Deliberating Reforms: Public Private Partnerships in Indian Water and

Sewerage Sector 1

Sumanth Inukonda
This article analyses the growing challenges within developing countries such as
urbanization and consequent solutions emerging due to globalization. Public private
partnerships have been mooted to push forward the reforms in several sectors. Where
the response has been lukewarm strategic communications has been employed.
Examining the contribution of public private partnerships (PPPs) to service delivery,
public policy and public debate in the urban water and sewerage sector involves an
irony. The PPPs have demonstrated strong public demand for better services, but they
have been resisted widely leading the policymakers to back down on their initial
enthusiasm and make way for increase government funding. This paper argues the
wider themes of freedom and justice have to be critically invoked within the context of
globalization to understand the choices before policy makers. This calls for the
emphasis to shift from the project based strategic communications to a wider
deliberation on reforms.
Keywords: Civil Society, Communication, Developing Countries, 24X7 Water Supply,
PPP
Introduction
A broader meaning of development lies in improving ‘life chances’ or the ‘real
freedoms’ of an individual and a community. (Giddens, 2007;100 cited in
Georgantzas, Kalramakar&Solowicj, 2010, 622; Sen, 2000, 506) Among the various
constituent factors that influence life chances are economic opportunities, social
justice, political freedoms, public health, transparency, security and chances of
enhancing educational qualifications. (Sen, 2000; Sen, 1999)
Public policy2, social resistance movements, political and civil society actions,
technical innovations, and ‘best’ management practices can contribute to expanding
real freedoms. Public policy orientation towards improving civic amenities plays an
important role in good governance. Effective public policy is alert to the needs and
1
A previous version of this article was presented at Asian Media Information and
Communications Annual Conference on June 25, 2011
2
Interventionist policy is defined as pre-emptive seeking to address the roots concerns
rather than remedial or trying to catch-up with emerging problems. (Georgantzas,
Kalramakar&Solowicj, 2010, 622)
1
aspirations of better quality of life. Research in public policy needs to establish ‘the
empirical linkages that make the viewpoint of freedom coherent and cogent as the
guiding perspectives of the process of development’. (Sen, 1999, xii)
Communications for Development: Deliberative processes serve as a vital link in
realizing goals of development by promoting communication between citizens and
policymakers. It is now common ‘experience’ that development needs strategic
communications to be more effective. (Puddephatt, Horsewell, Menheneott, 2009, 1)
United Nations sees communication as a central strategy to achieving the Millennium
Development Goals for the developing countries. The Practice of communication
needs to emphasize on social mobilization apart from behavior change advocacy and
knowledge diffusion. (Puddephatt, Horsewell, Menheneott, 2009; Unicef, 1999) Paulo
Mefalopulos argues that ‘dialogic communication’ is more about communicating to
share perceptions and create new knowledge than about informing and seeking
diffusion of technical or behavioural knowledge. (2009, 23) Objective of
communication is not merely to be a tool for developmental practice but, rather it has
a role in defining developmental prerogatives. As the emphasis moves from public
service messages to active listening, expert consultants and urban managers are
prodded to engage local populace.
Media and Governance: Urban managers often moan that years of hard work goes
unnoticed by media while one mistake committed can become a headline. Media
functions as a watchdog of the society. Members of media recognize their
responsibility in highlighting the flaws in the system.
The last few years have seen several high profile contracts with the private sector
making front pages news when services to the public have been seriously affected.
(Faulker,2004, 67)
One explanation is that media persons work in a competitive environment under
duress to bring out eye-catching stories, and look for a events involving ‘victims,
villains, and visuals’. (Argenti, 2007, 265) This article asserts media is an important
arena for deliberation on water and sanitation reforms. Considering the presence of
various powerful lobbies and public emotions evoked by the subject media must be
brave in scrutinizing reforms.
Civil Society Participation: At present, civil society participation offers an alternative
to the discourse of government aided development. An idealistic vision would
postulates non-governmental organisations working individually and networking
2
internationally to create globalization from below. As Appadurai argues grassroots
CSOs are demonstrating to government their superior capability in poverty reduction.
(2001, 32) Civil society potential in helping governance is being accepted, leading
governments albeit grudgingly to engage them. Cammaert has argued that this
engagement is about giving access to the process; ‘[CSOs] are in effect mere
observers with limited speaking-rights and are not allowed to fully (or partially for
that matter) participate in decision-making processes’. (2009) This article brings out
cases where grassroots NGOs are being employed on contractual terms to help
implement projects. However, the point is that civil society can do more than that. As
members of joint advisory committees civil society plays an influential role in
drafting the laws which are put forward to elected bodies. Civil Society action has
helped frame Right to Information Act and is currently framing an anti-corruption
bill. Thus, civil society can contribute to democracy by taking up substantial issues of
transparency and accountability in governance.
Public Policy: Objectives and Directions
…Justice is a central concept in identifying the aims and objectives of public
policy and also in deciding on the instruments that are appropriate in pursuing the
chosen ends…for making public policy it is important not only to assess the
demands of justice and the reach of values in choosing the objectives and
priorities of public policy, but also to understand the values of the public at large
including their sense of justice (Sen, 1999, 274)

