Terms of Reference

To examine and suggest alternative strategies, inter alia recent developments and innovations with due regard to cost effectiveness and optimization of resources, with the objective of contributing to the fulfillment of the objectives of the National Population Policy.

To consider any other matter related with or incidental to the above terms of reference.

1.

Dr. B.B. Sundaresan - Chairman
Ex - Vice Chancellor (Madras University),
46, Cowley Brown Road,
R.S. Puram, Coimbatore - 641 002.

2.

Prof. K.J. Nath, Director -Professor of Env. Sanitation &
Head of Sanitary Engg.
All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health.
110, Chittarajan Avenue, Calcutta, West Bengal.

3.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak
Founder,
Sulabh International Social Service Organization.
Sulabh Bhavan, RZ-83 Mahavir Enclave,
Dabri Road, Palam, New Delhi.

4.

Shri L.R. Thanga, D.I.G.F
Ministry of Environment & Forest,
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex,
New Delhi.

5.

Shri V. B. Rama Prasad, Adviser (PHE), CPHEEO,
Deptt. of Urban Development,
"A" Wing, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi.

6.

Shri V. Asokan, Director
National Commission on Population,
Yojana Bhavan, New Delhi

7.

Ms. P.V. Valsala G. Kutty, Director (TM)
Deptt. of Drinking Water Supply
Paryravaran Bhavan, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

8.

Shri A.K. Singh, Director (Sanitation)
Ministry of Rural Development,
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

9.

Dr. (Smt.) Prema Ramachandran, Adviser
Health, FW & Nutrition Division
Planning Commision, New Delhi

10.

Shri Gautam Basu, Jt. Secretary
Deptt. of Family Welfare
Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi

11.

Dr. Rekha Bhargava, Jt. Secretary
Deptt. Of Women & Child Development
Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi

12.

Ms. Sujatha Rao, Jt. Secretary
Department of Health,
Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi

13.

Ms. Imrana Qadir, Professor (Population Studies),
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi

14.

Dr. B.K. Tiwari, Nutrition Adviser
Directorate General of Health Services,
Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi.

15.

Dr. R.C. Kalra, Dy. Director General (RHS)
Directorate General of Health Services
Directorate General of Health Services

16.

Shri K.P. Katailiha, Convenor
Dy. Adviser (WS)
Planning Commission,
New Delhi

* Where there was no dependable source of water within a resonable distance, say 1.6 km walking distance or 100 mtr elevation difference in hilly areas, or the available source of water was endemic to water borne diseases; or the water contained excessive chemical contamination.

- Using inappropriate technology, which is not sustainable and cost-effective.

- Insignificant delegation of responsibilities and power to Panchayat/community, lack of communication and social mobilisation efforts, lack of involvement of community/women/ NGOs.

- Lack of sense of ownership.

- Absence of operational WATSAN Committees.

- Lack of awareness, health education, advocacy.

- Lack of skilled human power at grass root level. Inadequate training of various functionaries.

- Inadequate funds.

- Insufficient resource-generation/cost-sharing. No recovery even where rates fixed.

- Inadequate MIS and Evaluation

- Absence of O&M manual in local languages.

India's UWSS Sector faces many problems and is currently bound by a vicious circle of circumstances. Notably:

Many UWSS providers are not financially viable and are unable to maintain services without extensive subsidies, eg: percentage of revenue generation to O&M cost in cities of Calcutta, Nagpur, Pune, Ludhiana Lucknow and Kanpur (in March 1998) was 14,48,49,40,50 and 78 respectively.

Several low income areas within a city/town have not been provided basic water supply and sanitation services. Even where provided, often complain of low quality due to insufficient funding of O&M.

Sanitation services in particular, are generally inadequate and access to acceptable services are extremely limited in urban squatter settlements/slums.

Affluent sections within a city/town are not only covered, but better served

Environmental degradation continues due to multiplicity of factors.

UWSS needs competent professionals in water treatment, distribution, sewage treatment, solid waste management and urban sanitation.

UWSS managers lack management skills, autonomy and accountability for their performance. Following elements of strategy on improving urban water supply and sanitation need to be adopted.

Support for training of' professionals in special areas of' water treatment, distribution, urban sewerage, solid waste management.

Low allocation for cities/towns : Allocation to sewerage only around 10% of funds for water supply.

No Central/Centrally Sponsored Scheme to assist State Government/Local Bodies except low cost sanitation scheme, that too with grossly inadequate funds. NRCP confined to only a few cities/towns on the banks of selected rivers.

Lack of integrated Environmental Sanitation approach and linkage with water supply and health efforts in particular.

