Abstract
Gujarat has made important strides to ensure that most parts of the state become water secure. In 2005, Gujarat was one of the few states that recognized that its urban areas were its ‘engines of growth’ and made significant investments in urban infrastructure. A state-wide water supply grid was constructed to transfer inter-basin water from perennial surface water sources to water-scarce areas. While these schemes have improved household-level access to municipal water supply, service levels have not improved. In this paper, we argue that along with infrastructure creation, there is a need to focus on monitoring, operation and maintenance of existing system and improving efficiency. We analyze information available from the performance assessment system (PAS) setup by the CEPT University for monitoring of urban services in India. It has annual information of water service delivery in all the urban areas of Gujarat from 2010. We assess urban drinking water supply on three key aspects: equity, service quality and financial sustainability. We also identify a few key intervention areas related to increased accountability, efficiency and equity in delivery of water supply services.
Highlights
The ‘Gujarat model of development’ is known for its focus on economic development
The analysis presented in this paper is from the information available on performance assessment system (PAS) platform for piped water supply services provided by cities of Gujarat state
Gujarat has made significant strides in economic development, increase in employment and alleviation of poverty. It is one of the first states in India to focus on urban areas
Summary
The ‘Gujarat model of development’ is known for its focus on economic development. It is known that Gujarat was among the first states in the country to recognize that ‘cities are engines of development.’ The Government of Gujarat had declared the year 2005 as the ‘urban year’ to bring focus to urban development issues in the state and invest in urban infrastructure. As we argue in this paper, with significant investments in urban water infrastructure and increased access, the service quality—measured in quantum of water available and hours of supply has improved only marginally. It was in this context that the performance assessment system (PAS) for urban water supply and sanitation services was set up by the CEPT University.
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