contractors cut corners and often disregard technical specifications. Only two-thirds of the water put into the pipelines reaches the consumer. A series of defensive tactics are employed to address the leaks. Water utilities reduce the pressure in pipelines to curtail losses; they limit the hours of supply. At the other end, consumers resort to a range of strategies to best use intermittent supply at low pressure. Households install taps below the level of the feeder line. When that fails, electric water pumps illegally draw out each drop that’s there for the taking. The standard Indian house design has accommodated the underground tank, a sump. Those who can afford an electric motor pump water to an overhead tank; those without the means lift it out in buckets. All this is to ensure water is available as and when needed, regardless of when the pipes supply. These measures are recent.

Not too long ago, urban India had water round the clock (see table: Underpressure). The significant drop in supply over the past three decades—both in terms of pressure and hours supplied—got administrative functionaries thinking. In 2002, a group of bureaucrats and technocrats created a network called the Change Management Forum at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) in Hyderabad. The urban development ministry supported them. Several members got behind the idea of round the clock—24/7—water supply. This was a critical shift in thinking: from reducing pressure to minimize leakage, to maintaining pressure so that municipalities can identify leakages and fix them speedily. The ministry officially inducted 24/7 water supply into the policy guiding the 2005 Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (see table: JNNURM’s ideal). Agencies like The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which offer funding and soft loans to municipalities, had similar requirements of city utilities. 24/7 water supply is now considered an important element of urban management. But what is 24/7? What goes into supplying water round the clock in Indian cities? Of course 24/7, but… Water supply is an emotive subject. “I am not against the concept of 24/7 per se, but am against the facade which is leading to the commodification of water and preparing ground for private sector involvement,” said Kshitij Urs, regional director of the non-profit Action Aid.

Eight out of the 34 wards in Badlapur, on
Mumbai’s outskirts, now have 24/7 water. But
consumption has increased, as have leakages

The government should not outsource to the private sector critical responsibilities like education and health, including water supply, essential to the Right To Life as described in Article 21 of the constitution, he said. 24/7 is a technological solution at a high cost, with little orientation to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, said Vinay Baindur, a social activist and urban affairs analyst in Bengaluru. He fears it will skew allocation of resources at a time when the priority should be connecting everybody to the municipal water network. Politicians are reluctant to charge the real cost price of water. India spends an estimated Rs 5,000 crore each year on subsidizing the water sector. Almost all of this comes from state budgets—equivalent to 4 per cent of total government subsidies, according to a World Bank analysis. The stated reason: providing water to the poor. It is an open secret, though, that it is the rich who use most of the cheap water. Poor localities mostly remain unconnected to municipal pipelines; the unconnected poor have to fight over access to public taps and tankers, or pay disproportionately high amounts to buy expensive water from private suppliers. While these subsidies do provide occasional relief water to the urban poor, they mostly subsidize the wasteful ways of the rich and the inefficiency of public water utilities. The balance sheets of most public water utilities in India are in the red; they fail to recover basic costs of sourcing, treating and distributing water, and then treating wastewater and disposing it. This devalues the water supply network—from the source to the tap. Utilities lack money to maintain the pipes. Central and state support is never enough, and it does not provide for operations and maintenance. So water utilities are driven more by obtaining