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District should be treated as a Unit for collection, collation and monitoring of programmes - both water supply and sanitation. ln the case of bigger districts, where population is several lakhs, blocks should be treated as a unit.

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In view of achieving targets, focussing on convergence of services and coverage of habitation shall be treated as the unit, within a revenue village and reported district-wise. Per capita cost of hand pumps, piped water supply will vary considerably due to agro-climatic conditions from district to district and State to State. District-wise costing will be more appropriate and to be adopted.

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Coordination at the Block level shall be encouraged for effective convergence of various programmes at habitation level.

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Vertical and sectoral approach by participating departments should be discouraged at Block level.

•

Emphasis must be laid on stake-holders participation at all levels, from planning, design, location implementation and management.

•

Data collection shall be 100% at Village Block and District levels for effective monitoring. Once collected and put on computerised data base, shall be updated periodically.

•

In view of increasing water quality problem and health hazards there from, it is necessary to institutionalise water quality monitoring and surveillance systems. Central assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) shall be utilized for setting up stationary as well as mobile water testing laboratories in all the district headquarters.

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All districts having no water testing facility shall utilize Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission funds for establishing such facility.

•

The community has to be made quality conscious through health education and awareness campaign and water testing kits shall be made available to them.

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The habitations, which are covered with water supply facility, but the water available is unsafe for consumption due to excess of arsenic fluoride, TDS iron and other toxic matters, should not be treated as covered.

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All possible measures for rain water harvesting and ground water recharging must be taken. There should be continuous monitoring of the sources, so that the habitations once covered do not fall back in the category of uncovered for which interdepartmental coordination at Block level need be activated.

•

Technology choice, in case of water quality related schemes (Fluoride, Iron, Arsenic, TDS), shall be District/Block specific.

•

Highest priority shall be given to operation & maintenance and evolve suitable institutions and funding arrangements through community participation. If required, Plan and non-Plan funding may be enhanced.

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Major repairs and replacement / rehabilitation may be allowed as Plan schemes.

•

Decentralize the operation and maintenance by making the beneficiaries and Panchayats stake-holders in the system and responsibility to rest with the Panchayats.

•

Government of' India has introduced reforms in the rural water supply sector w.e.f. 1.4.1999, with a view to institutionalize community participation in Rural Water Supply Programme, which must be pursued.

•

Traditional sources shall be identified, strengthened and developed with community involvement.

MIS Cell shall be created with adequate Staff at the Central and State level. They may be accountable for data collection, compilation and dissemination.

Adequate financial support shall be provided under plan schemes.

MIS Cell at the State level should collect, compile the data and disseminate to the Centre through NIC network.

Per capita water supply cost norm as per the Manual on "Water Supply and Treatment" published by the Ministry of' UD&PA may be followed.

Repayment of both O&M and Capital cost shall be through participatory approach.

Municipal solid waste management systems need be strengthened through adequately trained professionals and restructuring existing systems.

Engineering colleges, Institutions should be supported to start solid waste management courses for municipal services. Financial assistance need be provided for conducting such courses.

As the availability of Plan funds are too inadequate as compared to the requirement of the sector, it is necessary that the principle of full cost recovery should be adopted.

As the safe drinking water supply has a direct bearing on the health of the people and can reduce the morbidity and mortality rate to a great extent, the Government may consider enlarging the scope of the ongoing Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme to cover bigger towns also by providing larger outlay

The slums have high rate of morbidity, IMR and fertility and therefore, need greater attention in provision of the basic services. A reasonable level of services has to be ensured.

Proper legislation followed by effective implementation is urgently needed to control and regulate ground water extraction, particularly in all such urban areas which are facing acute shortage of drinking water throughout the year.

Reuse of sewage after the desired degree of treatment for horticulture flushing of sewers and toilets, air conditioning, cooling and several other industrial uses must be introduced extensively to conserve fresh water and reduce pollution in the receiving water bodies.

Industries and commercial establishments must be persuaded to adopt reuse of treated sewage and recycle their treated trade effluents to the maximum extent possible to cut down their fresh water demand. Incentives in the term of rebate on water cess and other taxes should be considered for the quantum of fresh water conserved by adopting reuse and recycling process.

Toxic and hazardous industrial and hospital wastes should be collected separately and disposed of in a hygienic manner, the cost of which shall be paid by solid waste generators.

The unaccounted for water (UFW) in some metro cities is quite substantial and therefore needs urgent attention. Action plans in this regard should be drawn up by the concerned agencies for implementation on a priority basis.

Human Resource Development (HRD) in the sector needs due attention. Specialized programmes in solid waste management shall be supported for the in-service engineers, the local bodies and water supply agencies at technological institutions.

Development of a strong data base for the sector is very essential. Computerized MIS will serve as a useful tool in decision making , planning, evaluation and O&M.