Sen not only identifies justice as the central criterion for framing policy he points us
to the nature of justice as being culture and history specific. When we try to narrow
down to public policy in India as an example its colonial history provides us with a
starting point of analysis. As Kohli argues ‘policies are integrally linked to underlying
social and political forces’. (2009, 248) The negative role of the colonial state in
failing to invest in such growth promoting activities as technology development, and
maintaining an open economy that could overwhelm a indigenous dynamism that
might have emerged dominated most of the postcolonial policy making. (Kohli, 2004,
222) In the independent India there was an agreement between capitalists and political
elite the rapid industrialization should be endogenic requiring protection and state
intervention. (Kohli, 2004, 223) With the neo-liberal ascendancy on global scene and
balance of payments crisis in India liberalization, privatization and globalization
defined policy during the 1990s. Ushering in of liberalization was interpreted as pro
business due to increased freedom of cooperation that the businesses were now
3
entailed to. (Kohli, 2009; Chandra, Mukherjee & Mukherjee, 1999) A turnaround that
was more of a process rather than an event included gradual privatization of public
sector and welcomed foreign investment. Trade unions, civil society and nationalist
groups, which have perceived a loss of economic and cultural independence, continue
to resist widening private sector participation particularly that of large foreign
corporations. While there is an economic context and cultural consequences to policy
direction taken by a government focusing too much on economic and cultural roots of
policy, according to Kohli, would undermine a positive conceptualization of state as
‘society shaping institution’. (Kohli, 2009, 248)
Public-Private Partnerships
Some of the inadequacies of Britain’s Public services are more to do with interia,
poor management, over manning and bureaucratic sloth than lack of resources…
firms working in the private sector are likely to be better managed. (Giddens 2002:
33 Cited from Kerley, 2004; 97)

Neo-liberal policies have tried to infuse private sector efficiency into essential public
services. For the developing nations additional charm of PPPs lies in their promise to
bridge the developed-developing divide. Governments need to enhance civic
amenities in the developing countries to meet the ever-increasing demands of
urbanization. World Bank advocates private sector participation in infrastructure-
related activities as a sensible complement to regulatory reform in developing
countries. (1991) Regulatory reform in the last two decades has freed the private
sector both domestic and foreign to contest in Indian markets. Virtually every areas of
significant capital investment by governments are now open to private participation.
The objective of private sector participation into infrastructure, which has been a
government domain, is to increase capital investment, operational efficiency and even
maximizing revenues especially where the governments have been making losses for
several years. (India Infrastructure Report, 2008, Haryana PPP) The logic for private
sector participation lies in its ability to incentivize efficient service and operate for
profits. Optimists believe, private partnerships promise not just closing global
governance gaps but also promote learning, dialogue, best practices in public goods
sector. (Ruggie, 2002 and 2004; Nelson, 2002cf. Bexell& Morth (2010)) It is this
dialogue both within existing system of democratic consultation and new avenues for
such deliberations that will be examined this article. Some case studies in water and

