3.1.7 Sanitation and hygiene education While development indicators in Kerala are generally good when compared to the rest of India, sanitation - which was a municipal function long before decentralisation – is far from satisfactory. There have been household latrine construction projects (some with NGO involvement) for some years and some 100,000 latrines are completed each year but these schemes do not generally include hygiene education and municipalities pay little attention to solid waste management and drainage. Responding this situation, the state Planning Board has recently suggested that each local body should develop a comprehensive sanitation package comprising:
- sanitation in the home, at school and at hospitals - environmentally acceptable solid waste management via community participation - preparation of drainage and sullage disposal plans - upgrading of slaughter houses, crematoria and markets - rat and mosquito control - public ‘pay and use’ toilets - reduction of the usage of plastic bags and containers It is not known whether any local bodies have taken up this proposal. 3.1.8 Key questions The decentralised framework in Kerala adds an interesting dimension to the investigation of small town water and sanitation services, and prompts a number of questions:
These and other issues are explored in the case studies that follow. 3.2 Case study one: Chertala 3.2.1 Description Chertala has a population of 43,000 and is located in central Kerala in a backwater area (i.e. with many rivers, lagoons and ponds) not far inland from the port city of Cochin. It is a relatively poor town, and many people make a meagre living from the coconut coir industry. Approximately one third of families are in the ‘at risk’ category i.e. below the poverty line, based on CDS poverty criteria. 3.2.2 Health status Given the abundance of surface water in the district, there is a high incidence of mosquito-related disease, especially malaria and filiariasis. The latter is, however, decreasing: and the number of recorded cases fell from 1,150 in 1994 to 523 in 1996 – a drop of more than half. Municipal officials attribute this to the combined efforts of their anti-mosquito programme, NGO contributions and the work of a government vector control research centre. The precise nature of these interventions is not clear but they include routine spraying of breeding sites. There is a wealth of curative services in the town, many of them privately run. They include 9 hospitals, 4 municipal mother and child welfare centres and 13 clinics. 3.2.3 Institutional arrangements An organisational chart is shown in figure 7. Note that services recently transferred from line departments to local bodies have not yet been absorbed into the municipal structure. The elected council Chairman plays an active role in operational management, in addition to the Council Secretary who is chief executive officer and a state government appointee. The Urban Poverty Alleviation Project Officer is responsible for the Community Development Society and is also a Health Inspector; fulfilling both functions. To improve efficiency the council has linked the operation of the campaign and Community Development Society, with representatives of the area development society sitting on ward committees and in some cases serving as convenors of beneficiary committees. There are 6 Area Development Societies in total, each covering 4 or 5 wards. The funding for both schemes is also combined at municipal level. The municipality aims to implement all campaign works through beneficiary committees – even construction of a new hospital. This will require formation of a special expert committee. The committee will manage construction and procurement processes and the municipality anticipate enormous savings compared with conventional contracting. Officials and beneficiary convenors appear confident that the committees can cope with the range of tasks assigned to them provided technical support is provided when necessary. Political infighting within committees, however, is a serious problem. Kerala Water Authority operates the town water supply. It has a sub-office in Chertala but operates independently from the municipality and there does not appear to be a great deal of contact between the two organisations.
Figure 7. Structure of Chertala Municipal Council 3.2.4 Municipal finances Revenue from property tax is very small due to low tax rates and incomplete collection. The council in fact relies less on this source of revenue than on income from municipal properties, principally shopping complexes. In 1998-99 this produced revenue of Rs. 17.98 lakhs, roughly the same as that from property tax, and income is set to increase as further complexes are planned. 3.2.4.1.1.1 Item Rs. lakhs* A. Taxes Property tax Employment tax Entertainment tax Advertising tax Stamp duty 17.45 5.20 18.00 0.55 2.87 B. Income from Municipal Properties 17.98 C. Licence Fees 3.57 D. Grants Vehicle Tax Compensation Others 9.50 1.35 Total 76.47 ($ 182,0000) *one lakh is 100,000 one crore is 100 lakhs or 10,000,000 Over 70 per cent of municipal expenditure is on salaries, with much of the remainder spent on maintenance, repairs and miscellaneous items including the mandatory 2 per cent allocation to poverty alleviation schemes under the Community Development Society. The municipality thus contributes almost nothing towards development projects under the People’s Planning Campaign from its own resources. Instead it relies on plan funds from the state government. The municipal plan for 2000-01 (See Annex B) does include a figure of Rs. 78.20 lakhs against own funds allocated to infrastructure development, but this seems wholly unrealistic. The funds are in theory to be raised from the collection of property tax arrears. 