grants from governments than by the need to serve the people. Water supply is a state subject, and while Central government provides some funds (especially since the mid-1990s) and policy guidelines from time to time, the state and municipal bodies bear all the financial responsibility. Almost all of them are in financial disarray. In 2005 the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) launched the Rs 50,000 crore JNNURM. There are plans to raise an equal amount from private equity and other means. The private sector has historically been involved in a variety of roles like designing, building and operating water services. Private players, though, talk about a different kind of problem. “There is rampant corruption in operations,” said Pramod Mitroo, director of Veolia Water India, a subsidiary of a French water company. “That’s why private sector involvement is met with resistance from the labour unions and engineers who have vested interests.” He said an acceptable tariff and reliable supply are critical to the private sector, but the general trend has been to associate water privatization with a rise in tariff beyond what the urban poor can pay. Delhi, for example, has the lowest water tariff among all Indian metros. This when a state law requires that the full cost of water supply be recovered, and that returns on fixed assets not be less than 3 per cent. Successive governments have avoided raising tariffs to do this. Certain social groups argue it must remain this way if the poor are to access water. The state government’s plans to engage the private sector have been opposed vehemently. 24/7 depends on the quality of the pipeline network and the tariff structure. In Badlapur, on Mumbai’s outskirts, for example, eight of the 34 wards now get round the clock water supply. And from a public utility. In Badlapur, a public utility delivers 24/7…partially The floods of July 2005 became infamous for inundating Mumbai like never before, and the metropolis’s rediscovery of the Mithi river. A lesser known impact was on the Ulhas river in nearby Thane: the flood washed away all five barrage gates that supplied water to Badlapur. The job of rebuilding a water supply system fell on the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), the government agency for planning and executing drinking water supply projects. It constructed a new weir to increase water levels in the river. Its member secretary Sanjay Dahasahashra is a member of the Change Management Forum formed in Hyderabad. He saw an opportunity in the crisis: to try out improved service delivery by upgrading supply from the the three-hourly daily supply to 24/7. MJP’s data shows several improvements (see table: Before and after). But leakage losses have remained high—more than a third of the water is lost in transit. MJP installed 22 bulk meters at a cost Rs 60 lakh; setting up 1,700 meters in households cost Rs 40 lakh. A hydraulic model showed the parts of the network with negative pressure, so that leakages can be fixed. But the project is short of funds. State funds have been intermittent, and with decentralization under Panchayati Raj, MJP cannot draw funds from schemes like JNNURM. After round the clock supply kicked in, water demand has increased. MJP’s engineers suspect leaky sumps, but it is difficult to tell as the tariff is not based on consumption. Those who consume more water are not charged higher, so there is no curb on demand, acknowledged A R Tharkar, MJP’s sub-divisional engineer. A flat rate of Rs 7.60 per kilolitre is charged, and households recieve a minimum bill of Rs 280 for 36 kilolitre every two months; no matter how much water is consumed, a minimum monthly consumption of 18 kilolitres is charged. Tharkar mentioned a proposal to increase the tariff for use beyond this minimum to Rs 10.20 per kilolitre, but there is no talk of reducing the 18 kilolitre baseline. MJP proposed to the state government a plan to extend 24/7 supply to the entire city; it requested Rs 26.65 crore. In August 2009, it got Rs 6 crore. More than half the amount will be go into replacing 38 km of old PVC pipes—one-third the pipeline network. The remaining will go into a new water treatment plant, among other things. Tharkar said the authority plans to bring leakage losses down to 15 per cent from the existing 35 per cent.