4
sanitation sector will be examined here to analyse implication of such a dialogue on
project implementation and bearings on national policy.
PPP involves two or more partners, government being one of the partners, with an
organizational commitment towards the partnership. (Grimsey& Lewis, 2004; 13)
Several forms of private partnerships witnessed in the Indian urban sector include 3 A)
service contracts: these are typically short term with fixed payments for providing a
specific service to the city such as street sweeping. The contract may be renewed with
pay rise regularly. B) Management contracts discussed in this article are medium term
with performance-based incentives. For example, offering billing and collection
services for city water supply department with a goal of reducing non-revenue water
(NRW). C) Build Operate Transfer (BOT) agreements are typically long term
(sometimes involving periods as long as 25 years) with policy decisions such as user
charges being decided by the government. Private partner is invited through
competitive bidding to invest in building infrastructure and operate services for a
longer period following which the assets are transferred back to the government.
Some Build Operate Own (BOO) models also exist such as in transport sector
wherein bus operators eventually own the vehicle. Revenue risk for the private partner
remains minimal in a BOT system. Unless executed judiciously private parties might
build assets from public money4. D) Concessionaire are long term contracts which
include decision making powers such as those involving user charges being
transferred to the private partner. These agreements leading to privatization of public
services are criticized for shifting policy decisions from public to private domains.
(Donahue, 1989, 215) Concessionaires are susceptible to public resistance and are
characterized by significant risk for the parties. There are two contrasting ways of
looking at risk from a academic point of view. One is supportive of the process of
privatization. Faulker argues contract clauses in the urban water and sanitation sector
often tend to shift the financial risk to the contractor. (2004, 66) In relation to risk it
is important to understand that competitive market situations result in situations where
private interests undermine public institutions. These private interests need not always
be companies and could be groups of networked individuals. Rosenau, cited schools
as an area where public private partnerships do not work with private schools working
3
Author thanks Prof. A. Narender, Administrative Staff College of India for offering
distinction between various forms of PPPs
4
Sanjay Jaju in his lecture at ASCI proposed an interesting name for this
phenomena he calls private-public partnerships!
5
to undermine public schools (2000). Private participation raises deeper concerns when
it imperils collective decision making. The wider debate is on Public private
partnerships shifting public policy into hands of private partners and thus impacting
the way democracies function. This is a serious concern with concessionaire, which
have not succeeded in India. In this article we largely deal with retaining public
financing ‘but delegating delivery to the private sector’. (Donahue, 1989, 215)
In all forms of PPPs government oversight is required as
• Government may become owner of the facility at some stage as per the contract at
the end of arrangement
• Government may be faced to step in to ‘preserve an essential public service’ in face
of default by the Special Purpose Vehicle. (Grimsey& Lewis, 2004)
PPPs in Developing Countries
Given the lack of budgetary resources and enormous infrastructure needs in
developing countries, public private partnerships remain an attractive policy options.
(Lewis and Grimsey, 2004) United Nations (2002) has describes them (PPPs) as a
‘strategic necessity rather than a policy options’ envisaged for a wide variety of
sectors from transport to municipal infrastructure such as water. (cf Lewis and
Grimsey, 2004) Developing societies are seen to pose risks to public private
partnerships. Firstly, there is an institutional risk involved as policies, laws and
regulation are subject to greater change than in developed countries. (Grimsey&
Lewis, 2004, Miller &Lessard, 2001) A second reason is the disposition towards
socialist ideals. United States has resisted any form of collectivization for most of its
history that there is not much socialized sector anyway. (Donahue, 1989, 215)
Postcolonial societies have experimented with socialism and offer resistance to the
idea or private sector involvement in key infrastructure sectors of economy.
(Grimsey& Lewis, 2004, Miller &Lessard, 2001) The resistance is acute to the extent
of being an anthema when a foreign partner is involved the key differential being,
‘Third World democracies states that are not products of such capitalism but instead
seek to promote efficient capitalist development.’ (Kohli, 2009, 225) One argument
cited in favour of private participation in developing countries is that PPP facilitates
transfer of technology from ‘foreign investor to the local public sector’ and upon
consummation of such a transfer foreign partner can be asked to quit. (Lewis and
Grimsey, 2004) While it is naïve to believe foreign investors are in developing
countries for altruistic reasons the point is it may not result in imperialism either. At
6
least until the policymakers are alert! Wider deliberations at national policy level and
local level implementation will determine the future of projects individually and
collectively.
Resistance and concerns
Concerns exist as to if private participation in infrastructure would reduce government
accountability and erode public interest. This paper argues for a balance to achieve
better service delivery for all without eroding public interest. This argument sees an
opportunity to expand public interest by creating a deliberative/dialogic space
between the civil society groups and service provider. (Forsyth, 2005, 438 Grimsey
and Lewis, 2004; 248) What is the reason for state to promote this space? What kind
of politics does this deliberative space lead to?
Deliberative public–private partnerships may be defined as partnerships that
maximize public debate about the purpose and inclusivity of collaboration between
state, civil, and market actors, as well as achieve the economic purposes of