3.2.5 Development planning A summary of planned activities under PPC for the year 2000-01 is given in Annex B. Water supply features strongly in the plan, as does sanitation, with 500 latrines planned. (350 were completed for poor families in 1998-99). Apart from water supply and sanitation, the municipality is also giving priority to construction of a new 500-bed hospital at a cost of Rs. 2.25 crores*. Rs. 40 lakhs ($ 95,000) has been allocated in the current year and further funds still need to be raised. Since the hospital will serve a large catchment area, 18 local panchayats are also contributing. The hospital is a major drain on resources and constrains spending in other areas. Housing for the poor also features in the plan; last year 430 low-cost houses were constructed at a unit cost of Rs. 35,000 ($830) each. A reading of the priorities identified by ward conventions in 1996 reveals that, while plans to develop a new water supply and expand latrine coverage respond directly to local concerns, only two wards mentioned central hospital facilities. The hospital is a joint venture between several local bodies, which identified it as a priority for the area. Table 9. Priorities identified at ward level, Chertala 3.2.6 Water supply The main supply for Chertala, commissioned in 1964, is extracted from tube wells and distributed untreated to 437 standposts (roughly 1 per 100 population) and 238 house connections. The municipality is liable for standpost user charges, which are fixed at Rs. 2,628 per tap per annum. The piped supply is both inadequate and untreated, and commonly regarded as unfit to drink. Dissatisfaction is so high that the municipality has decided to develop an independent scheme even though KWA has longstanding plans for a new surface water supply. The municipal plan includes provision in each ward of a borehole fitted with an electric pump and overhead tank, serving a mini-distribution system with 10 standposts. An automatic switch will be fitted to the pump so that a full-time attendant is not needed. No boreholes have yet been installed, nor any trial drilling undertaken, but the estimated cost of each mini-system is Rs.3 lakhs assuming a borehole depth of 6-10m. The plan is to start the work in 13 wards in 2000-01 .The municipality hopes in due course to raise the level of service by providing house connections. Beneficiary contributions towards installation costs have not yet been discussed but users will be responsible for all operation and maintenance costs, currently estimated at Rs. 1,000 per month. Assuming 20 families per standpost this amounts to a typical household contribution of Rs. 50 per month, more than double the current tariff for a house connection. According to the Secretary, the new borehole scheme will have the great advantage of putting the community in charge of their own water supply. The proposal for an independent supply is to some extent the product of municipal frustration at the failure of the water authority to improve its own scheme. Two years ago the municipality deposited some plan funds with Kerala Water Authority for the extension of pipelines to some unserved coastal areas. The water authority has made no progress with this initiative, while many beneficiary works have been completed in good time. It appears that government procurement procedures are partly to blame. In the long term the municipality would like to take over the water authority supply though this would need formal sanction by the state government; the current initiative is a first step. Many of the poorest residents live in coastal wards where groundwater is saline. In the absence of improvements by the water authority the municipality now plans to serve these areas by extending pipelines from boreholes drilled further inland where the groundwater is potable. Poor families in some parts of the town have already benefited from shallow (under 5m) dug wells provided with plan funds. 3.2.7 Sanitation and preventative health services Basic hygiene education is provided to all neighbourhood groups under the Community Development Society, but apparently comprises just a brief standard package, which is not linked to latrine construction activity. Notwithstanding this, officials believe that there is a strong local demand for latrines. No comprehensive survey has been conducted but coverage is already high at and estimated 70 - 80 per cent, with roughly 1,300 more latrines needed to achieve 100 per cent household coverage. The latrine promoted in Chertala is the twin-pit pour-flush, a design familiar throughout Kerala thanks to the Urban Basic Services Project, an earlier initiative funded by UNICEF. Many local artisans can construct the latrine, nevertheless it is unclear whether users fully understand the operation and maintenance requirements and are willing to empty pits, or whether all family members use the latrines after installation. Officials believe that 100 per cent latrine coverage is achievable within the next few years, though this is not an explicit objective of the municipal plan. Box 2. Latrine construction in Chertala The unit cost of a twin-pit pour-flush latrine to plinth level is Rs. 2,000, for which the People’s Planning Campaign provides a 75 per cent grant; the remaining 25 per cent is contributed by the beneficiaries. Concrete components, including pit covers and rings for pit lining (the soil is very sandy) are mostly purchased from a central supplier. Superstructures are also built at the users’ own expense and most people construct pacca ones, some with a bathroom adjacent to the toilet compartment. This seems to confirm that a real demand exists for latrines. 