Privatization of water supply and sanitation sector is a felt need and as such it may be introduced in phases.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies should be carried out before implementing major projects to control environmental degradation.

Vacuum pumps mounted on small trucks/carts are being used in some places which are densely populated and have septic tanks in the houses. Use of this will be an alternative system to eliminating manual scavenging system.

The local bodies may entrust maintenance of community toilets to voluntary organisations. Maintenance of community toilets in slums could be cross subsidized from income from those located in important public places.

Information, Education and Communication (IEC) constitute an important element in the implementation of the sanitation programmes particularly that for conversion of dry latrines into low cost sanitary latrines.

Voluntary organizations should be engaged right from the beginning till the end, i.e. motivation, implementation and follow up, as it would be desirable to give them at least 15% as implementation charges.

IEC, implementation and follow up may be entrusted to a single agency.

The government should be facilitator rather than executor in all water supply and sanitation programmes (both rural and urban). The role of Government should be limited to resource mobilisation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme.

As per Article 243G of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self - government and such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate level. subject to such conditions as may be specified therein with respect to

The critical need for an effective interface and high degree of functional coordination between the development policy making and planning and implementation institutions is ever increasing.

Inter-sectoral coordination should identify mutually functional understanding and reciprocity amongst different development sectors. However, at the operational level, such ideal conditions do not seem to exist in any significant manner.

The supervisors and heads of development departments who have hitherto either been indifferent or were not trained to appreciate the nuances and mechanism of the intra-sectional as well as inter-sectoral coordination should begin to play the roles of "team-managers" so as to promote well directed and sustained team work for effective inter- sectoral coordination.

NGOs are found to be particularly good at out reach. NGOs have the advantage of being able to sharply focus on, concentrate on and penetrate deeply into communities with whom they have bonds of trust.

To reduce the evaporation losses which is at times 30% of the total storages, open storage should be avoided and closed contour trenches should be developed as a water harvesting structures.

The cropping pattern in drought prone areas should be sensitive to local availability. Affluent farmers shall be discouraged from water intensive cash crops. Agriculture bore-wells should not be allowed to be deeper than drinking water bore-wells. Blocking of nallahs for agriculture needs only be discouraged.

Joint planning by different agencies of the Government and convergent delivery of the services has to be desired. There should be inter-sectoral facilitating team comprising of frontline functionaries of different line departments, which may expect to bring about the convergence at the village level /Panchayat level/Block level.

Institutions of local self-governance should be strengthened and entrusted with all activities in water supply, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition. Various development functions may be handled by the single Institution of the Gram Panchayat thus increasing the possibility of convergent planning and delivery of services. The financial and administrative authority has not been devolved to them to the extent needed.

Different development programmes of any sector in the rural areas are reached through the village level functionaries like Panchayat secretary, Anganwadi workers, midwifes etc. These village level functionaries are important tools to elicit useful information related to health, hygiene, sanitation etc. in a suitable understandable language in the village. Hence habitation/village level groups should cut across sectoral agencies and encouraged to play coordinating role for effective convergence at grass-roots level.

Resources for IEC/HRD now given for different sectors should be pooled together at District/State level.

Funds for implementation of work should flow from Centre to the District Committees to Panchayats/beneficiaries.

There are more than 3.5 million hand pumps and over one lakh piped water supply schemes installed in the country under the Rural Water Supply Programme. The total estimated cost for operation and maintenance of the above at the present value would be around Rs. 2000 crore per year (10-15% of capital cost). A large portion of installed schemes remain non-functional and many of them go permanently defunct due to lack of proper maintenance and repairs for want of funds. It is, therefore, necessary to give highest priority to operation and maintenance and evolve suitable institutions and funding arrangements through community participation to bring them back to functional levels.

Rehabilitating the existing village tanks, creating detention basins by storing rain water in local depressions, abandoned mines/ quarries etc. for water harvesting for the development of water resources need be encouraged. Small dams should be encourage because micro water - shed area is more efficient for water conservation. To avoid the evaporation losses from such small storages, the underground syphon should be used which would conserve the water and recharge the aquifer.

Water is to be managed as an economic asset rather than a free commodity. It should be treated as a resource in its totality and regeneration of sources shall be the responsibility of every user agency, whether drinking, irrigation or other uses. The comprehensive development of the water resources should be opted as a strategy and the village should be considered the focal point for water development. Top to bottom arrangement is necessary to stop wastage.

The technology which is being adopted for the construction of the check dams is sometimes faulty as there is no recharging because recharging takes place according to aquifer condition.

Micro water-shed and catchment development shall be the primary focus at Block/District level rather than State level.