collaboration. (Forsyth, 2005, 429)
In the traditional system of governance power flows from citizens to elected
representatives to bureaucrats. Politician-bureaucrat nexus is often pejoratively talked
of as the source of back room deals leading to corruption. There is every likelihood
that private partner joins this nexus to divert public money for private ends. Those
more optimistic argue there is also a chance that private sector principle of financial
profitability to foist a relationship based on consumer satisfaction. For example,
delegation of services to private contractor creates new points for citizen grievance
resolution. Further, resistance and fear of public rejection leads to new deliberation
opening new arenas of public consultations as well as reinvigorating the existing ones.
Creating special purpose vehicle for private partnership within new regulatory
framework of governance is generally associated with an increase in the tariff paid by
most consumers rather than an improvement in the quality or reliability of the service
provided to them. Thus to clear the air, the need of the day is drawing out clear
mandates as stated by Sevel et al (1998 cited in Srivastava, Paul and Bhardwaj).
According to them there are two broad mandates before the commissions. The first
being a typical IEC mandate: '…educating the public regarding the new regulatory
environment …and rationalizing seemingly complex processes which have replaced
traditional process.' The second communication mandate on the other hand addresses
the stakeholders, in terms of the need to 'sell' the 'new concept' of regulation and
7
commissions to them. And they must also simultaneously convince elected officials
that they are relevant and necessary to the protection of the public' (Dervin and Shield
1998 cited in Srivastava, Paul and Bhardwaj) This article argues it is not just selling to
stakeholders that forms the aim of participatory communications, but the making of
reform that has to be opened up to deliberations. Otherwise, we risk of mounting
resistance, collapsing projects and worsening services.
Water
Municipalities are responsible for delivery of safe water and maintenance of city
sanitation. India infrastructure report notes that water supply and sanitation ‘are not
amenable to competition and market contestability’. (2008, 42) There are two issues
here one that water being a necessity of life cannot be operated merely to maximize
profits. The other related to the first is that private sector participation in this sector is
inhibited due to constraints on competitive market that exists for water. Raise in water
tariffs is invariably met with resistance. Of all the public services, the provision of
‘piped water is the one with which the private sector is the least involved’. (Roth,
1988, 230) It is then argued that increased private sector involvement would hence
solve these problems. (Roth, 1988) The key objective of governments in seeking
private partnership is to provide efficient service. So, there is a need to evolve
mechanisms that mimic competition to select party in providing efficient services to
citizens. (India Infrastructure Report, 42) In Nigeria and many other countries private
firms have been engaged in maintenance and distribution of water supply or billing
and collection. (WB, 1991) Nigeria has evolved innovative systems that mimic
mobile operators such as kiosks to help payment of bills and report pilferage.
Lewis and Grimsey identify typical problem facing the water sector in developing
countries
 Revenue collected is low and covers only small proportion of the cost of water
 Commercial operational principles and user pays to conserve water unacceptable
 Loss of water due to leakages
 Poor coverage and low supply hours, low pressure
 Perceived as over staffed (2004; 238)
Low supply hours lead to contaminants entering the supply lines. Cases of mixing of
sewerage in water supply, at times involving fatality, have been recurring in cities 5.
5
[Link]
(accessed April 15, 2011) The infamous case of water contamination in
Bholakpur, Hyderabad led to several deaths and subsequent attack on Municipal
8
Reform would entail new piping with continuous pressurized water supply. In order to
recover the cost of investment and operation every connection will be metered and
paying user charges up front with reasonable exceptions for poor. Efficient billing and
plumbing works are crucial for any continuous water supply system.
Problems of intermittent supply also the main themes of 24X7 advocacy campaign
include
1. Spending lot of time waiting for water
2. First results in loss of wages for the poor
3. Storing water and then throwing it out to accommodate fresh water-promoting
water conserving behaviours
4. Water contamination
5. Water wastage and revenue loss due to leakages
Global themes of climate change which is harder to connect instantly with citizens do
not appear convincingly in such advocacy campaigns. Water conservation is raised
consumer behavior issue. One possible reason could be that 24X7 invariably requires
supply augmentation or additional mining of water. Another reason for higher
consumption of water and leakages is continued usage of overhead tanks and
underground sumps among most households even after switching to 24X7. Observed
trends in 24X7 or continuous water supply are that the bulk supply to the increases by
a marginal amount. However, as citizens use less water, non-revenue water is
reduced. Loss of revenue due to pilferage and leakages is reduced as the water is
effectively metered. Wastage reduces as citizens learn to be more judicious about
water use. Realization of such changes in behavior patterns invariably requires a
changeover period. Also, high pressure supply accentuates internal leakages in the
households. This leads to higher bills for the consumer in the changeover period.
Comparison between bulk water consumption before and after 24X7 projects depend
on hours of supply. This has resulted in some pilots being started in water abundant
regions of cities. A wide variety of diversity in management models can be seen in
24X7 water supply projects.
It is important to note here that the cases described below were initiated before central
governments recognized continuous water supply as a reform to be supported through
funding under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission JnNURM.