3.2.8 Public toilets Chertala has had pay-and-use public toilets for over twenty years and there are currently three: one each at a hospital, the market place and the bus station. The municipality built them using general funds and each year auctions leases for their operation. Successful candidates pay a lump sum to operate and maintain a toilet and provide a full- time attendant. Each is run by a different small contractor. Two further toilet complexes are planned and will be leased in the same way. Officials regard them as a facility for busy public places, not for residential areas. Housing density is low (even relatively poor families may have a large plot) and space for household toilet construction is not a constraint. Box 3. Pay-and-use toilets in Chertala Adjacent to the old municipal hospital is a municipal public toilet operated by a small contractor who pays the municipality Rs. 65,000 for the right to operate the service for one year and collect user charges. The unit has six seats and six showers, its own private water supply from a tubewell and a septic tank. There is a full time attendant and users are charged Rs. 0.50 each per visit, including children. The complex is twenty years old but when visited was in reasonable repair, did not smell and was in a clean and tidy condition. 3.2.9 Solid waste management The town has no designated disposal site and domestic waste is dumped unofficially in several places. Little attention has been given to equipment design: regular trucks and open, bottomless communal bins are used. To date the municipality has not tried to promote primary collection services based on user payment for domestic or commercial users. Waste from the municipal hospital, slaughterhouse and vegetable market is disposed of in a small incinerator, recently installed at a cost of Rs. 1.2 lakhs ($28,500). The incinerator has a capacity of 3,000 kg per hour but because the waste is wet and is slow to burn, estimated use is just 1,000 kg per day. Daily running costs are approximately Rs. 850 plus staff. Private hospitals are required to make their own arrangements for safe waste disposal, and are apparently monitored by health inspectors under a licensing system. Disposal of coconut pith is a problem for which no arrangements have been made. 3.2.10 Drainage Chertala has many canals and backwaters and the water table is high, creating serious drainage problems. So far little has been done under the campaign to improve the situation. 3.2.11 Issues arising 1. The People’s Planning Campaign has had a direct impact on the provision of water supplies to this town, providing the mechanism for the proposed scheme. The vision and confidence of the municipality in taking up the proposal is impressive and the new supply could have a very positive impact on current water supply problems, in the short term at least. There has been no detailed planning, however. No trial pumping has been done to assess yield or quality, neither has their been any assessment of current and future demand or of the optimum economic size of the new system. Moreover, it is unclear whether there has been any detailed consultation with users on willingness to pay or possible management models. The proposal merely says that ‘some kind of permanent committee’ will need to be set up. This hints at three possible constraints on the development of sustainable services under the campaign:
Having said this, assigning management responsibility to the users should help to ensure long-term viability, and officials realise the dependence of the scheme on an enduring user group of some form. If the campaign and CDS systems are functioning properly, adoption of the scheme will be a direct response to user demand, so the prospects for community management – including the payment of running costs – should be reasonably good. 2. The opportunity to develop an alternative water supply in Chertala arises largely from the potential availability of shallow ground water. Clearly, this option would not be open to every municipality. 3. There is little integration of municipal and water authority planning, and this does not encourage the efficient use of resources. The water authority does not seem to afford campaign activities the priority they are given by municipal and other government agencies, suggesting less than wholehearted support for the proposed scheme. 4. The proposal to build a 500-bed hospital via the beneficiary committee system is remarkable for a town of just 43,000 people. It reflects the level of municipal confidence that the campaign has inspired; there is a sense that ‘anything is possible’. It should be noted, however, that the requests of the ward conventions laid greater emphasis on primary and preventive health services. It appears that ward conventions alone do not dictate the final content of the municipal plan. The hospital proposal prompts another question: what to do if residents opt for investments that, according to professionals, provide the ‘wrong’ solution to current problems? People may, for example, request sewerage even when it is not technically viable. Experts give advice but municipal engineers, too, are prone to making the same request. It seems that the primacy of local decision-making is fundamental and the occasional unwise investment is a fair price to pay for local democracy. It must be remembered, too, that the campaign is still relatively new; municipalities have rarely had to make such choices in the past. It has at least freed municipalities from the practices of state departments, which design and build according to fixed norms with little regard for actual needs. 