INTERMITTENT SUPPLY DAMAGES HARDWARE

PIPELINES:

ÔùÅ The absence of pressure in pipes allows in contaminated water. If the pipes have continuous pressure, this would not happen, even if the pipe network has leaks. ÔùÅ A pipeline network operating under continuous pressure lasts longer as it is subject to fewer shocks and changes in pressure. Engineers call it the ‘water hammer effect’.

METERS:

ÔùÅ Meters are designed for continuous flow. Negative pressure due to intermittent supply causes a vaccuum effect which plays havoc with meter readings. ÔùÅ The ebb and flow in the pipelines as a result of intermittent supply may result in the formation of a crust or a hard layer, invariably affecting the functioning of meters.

24/7 DOES NOT CREATE A PRICE BARRIER FOR THE POOR

V Srinivas Chary of the Administrative
Staff College of India, Hyderabad, has
18 years of experience in urban governance
and water management

Do Indian cities have the water for 24-hour supply? It is usually not the absolute quantity of water but the management of water that makes a difference. For example, Hyderabad typically produces 167 litres of potable drinking water per capita per day (lpcd). So much of this leaks out that most of the citizens barely get two hours of water every other day—and this water is contaminated by the time it reaches the consumer. This is true with most of our major cities. Cities like Delhi (220 lpcd), Kolkata (250 lpcd), Goa (300 lpcd) produce more water than any international city. By contrast, Male (in the Maldives) provides continuous safe drinking water 24/7 with only 80 lpcd and the average in Europe is 130-140 lpcd. That Indian cities do not have enough water for 24/7 supply is a myth. Why are cities moving to 24/7 water supply? Policy makers and public health engineers in several cities have understood the urgency for delivering continuous supply. The disbelief and myths about 24/7 got dispelled over time. JNNURM has provided a fiscal incentive. 24/7 projects are prioritized for funding About 45 cities are now on the lookout for solutions and wherewithal for conversion. The numbers are likely to increase. Is 24/7 synonymous with privatization? No it is not. Cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Kota are on continuous water supply for a long time; public water agencies have provided the infrastructure. Hyderabad and Badlapur (in Maharashtra) have implemented 24/7 supply on a pilot basis with the help of water boards. Indian cities had 24/7 water supply in the 1980s and early 1990s, all managed by public agencies. Cities opt for private sector for technical competence, and the benefit of private equity and efficient management. Is 24/7 anti-poor? It is perceived wrongly that a metering system with continuous water supply results in a cost barrier to the poor. In fact, it is the other way round; a metering system ensures that those who use more pay more. It has been used as an instrument to ensure a basic lifeline supply to the poor. The right price of water will discourage indiscriminate consumption, enable families below poverty line to pay a nominal charge for a block of water (up to 6,000 litres, for example) and encourage recovery of cost. Intermittent water supply also results in several indirect costs for, say, storage sumps and water pumps; there are also the costs of physical burden and drudgery of fetching water, waiting long hours for irregular supply, purchasing or transporting water from illegal means, not to mention the health costs. 24/7 will significantly benefit the poor. It will curtail indiscriminate use of water.

WHAT IT TAKES TO GO 24/7 24/7

supply requires sufficient pressure in the pipeline network round the clock—reaching every person living in the area of jurisdiction. It also requires that all connections have meters. Here are some challenges: ÔùÅ Water usage in India is seldom monitored effectivel y. One reason is intermittent supply—most meters used are designed to function under constant pressurized water. Vaccuum in pipes damages meters. When usage is not known, municipalities cannot recover the charge. Already cash-strapped, they have no money to do the needful. ÔùÅ Widespread leakages in pipes are made worse by the fact that they are difficult to identify and fix. If the pipeline network has constant pressure, it is possible to detect faults quickly and repair them. ÔùÅ A pipeline network operating under continuous pressure lasts longer as it is subject to fewer shocks and changes in pressure. ÔùÅ With 24/7 supply, consumers do not need to invest in domestic storage, booster pumps, supplementary boreholes, domestic filters and other household treatment systems or purchase of water from private suppliers—not to mention the energy spent on operating these. ÔùÅ Customers of a continuous supply service can manage their time more efficiently (freeing up time of women and children for rewarding activities). ÔùÅ Continuous water supply will reduce unregulated recourse to ground water.

The municipality goes harvesting water

The corporation has tried to augment the water sources. With an average annual rainfall of 2,500 mm in the area, there is enough water to supply 100 litres per person daily to more than 2,000 people, said Ram Patkar, president of the municipal corporation. Ward 26 of Badlapur has rainwater harvesting in 36 apartment blocks with a catchment of 15 acres (6 hectares) to unburden the demand on the piped system. Ramnagari Housing Society is witnessing the change. Its 52 flats collectively pay a municipal water bill of Rs 6,000 per month since rainwater harvesting started—down from Rs 9,000 earlier. Each flat pays a monthly charge of Rs 70. Municipal engineers said about one million litres of recharged groundwater from four absorption pits is pumped and supplied daily. And this is sustainable. “Since the scheme’s inception, groundwater has risen 8 cm,” said Patkar. The municipality is extending the water harvesting to three other locations. The state government will give a majority of the funds under a social equality scheme since more than half the 2,500 beneficiaries are from the Scheduled Castes. Both the municipality and MJP have made steady progress in Badlapur. But two factors limit their effectiveness: lack of funds to replace faulty pipelines, and a tariff structure that does not discourage wasteful use. Should these be seen as failures of the 24/7 approach? Or are these problems specific to how MJP and the Badlapur municipality have gone about their business? Two cities in Karnataka show that water demand can actually decrease with round the clock supply.

