Water and Sanitation Program: STUDY Scaling up Rural Sanitation and Hygiene in Pakistan Sindh Service Delivery Assessment A decision-making tool for transforming funds into improved services June 2016 The Water and Sanitation Program is a multi-donor partnership, part of the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice, supporting poor people in obtaining affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation services. Punjab Service Delivery Assessment Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the dedicated time and efforts provided by the Planning and Development Department of the Government of Sindh through leading the development of the Study outcomes and creating technical and steering committees for review and approval. We would like to thank the Local Government Department for its technical and strategic contributions and coordination as well as data acquisition. The team would like to thank Soma Ghosh Moulik, Regional Team Leader, Water and Sanitation Program – Pakistan Program for her support and encouragement for the study and the report. The team further appreciates the insights and critique provided by our reviewers. Reviewers including Naseer Ahmed Rana, Manish Kumar and Vivek Srivastava of the World Bank. The Task Team Leader for supervising the development of this Study was Mohammad Farhanullah Sami. Rashid Khan and Mehreen Hossain were responsible for the research and drafting of the note. The responsibility of all errors and omissions rests with the drafting team. Task Team Leader: Mohammad Farhanullah Sami Peer Reviewers: Naseer Ahmed Rana, Manish Kumar and Vivek Srivastava The Water and Sanitation Program is a multi-donor partnership, part of the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice, supporting poor people in obtaining affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation services. WSP’s donors include Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and the World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed to the World Bank or its affiliated organizations, or to members of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. 2 Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms 4 Strategic Overview 5 1. Introduction 13 2. Sector Overview: Coverage and Finance Trends 14 3. Reform Context 18 4. Institutional Framework 21 5. Financing and its Implementation 27 6. Sector Monitoring and Evaluation 30 7. Subsector: Rural Water Supply 36 8. Subsector: Urban Water Supply 41 9. Subsector: Rural Sanitation and Hygiene 49 10. Subsector: Urban Sanitation and Hygiene 55 www.wsp.org 3 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Abbreviations and Acronyms ADP Annual Development Plan NWQMP National Water Quality Monitoring CAPEX capital expenditure Programme CBO Community Based Organizations O&M Operations and maintenance CLTS Community-Led Total Sanitation ODF Open Defecation Free DFID Department for International P&DD Planning and Development Department Development OPEX operations expenditure DHS Demographic and Health Survey PCO Pakistan Census Organisation (USAID) PCRWR Pakistan Council of Research in Water EPA Environmental Protection Agency Resources FY Financial Year PFC Provincial Finance Commission GPCD gallons per capita per day PHED Public Health Engineering Department GDP Gross Domestic Product PIHS Pakistan Integrated Household Survey HTPD Housing and Town Planning Department PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper IRSA Indus River System Authority PSLMS Pakistan Social and Living Standards JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency Measurement Survey JMP Joint Monitoring Programme (UNICEF/ PSP Private Sector Participation WHO) RDD Rural Development Department KMC Karachi Metropolitan Corporation RSH Rural Sanitation and Hygiene KWSB Karachi Water and Sanitation Board RWS Rural Water Supply LGA Local Government Act SAP Social Action Program LGD Local Government Department SCIP Sindh Cities Improvement Program LGO Local Government Ordinance SDA Service Delivery Assessment LHW Lady Health Worker SDG Sustainable Development Goal M&E Monitoring and Evaluation SIMS Sector Information and Monitoring System MDG Millennium Development Goal SKAA Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority M&R Maintenance and Rehabilitation SSS Saaf Suthro Sindh MGD million gallons a day SWAP Sector Wide Approach MICS Multiple-Indicator Cluster Survey TMA Tehsil Municipal Administration (UNICEF) TDS Total Dissolved Solids MIS Management Information System ULC Urban Local Council MoE Ministry of Environment UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund MSDP Municipal Services Development USAID United States Agency for International Program (USAID) Development MTBF Medium-Term Budgetary Framework USH Urban Sanitation and Hygiene MTDF Medium Term Development Framework UWS Urban Water Supply NDWP National Drinking Water Policy W&S Works and Services NFC National Finance Commission WASA Water and Sanitation Agency NGO Nongovernmental organization WHO World Health Organization NRW Non-Revenue Water WSP Water and Sanitation Program NSP Nutrition Sector Program WSS Water and Sanitation Services NSUSC North Sindh Urban Services Corporation 4 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Strategic Overview The narrative of Sindh is closely tied to the river that the metropolis Karachi. Disaggregating each subsector, gives it its