5. There is a distinct emphasis on financial, not economic, thinking in the municipality i.e. an emphasis on meeting short–term needs and doing so by accessing, not generating, funds. The municipality has proved quite successful in accessing development funds but no arrangements are being made for the operation and maintenance of services and if this is a general trend, local bodies could be storing up considerable problems for the future. Chertala municipality has realised the need to enhance local revenues, but is doing so largely to cover establishment costs and raise more capital funds. The emphasis on revenue raising from businesses also carries considerable risk, as businesses will move away if their profitability is seriously threatened. There appears to be little awareness of the opportunity for cost recovery from service users. The desire to provide maximum benefits to the community while demanding the minimum in return is understandable, but not sustainable. 6. The municipality has not seen the need to adopt a comprehensive strategy for latrine promotion, which it appears to regard as primarily a construction exercise. No survey of user needs or attitudes has been conducted, and neither the campaign nor CDS provides for the integration of hygiene promotion and user education with construction. This may be an area where better guidelines are needed, though no evidence of unused or wrongly used latrines was encountered during the study. The scheme is of course designed to be demand-driven and the Rs. 500 user contribution should help to prevent the construction of latrines where they are not wanted. 7. Though solid waste management and drainage issues are highlighted in the PPC report, no comprehensive planning in this area has been attempted. There seems to be little appreciation of cost-effective or environmentally safe options. 3.3 Case study two: Ponani 3.3.1 Description This coastal town lies 110 kms to the north of Cochin and has a population of 51,770 (7,300 families). It is one of the poorest towns in the state with nearly half of its residents designated as below the poverty line; many of these live in kacha houses, that is ones made from temporary materials. Most of the poor live in the ten coastal wards and rely on fishing for their livelihood; this is seasonal work and only possible for six months of the year. Families are typically large, and some may have as many 12 members. The current municipal area is just 9.32 km2 but an adjoining panchayat is shortly to be absorbed. This will double the population and increase the area by another 14 km2. The coastal wards are not only the poorest economically but suffer the worst environmental conditions including saline ground water for six months of the year and poor drainage. Soil permeability is surprisingly low and some settlements are below sea level (an embankment separates them from the sea) so that runoff collects and cannot escape, especially in the rainy season. The municipality has invested in drainage improvements but these have had only limited success. A recently installed collector drain was blocked at the time of inspection. A municipal development report prepared in 1996 states that only 5 per cent of households do not have a drinking water facility within 150m. What this figure does not indicate, of course, is the adequacy of water points in terms of reliability, yield, water quality, queuing time etc. 3.3.2 Health Status Compared to the rest of Kerala, health indicators in Ponani are poor. As in Chertala, filiariasis is a serious problem due the abundance of mosquito breeding sites; diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis, jaundice, measles, chickenpox and skin diseases are also reported as common. 3.3.3 Institutional arrangements The municipal structure is largely the same as that in Chertala. Both the Chair and Vice Chair are women and there are sixty employees in total, though there is currently no Health Officer or Health Inspector, only a Junior Health Inspector who doubles as CDS co-ordinator. This has made it difficult for the municipality to fulfil its public health responsibilities, which have increased under decentralisation and now include immunisation and management of the Integrated Child Development Scheme. Under the CDS there are 12 area development societies and 120 neighbourhood groups, of which about half are active according to the Chair. The CDS and PPC systems are not yet fully integrated though the area development societies are represented on ward committees and links are developing via sector-specific municipal task forces. In theory, a municipal monitoring committee is established for each project under the campaign but in Ponani there is one central committee, with others set up when needed for large projects. Work is monitored by the municipal engineer, who reports to the monitoring committee. Beneficiary committees maintain minutes, stock registers and accounts, generally to a high standard. Officials report that the committees can function well provided they are free from ‘benami contractors’ i.e. friends and relatives of those disbursing the funds. There is no pre-set minimum beneficiary contribution towards project costs. Typically, beneficiaries offer skilled labour, equipment, or cheap sources of materials. They also provide refreshments for any hired labourers or specialists who are brought in. Unskilled labourers are usually hired from among