Three Karnataka cities and a varying approach to 24/7

In 2004, the Karnataka government identified three cities— Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga—for a special project demonstrating the benefits of supplying pressurized water round the clock. The total cost: an estimated Rs 237 crore, of which a World Bank loan amounted to Rs 182 crore. The aim was to meter water supply to recover costs. The next year the state offered a tender. Veolia Water, a French water and wastewater management company, won the contract. The two-year operations and management contract was worth Rs 22.4 crore. In April 2008, 178,700 people in five demonstration zones began getting 24/7 water supply. The municipalities identified families living below the poverty line. They were exempted from the connection charge Rs 2,000. The aim was to increase water tariff gradually in line with the willingness of consumers to pay. The results can be seen at plot number 118 of Ramnagar locality of Belgaum. The market value of the plot has quadrupled since 2005—similar plots in neighbouring localities are valued at half the price. The reason: water supply here is 24/7. Vishnu Vithal Daddikr, the head of the family that lives here, said things changed for the better in April 2008. Earlier, the day the municipal connection would yield water, the Daddikr household would become a war zone. The families of his two sons would wrangle over the first use of water from the common sump, sometimes resulting in physical scraps. The water supply was intermittent, but the water bills were paid regularly. When the pipeline yielded nothing, the women would queue up with 100-150 people at a nearby community tap. The water was turbid at times, said Daddikr’s daughter-in-law, who would fetch the water. Now, the Daddikrs have pressurized water round the clock. Public taps were disbanded in the locality as each family, rich or poor, got a connection to the pipeline. This eliminated the need to store water. And the water is affordable.

A tariff that seems to work

Belgaum had already seen the flat annual water tariff increase from Rs 400 to Rs 1,000. After April 2008 each house in the designated zones got working meters, the tariff was not increased. The monthly bills are based on consumption. Each consumer pays an annual flat rate of Rs 83 for which they get 15 kilolitres. Each subsequent kilolitre costs Rs 5.60. With consumption patterns well within 15 kilolitre due to the training in days of water scarcity, the Daddikr family’s bill has rarely fluctuated. Only in July 2009 did they get a higher bill—Rs 99—due to a family function and house guests. In the same low-income locality lives Noor Ahmed. His monthly bill averages Rs 100, increasing in the month of Ramzan.

Before round the
clock supply began
in April 2008, there
were fights in the
house over water
use. On bad days, I
had to fetch water
from the public tap
- S V Daddikr

With a new tariff regime in Hubli-Dharwad,
revenue collection increased even as water
consumption has declined

The water earlier
was turbid. Now
the quality is so
good we can drink
the water straight
off the tap. There is
no need to boil the
water.
- Noor Ahmed

Ahmed said every drop is accounted for. The household, however, has arrears of Rs 2,000 from the previous supply regime. Ahmed said he does not want to pay for the times when finding water in the tap was comparable to sighting the new moon after fasting. His brother and he drive an auto rickshaw and earn about Rs 7,500 a month. Like the Daddikrs, Ahmed’s family is happy with the service now. “The water quality is so good we can drink straight from the tap; no need to boil the water,” said Ahmed. One of the reasons for this is 95 per cent of the pipeline network in Belgaum was replaced between 2005 and 2008. “The constant pressure in the pipeline prevents ingress of contaminants,” said A Harikrishna, zonal manager of the demonstration zones in Belgaum. In Dharwad, Amarnath Dodamani was hit by a water bill of Rs 1,200 in June this year for consuming 30 kilolitres—it was three times their electricity bill. When Dodamani complained, engineers from Veolia visited the household. They found water was used carelessly on the garden and to wash the car daily. The family curtailed its water use, and the bill next month was half of what it was in June. “The way people curb electricity costs by switching off their electrical appliances and limiting their use, they must limit the use of water,” said a Veolia field engineer.

Technology that plugged the leaks

Veolia is taking credit for replanning the pipeline networks in the demonstration zones in Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga. “There have been no compromises on the technical front,” Harikrishna claimed, adding that the same cannot be said for networks most public utilities in India manage. The new pipes are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE), a thermoplastic that has extensively replaced PVC pipes since the 1970s. Veolia said HDPE pipes are light and flexible, and endure a reasonable amount of surface damage without rupturing. PVC tends to become brittle from continuous exposure to sunlight. Moreover, HDPE pipes can go around bends, reducing the need to install joints, which is where most of the leaks occur, Harikrishna pointed out. The leakages can be checked by comparing data from meters over a 24-hour period. While water flow in non-use hours—midnight to 4 am—helps identify leakages, any part of the network can be isolated to fix a leak. Each household connection is identified by a code that makes it possible to not only locate it between two junctions but also ascertain the distance and the side of the street. This means customer complaints are attended easily on a day-to-day basis, said Shiv Sunder, field engineer. It also means constant pressure in the pipeline, with water reaching taps on second floor.

Why isn’t there opposition to privatization?

