Source South Asia 2007, issue 3
Published - 21 Jan 08
South Asia - General
Asia: cautious optimism about water future in ADB-commissioned report
The 2007 Asia Water Development Outlook (AWDO) is cautiously optimistic about the region’s water future. If a crisis occurs this will be due to inadequate or inappropriate water governance, and not physical scarcity of water. The AWDO introduces the Index of Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA).
Asia-Pacific: water summit focuses on water governance, climate change and knowledge management
Leaders from over 36 countries met at the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Beppu, Japan from 3-4 December 2007. In their “Message from Beppu” participants re-affirmed their commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for water supply and sanitation
Quotes
Mohammed Sabur, Director, WaterAid Bangladesh
The only company likely to exert pressure for better sanitation here is Unilever, so that they can sell more soap.
Rani, inhabitant of Sultanpuri, a slum outside Delhi, India
My sister-in-law was sexually attacked when she went out to do her toilet. We would have to go in pairs or in groups to guard each other.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Dhaka: ADB provides US$ 202.5 million to improve water supply
The Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program will receive two loans totalling US$ 200 million and a US$ 2.5 million technical assistance grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The loans are for urban water supply sector reform and rehabilitation and strengthening of the water supply system in Dhaka.
Bangladesh: lack of progress on long-term solutions for arsenic, Prof. Mahmuder Rahman
Professor Mahmuder Rahman, a leading national medical expert on arsenic, expresses his frustration at the lack of progress on a long-term solution for arsenic poisoning disaster in Bangladesh. Arsenic in the food-chain, “has the potential to cause more serious problems in the future than arsenic in drinking-water", he said.
India
India, Punjab: water pollutants may cause genetic mutations, according to study
Toxic chemicals in the water in Punjab could be causing genetic mutations in the population, according to a recent study commissioned by the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Some scientists are disputing the study's conclusions, which link cancer with increased pesticide use.
India, Karnataka: child participation in local government
The state government of Karnataka has passed an order making it mandatory for village councils to enable children's participation in local government through special children’s gram sabhas (assemblies). This was inspired by the introduction of Makkala panchayats (children’s councils) in Karnataka in 1995 by the local NGO, Concerned for Working Children (CWC).
India, Rajasthan: UN discusses water issues with Legislative Assembly
United Nations representatives and members of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly discussed resolving water issues related to availability, management and quality, such as excess fluoride, traditional water sources and mandatory rooftop rainwater harvesting for new city dwellings.
India: utility under-pricing must be addressed to solve infrastructure deficit, says World Bank
India needs to invest an estimated additional US$ 500 billion during the next plan to close its “massive infrastructure deficit”. However, if the under-pricing of utilities, politcial patronage and poor management are not addressed, this may not be enough, says a World Bank representative.
Maldives
Maldives: WHO supports rainwater harvesting capacity development
The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the development of local standards and training materials for rainwater harvesting in the Maldives.
Maldives: desalination supplements rainwater harvesting in dry season and after floods
The Red Cross is completing a supplementary water system project on 15 islands in the Maldives to ensure secure access to safe water. Community-managed desalination units (reverse osmosis) help to supplement harvested rainwater during the dry season and after flooding and tidal surges.
Nepal
Nepal: India funds water treatment plants in Maoist camps
The Indian government has provided a grant to install reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plants at five cantonments serving some 15,000 Maoist Combatants. The project is part of the support that the Government of India is extending to the peace process in Nepal.
Nepal: public toilets – too few and dirty
Some of the public toilets that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has contracted out to the private sector are clean, but others are just as dirty as those in government buildings and schools. Open defecation is still widespread in Nepal, even in Kathmandu.
Nepal: rural water supply for 813,000 people by 2009
By 2009, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Board intends to provide drinking water to 813,000 rural people and to declare 200 more open-defecation free project areas.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: UNICEF helps residents check water safety in tsunami aftermath
Three years after the tsunami, many people in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province still have poor access to safe water. UNICEF is helping to improve improve the situation by building water treatment plants and promoting the use of water testing kits in comnination with simple household treatment methods.