name. Nowhere more than in Sindh is there a urban sanitation fares well, with coverage at 97.5 percent, stronger argument for a holistic approach to water resource indicating the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) management. The Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) is the target of 89 percent has been met. Projecting the trajectory, lifeblood of the province, with a 79 percent dependence on the target of universal coverage will be met in advance of surface water for drinking water supply; the fortune of the 2025. The rural sanitation subsector is, however, struggling water supply and sanitation sector is inextricably linked to it. and notably neglected. Currently, at 54.5 percent, coverage is only expected to rise to 76.3 percent in 2025, falling far Data limitations, inconsistencies (definitional and other), short of the target. Data on Open Defecation Free (ODF) and reliability issues posed severe constraints in the analysis districts are not available, but it is likely that none of the for this Service Delivery Assessment (SDA). In the absence province’s 24 districts are ODF. Till recently, attempts to of readily available and consolidated data on population, develop approaches critical to encouraging uptake of latrines coverage, unit costs, and Operation and Maintenance in a subsidy-free environment were limited.3 (O&M), this study has relied on a range of assumptions and extrapolations. The 1991 Pakistan Integrated Household The study finds that these achievements need to be Survey (PIHS) baseline data for coverage from which trends viewed with considerable caution. Serious structural issues are extrapolated remain questionable in their reliability, threaten to negate these gains in the immediate future. particularly given definitional inconsistencies (and in the There is a high dependence on private providers and self- case of sanitation, these data were rejected by the World provision where state systems are failing due to growing Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF Joint Monitoring populations. This remains unregulated, and multiple actors Programme or JMP). In the absence of a recent census, serve as providers with minimal coordination or adherence population figures in Pakistan are by necessity extrapolated. to standards and regulations. Yet, without the presence of The precise figures generated through the SDA analysis private providers and self-provision, sector performance thus need to be treated with some caution but, importantly, would be significantly weaker. reflect broad trends and provide critical insights to the state of the sector. Public sector infrastructure is aging, and without significant investment in rehabilitation and O&M, a large percentage Water supply coverage in the province stands at 84 percent of rural schemes will fail (58 percent of rural schemes are for rural water supply and 91 percent for urban water already dysfunctional for various reasons, while a large supply; these are fairly high figures and the level of coverage number will fall into disrepair in the near future). Urban is positive.1 However, projecting trends, it is unlikely that a infrastructure is also in serious need of rehabilitation and target (albeit ambitious) of universal coverage by 2025 will expansion. Thus, some of the gains in coverage will, in be achieved for either subsector.2 Overview statistics mask effect, be reversed as infrastructure reaches the end of its serious rural-urban disparities, and the bias introduced by design life or falls into disrepair. 1 The Sindh Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report indicates that, overall, for water supply, the MDG target of 93 percent has been met, which demonstrates some inconsistencies in definitions and data from various surveys. 2 Rural water supply is expected to increase to 89 percent and urban water supply shows a surprising declining trend and will reduce to 90.6 percent. 3 Since the study, a summary of the key findings of the Multi-indicator Cluster Survey 2014 findings were released and received in January 2016. These broad findings have been referred to in the subsector footnotes with preliminary analysis, although in the absence of the detailed report, it was not possible or desirable to revise the detailed analysis of the study. The overall trends and conclusions of the study hold. www.wsp.org 5 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Coverage figures also need to be viewed in the context of An important weakness lies in the lack of separation of the the grave water quality issues, virtual lack of treatment of roles of water production, asset holding and service delivery/ sewage and wastewater in a heavily industrialized province, management. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of and serious contamination of water bodies and sources. an independent ‘regulator’. There is a critical disconnect Solid waste collection, which was not covered in detail in between those who create assets and those who manage this study, is reportedly only 34 percent overall and virtually assets, and asset creation is in general supply driven. This absent in rural areas, which has impact on the functionality stands in the way of overall water resource management of sanitation infrastructure, and can result in contamination efforts. The traditional notion that sociocultural factors of water bodies. There is no sanitary landfill in the province. limit the ability of the sector to recover costs (this in turn limits the attractiveness of the sector for private equity) Sindh’s lower riparian status exposes it to critical issues of water remains unchallenged. This is despite the fact that in reality availability. Pakistan is a highly water stressed country and consumers are paying very large sums for accessing services. reduced water flows in the lower Indus have stretched water There are technical challenges to the delivery of water and availability and increased saltwater intrusion. Inadequate sanitation services in Sindh, which demand more innovative drainage has resulted in widespread waterlogging and salinity approaches, beyond the traditional spectrum of service (with nearly a fifth of the canal command affected). This delivery by departments or communities. affects both drinking water and sewerage/drainage systems. The high level of environmental degradation has had serious With shrinking water resources reducing per capita economic and social consequences. This is compounded availability, and serious water quality issues widely prevalent by the weak environmental management of a significant in the province (apart from common bacteriological urban sector; of about 486 million gallon per day (MGD) of contamination, there are issues with arsenic and fluoride sewage generated by Karachi and Hyderabad alone, a mere contamination of groundwater), the need for a broader 65 MGD is treated, the remaining being discharged raw into perspective has assumed critical proportions. While the water bodies (with reportedly only 1 percent of wastewater constitution of certain provincial committees does reflect the treated outside of the two main cities). need to take a multisector approach; structural issues result in this not translating into functional coordination in the Further, the province is vulnerable to natural disasters; execution of business. the annual floods of 2010, 2011 and 2012 resulted in widespread loss to water and sanitation infrastructure, and The 18th Constitutional Amendment has been the defining contamination of water sources. The importance of disaster feature in the governance of the province in the past few response, risk mitigation and adaptation in the face of climate years. The transition has not been complete, many areas change challenges is particularly high for Sindh. exist where there is lack of clarity in the federal-provincial equation. Importantly, the national drivers in relation to An important feature of Sindh’s demography is the high level of policy formulation lost impetus with the devolution of urbanization. The provincial urban population has increased power. Even while water and sanitation had always been a four-fold since 1951, making it Pakistan’s most urbanized provincial subject, the policy process being enabled from province. Karachi holds the bulk of the urban population, the center lost momentum. Neither water supply nor followed by Hyderabad, and then other secondary cities. By sanitation, in Sindh, is guided by a policy umbrella. The 2025 the urban population is projected to increase to over 50 Sindh Sanitation Strategy has been in place since 2011, percent. This places demands on services and water resources. but is poorly adhered to. Positive developments include the An accompanying high level of industrialization also places revision of a draft Sanitation Policy – but this remains to be significant demand on water resources and, as highlighted approved. Policies and strategies need recasting in the light of above, contributes to environmental degradation. the Local Government Act (LGA) 2013. Against this backdrop, any approach to the sector which is The lack of elected local governments since 2009, and political not water resource management based, cannot be tenable. prevarication on the institutional design of local government 6 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment (finally culminating in the enactment of the LGA 2013), Finance Commission (PFC) was in place, there was some has left the sector rudderless. There has been distinct impact broad consideration of equity in distribution of finances to on service delivery, particularly for the rural sector, which the districts. In its absence, there is no explicit tool to ensure has fallen through the cracks. The lack of stability, which this, though reportedly some consideration is given to levels has emanated from shifts in governance models has been of development in onward distribution of funds. At the local debilitating for the sector. level, there is virtually no consideration to issues of equity. Without a geo-referenced database of assets, and limited At the provincial level, sector-planning frameworks are weak. data available, it becomes difficult to plan along this axis. While medium-term financing frameworks exist, these are The LGA 2013 does, in theory, revive the PFC but there are reportedly not operationally used. There is no sector-wide few mechanisms to plan for equity at the sub district level. approach, or multi-year planning and budgeting initiative. At present, the 2025 target has yet to be internalized at the Service delivery is spread across a very wide range of actors; provincial level; broad targets and goals have yet to translate many outside the public sector, particularly in Karachi. into planning efforts on how these are to be achieved. De