Awareness programmes on water conservation, water quality, personal hygiene, collection, storing and disposal of solid waste may be designed and implemented with the help of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Voluntary Organizations and Neighbourhood Committees.

Measures like prioritisation and adopting the norms of water- uses efficiency should be taken at habitation level. Water rationing is also a useful instrument to control the water use but this requires the community participation. The rationing of water for different uses on per capita basis should be followed. Social equity and minimum provision to all sections of society need be ensured.

Rural sanitation is neither perceived by the majority as a basic need nor provided as a public good. In view of its direct relationship with the health of the people behaviuoral change is essential by changing the mind set of the people through strong IEC campaign. Each water supply programme should also have a soft-ware component of hygiene sanitation and education.

In the case of rural sanitation, demand-driven approach should be adopted rather than supply-driven approach in a decentralized manner with community participation at grassroots level and monitored at block level.

Hygiene promotion needs to be more demand-responsive. Local initiatives should be encouraged, models promoted (eg. Midnapur) for replication.

Designing and implementing effective, multi-level, multi- disciplinary, experiential and field-based training strategies for hygiene promotion capacity at delivering level, so as to strengthen the capacity.

School Sanitation has been neglected badly in all earlier plans for which corrective action is urgently needed. Children of today are citizens of tomorrow. `Catch them young' shall be the philosophy in Water Supply, Sanitation and Nutrition Sectors. In this process the key person is the teacher. The primary and upper-primary school-teachers should be trained and their capacity should be enhanced to enable them to transform their mind set and aptitude in such a way so that this message could be reached to the rural household. He may also work as a motivator in his vicinity. He may be involved in the communication strategy for behaviuor change. Total Sanitation and Hygiene Education strategy to achieve health and nutrition goods.

As a follow up of 74th Constitution Amendment, most of the State Governments are likely to entrust the responsibility of operation and maintenance of urban water supply and sanitation systems to local bodies and therefore, it would be necessary for the State Finance Commission to explicitly indicate the norms and other financial implications and make a realistic assessment of requirement of funds and also to make suitable recommendations for provision of finances by different categories of towns.

Most of the cities/towns are not able to borrow institutional funding due to commercial rate of interest. Government may also consider providing interest differential subsidy to make available the funds at the concessional rate of interest.

Water supply and sanitation agencies including the local bodies should be given full autonomy in determining the tariffs with the provision for automatic annual increase to cover the increase in costs.

Separate account should be maintained by urban water supply and sanitation agencies where such separation does not exist. To ensure debt servicing at affordable limits, lending agencies should prescribe repayment on annuity basis over long repayment period and with financial moratorium. The State Governments should confer greater autonomy to the water sector agencies with relation to financial management and operational issues.

Mobilization of adequate finds for the sector through Central and State Governments' Budget allocations, open market borrowings, institutional financing and assistance from External Support Agencies.

For small and medium towns where resource base is very weak, adequate grant-in-aid from the Central and State Governments on priority.

Prioritization of different demands, such as commercial, industrial and domestic shall be block/district specific.

City level water management plans need to be prepared keeping in view the various development activities for the next 20 years or so. In order to operationalise and implement the national Water Policy in an effective manner at the State level, intern-sectoral Committees comprising of Members from various water using sectors may be constituted to decide on allocation of water for different purposes.

City level consumer fora and voluntary agencies should be encouraged to keep a vigil on water sources to prevent their possible contamination and make periodical reporting to the concerned water supply agencies for appropriate action well in advance.

Improved arrangements for monitoring of water quality at treatment plants and distribution systems.

Timely rehabilitation of systems to enhance their useful life and postpone replacement costs.

At public places, high rise buildings, housing colonies, it will be useful to have biogas digesters along with the toilets. Public- toilets along with biogas digesters should also be constructed at important places like railway stations, bus stands, cinema halls, markets, dispensaries and other public places where people gather in large number.

Adequate focus on resource-recovery from sewage.

The required door to door contacts with the house owners persuading them to agree to the conversion of dry latrines into water-seal pour-flush latrines as well construction of new toilets can best be done by NGOs rather than Govt. agencies.

In respect of persons who are not in a position to mobilise their own resources, the Government may arrange institutional loans to them at reasonable rate of interest. The Government may also grant subsidy to poor persons, particularly those from the economically weaker sections of society.

REMARKS

Indicates accessibility only adiequacy and equitable distribution of water supply is not as per the prescribed norms of Govt. of India.

The figures indicates as of 31-3-1997 since the respective states have not furnished the information as of 31-3-2000.

The figure indicatee the sanitation coverage as of 31-3-1997 since the respective state have not furnished the information as of 31-3-2000.