the beneficiary group and work at a subsidised rate. Thus most community contributions are in kind, and typically amount to 10 - 20 per cent of total project cost in line with government guidelines. Notwithstanding the above, the municipality has had mixed experience with beneficiary contracting. Many committees have delivered good quality work, in a timely manner, and below estimated cost – sometimes substantially below. Active support from councillors and tight rules have helped in this respect. Nevertheless, officials perceive that committees are gradually withdrawing from implementation. They attribute this primarily to poverty and report that committees have sometimes been unable to raise cash up-front for materials or for hiring specialist equipment. Inadequate training of convenors is also said to be a problem, as is the time taken for the municipal machinery to release funds. To avoid such problems, an increasing amount of project work is now implemented via Area Development Societies, which hire labour using funds from the government Urban Wage Employment Scheme. Some construction projects are also given to the Costford, a local NGO with expertise in cost-effective building technology. Now less than one third of projects are implemented by beneficiary committees. 3.3.4 Municipal finances The revenue status of Ponani municipality is worse than that in Chertala. Not only are the council dependent on plan funds for all development works; they even use them to cover some routine operations such as the chlorination of wells and filiariasis control (blood tests and supply of medicines). Officials are, however, hopeful that the forthcoming expansion of the municipality will lead to increased revenue, especially from the entertainment tax levied at cinemas. Shopping centres are also being developed with a view to providing rental income. Table 10. Municipal revenue 1997-98, Ponani (excluding campaign funds) TABLE 10 The most recent accounts available (1997-98) show property tax to be the biggest single component of municipal revenue, at Rs. 13.5 lakhs (roughly $320,000). The municipality claim that 95 per cent of the tax due is collected, with the total sum rising by 10-15 per cent each year; if so, it confirms the need to raise the tax rates since revenue was still far short of the level needed to maintain adequate services. (A state-wide rise of approximately 35 per cent is predicted, but even this will not make a huge difference to total municipal revenue.) The biggest items of expenditure are salaries, which account for 63 per cent of the total, followed by infrastructure maintenance at 25 per cent. 3.3.5 Development planning The plan fund allocation for 2000-01 is Rs.166 lakhs (See Annex B) including just Rs. 5.09 lakhs in the water and sanitation category, though some slum development funds will also be used for latrine construction. Interestingly, the biggest single item of expenditure under sanitation is composting, suggesting that the municipality may be trying to deal with its acute solid waste management problems. It is also notable that Rs. 11 lakhs has been allocated for improving hospital infrastructure – considerably higher than expenditure on water supply and sanitation. Some major project items attract additional funding from separate sources. Development funds held by the local MP, for example, will part-fund a new ayurevedic hospital. 3.3.6 Water supply Kerala Water Authority extract water from a local river a short distance upstream from the town using an infiltration gallery; no treatment is provided. The scheme was commissioned in 1984, has a design capacity of 10Mld and serves Ponani plus neighbouring panchayats. Within Ponani it supplies, according to the water authority, 2.48 Mld to 845 house connections (serving roughly 12 per cent of total households), 75 non-domestic connections and 488 standposts. The source provides a good perennial yield and pressure at many standposts is visibly high. Most of the taps deliver water for 8-12 hours per day though pump breakdowns are common; the authority intends to replace the faulty pump soon. The municipality identified three key water supply problems in their five-year plan document. All of these are, apparently, receiving some degree of attention: 1. In wards 1 to 16, well water becomes saline in the summer. The piped network is to be extended and more taps given to families currently reliant on wells. 2. In other wards, the well water though not saline is unfit for drinking. Water is to be tested and chlorination undertaken where necessary. More taps are to be provided. 3. Ward level ‘water watch committees’ are to be formed to control the misuse of water and create awareness regarding the protection of wells and ponds. Some line extension work is already in hand and overall the municipality is reasonably satisfied with the town supply. As a result it has not made water supply improvements a priority in the latest municipal plan. Approximately 30 new house connections are added per year, though the supply is sufficient to provide more. (An adjoining panchayat is adding roughly 100 new connections each year). The typical cost of a new connection including materials and charges is Rs. 3,500; the actual amount depends on the length of pipe to be laid. The procedure for obtaining a new house connection is slow and it appears that neither the water authority nor the municipality are encouraging applications. 