offices by the irate mobs.

9
Hubli-Dharwad & Belgaum6
The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad along with Belgaum and Gulbarga in north
Karnataka have been running 24X7 water pilot projects for past couple of years. The
project is a management contract with a foreign private partner in charge of the
operations and maintenance. Residents were initially very skeptical of the corporation
taking up 24X7 water supply. Some groups were opposed to the idea of bringing in a
foreign partner. Active participation of the NGOs working with the local communities
in the slum areas proved to be crucial in building trust in the project.
This project had to cross two major hurdles- metering and fear of privatization. People
resisted 24X7 because new connection would entail metered connections. They were
used to consuming water at flat rates and feared that metering would essentially mean
much higher bills. Also, people with flat rate connection tended to waste water as they
will pay the same rate irrespective of the usage. The other apprehension among some
employees of the city municipality was that involving private partner will result in
privatization of the water board and a loss of job security for them. The project
management deemed these as ‘communication problems’. The funding agency,
Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC),
started a social intermediation and communications Strategy (SICS) cell to encourage
community participation and to create awareness about 24X7 in the media. SICS was
manned by three: an advisor, a media consultant and a community development
specialist. Local newspaper journalists were provided with information on benefits of
24X7 and the nature of PPP (management contract so far) so that they could write and
help dispel the fears of people. However, this did not stop media from doing its job to
scrutinize the project to highlight delays, tariff hikes, resistance etc. Major
breakthrough came at the grassroots level when local politicians and local NGOs
which had been working with women’s self help groups were roped in to win the trust
of the people especially those living in slums.
Grassroots NGO’s working for KUIDF through the SIC cell are hired on a
performance based contracts. These NGOs worked mainly with women in slums
(most of them organized as self help groups) to advocate 24X7. Women in slums had
to stand in the que for several hours often spending half a day near the public stand
6
Based on Case Study was written for ASCI-WSP Strategic Communications
Curriculum for Urban Sector by Sumanth Inukonda in 2010 (Unpublished)

10
posts. While 24X7 was a welcome change the people were apprehensive about the
prices. It was demonstrated that with juditious use of water bills could be contained.
SICS cell also maintains documentation of various details regarding consumer water
bills, electricity bills and statistics of water borne diseases. Several posters often with
pictorial messages potraying benefits of 24X7 water supply were printed and
distributed among the community.
The system earlier was plagued by non-revenue losses due to leakages. Typically,
public stand posts were prone to leakages as the taps were often stolen from them.
These have since been replaced by individual metered connections. The project
started with engineering works to rehabilitate pipes enhance source of supply and
realign network. According to an engineer working for private contractor the increase
in the water being supplied in the demo zones is negligible but the revenue generation
for the city corporation has gone up. The 24X7 system now finally works with the
metered connections. With the success of the project state government has now
initiated upscaling of the project to cover the entire cities of Hubli, Dharwad and
Belgaum within next five years. The contract will be upscaled from management to
BOT requiring private investment.
Navi-Mumbai7
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has adopting a set of technical, financial
and operational efficiency measures to reduce non revenue water, energy audit and
metering. As part of the initiative concerted efforts were made to improve water
supply access to the urban poor. Navi-Mumbai demonstrate that existing mechanisms
of public consultations within the city government can be rejuvenated to deliberate on
reforms and improve services to the poor.
The Municipal Corporation of Navi Mumbai is a planned city with a population of
1.20 million. Navi Mumbai was built as a counter magnet to draw the population
away from an overcrowded Mumbai islands. Owing to the largely middle-class nature
of the population Navi Mumbai Corporation is considerably cash rich and even in
absence of central grants or private investment it could take up a massive continuous
water supply project on its own.
Table: Water Demand as per Population Projection8
Year Population Water Demand in MLD
7
Ibid, 2009
8
Prepared by NMMC committee reproduced with permission
11
 2008 1143100 229
2009 1225715 245
2010 1315186 263
2021 1964951 393
2031 2501019 500