facto, Till recently, under the purview of LGD, the Rural the planning horizon is limited to the Annual Development Development Department (RDD), PHED and two Water Plan (ADP) – and here too imperatives are frequently driven and Sanitation Authorities (WASAs) cover rural areas and through political push factors rather than sector needs. The the two large cities. PHED and RDD now constitute an wide array of sector agencies continues to operate in silos; till independent department. The North Sindh Urban Services recently, a number of agencies had been integrated within Corporation (NSUSC), a regional utility, covers a number of the Local Government Department (LGD) but have, once secondary cities in Northern Sindh. Town/Taluka Municipal again, been divided into separate departments (notably the Administrations (TMAs) hold responsibility for O&M. Public Health Engineering Department or PHED). This Community engagement is limited and, in rural areas, schemes highlights the need for an institutional review to determine are departmentally managed. Self-provision is common in how best to attain functional coordination and rationalize rural areas while, in urban areas, a host of private providers service delivery. and actors (housing societies, Cantonments, and so on) enter the picture. There are serious issues in both the rural and The weak capacity to plan is, in part, due to serious gaps in urban management paradigms; in the two large cities, utility the availability of relevant data, and there is a critical need performance is weak and obstructed by lack of autonomy of to review sector metrics. Without definitional consistency, the utility and a weak customer focus. In rural areas, the lack clear targets and unified sources of data, sector planning is of community/Community Based Organizations (CBOs) or virtually impossible. Discourse on a sector Management small-scale private sector engagement in management is a Information System (MIS) has remained rhetoric, both at a serious flaw. national and provincial level. Overall, weak capacities and the lack of performance-based Weak governance has also remained a defining feature in the management frameworks also limit the sector. Further, province. Sector decision-making is heavily politicized and the inability to raise tariffs to recover costs, and poor cost fraught with poor governance and mismanagement. In these recoveries force all municipal entities to rely heavily on large scenarios, there is limited incentive to induce a culture of annual subsidies. Own source revenues are limited, and the performance and evidence-based decision-making. new LGA does not delegate much financial authority. The issue of equity is a fundamental one; tools to ensure The study finds that the sector is under-invested; neither equitable access and use of resources remain limited. The recurrent nor capital budgets are adequate, as demonstrated by Government of Sindh has a commitment to reach its poorest the high ability to spend monies allocated. The annual deficit and most vulnerable citizens, and the absence of planning for capital expenditures (CAPEX) is in the range of US$160 in this regard is a matter of concern. While the Provincial million, and annual O&M estimates are approximately 4 This includes the specific requirements for Karachi, where Karachi Water and Sewerage Board OPEX estimates are in the range of US$132 million annually. www.wsp.org 7 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment US$237 million.4 Operational expense (OPEX) figures as a Bank/Department for International Development (DFID) percentage of CAPEX requirements are high (approximately funding will provide necessary impetus to the rural sanitation 40 percent) demonstrating the fragile state of the sector and subsector. While not fully realized, there is thinking on high levels of operational subsidy. Rural sanitation is the least desalination plants, and, through a special initiative, reverse invested in subsector, and lack of community engagement osmosis plants are being installed through the province. has meant that operational costs for the rural water sector are higher than they should be. Significantly, there have The establishment of the Urban Unit is also a very positive been few attempts to engage with the private sector through step towards building the data and analysis which are crucial public-private partnerships, or through incentives – this is a for deepening the understanding of sector-wide issues, and serious gap, which is constraining the sector in keeping up developing innovative approaches to addressing them. The with demand. Urban Unit is also assisting the provincial government in updating the draft Rural Sanitation Policy to align it with In general, the quality of service delivered is assessed as poor. provincial needs and aspirations in the light of the new LGA. Limited recourse for customers, institutional fragmentation, piecemeal and heavily politicized planning efforts with little While each individual initiative will go some way to cohesion, and heavy and misdirected subsidies mark the addressing sector needs, it is only structural reform which will sector, and negate sustainability. have a wider impact on the sector. Rationalizing and aligning institutions, enabling the sector to plan with a medium to There are, however, several glimmers of hope. Both the long term horizon, building in coordination mechanisms, Government of