Philippines: toolbox for rural water utilities launched

The Philippines and the World Bank have created the Rural Water Supply (RWS) manual for small-scale providers. Photo: Department of Interior & Local Government(DILG).

The Philippine government – together with the World Bank, the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund (MDG-F) and other development partners – have launched a ‘local water governance toolbox’. The toolbox is aimed at small-scale water service providers (SSWPs) with less than 5,000 connections.

Otherwise known as “Tubig Yaman,” this new set of manuals and knowledge products on water and sanitation was unveiled at the ‘Water Knowledge Fair’ held in Manila in celebration of World Water Day. The manuals present a coherent set of guidelines that hopefully will help overcome operational difficulties and sustainability issues, which occur due to flaws in design assumptions, deficiencies in construction, and poor knowledge on operation and maintenance.

India, Karnataka: communication campaign helps realise sustainable water supply in small towns

When three small towns in the state of Karnataka, India attempted to provide continuous water supply to their citizens through a public-private partnership, they faced disbelief even ridicule. A sustained and strategic communication campaign over several years finally enabled the Karnataka Urban Water Supply Improvement Project (KUWASIP) to succeed with people’s support. Now, the citizens of these three towns – Hubli-Dharwad, Gulbarga and Begaum – benefit from 24/7 water supply through the .

This best practice was produced as a short movie titled “Overcoming Resistance and Initiating Change through Communications” by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) in partnership with the Administrative Staff College of India and is part of a training curriculum for city managers and policy-makers.

KUWASIP was jointly funded by the World Bank and the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC). In 2009, KUIDFC received a National Urban Water Award for the project in the category

Related web site: KUIDFC – Karnataka Urban Water Supply Improvement Project (KUWASIP)

India: US$ 2 billion unused aid for water and sanitation

India is sitting on 89.95 billion rupees (US$ 2 billion) of unused foreign aid for water supply and sanitation, according to a report by government auditor Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG).

As of 31 March 2010, unutilised committed external assistance for 16 sectors, including water and sanitation, amounted to 1,053 billion rupees (US$ 23.7 billion).

During 2009-10, the Indian government had to pay 861 million rupees (US$ 18 million)  in commitment charges  as a penalty for not utilising aid approved by multilateral and bilateral lending agencies on time. Of that amount, 532.6 million rupees (US$ 11.8 million) went to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and 272.8 million rupees (US$ 6.1 million) to the World Bank.

Source: Hindu, 18 Mar 2011

India, Karnataka: rural water supply gets boost with WB loan

The World Bank has approved financing of US$ 150 million (Rs. 810 crore) for the second phase of the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (KRWSS) project to be implemented by the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (KRWSSA) in 11 districts of north Karnataka.

The KRWSS project, which is also called Jal Nirmal Project (JNP), is part of a long-term programme of the WB’s support to the Government’s efforts to increase access of rural communities to improved and sustainable drinking water and sanitation services. The credit would be utilised to cover habitations which were not covered in the first phase of the project, which was approved in 2001 and ended in March 2010.

Areas to be covered

The project would cover the rain-fed and arid districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Koppal, Gadag, Haveri, Belguam, Dharwad and Uttara Kannada. The International Development Association (IDA), the soft arm of the bank, has granted credit at an interest of 0.75 per cent, which would be repaid in the next 50 years, including 14 years of moratorium. The amount would be utilised in the next three-year period (2010 to 2013), KRWSS officials said.

The Rs. 810 crore would help scale up the ongoing second KRWSS project to 1,650 villages, allowing an additional four million people to get access to efficient and reliable water supply.

First phase

The first phase of the project has already brought clean drinking water to about five million people, taking the number of households having water supply connections from 12 per cent to 47 per cent in the project villages.

In the first phase, the districts where it has been implemented has the basic minimum service level of drinking water (55 litres per capita day) to most of its rural population. Village people in the project areas have formed over 3,000 Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) that are now running water supply schemes. The VWSCs have been given water quality testing kits to check drinking water quality regularly, the official said.

The additional finance will also help the Government focus on improving the quality of water supply.

Decentralisation

The main objective of the project is to institutionalise the decentralisation of rural water supply and sanitation service delivery to gram panchayats (GPs) and user groups.

“GPs in the project area have been placed in the driver’s seat, and, together with the Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs), have been empowered and enabled to make decisions, procure material, carry out construction and manage funds,” the bank said.

The bank team has expressed satisfaction with the progress in the last nine years. “The project’s sustainability has been strengthened by the Government’s decision to give grants for water supply scheme construction to gram panchayats,” said a World Bank report.

More information:

• World Bank – Karnataka RWSS II Additional Financing
• Karnataka Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Agency (KRWSSA)

Source: Nagesh Prabhu , The Hindu, 17 Jun 2010

China, Ningbo: World Bank loan addresses rural waste water management

The World Bank has approved a loan of $50 million to China to improve rural wastewater management and township infrastructure in Ningbo Municipality.