NMMC started addressing the water supply scarcity by purchasing and developing the
Morbe Dam in 2003 as a source of water supply and consequently upgraded the
storage and distribution network. Another crucial issue to be addressed was the
revenue-expenditure deficit. The residential clusters of the poor in Navi Mumbai were
supplied water through public stand posts and tankers. Here there were two issues
involved 1) need to supply continuous water supply and 2) to convince people to
meter the connection. Technically, on the back of the improved source and supply
situations this could be achieved.
A constant interaction among the elected representatives (Corporators) and the
municipal officials who designed and implemented the improved water supply system
through formal General body and Standing Committee meetings or informal chats in
the corridors takes the debate on reforms forward. In Navi Mumbai commissioner’s
words
They (corporators) were under the impression that this will increase the tax…[we]
have explained to them what we are going to do, what is the benefit of this, how water
will be saved and how tax will not be increased.
‘Marketing skills’ are frequently used by the officials is to convince the elected
representatives of the benefits of reforms in water services. NMMC officials
developed material to make a case for reforms. For instance, a film on non-revenue
water and benefits of metering was shown to corporators along with a comparative
study that showcased that water usage and wastage reduced with metering helped
officials make a case for metering and volumetric-based tariff system. Corporators
were also convinced that the billed amount showed only a marginal increase with
volumetric billing vis-à-vis a flat rate system as water usage decreased.
The project required innovative financing model. To facilitate access to poor meters
were provided for free and fee was reduced from Rs 3500 to Rs 1500. Group
connections were introduced and could be applied for in the name of any registered
community body. water bill was payable through monthly installments without fine
12
on late payments. Ward officers was entrusted to simplify procedures and to help in
paper work. This is particularly significant in a developing country with low overall
literacy.
The NMMC has solicited private partnership in Operation and Maintenance. These
(management contracts) were given to several small contractors. These contractors are
assessed on a regular basis as per developed system of performance measurement.
According to NMMC, Regular auditing and implementation of metering have led to
reduction of physical losses by 15-20% in water and a gain in revenues.
A complaint book is maintained by the O&M contractor. Private contractors monitor
water usage in the sectors. Fines are imposed on all violators for misusing water
services. A system of zonal meetings exists for reviews and remedy. The telephone
numbers of water supply departments, contractors are available on the NMMC
website, further these have been made accessible to citizens by displaying them on
water bills, handbills, newspaper advertisements, and painting on elevated and
underground water reservoirs (ESR/GSR).
Role of deliberations: Final decision making power rests with the General body
composed of all city level elected corporators. Corporators have to be adequately
aware to make informed decision. When a project is tabled for discussion officials
have to explain fully all the available options and their pros and cons. Corporators on
their part have to make efforts to understand financial pressures on the city
corporation. Officials of NMMC have been strategizing through existing channels of
dialogue to push forward reform both with corporators and citizens at large.
NMMC has realized an increase in revenues from the new connection charges and
regular bill payments to the tune of Rs 12 crores. Further, due to metered household
connections, pilferage and wastage has been reduced. Complaints from citizens on
water issues have come down. As per Environment Status Report a reduction in water
borne disease has been reported. Navi Mumbai is continuing with phase wise
expansion of the pilot without much change in the PPP model.
Nagpur9

9
Based on Case Study written by Sumanth Inukonda. & Godavarti Kartic in 2011
titiled Strategic Communications Curriculum for Nagpur 24X7 Water Suppy Scheme
(Unpublished) for ASCI

13
Nagpur Municipal Corporation has a 24x7 pilot project going in the Dharampet zone.
This is a PPP with a management contract given to a transnational company. Nagpur
project had not employed strategic communications in the project roll out. The
project had faced resistance from citizen groups and earned itself a bad media.
Dharampet zone was a water abundant zone with citizens having uninterrupted supply
for several hours. Launching the project in a well-watered zone did not help highlight
the contrast before and after the project. A bigger cause for resistance was the
increase in water bills after in the post project phase. Nagpur Municipality revises
water tariffs every ten years. A massive hike in water tariffs coincided with
introduction of 24X7 systems. It has been noted across the world that water
consumption and hence the billed amounts witness a steep increase soon after the
24X7 schemes are launched. This is attributed to the consumer behaviour that takes
time to adapt to the new systems as well as internal leakages that need to be rectified
at consumers’ expense. In fact, the high pressure of 24X7 had caused breakages in the
old pipes within several houses leading to leakages. Sensing that the consumers were
in for a rude shock in the election year NMC delayed the bills presumably under
political duress. This compounded the problem as the consumers now received the
cumulative bills running into several thousands of rupees for the first time after
launching of the new project. Angry citizen backlash ensued. Citizens also complain
that the new meters are air sensitive- that they ‘run’ even when no water is going
through the pipes. The backlash was against private firm, 24X7 project and NMC’s
project implementation. In a curious case, plumbers association launched a counter
campaign against the 24X7 project. Plumbers licensed by the NMC are employed by
citizens to repair leakages and for taking new connections. In the pilot zone private
operator did not employ the services of these plumbers cutting them off from their
source of income. Incensed plumbers have turned against the project. They argue
citing data (and anecdotes) that while the bills have increased considerably services
improvement has been negligible. Private contractor was made responsible for public
relations and project advocacy. Soon, the company launched a communication
campaign supporting the 24X7 project. This has helped in addressing some of the
concerns of the citizens groups by helping them correct internal leakages etc.
A major problem facing the upscalling of the project is the internal resistance. An
important difference between the pilot and the upscalling is in the nature of PPP
contract. Private contract has graduated from management to BOT contract. Contract
14
envisages creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Nagpur Environmental
Sanitation Limited (NESL). Water department and sanitation department will be
merged together to form this new entity manned by engineers from both the
departments. The first year of operation would be a transitory phase when the NESL
would move from being a service provider to a regulator. This would entail water
department engineers either leaving their government jobs for jobs offered by the
private operator or coming back to the NMC to work in departments other that water
department. This uncertainty and obvious unwillingness to forgo hard-earned
government job is causing a great deal of resentment among the employees. Another
major force opposing the project is the opposition alliance in the corporation. Elected
opposition leaders promise to scrap the unpopular project upon their election to the
ruling chairs. Some allege vested interest, corruption and bribing being involved in
the making of contract.
Sewerage
National Urban Sanitation Policy encourages communication and awareness
campaigns to create demand for better sanitation provisions. (2008) Following case
study is a famous example from a small town near Chennai, which had demonstrated
strong public demand for underground sewerage system. Citizens, in fact, contributed
to the capital cost the project. Impressed with it national policymakers have now
allotted grants to support cities take up underground sewerage system under JnNURM
reforms.
Alandoor10
Alandur has a population of about 145,000 as per the 2001 census. Being a largely
middle class suburb Its proximity to the city served as a catalyst in generating a
demand for ‘city like’ services. This initiative was taken up before the JnNURM
reforms ware undertaken. This project actually convinced the central governement of
the demand for underground sewerage/drainage (UGD) system. Eventually, leading to
UGD funding under JnNURM.
Demand for an underground sewerage system in Alandoor was the main issue in the
1996 election campaign for the Municipality. Upon election Chairman of
Municipality, R.S. Bharati, was ready to champion construction of an underground
10
Based on Case Study was written for ASCI-WSP Strategic Communications
Curriculum for Urban Sector by Sumanth Inukonda in 2009 (Unpublished)