3.3.7 Cost Recovery The water authority claims to recover approximately 90 per cent of the charges due from house and non-domestic connections, nevertheless total revenue covered less than one third of expenditure in 1999-00 (see Annex B). One reason is unpaid charges for standpost supplies; the municipality currently has arrears of Rs. 6 lakhs ($14,300). At current rates, the total annual bill for standposts would be Rs. 2.2 lakhs ($5,200), which the municipality cannot pay. Instead it has negotiated an agreement with KWA whereby it pays a fixed sum of Rs.10,000 per month ($238) pending the availability of funds to clear the balance. 3.3.8 Sanitation and preventative health services Latrine construction for the poor has been underway for some years in Ponani and officials believe that 100 per cent coverage will be achieved by 2001. Exact coverage is not known, however; a planning document prepared for in 1996 for PPC estimated that 1,675 latrines were needed though no survey was conducted to determine the true number of homes without toilets. Municipal records indicate that 570 household latrines were constructed in 1998-99 under a special scheme - not PPC - but it is not certain that all were completed. The target for 1999-2000 was 430 and work was still in progress at the time of the study, with 120 completed. Planned activities for 2000-01 include 400 more, followed by 675 in the following year. By that time the municipality area will have expanded, creating additional demand. Latrine construction is currently organised by area development societies. When a project has is due to begin, the municipality transfers Rs. 2000 per latrine to the area development society chairperson who then collects a cash contribution of Rs. 500 per beneficiary and hires masons to build the toilets. A standard pour-flush design is recommended by the municipality but not enforced – see box. Previously, beneficiaries were paid in instalments with final payment made after construction was completed to plinth level. Many families, however, did not go on to complete a superstructure. Box 4. Latrines for a fishing community Ponani Community Development Society has overseen the construction of household latrines in a fishing community located on the edge of a beach. The settlement contains both pacca houses (made of permanent materials such as brick and concrete) and kacha (made of temporary natural materials including palm thatch). Masons were hired to build the latrines to plinth level and constructed single-pit designs with exceptionally large platforms and large rectangular pits, brick-lined with rectangular concrete covers made on-site. Most users completed their superstructures, the majority of which were kacha. The design was agreed in advance by the residents and mason; residents claimed that the Rs. 2,500 grant they received was insufficient to construct the twin-pit design. The reason for the large platforms was unclear. 3.3.9 Public toilets There are two pay-and-use toilets in Ponani, one at a bus station and the other in a low-income area by the beach. Annual leases are auctioned off, but in this case the sum agreed was only Rs. 4,000 per annum for 1999-2000. When visited, the bus station complex was locked and when opened was found to be in an insanitary condition, though a caretaker was employed. This was in stark contrast to the public toilet viewed in Chertala, where leases were granted at Rs. 60,000 per annum. 3.3.10 Hygiene education As in Chertala, the municipality report that some basic hygiene education is provided to neighbourhood groups as part of CDS, with health professionals providing specialist inputs. The nature and content of the education are not clear but it does not seem to be integrated with the latrine construction programme. 3.3.11 Solid waste management Despite a high level of latrine coverage, municipal officials cited sanitation in its broadest sense as one of the biggest problems facing the town. Solid waste management is particularly poor, with just 10 salaried sweepers and 8 more on daily wages. Of these, 10 work on the refuse collection truck: 5 in the morning run and 5 in the afternoon. The only other collection equipment is a single motorised handcart. There are only 30 communal bins in total, for 32 wards; in 3 wards with high-density housing the truck collects direct from the householders, as there is no space for a communal collection point. Some areas are unserved, due partly to access problems. In response the municipality has allocated Rs. 60,000 in the current municipal plan for the purchase of handcarts. Like most municipalities in the area, Ponani has no designated disposal site; one was earlier identified but strong objections from local residents prevented it from being used. Instead the municipality adopts a succession of short–term arrangements. Waste is currently dumped on private ground in a residential area, with the agreement of the owner who wants to raise the ground level. Efforts are being made to manage the site responsibly by covering the waste deposited each day, but the plot is small and will last less than one year. When the monsoon comes much of the waste may be washed off the site and spread over neighbouring plots. A further problem is the lack of a slaughterhouse, resulting in the uncontrolled disposal of animal waste around the town. 3.3.12 Issues arising 1. The experience in Ponani suggests that beneficiary contracting has its limitations. There is a limit to the amount of cash or unpaid labour that the poor are willing and able to invest in campaign projects, and it may be that the model works best with communities above the poverty line. For the poorest, the opportunity for paid labour in executing a contract may be a significant benefit in itself, apart from the longer term benefits accruing from the infrastructure or services provided. Having said this, it would be wrong to draw generalised conclusions from one case alone. Transparency in project management and the commitment of local councillors have proved vital to the success of the model and there may be other, less obvious factors affecting outcomes. 