Ningbo Municipality is a major city in the southeastern coastal zone of China, about 300 km south of Shanghai, and has a population of 5.65 million. Despite rapid economic growth since the late 1970s, Ningbo is facing increasing urban-rural disparities including per capita income of rural residents much below than that of urban residents, fewer economic opportunities, inadequate basic infrastructure, shortage and low quality of drinking water supply, and insufficient sanitation services in the rural areas. The Ningbo Municipal Government is working to implement the New Countryside Development (NCD) Program, a national strategy aimed at reducing the urban-rural disparity, balancing urban and rural development, and promoting human-centered, quality-based, resource-saving and eco-friendly growth in the countryside.

In support of the municipality’s efforts, the Ningbo New Countryside Development Project will focus on improving rural waste water management in about 150 selected villages in Ningbo Municipality and enhancing infrastructure development in Chunhu Town of Fenghua City by financing construction of an access road, water supply networks, and wastewater collection and treatment facilities. In the meantime, the Bank will provide technical assistance to build local capacities.

The total project cost is $107 million with the World Bank contributing about 47 percent.

The World Bank has a close working relationship with Ningbo Municipality. In recent years the Bank financed a number of projects in Ningbo, including the Ningbo Water and Environment Project, Zhejiang Urban Environment Project, and the Global Environment Facility-supported Ningbo Water and Environment Project.

For more information go to the Ningbo New Countryside Development Project page

Source: World Bank, 25 Feb 2010

Bangladesh: government and civil society against climate aid via World Bank

Bangladesh has voiced strong opposition to plans by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to provide close to US$100 million in climate change aid [1] – because of its delivery through the World Bank.

“We are strongly against the World Bank’s involvement in handling the climate fund. DFID should give the money straight to the Bangladesh government rather than giving it to the World Bank to disburse it,” Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque told IRIN on 16 February 2010.

“It should be a country-led programme rather than a World Bank-led one,” he said, adding that there were expectations the Bank would attach “unacceptable strings and conditions to its programme”.

His comments come one day after 21 civil society organizations, including campaigners from the European Action Group on Climate Change Bangladesh, the World Development Movement (WDM) and the Jubilee Debt Campaign, protested against the UK decision outside the DFID office in Dhaka.

Protest outside the National Press Club in Dhaka. Photo: WDM

WDM accuses the World Bank of being “responsible for funding high carbon projects that have caused climate change and that is also responsible for projects that have led countries like Bangladesh into further debt and poverty”.

WDM and the other protesting organizations insisted that DFID withdraw all conditions on the $94 million grant being offered to Bangladesh to cope with the impact of climate change.

The UK is actually taking this money from Bangladesh’s already allocated aid budget, money that should be spent on vital services such as health, education and clean water, and re-naming it climate finance rather than giving any new money, WDM says.

The British High Commission in Dhaka said how the funds were given out was not an issue.

“The issue of involvement of the World Bank in disbursing the money is a minor issue as the government of Bangladesh shall have full control of the fund,” Nazneen Ferdousi, senior press officer for the British High Commission in Dhaka, told IRIN.

The World Bank, as a development partner, would only provide administrative support in handling the funds, she said.

“We don’t see any problem in it,” she said.

Within the next 50 years, over 20 million people could be displaced and become “climate change refugees”, if sea and salinity levels rise in Bangladesh, according to the government’s 2009 Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan [2].

Proposed activities in the Action Plan include a water and sanitation programme in climate vulnerable areas, improvements in urban drainage, and installing rainwater harvesting systems in existing and new buildings.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day Bangladesh development meeting on 15 February 2010, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on donor countries to speed up delivery of promised funds to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

World leaders pledged $30 billion from 2010 to 2012 at the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen to help least developed countries (LDCs) most vulnerable to climate change, particularly low-lying coastal countries like Bangladesh.

Bangladesh says it is entitled to ask for at least 15 percent of the climate adaptation fund pledged in Copenhagen. It needs an estimated US$ 5 billion over the 5 years for climate change adaptation.

Donors in attendance in Dhaka included the USA, European Union, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The meeting is to review Bangladesh’s development programmes, including plans to reduce poverty, and help donors select areas of cooperation.

[1] DFID – Climate Change Programme  – Jolobayoo-o-Jibon

[2] Ministry of Environment and Forests (2009). Bangladesh climate change strategy and action plan 2009. xviii, 76 p. ISBN 984-8574-25-5. Download PDF file.

Source: IRIN, 16 Feb 2010 ; WDM, 15 Feb 2010

Nepal: national water resource information centre in offing

The Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) is all set to establish a national water resource information centre. “We lack accurate and adequate facts and figures with which to manage the huge potential of water resources in the country. There is a need to work in an integrated way in the field,” said Dr. Ravi Aryal, joint secretary, WECS.

The information centre will establish a countrywide network through river basin offices to be set up in parts of the country. “There is a River Basin Office for Indrawati and Dudhkoshi rivers and the work has been initiated. We will establish other offices in Nepalgunj, Koshi and Bharatpur soon,” added Aryal.