Sindh and donors are channeling resources ensuring access to sector data, regulating the sector, taking a to the sector.5 Sindh has been home to Pakistan’s first wider water resource management perspective, and factoring experiment with a regional utility. The NSUSC experience in equity and sustainability – are all key to improving sector now offers lessons. Its experience with inculcating a more performance. customer-focused and performance-based culture has had positive elements. In sanitation, the Saaf Suthro Sindh As Pakistan and the province of Sindh (as mandated by law) (SSS)6 initiative is taking a more integrated approach, move towards newly elected local governments, there is a bringing together health and nutrition and rural sanitation. window of opportunity for reform. The time is opportune for It is also looking at improving monitoring mechanisms taking a hard look at the serious structural issues, which beset and coordinating sector planning. The formulation of the sector, and demonstrating commitment to providing the District ODF Plans by the multi stakeholder District ODF people of Sindh with their basic right to clean water and a committees, chaired by the Deputy Commissioners and healthy environment. supported by the Health and LG departments and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is a key feature of This SDA has been produced in collaboration with the SSS programs. The recently approved US$31 million World Government of Sindh and other stakeholders. 5 Note: investments in the K-IV and S-III schemes, the Asian Development Bank’s Sindh Cities Improvement Investment Program, United States Agency for International Development’s Monitoring Support Project and recent donor contributions to Saaf Suthro Sindh. 6 With the new local government system in place now, the SSS program has to be modified to suit the current and emerging institutional and financing arrangements. 8 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Agreed priority actions to tackle these challenges, and ensure finance is effectively turned into services, are: Priority actions for the Institutional Framework • Urgently constitute a water and sanitation task-force based on the SDA Subcommittee/Steering Committee to prioritize actionable recommendations and initiate follow-up actions. • Carry out a province-wide stakeholder analysis to map and document the multiple stakeholders in the sector and their current roles (as mandated and de facto) by May 2016. • Review the incentive structure in the system to mitigate the supply driven capital investment focus; as part of this devise mechanisms for the private sector, communities and CBOs to participate and manage assets with legal cover. • Reach institutional clarity within the sector to align the sector, rationalize mandates and address historical issues of fragmentation. Develop a consensus based framework by June 2016 to segregate roles and responsibilities: (i) regulator; (ii) policy formulation (including broader water issues and integrated water management); (iii) service provision (water assets and O&M). • Ensure a regulatory body is created by June 2016. The watchdog body will require sustained policy and financial support. It will provide for a long-term sector perspective with regulatory functions to cover: (i) compliance with environmental regulations and monitoring of water quality; (ii) surface water use and groundwater abstraction; (iii) tariff setting; (iv) providers’ performance; (v) rationalization of competing uses of water; (vi) protection of customer interests. • Review the service cadres engaged in sector service delivery (at all levels) with a view to developing a coherent service cadre for the sector by FY2017. Assess existing capacities and human resources needs for: (i) strategic planning and management; (ii) engineering and technical; (iii) financial management; (iv) urban management; (v) social/community development/customer focus. • Improve sector governance through various measures including e-procurement, ensuring market-based rate structures which are standardized and regularly updated for civil works in Water and Sanitation Services (WSS) bids, and introducing mandatory design and supervision by consultants of civil works contracts above a threshold, and so on. • Codify in policy the role of elected representatives in relation to WSS investments, the supporting role of the administrative and technical arms of local governments and line departments, the roles of communities and CBOs and the potential roles of the private sector. Priority actions for Financing and Its Implementation • Policy frameworks should be reviewed to cover the critical issue of cost-recovery, both for capital investments and O&M. Where subsidies are to be provided, these should be targeted and explicitly stated. • High levels of advocacy within Government of Sindh to ensure that the required investment levels for each subsector are tapped from within provincial resources. Lobby and obtain approvals for a minimum percentage annual budget allocation for the water and sanitation sector. Where necessary, lobby for donor support to cover critical investment shortfalls. • Initiate demand-based budgeting, responsive to identify and rationalized needs, based on clear mandates and jurisdictions between key sector institutions (WASAs, Public Health Engineering Departments (PHEDs) and TMAs). • Support for advocacy with