2. As in Chertala, the municipality has given little attention to the operation and maintenance requirements of new infrastructure. Cost recovery from users would be the obvious solution but officials do not see this as politically viable; it would apparently require a state-wide directive in the case of water. Even then, officials point out that there could be public resistance due to a strong expectation of free water. 3. The use of plan funds to cover some routine operational costs highlights a substantial revenue gap in municipal finances. Unless this is resolved it is difficult to see how the municipality will ever be able to provide and sustain satisfactory services. 4. Given the relatively high yield of the piped water supply and the minimal income from standpost supplies, one option of benefit to both consumers and KWA could be to raise the level of service by providing many more house connections. Customers may prove willing to pay for the benefits of a personal supply, and KWA would gain a more reliable source of income. Incentives to install house connections could perhaps be provided by one-off subsidies to reduce installation charges, and by gradually reducing the number of standposts. Water authority officials took a different view, however, arguing that since there is a large number of standposts there is little need to install house connections; economic viability does not appear to be a factor in their thinking. The authority is providing a relatively good supply to the town and is under no pressure to increase revenues. 5. The municipality, meanwhile, have little incentive to take over the water supply scheme which currently offers little prospect of cost recovery. Moreover, sharing of the supply by several local bodies would make take-over complex and require the separation of production and distribution functions. 6. The prospect of 100 per cent latrine coverage (or even proximity to it) is impressive, though this is the result of years of projects and cannot be attributed solely to the PPC. The municipality appears, however, to regard that latrine promotion as an exercise in construction, and the lack of hygiene education and possibly poor quality control could constrain long-term benefits. The poor state of the pay-and-use toilet also suggests that that the municipality does not appreciate the need for close supervision of contracts. 3.3.13 Observations on the role of beneficiary committees The People’s Planning Campaign has developed a system whereby implementation of the development works is undertaken by local people themselves in a form of ‘community contracting’. The scale on which this is occurring is unique in South Asia and therefore we include this additional short section. Under People’s Planning Campaign rules, municipal staff prepare designs and estimates for each project in the municipal plan using the Public Works Department schedule of rates. After technical sanction by the municipal level expert committee, the plan is passed to the District Planning Committee for final approval. Where the projects are to be implemented by beneficiary committees, one is formed for each project. State guidelines indicate that beneficiaries should contribute 10-20 per cent of project costs, but the amount is not fixed; instead it is negotiated with each committee. In practice, contributions often exceed the guideline level and are made mostly in kind. Each beneficiary committee includes a convenor and chair. When works are due to begin, the municipality enters into a contract directly with the convenor; this makes them personally liable for proper use of the funds and execution of the works. At the start of the project, a 25 per cent mobilisation advance is deposited into an account jointly operated by the convenor and chair. The balance is paid on completion or in instalments as specified stages of the work are completed. A central monitoring committee is responsible for overseeing progress and authorising final payments. In some municipalities there are also monitoring committees for specialist sectors; a project may even warrant its own monitoring committee if it involves major works, for example construction of a hospital building. In practice, a municipal engineer, or a health inspector in the case of latrines, does day-to-day monitoring of works. (A health inspector usually co-ordinates all CDS activities.) These officers report back to the secretary who is authorised to release instalments, but final payment must be authorised by the monitoring committee direct. One of the stated aims of this process is to avoid the use of commercial contractors wherever possible in order to reduce corruption in the procurement of works. This is likely to impact on small contractors. The campaign framework has several features that encourage cost-effective implementation, including:
