Water and Sanitation for All?

July 25, 2018

Ensuring “availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” is a target outlined by the Sustainable Development Goal #6. Yet how do we measure access to clean water and sanitation globally? And how has India fared on the issue of water rights? As part of Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai's Water Security Lecture Series, Dr. Zachary Burt, a Research Fellow at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and a Visiting Research Fellow on a Fulbright-Nehru scholarship, addressed these questions and presented his research on water and sanitation services in tier-II Indian cities, focusing on the Hubli-Dharwad belt in Karnataka.

Dr. Burt explored the issue of water from three different lenses -- water as a human right, water as an essential commodity to maintain healthy ecosystems, and water as an economic good. Drawing from both quantitative and qualitative data collected in the field, he analyzed the tension between resource management, net-benefits for households, and equity of access. Using tools recommended by the United Nations like the Water Ladder and the Sanitation Ladder, he evaluated affordability, safety, equity, accessibility, and efficiency in the provision of water and sanitation services over the years in the South Asian region.

While there were constraints in his research due to the lack of available data for some aspects, Dr. Burt was able to make some significant comparisons. According to him, India displays equity in access to basic water supply in rural and urban areas, but scores poorly in terms of water efficiency and shows very high levels of water stress. In terms of sanitation, data analyzed indicate a huge disparity in sanitation access between rural and urban areas.

Dr. Burt’s outlined future pathways that could be adopted by urban governments for ensuring universal and efficient access to water.  In a pilot study, he selected an upgrade to Continuous Water Service (CWS) in a test zone of Hubli-Dharwad (mid-size tier II city), while the rest of the city remained on Intermittent Water Services (IWS). Looking at current costs and benefits from the perspective of households, he concluded that utilities should upgrade to CWS only once the viability of such a model was evaluated closely. His findings revealed some of the basic policy trade-offs regarding urban water provision that will be at the heart of future upgrades in any resource-constrained country.