Following the split of the Ministry of Water Resources into Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Irrigation, officials have been worried about the future of integrated water resource management since there is no strong authority to take care of the issue. “Integrated issues of water resource have come under a shadow. Water resources are not only about hydropower and irrigation,” said Aryal.

Water resource experts agree that there is little of scientific data on water resource and the available one is also scattered. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), which is the first hand data generator for rainfall and temperature, is under the Ministry of Environment, whose objective is not primarily to look after water resources. “It’s unfortunate the DHM is under the environment ministry. Its data is useful for policymakers on water resources,” said Adarsha Pokharel, former director general, DHM.

WECS officials say they can do nothing to change the state of affairs since they are not mandated for that. Despite its being the sole body to handle the water issues, the 35-year-old commission is a weak one. “At a time when the country lacks a strong body to handle the water issues, we have tried to establish a scientific database which could help figure out issues to be urgently addressed in the sector,” Aryal said.

The information centre will be digitally equipped, financed by a World Bank grant. The river basin offices in Dudhkoshi and Indrawati have been supported by the Government of Finland. The centre will study actual use of water resources, mobilize the community for water conservation practices and keep information up to date. “Lack of reliable data on the natural resource has weakened us during international negotiations on water resources,” Aryal justified the need for the centre.

Source: Ramesh Prasad Bhushal, Himalayan Times / NGO Forum, 31 Jan 2010

India: World Bank loans $1bn for Ganges river clean up

The World Bank has agreed to lend India $1bn over the next five years to clean up the Ganges, one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

The 2,500km (1,500-mile) river has been badly polluted by industrial chemicals, farm pesticides and other sewage.

Speaking in Delhi, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said the clean-up would target the entire river network.

Plans involve building sewage treatment plants, revamping drains and other measures to improve the water quality.

The funding is part of the Indian government’s multi-billion dollar initiative to end the discharge of untreated waste into the Ganges by 2020.

Environmentalists say the river supports more than 400 million people, and if the unabated pollution is not controlled, it will be the end of communities living along the banks.

Earlier attempts to clean the river have failed, including a plan to make its water drinkable by 1989.

But Mr Zoellick said he was confident the plan would work this time.

“In the past, [efforts] focused too much on individual aspects such as sewage emissions and not enough on the basin as a whole,” he said.

“What really distinguishes this project is to try to look at the whole river network and try to deal with all the aspects.”

Correspondents say many of India’s polluting factories are located on the banks of the Ganges and their effluent has been largely responsible for the pollution of the river.

The Ganges also flows through some of most crowded cities of India which release their untreated sewage into the river.

Also on Wednesday [02 December 2009], India’s finance ministry said the World Bank would triple its lending to $7bn this year for development, infrastructure and other projects.

Source: BBC, 03 Dec 2009

India, Andhra Pradesh: US$150 million for rural water supply and sanitation

The World Bank has approved a US$150 million equivalent credit for the Andhra Pradesh Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

The project aims to assist the Government of Andhra Pradesh to improve water supply and sanitation services in 2,600 villages across 6 districts of the state. It will provide piped water to 2.1 million people and extend sanitation services to 1 million people who currently do not have access.

Improvements will be achieved through progressive decentralisation, community participation and enhanced accountability. Activities will include building of institutional capacity for implementing, managing and sustaining the project activities, along with sector development studies to inform policy decisions, and support improvements in water supply and sanitation services in the project habitations through new infrastructure or rehabilitating and augmenting existing infrastructure.

Source: World Bank, 22 Sep 2009

Bangladesh, Dhaka: pollution gets to groundwater

River pollution around the capital [Dhaka] has reached such a level that the groundwater system where the aquifers are recharged from the riverbeds is being contaminated, a recent study shows. [F]rom November to April [2009], virtually no water but only stinky mucky liquid flows in the gradually narrowing rivers — the Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Turag and Balu — as no governments could stop discharge of liquid waste into them.

Jet-black waters of the Balu river. Photo: SK Enamul Haq

A recent study [...] by the World Bank and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) says: “The groundwater system is being contaminated in areas where aquifers are recharged from the riverbeds. The pollution is creeping towards the central part of the city with time.” The study mentions groundwater in Hazaribagh, home of toxic tannery industries, as the most affected. “It is quite likely that in the long run groundwater would be affected from the surface at solid waste or industrial effluent dumping ground,” the report adds.

Currently, 85 percent of the total demand of city water is met through groundwater sources as most of the surface water is contaminated, according to Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa).

[...] The pollution has become so ‘usual’ that the Department of Environment now does not measure its level anymore.

[...] People living by the rivers say just twenty years ago these rivers abounded with different varieties of fish. [...] But in just two decades indiscriminate discharge of human excreta, household garbage and industrial waste, mainly liquid waste of dyeing and tannery industries, left the rivers dead.

[...] A recent research by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) shows the pollution level in the Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Balu and most parts of the Turag so high that simply no living organism can survive in their waters.

Source: Pinaki Roy, Daily Star, 26 Apr 2009