Box 5. Beneficiary committees in Vaikam. BOX 5 3.4 Conclusions The People’s Planning Campaign dominates municipal planning in Kerala and has clearly had a very positive impact on the cost-effective development of infrastructure and services. The highly decentralised model represents a major step forward from the previous framework under which development activities were the sole preserve of professionals and administrators in government departments. When considering the management of small town water supplies, however, the picture is more mixed, with substantial achievements in some areas while other difficulties remain unresolved. The implications of key aspects of the PPC framework for small town water supply and sanitation services are considered below. 3.4.1 The operational model A system of development planning by the people with provision of technical support where necessary has proved very effective and has generated considerable enthusiasm in both community and municipality. Good communication between the municipality and service users is enabled and community priorities feed directly into the decision-making process. Moreover, the campaign has, on the whole, generated community support and confidence so that beneficiary groups have a high degree of ownership of projects and are willing to contribute from their own resources. All of this is very beneficial for the development of viable water and sanitation services in small towns. The model fails, however, in two important areas: 1. Strategic Planning: Investments under the People’s Planning Campaign are characterised by a succession of projects to address short-term needs in specific locations with little consideration for the needs of the town as a whole and development of a comprehensive strategy. Solid waste management is a good example: a few bins or trucks are purchased, but no prioritised schedule of improvements is devised to meet current and future needs, including the need for final disposal or primary collection services. 2. Operation and maintenance: The campaign does not deal with the challenge of operation and maintenance. Having said this, the prospects for community management of small, stand-alone water supply schemes appear quite good, in fact this is already happening in some rural locations in Kerala. Successful operation and maintenance of networked supplies, however, has not been achieved. 3.4.2 The policy and legal framework The campaign has demonstrated the value of establishing a comprehensive framework of rules, incentives and advice under which municipalities and line departments operate. The state government has gone to great lengths to ensure that the framework is understood at all levels and this has paid great dividends. There is a common understanding among officials, councillors and community representatives of the operating rules and the framework seems strong enough to function (albeit imperfectly) in every municipality, irrespective of the quality of local management. This is a tremendous achievement. The downside, however, is that potentially important initiatives may not be taken at municipal level unless specifically required by campaign rules. Thus no attempt may be made to improve service cost recovery or promote the maintenance of new infrastructure. This situation is at least resolvable; if sufficient political will were generated, the operating rules could be modified to promote economically viable services, address the need for better strategic planning and ensure viable operation and maintenance arrangements are put in place. Cost recovery from users seems politically impossible at present but public confidence in local government has doubtless improved under the People’s Planning Campaign and there may well be a willingness to pay for better and more reliable services. This issue has received little attention so far and merits further investigation. 3.4.3 Institutional roles and responsibilities An important task in the development of viable small town water supplies is identifying appropriate institutional arrangements for production and distribution. These case studies offer some insight into management by the municipality, by the water authority and by the community. The Kerala Water Authority has not, in the cases studied, acquitted itself well in terms of water quality, quantity or reliability or cost recovery. Even when it receives development funds under the campaign, the authority tends to be extremely slow in implementing works. The Government of Kerala Planning Board has recently highlighted this as a state-wide problem; the water authority does not appear to be an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign, which is reducing its role as the sole provider of municipal water supplies. The arguments for retaining this agency as manager of small town schemes are not strong, and relate mostly to technical expertise and the ability to manage schemes serving several locations simultaneously. Neither problem would be insurmountable following the transfer of a scheme to the municipality. A much-reduced water authority could continue providing technical support while for shared schemes, production and distribution could be managed independently. In the short term, water authority performance in completing plan fund works could be improved by designating it as an official implementing agency for the campaign; development works would then be subject to the one year deadline applicable to other campaign projects Under the People’s Planning Campaign, municipalities in Kerala are more motivated, more flexible, and more responsive to community demands than the water authority and could potentially be more effective managers of the local water supply provided technical support was secured. There is thus a strong argument in favour of transferring at least independent schemes to the municipality if accompanied by measures to transform the schemes from financial liabilities into self-sustaining assets. SUMMARY (PDF)PART A (HTM) ..............BACK TO TOP Home > Resources > WELL studies > Provision of water and sanitation services to small towns |