Veolia’s role in the new water supply scheme has been to bring technical expertise and operate the system. Part of its payment depends on meeting performance targets. It does not set water tariffs—that has remained in the domain of public agencies. So the Belgaum City Corporation has the job of putting in place a tariff regime that discourages overuse of water, at the same time ensuring basic water supply is affordable for the poor. Veolia claimed customers are willing to pay higher volumetric tariffs for better supply. The municipality is deliberating a revised tariff (see table: Proposed tariff hike). Vishnu Vithal Daddikr is ready. ‘‘I know of the proposed tariff hike and welcome it. I believe there will be little change in our monthly water bill. Our consumption rarely jumps the first two slabs,” he said. He pointed out that the new regime would mean small families, which consume less than 15 kilolitres, could see their water bills coming down because the the first slab will split into two. Those with higher consumption will see significantly higher bills.

Some social groups have protested Latur’s
decision to hand over the entire water supply
network to a consortium of private companies

The tariff proposed in Belgaum is already in place in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad. An analysis of the tariff reveals how a cross-subsidy ensures better revenue collection, all the while catering to different economic classes and their willingness to pay. The Dharwad demonstration zone has 5,500 connections with a population of 37,000. Veolia’s records show 60 per cent of the customers consume less than 15 kilolitres; they consume 33 per cent of the water supplied, contributing 23 per cent of the total water charges. At the other end of the spectrum, 16 per cent of households use more than 25 kilolitres. They use 37 per cent of the water supplied and contribute half the total water charges collected. In Hubli collections have increased three-fold. In Dharwad, monthly collections have increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.“The improved collections in Dharwad are despite the fact that total daily water use has reduced from four million litres to 3.1 million litres,” said Prakash Alagawadi, deputy project manager with Veolia. In September 2008, the state government decided to upscale 24/7 water supply and extend it to everybody in the three cities. Kshitij Urs of Action Aid said this success might not be readily upscaled: “Demo zones in Karnataka have been set up where there are few poor people. An upscaled model would not function in the same manner as the demo zones.” What has worked in the demonstration zones has been the state government committing funds to the programme. Engaging a private operator has not raised hackles because public agencies have retained regulatory responsibilities like tariff setting. In Badlapur, the 24/7 scheme lacks funding support from the government. Public agencies have shown they can supply water round the clock and also think of long-term solutions like rainwater harvesting. Any city planning to improve its water supply would find these experiences useful. Latur in Maharashtra is one.

Latur: In a vicious cycle, weighing its options

Water supply in Latur in Maharashtra this summer was down to 75 litres per capita daily—in times of shortage it went down to 40 lpcd, which is the threshold for basic human need according to the WHO. About 70 per cent of the city’s population of 350,000 is connected to the municipal water supply, but even the connected were getting water once a week. The city decided a few years ago to revamp its piped network to provide round the clock water supply to all residents at about 100 litres per capita daily. The question is: who would do the job? As with most Indian municipalities, the Latur Municipal Corporation’s (LMC) balance sheet is in the red. Its annual recovery on expenditure of water supply is 20-30 per cent, and the annual average deficit Rs 2 crore. LMC just doesn’t have the money to improve or even maintain the water supply network. The tariff it charges of consumers is fixed and low, leading to poor service and supply, which has created reluctance among consumers to pay. To compound all this is resource scarcity. The two seasonal rivers that feed the city cannot provide more than 28 million litres daily, and the daily demand is 36 million litres. In 2007 MJP put about Rs 130 crore to bring water from the Munjra dam, 65 km away. It can provide 80 million litres daily, though MJP is drawing only half of this. The increased supply, it was assumed, would allow LMC to recover costs. The municipality failed to cough up its share of Rs 17.7 crore for the project, and asked MJP to take over water supply operations. In January 2006 the authority agreed, on two conditions. One, it would operate the assets for 30 years; and two, it would maintain the network through a private operator. LMC agreed; bids were invited. In June 2008, a 10-year deal was signed with Latur Water Management Company, a consortium. The private contractors were to repair the pipeline network and maintain an average supply of 100 lpcd with due pressure and quality. The aim was to bring in private investments to increase coverage by a km each year, increase revenue collections, and have 100 per cent metering at the consumer end. The consortium has spent about Rs 5-6 crore on installing pipelines and hiring staff. It has a customer database and MJP’s final approval. But the authority is yet to hand over the supply network for the stipulated 10-year period. Popular opposition to private players

