Urban Water

History of Water Privatisation in India

Failure of the public sector to provide water to all or to regulate its use that has formed the basis for those who argue that like other resources, water too must be more efficiently utilised.

National Water Policy 2002

Private sector participation should be encouraged in planning, development and management of water resources projects may help in introducing innovative ideas, generating financial resources and introducing corporate management and improving service efficiency and accountability to users.

Where the debate actually gets polarized is whether bringing in efficiency also means bringing in the private sector? Supporters of privatisation argue private companies are better placed to increase efficiency. Critics say private companies will raise tariffs making water unaffordable.

History of Jusco

Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (Jusco) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group, formed in 2003. It is the Tata vehicle in the emerging water sector in the country having the experience of managing water service in Jamshedpur city for over nine decades. According to the JUSCO website (juscoltd.com), JUSCO has been managing the water supply of Jamshedpur for the last 102 years. In addition to Jamshedpur and Mysore, it has water supply operations in Bhopal, Gwalior, Calcutta, Haldia, Muzaffurpur and Chennai. Mysore project is the third consecutive prestigious water project it has won (in 2008) — the other two are both build and operate (BOT) projects in Salt Lake Sector-V, Kolkata and the industrial city of Haldia. These three projects coupled with Jamshedpur have enhanced Jusco's credentials as the largest water supply developer and operator in the country. According to the website jipm.or.jp of the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance, a public corporation under Japan's Ministry of Economics, Trade & Industry, JIPM gave out Total Productive Maintenance Excellence awards in 2008 to fifty companies all over the world and JUSCO was one of the awardees. According to the website globalwaterawards.com, JUSCO was one of just 4 nominees for the 2008 Water Company of the Year global award.

Problems with existing Vani Vilas Water Works in Mysore: (Source: http://www.mygrapa.blogspot.com/)

Mysore city water supply is suffering from many serious problems. A significant portion of customers do not have meters. Most of the meters are not working properly. There is plenty of leakage all over the city. As a result of these factors, only a small fraction of the water pumped into the city gets billed. Many customers do not pay their water bills. So MCC is collecting only a fraction of the amount due to it. Due to lack of revenue, maintenance of the system is not possible. In many localities, water is supplied once in few days. When it is supplied, the pressure is low. Quality of water supplied is also poor. So poor that one can not help wondering why we are not having epidemics every day! No one knows where all the underground pipes and valves are. As a result, in many cases, one can not even localize the problem. These problems are getting worse with time. After spending Rs. 130 crores of ADB loan to provide 24x7 water supply, we are pumping twice the water into Mysore, but the water problem is increasing. Neither MCC nor the Water Board seem to have the technical expertise required to run the water supply system efficiently. MCC does not have the determination to collect its dues in the face of political pressure. Without outside intervention, the situation will soon become irreparable. It is in need of emergency treatment. The only way out seems to seek the help of competent and experienced professionals. But such help does not come cheap.

Urban development has taken insufficient account of local hydrological and hydro-geological conditions and groundwater is often degraded because of a lack of knowledge of the aquifer system and/or uncontrolled groundwater development.

“Urban Waters” served as a background material for Arghyam’s second annual conference on April 2007 at Bangalore. There is a vast body of research on urban water issues; a bewildering number of organizations are working on the subject; and it has a wide array of dimensions.

SWITCH is an action research programme, implemented and co-funded by the European Union and a cross-disciplinary team of 33 partners from 15 countries around the world. Increasing global change pressures, escalating costs and other risks inherent to conventional urban water management are causing cities to face ever increasing difficulties in efficiently managing scarcer and less reliable water resources. As well, satisfying water uses/services and waste water disposal without creating environmental, social or economic damage is an increasingly difficult challenge.

The report aims to provide greater understanding and awareness on expanding the delivery of water services, conservation of water, increased efficiencies, facilitation of the exchange of water sector information and experience, and improving governance. It is particularly focused on ADB’s overarching goal of poverty reduction. 

This working paper by the Stanford Centre for International Development deals with household water delivery options in urban and rural India. The recent potentially far-reaching policy changes frame the paper on drinking water options for urban and rural India.  Given the primacy of drinking water as a national objective, and the policy of decentralization through community ownership, private sector participation and devolution to local governments, it asks: How can India alleviate its household level drinking water deprivation, in the near-to-medium term, and in cost-effective ways?

This series, published by the GWP Secretariat in Stockholm has been created to disseminate the papers written and commissioned by the TEC to address the conceptual agenda. Issues and sub-issues with them, such as the understanding and definition of IWRM, water for food security, public-private partnerships, and water as an economic good have been addressed in these papers.

This paper on urban water crisis in Delhi looks at stakeholders responses and potential scenarios of evolution. An inadequate piped water supply from the public utility, characterized by intermittence and unreliability, and supplemented by private uncontrolled groundwater abstraction, is a common feature of most Indian cities as well as other developing cities in the w

Performance improvement planning helps service providers in bringing about incremental improvements in services by applying the principles of commercial orientation and financial viability. This overview paper by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) South Asia of the World Bank, explores how such improvements can be undertaken so that they remain sustainable in the long run as well.

The paper by Carewater INREM Foundation on the groundwater situation in urban India provides an overview besides dealing with the opportunities and challenges. Groundwater plays a fundamental role in shaping the economic and social health of many urban centres of India.