Sri Lanka: many post-tsunami housing schemes lack proper water and sanitation
Millions of dollars in foreign aid have been spent on tsunami relief in Sri Lanka since December 2004, but three years later, some new settlements still lack basic facilities. In a a recent survey, over 60 per cent of all the new relocated occupants said that the amenities, including water, were worse than before the tsunami.
Other Regions
East Asia: leaders vow to increase investments in sanitation and hygiene
Ministers and policy makers from East Asia have pledged in Japan to raise investment in sanitation and hygiene, especially for the poor, and in schools and health care facilities. They formulated these commitments in a declaration adopted at the East Asia Ministerial Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (EASAN 2007).
South Africa: could water meters be unconstitutional?
South Africa's High Court is poised to rule whether Johannesburg's decision to introduce a multimillion-dollar prepaid water system in Soweto, is in violation of the residents' right to free water.
Panama: refugee status and clean water "change everything" for indigenous Colombians
After months of hardship and fear, life took a turn for the better for 11 families of the Wounaan community. A refugee status and clean water changed everything.
International
Climate change: access to water critical to developing countries
Access to water will be a critical issue for poorer nations, particularly in Africa and Asia. The adaptation strategies discussed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007 in Bali have not taken the predicted water shortages into account.
International Year of Sanitation: official launch by United Nations
On 21 November 2007, the United Nations officially launched the International Year of Sanitation (IYS) to accelerate progress for 2.6 billion people world wide who are without proper sanitation facilities. The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) has drawn up a joint road map for IYS 2008.
Names
FAN-South Asia: new regional network being developed
The Freshwater Action Network (FAN) is supporting a member initiative to develop a new regional network in South Asia.
Asian Development Bank: high accountability ranking challenged by NGOs
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) got the second highest ranking out of 30 international organisations in the 2007 Global Accountability Report. In a reaction the NGO Forum on ADB said “it is insulting to all communities affected by poorly implemented ADB-funded projects”.
Janak Raj Shah: appointed chairman of Kathmandu water company, Nepal
Janak Raj Shah was appointed as chairman of the new water utility Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), Nepal. The Asian Development Bank had made the establishment of an autonomous water utility operator for Kathmandu a condition for continued support to the controversial Melamchi Water Supply Project.
Abul Hussam: one of TIME Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment for 2007
Abul Hussam, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Virginia’s George Mason University has been named one of TIME Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment for 2007 for inventing the arsenic-removing SONO filter.
Training
Urban Rainwater Harvesting
New Delhi, India, 17-21 March 2008
Advanced course for working professionals interested in learning more about the theory, practice and policies of urban water harvesting.
Lessons Learned
Water safety plans: benefits and lessons from small water supplies in Bangladesh
A case study from Bangladesh shows how water safety plans (WSPs) can be developed and implemented for small community managed water supplies to improve the sanitary condition and water quality of water sources.
Capacity development: Asian Development Bank’s experience in South Asia
A new study examines the impact of capacity development interventions implemented by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in South Asia. The analysis includes interventions in the rural infrastructure subsectors in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Research
Reform: the challenge of economic regulation of urban water and sanitation in India
Through comparisons with the electricity sector, researchers examined how economic regulation might challenge the public providers of water in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, and what possible effects it would have on the needs for water and sanitation of the poorest.
Arsenic: cow dung discovered as new exposure route in West Bengal, India
Villagers in West Bengal, India, are being exposed to arsenic by inhaling fumes from burnt cow dung fuel. Cows are fed with rice straw, which has been irrigated by arsenic-contaminated groundwater.
Technology
Ecological sanitation: examples and experiences from India
Members of the Solutions Exchange Water Community in India were asked to share their experiences in the promotion of ecological sanitation (ecosan). A compilation of responses was produced, including suggestions on how to scale-up ecosan in India.
