Research - Urban Water
Contextualising urban water supply in a changing environment: India Urban Conference, November 17-20 2011
The India Urban Conference (IUC) was organised to encourage multi-level dialogue regarding India's urban transformation. It aimed to set the challenges faced by urban planners in the current economic, socio-political, and ecological landscape. This would enable informed and negotiated choices on urban development. The stated objectives of the conference are as follows:
- To make urban, applied research relevant to an increased spectrum of stakeholders including academics, civil societies, policy think tanks, research institutes, media, private sector, and citizens.
- To leverage experience to generate useful evidence to promote applied research and responsive policy-making.
- To create new research initiatives and/ or collaborations with a potential for creating tangible changes/ reforms for the benefit of urban India and its context.
- To identify and explore research issues affecting urban India, by exploring through a perspective of eight selected themes.
- Publish research papers and evidence presented/ discussed in the form of case-books, web publications, and potentially a special issue of a journal.
National action plan on climate change (NAPCC) and supporting mission documents (2008-11)
The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It gives the direction which India needs to take, to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.
Read MoreLakes in Mumbai – A draft report by WWF India
This draft report on the study of lakes by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (India) documents the physical condition of the lakes in Mumbai. Apart from the three lakes - Tulsi, Powai and Vihar that used to provide water to Mumbai residents, there are many lakes in the Bombay Municipal Corporation jurisdiction that are either polluted by human sewage or industrial effluents and have remained neglected with increasing urbanization.
There is very little to no data available on the existence of lakes of Mumbai. Several RTI’s to the government bodies also revealed that there was a lacuna in terms of the availability of the data; as a result most of the water bodies are easily exploited. Under this study the baseline data was prepared with the help of Google Earth website. The areas appearing to be lakes were marked on the Google Earth Images. These were verified by the field staff through onsite visits. The survey was conducted during September and October, 2008 and March, 2009. The study considers only the fresh water lakes which were accessible and saline water impoundments have not been considered.
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Private water supply augmentation project for Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh under UIDSSMT - A case study of the impacts of the project by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra
This report by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra discusses the concerns around the private water supply augmentation project in Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), a Government of India scheme for infrastructure development in small and medium town.
The number of private water projects under UIDSSMT is increasing at a fast rate. Khandwa is the first town in Madhya Pradesh to execute a private water project under this scheme, hence the findings of this project would be important for other towns as well which are looking for implementing private water projects under UIDSSMT.
This report basically focuses on the issues related to the new private water supply augmentation project from Chhoti Tawa, a tributary of Narmada River, and a part of the backwaters of Indira Sagar Project on Narmada. It gives a brief picture of the existing water supply system in Khandwa. It also discusses in details the impacts of the new private water supply project and question marks on the project efficacy.The report looks into the alternative systems that could have been operated instead of the current private, long distance and expensive project.
Read MoreGroundwater, self-supply and poor urban dwellers - A review with case studies of Bangalore and Lusaka by IIED
This paper by International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) explores the extent to which urban dwellers, and especially those living in low income areas, depend directly and indirectly on groundwater. It investigates the difficulties they face and emphasizes the need for better integration of groundwater in the planning and management of urban water resources.
Read MoreIntegrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme - Revised guidelines by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2008)
The document presents the 2008 guidelines of the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation. The objective of the scheme is to convert or construct low cost sanitation units through sanitary two pit pour flush latrines with superstructures and appropriate variations to suit local conditions (area specific latrines) and construct new latrines where economically weaker sections household have no latrines and follow the in-human practice of defecating in the open in urban areas. This would improve overall sanitation in the towns.
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Urbanization and intersectoral competition for water – A report by Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The report by Paul P Appasamy and Ruth Meinzen Dick deals with urbanization and intersectoral competition for water founded on the view that stereotypical images of “thirsty cities” that equate urban demand with “drinking water” or factories, and rural water supply with irrigation do not adequately portray the water uses in each area.
Read MorePublic-Private Partnerships in urban water supply for Maharashtra – Tool kit by GoI-ADB PPP Initiative
This tool kit by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) focused on identifying and developing Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) structures, which can be implemented in water supply and sanitation for the cities of Maharashtra.
The various possible PPP structures for the sector were studied, and their applicability assessed in the context of the selected sample cities. Consultations led to development of term sheets for these PPP structures, which were identified as most suitable and feasible for implementation.
The above exercise has led to development of this report, which may be considered as a tool kit designed to help decision makers decide whether a particular project might be suitable for the PPP route or not. The tool kit can, therefore, be the basis for approving a project implementation structure as part of the overall project approval methodology.
Read MoreUrban water supply sector – Key lessons and contextual sector risks – A note by Asian Development Bank
This note by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) presents an independent review of its operations to assess their effectiveness, learn from experience, and improve the development of future policies, strategies, programs, and projects. The note complements ADB’s Guidance Note on Urban Water Supply Sector Risk Assessment and offers a framework for mapping governance risks to inform the preparation of future country partnership strategies.
Such a framework covers institutional aspects (policy, legal framework, and regulation); organizational aspects (planning, financial management, procurement, and human resources); and sector operations. While the note has identified entry points for mapping risks to development effectiveness in the sector, lessons from evaluations can augment ongoing efforts for mitigating these risks at institutional, organizational, operational, and project levels; and enhance the development effectiveness of ADB assistance in the sector.
Read MoreBringing water to your door step - Urban water reforms for the next decade – A report by Price Waterhouse Coopers
This report by Price Waterhouse Coopers India Limited for the Second Annual India Water Conference in April 2011 presents its view on urban water reforms for the next decade. India is still at an early stage of the urbanisation process and will witness exponential growth in many of its cities over the next few decades. By 2030 the urban population is expected to reach more than 590 million. This will put enormous pressure on all existing resources, especially water. Despite sufficient availability of raw water, many of its cities struggle to provide more than a few hours of water supply.
Improving water availability in the cities requires addressing complex policy, institutional and funding challenges. According to the report, the collective vision should be to provide good quality, reliable, affordable and continuous (24x7) water supply to residents. The core of the new approach will include instituting a new era of greater accountability and a performance-driven approach. Service delivery to urban poor has to be an integral part of this approach to bring about greater inclusiveness.
Recent experience with Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in urban water supply shows that with a customer focused approach and demonstration of clear benefits, there will be greater political and public acceptability of private participation. At the same time, fiscal framework at the local level has to be considerably strengthened before attempting wide scale replication of PPP.
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