15
sewerage system. It is important to note that he was already a trusted figure in the
community as he had in his first term worked to bring Pallar water scheme for
improving water supply to fruitition.
The Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL) and the
municipal administration of Alandur decided that the construction of underground
sewerage system in Alandur town such as laying of pipes, construction of pumping
station, etc. will be done under BOQ (Bill of Quantities) basis, and the sewerage
treatment plant (STP) under BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis. This led to a
public private partnership between the Municipality and private contractor. As per the
agreement private contractor maintains the system for the first 14 years.
Alandor Municipality made concerted efforts to raise awareness about the project. Mr.
Bharati initiated an election style campaign to raise contributions for the underground
sewerage system. Officials and councilors travelled about in autorikshaws and teamed
up with RWA members to encourage people to participate. Campaign was designed
with the following objectives:
 To improve the standard of living of the residents of Alandur (at par with that
of Chennai);
 To eradicate the mosquito menace;
 To provide the most essential basic facility to all the residents of the town;
 To avoid the recurring expenditure on septic tank cleaning; and
 To avoid ground water contamination.
While the people wanted underground sewerage they were apprehensive about paying
upfront for a project that could be delayed. The campaign succeeded in encouraging
people to come forward and pay. To expedite contributions a deadline was set
following which the connection fee was hiked from Rs 5000 to Rs 6000. Upon
receiving substantial number of contributions this deadline was extended. Citizen
contribution raised 11 crores way higher than the mandatory 5cr as per project
financing conditions of Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund (supported by World
Bank). Almost, all houses have been connected to the sewage network by 2009.
For the communication strategy of the Municipality to succeed the activism of the
residents was crucial. As already noted, strong demand from the citizens was
important for initiation and continuance of the initiative. Residents living in various
residential localities formed their associations. Alandoor can be demarcated into three
areas: Alambackam, Nanganallur and Alandoor. Citizens within these areas formed
16
bodies to collectively represent the interests of RWA. One such body the United
Forum of Nanganallur Welfare Association (UFNWA) is an agglomeration of 32
RWA in the Nanganallur area. The key issue for the residents to come together and
join hands is the demand for better services. But to be able to participate in a massive
project like the underground sewerage system it required an association at a broader
level.
Conclusion
Comparing experience of water and sewerage PPPs across nations offers a general
framework to deliberate on the global issues of public good and environmental
sustainability. There are a host of local issues that need to be debated and regulated
include graft and inefficiency in implementation and management.
‘The [UK based] Institute of Public Policy research (2001: 15)…has argued that
ht development of such partnerships in central to improvement of public
service…the case for public service needs to be made in terms of value and
outcomes rather than particular forms of service delivery’. (Cited from Kerley,
2004; 97)

As the author has argued Management Models have proved successful as pilots. They
have already demonstrated the demand for better services. BOTs offer a higher
incentive to the private partner. Unless internal and external stakeholders find this
model acceptable projects can fail. Resistance among poor is often a result of
skepticism due to existing service levels. Resistance to privatization finds an
explanation in Kohli’s ideas about post Independence attitudes of citizenry and policy
makers. Fullscale privatization will find a lot of opposition. Government has to create
well-defined opportunities for the private sector to contribute to the efficiency of the
under preforming sector. Some of these will lie in management or BOT models
discussed in the article. While it is not my aim to define boundaries between the
partners that constrains them and leads to attempts to transfer risks, partnerships must
understand public sensitivities to be able to work for mutual gain. Governments need
to be transparent about the need for such models and the water conservation, water
scarcity problem, municipal revenues. A high handed attitude of imposition through
authority will be unproductive. Sustainable models and projects can be created only
with due deliberations.
There are now various models for funding 24X7 water supply or UGD projects.
Public private partnerships of the various types discussed are all on the drawing