Rainwater harvesting: Indian town gets 24/7 water supply
A rainwater roof harvesting demonstration unit, which includes groundwater recharge and treatment, provides about 100 litres per person per day round the clock to 2,000 residents in Kulgaon-Badlapur, a satellite town of Mumbai (Bombay).
Point-of-use treatment: solar disinfection research and testing
The Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Nepal, is involved in testing and promotion of solar disinfection (SODIS), Solvatten, and colloidal silver (CS) filters. American researchers have now found ways to speed up SODIS in both cloudy and sunny weather.
Funding
Global Sanitation Fund: WSSCC plans launch in March 2008
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is setting up a new financing mechanism to help large numbers of poor people to attain safe and sustainable sanitation services and adopt good hygiene practices.
School Sanitation Fund: Simavi offers small project grants for rural schools
The Dutch NGO Simavi is offering small grants of up to EUR 15,000 to partner organisations in Africa and Asia for rural school sanitation.
Apply before Thursday 01 May 2008
Urban poor: Slum/Shack Dwellers International gets US$ 10 million from Gates Foundation
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide US$ 10 million to the International Urban Poor Fund of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) to help the urban poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America improve their housing, water and sanitation. Funds from the grant will be used to support the activities of federations of informal savings groups formed by slum or shack dwellers.
Development goals: new cost estimates for attaining MDGs for water and sanitation
A new WHO study provides “more updated and comprehensive figures than have been previously available of the costs of attaining the MDG target for water and sanitation”. From 2005 to 2014 an estimated US$ 70 billion needs to be spent annually on water and sanitation of which US$ 18 billion to increase coverage to the unserved and US$ 52 billion (EUR 35.8 billion) to maintain existing coverage.
Publications
Water conflicts in India : a million revolts in the making?
This book includes 63 case studies of water conflicts classified into eight broad themes: contending water uses; dams and displacement; equity-access-allocations; micro-level conflicts; water quality; trans-boundary conflicts; privatization; sand excavation and mining.
The last taboo : opening the door on the global sanitation crisis
This book breaks many silences surrounding today's sanitation crisis. It de-couples the 'water and sanitation' connection, and argues that - to make real progress - we need a radical new mind-set.
Assessing partnership effectiveness
This document's primary aim is to aid partnership practitioners in answering the question of whether working in collaboration is, or was, the best way to achieve their aims.
New on the Net
Water, Land & People: Learning initiative in Bolivia, India and Mali
During 2005-2006 learning groups in Bolivia, India and Mali identified and analysed specific topics related to water management based on the experience of its members applying innovative learning approaches like story telling.
Software tool for groundwater budgeting
Mr. R.V. Rama Mohan of Center for World Solidarity has come up with freeware (an Excel spreadsheet) to calculate the groundwater extraction versus recharge in an area.
Asian Development Bank: new web pages on sanitation and water
ADB has developed a new web page on sanitation called Dignity, Disease, and Dollars, Asia's Urgent Sanitation Challenge, and also new pages on rural water, urban water and basin water.
Women: agents of change
New short film by WaterAid, showing how women in India are joining forces in formal self-help groups to regenerate their local areas and improve water and sanitation conditions.
Events
Safe Drinking Water for Rural Areas: Community Based Approaches
New Delhi, India, 08-10 April 2008
Organised by WaterAid India, themes include: community-based water quality monitoring and management; sanitation, hygiene and socioeconomic conditions; water quality standards, mitigation and treatment technologies; service providers accountability; and scaling-up challenges.
Voices from the Waters: 3rd International Film Festival on Water
Bangalore, India, August 2008
Organised by the Bangalore Film Society and others, 'Voices from the Waters' is an annual event of images and sounds, of films, songs, photo and art exhibitions, lectures and conferences.
8th IAHS Scientific Assembly and 37th IAH Congress
Hyderabad, India, 07-09 September 2009
A Joint International Convention of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and the International Association of the Hydrogeologists (IAH).