Latur’s 24/7 deal
had clauses that
leave the consumer
with no voice. For
exlample, users
have to agree to not
complain of “nonsupply”
as per plan
- Uday Gaware, lawyer

Two months after the contract, residents of Latur were up in arms. The consortium’s office was locked up. The district collector Akinath Dawale attempted brokering peace, forming a committee with representatives of the protesters, the MJP, the municipality, the consortium along with those in opposition. The first meeting on August 14 turned into a slanging match. The opposition boycotted a follow-up meeting a month later. Uday Gaware, advocate representing those opposed to the scheme, said: “No matter what we say, the party concerned is hell-bent on giving the assets to private players.” It was an ideological matter stemming from the belief that basic provisions like water, roads and electricity must remain in the public domain, he explained. The annual flat rate of Rs 810, he said, will increase to Rs 2,400 for the same usage, and there would be a 10 per cent hike in tariff every two years. The private operators said people would be willing to pay when they see improved services. Gaware and his colleagues do not buy that. What is on the table is not an operations and management contract, they said; the private operator is responsible for the entire water system. The only source of revenue is billing customers, said Baswant Bharde, secretary of a public action committee. He added that conservation of the resource is not in the private operators’ interest, creating a cycle of more water for more profit, he said. “We are already sourcing water from longer distances, only to enable the private player to earn more profit” said Bharde. “Next we will be asking for Narmada water.” Gaware mentioned clauses of the proposal that his colleagues and he find objectionable, such as the one that declares the users will not complain of “non-supply” as per schedule. This effectively means the consumers do not have a voice, he added. The hand-over is expected in November after the state holds assembly elections. “Over my dead body,” said Gaware.

24/7 is desirable. Is it viable?

While Badlapur’s story shows the criticality of financial support— and what can result from the lack thereof—that 24/7 water supply schemes need, the three towns in northern Karnataka show the technological input needed to make such a scheme work. The opposition to the private consortium in Latur is a reflection of the political environment. Funds from JNNURM and funding/donor agencies are conditional to the state governments and cities undertaking reforms. They mandate that states levy reasonable user charges to recover full operations and maintenance costs. The thrust is to have a meter on every outlet to measure usage and improve revenue collection. There is something to be said for pricing of resources. The existing water supply systems in Indian cities not only make water utilities inefficient but are unjust to the poor. “Flat rate pricing only leads to the rich and the powerful appropriating more water,” said Dinesh Kumar of the Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy, Hyderabad.

24/7 schemes in India depend on either state
funds or private equity. Municipalities cannot
answer the call given their financial woes

“The rich overcome shortages in intermittent supply regimes by illegally tapping the mains, using large storage structures, tapping groundwater and calling for tankers.” Vinay Baindur, social activist and urban affairs analyst in Bengaluru, pointed out that 24/7 schemes focus on individual connections, and eliminate public taps that cater to, say, the homeless and poor migrant labourers, who cannot pay for individual connections. That the pricing regime should make basic water requirements affordable and then charge incrementally for subsequent use is obvious. But all dealings between the governments and private players must be open to public scrutiny. The government must not abandon its role as the guardian of public trust, as the regulator in the greater common good. The private sector, for all its efficiency and money, is not accountable to society, only to shareholders and regulators. There is another sign of warning in the pattern of 24/7 schemes across the country: they bypass the municipalities. They rely on money and support of the state governments, para-statal authorities, or private sector players. Without the municipalities taking it up and making it work, 24/7 schemes would remain experiments, not a solution that can be scaled across the country. That would have to address the financial morass that plagues all urban bodies, which also prevents them from protecting water sources across catchments. Why can’t 24/7 funds be used to enliven municipalities? Because what is required is not rocket science. In this light, it is shortsighted to plan only for water supply and not sewage. “Most states are going in for water supply projects (under Central schemes like JNNURM) because the benefits of sanitation are not as visible,” said Geetki Nivedita, director of water supply in the Union Ministry of Urban Development. Cities release 25,000 million litres of untreated wastewater into rivers and waterbodies each day, making them into festering sewers and cesspools. The amount of sewage is difficult to estimate—because the supply is not known, and people overuse groundwater, which is unaccounted for. Perhaps metering ought not to be restricted to water supply; perhaps it is time to consider sewage meters to charge people for treatment of their wastewater. Round the clock.