17
board. With respect to the experience management contracts and BOTs come across
as the preferred. There is a mounting criticism against PPPs. Some have charged that
private partners are not investing enough in the infrastructure but making profits out
of public investment. Government of India under JnNURM is supporting 24X7 water
supply projects as well as UGD projects. Several cities have started rolling out pilot
projects funded solely from these provisions. The point is declining service standards
impact the poor disproportionately. Water expert David Foster says,
‘Not only is 24x7 fully within the scope of this program but JnNURM also
provides the badly needed incentive to recover O&M costs. As you know, failure
to recover these costs is an all too common weakness in Indian cities and it leads
not only to financial and technical failures of these water systems but also usually
represents a major inequity in allocation of public resources. Where effective cost
recovery is not enforced, the upper income groups get most of the benefits’.
While it helps reduce the risks associated with desertion of the private partner it still
needs a deliberative mechanism for its work. Civic amenities like providing clean
water and ensuring sanitation are a responsibility of city government or urban local
bodies. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been mooted as a possible solution to
providing urban amenities. Several water systems in the world such as Singapore and
many in US are public systems. In India Chandigarh, Raipur, Vijayawada,
Visakhapatnam, Mysore, Kochi besides Mumbai and Chennai has announced 24X7
pilots11. Every city will need to examine the available options and select the one that
is best for it. However, that any city should not totally dismiss the idea of PPP as
"always more expensive" or "always leads to corruption". As has been argued in this
article some path breaking PPPs have demonstrated demand for good services and
impressed policymakers to support such projects with central grants. Now, the options
before the cities have increased. While it is important to support the poor though the
transition to a better service delivery model it must be noted that adequate middle
classes population can prove to be a shot in the arm of project implementers. In towns
of Alandur and Navi Mumbai middle classes proved effective as they functioned as
demand catalysts and provided the financial base to the Municipalities to push the
project. Evolving a deliberative model to take into account stakeholders interests and
a transparent system to prevent personal interests from taking over is essential
irrespective of the model chosen. These deliberations need to understand the aspects
of resistance that originate from specific historical demands of justice. Perceptions are
often shaped by history, as seen in the resistance to PPPs, but it is the experience of
11
Report in Economic Times by Shantanu Nandan Sharma on 20 January 2008
18
billing and service that either confirms the doubts or helps them overcome. Notions of
justice and exploitation connect not just with the Indian vs foreign dichotomy but
more importantly with what is perceived as being value for money. Profiteering from
hardships of poorer citizens is unacceptable and leads to resistance.
While government funding through JNNURM has helped boost infrastructure
resources better service delivery is also linked with managements’ efficiency. This
opens up not just the option of buying private efficiency but in a convoluted way lead
to corruption. Now, civil society needs to be vigilant as increasingly there is a
possibility that public funds will be used from nefarious private ends. Major cases of
corruption involve private assets being built from public resources. Right to
Information provisions can be used effectively to help this end. Here, it must be
understood that NGOs face a daunting task in even seeking information from city
government that have long been known for authoritarian attitude and inefficient
services. Now, with the pressure to implement new reforms governments are seeking
civil society partnerships. This along with the provisions, discussed above, such as
Right to Information Act, 2005 have to be used effectively by civil society in defining
their strategies of deliberation and action.
Civil-society and media need to keep a watch on the projects. This is beyond the
reports of accidents and events not favourable to projects. The reform process needs
to be debated within the publics spheres for what it means to water conservation and
enhancing ‘real freedoms’ for the people such as safe and continuos water would
enhance public health and lead to saving of crucial man-days lost collecting water.
Women in the households are often responsible for filling water in the house,
cooking, washing and cleaning. It is not surprising that in most cases it was the
women’s self help groups that led to project success. However, for such projects to
remain viable it is important for the citizenry to be awake. Civil society needs to
monitor the projects as there are various interests involved that could work counter to
the well being of community. Often finding a common cause between slum
neighbourhood groups and middle class residents welfare associations become hard.
New projects based on user charge and metering offer a hope by fighting the
perception that middleclass are subsidizing water services to poor. Non-Governmental
Organisations must work to forge alliances between these two groups that demand
better services and resist private interest.

19
Author thanks Administrative Staff College of India and Water and Sanitation
Program, South Asia for supporting research for this article.
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