provincial government and selected donors to tap additional projects and funding for new and existing water and sanitation initiatives www.wsp.org 9 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Priority actions for Sector Monitoring and Evaluation • Mandate the Karachi Water and Sanitation Board (KWSB), NSUSC, WASAs, PHED and TMAs to generate sector funding from markets and other sources. • Promote public private partnerships in water and sanitation through a clear policy, enabling environment and targeted marketing campaign. • Immediate attention on comprehensive financial information management, including consolidated annual data collection and reporting with a particular focus on subsector allocations and expenditure tracking. • Prioritize and fast-track the development of a Sector Information Management System (SIMS). Agreement on the principles of management of the SIMS, integration with planning processes and sustained resourcing needs to be urgently reached. • Definitional consistency and harmonization between the macro-sources of data (Multi-indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), Pakistan Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLMS), Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), Census, and so on), which will also allow for triangulation and a better understanding of coverage and equity. The indicators should be defined with the longer-term perspective of monitoring outcomes and adjusted to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • Review departmental and existing systems of monitoring (at all tiers of government) in 2016. Determine capacity needs and where to strengthen existing structures for better and more systematic generation of information, in relation to physical assets, financial management and service delivery/customer focus. Third party audits and performance monitoring to be systematically carried out and built into the work-plans of oversight bodies and the regulator. • Develop a Monitoring Cell in the LGD to bring together data from the various departments in its purview in a cohesive form to allow for planning. • Geo-reference databases and asset registries to allow for spatial analysis. • Put in place mechanisms to monitor the significant self and private provision (through collaborative mechanisms with the private sector). Priority actions for Rural Water Supply • Rehabilitation of nonfunctioning schemes verified as demand-based. • Accepting communities’ and small scale service providers’ role in rural water supply management, especially for simple to operate systems. • Agree on and ensure recovery of operational costs to ensure sustainable O&M of built assets. • Significant increases and equitable distribution of budgetary allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) from the provincial/federal government to ensure current level of coverage is sustained. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for policy, regulation and service provision supplemented by support for subsector coordination and planning. 10 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Priority actions for Urban Water Supply • Ensure urgent reform of urban utilities including KWSB, NSUSC and WASAs and TMAs with a view to introduce needed autonomy and structural changes covering performance-based systems; full authority for tariff setting and adjustment; hiring and firing; as well as raising of finances to ensure effective service provision. • An institutional reform plan for urban municipal services should be developed and approved by the provincial government in 2016-17. This should begin with the constitution of functional, representative and independent boards for all urban utilities. • Starting with FY 2016-17, a mandatory doubling of the subsector budget allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) should be ensured. • Major water supply projects such as K-IV should be fully funded and efforts made to ensure completion in the next two years. • A crash program for mapping and rehabilitation of all fit for repair, dysfunctional urban water schemes should be urgently initiated. • Immediate quality mapping of all urban water supply schemes should be ensured with a view to plan and implement a Sindh Drinking Water Quality Improvement Plan across Sindh. • Public awareness campaigns on water and health issues should be promoted with the help of nongovernmental bodies, educational institutions and mass media. This should be an on-going year round campaign with dedicated budgets in the public sector. • Promotion of public-private partnership models for urban service provision, collection and maintenance and rehabilitation should be piloted and results assessed in 2016-17. • Capacity building in areas of planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, asset management, regulation and financial management is a high need across all utilities. • Advocacy with the federal government and selected donors to ensure that the CAPEX gap identified by the SDA is fully covered and the Vision 2025 targets are met. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for policy, regulation and service provision should be reflected in the institutional reform plan for the subsector. • Systems for need based planning and investment provision should be ensured through policy and verifiable protocols that are open to public scrutiny. • Quarterly multi-stakeholder review forums should be established and made mandatory for all utility companies and municipal service providers. • Advocacy with selected donors to plan, design and fund new sub-sector projects for Sindh. The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) can play a key role with the provision of complementary technical assistance and other support. Priority actions for Rural Sanitation and Hygiene • The existing institutions of sanitation service delivery in rural areas (for example, District/Union Councils/PHED) as per the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 are not oriented to and geared to the challenges of civic engagement/ education behavior change, and so on. They have serious capacity issues. The policy requires that a separate division of environmental health and sanitation should be established within LGD having at least two environmental health technicians per union council. Such a department will in future accumulate a mandate for addressing vulnerable practices and emerging challenges such as dengue control, Ebola/H1N1type outbreaks, indoor air pollution control, climate-change adaption for water and sanitation services, and so on. • In the interim period, a Sindh Sanitation Task Force, comprised of Health, LGD, RDD, PHED, Education department and other key stakeholders may be created which is mirrored at the district and subdistrict levels to collaboratively address the complex and ever looming challenges of climate induced disasters and environmental sanitation risks. • Mobilization of necessary Government of Sindh, local government, health and donor resources for implementation of the SSS program. The SSS provides a clear multi-sectoral roadmap for achieving the ODF Sindh goal by 2020. www.wsp.org 11 Priority actions for Urban Sanitation • Medium- and longer-term planning for the sub-sector should be urgently ensured with inputs from all urban sector players. In addition, a regulatory system of subsector coordination and multi-stakelholder inputs and oversight should be initiated. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for policy, regulation and service provision should be ensured and all service providers including the KWSB/WASAs/NSUSC and others, suitably restructured as part of the broader institutional reform plan for the subsector; the reform recommendations contained in the Karachi Master Plan could provide one basis for initiating change. In addition, updated studies could be commissioned. • Urgently ensure the needed autonomy within the large urban players with a focus on the introduction of performance- based systems; regular tariff adjustments to meet cost of service provision; hiring and firing; and raising of finances to ensure effective service provision. • Urgent mapping of urban sanitation priorities with a focus on smaller cities and towns of Sindh that show signs of long and continuing neglect. As an output, a five-year business plan should be developed, adequately resourced and closely monitored. • Expedite and enhance resource allocations for S-III (in Karachi) and other sewage treatment projects (across Sindh) whose delay can seriously impact on the urban environment and the health of all residents. • Build public awareness and institutional capacities for enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. • Starting with FY 2016-17, an annual doubling of the subsector budget allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) should be ensured. • Budget shortfalls for the subsector should be ensured from the federal government and selected donors to ensure that the CAPEX gap identified by the SDA is fully covered. • Advocacy with selected donors to plan, design and fund new subsector projects for Sindh. Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 1. Introduction KEY POINTS • The Service Delivery Assessment will help the government weigh their own service delivery pathways for turning scarce finances into water supply and sanitation services. • The assessment provided an opportunity to reconsider the institutional setting, investments, and define provincial primacies after the 18th amendment. The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) has undertaken September 2014 through to May 2015, and has involved a series of assessments in the region to better understand an extensive process of consultation and data gathering the impediments to effective, efficient and equitable service with the Government of Sindh and other key stakeholders. delivery, and enable governments to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The analysis fundamentally aims to help governments With the passage of MDG targets, these exercises are now assess their own service delivery pathways for turning looking onwards toward the forthcoming Sustainable scarce finances into water supply and sanitation services in Development Goals (SDGs). The analytical tools were each of four subsectors; rural and urban water supply, and developed in Africa and widely used across Africa, Latin rural and urban hygiene and sanitation. The SDA has three America and East Asia to better understand enabling factors key components: a review of past policies, institutional and bottlenecks in the sector. architecture and coverage; a costing model to assess the adequacy of current and projected future allocations; and WSP is currently supporting governments in Bangladesh, a scorecard which uses traffic-lighting to diagnose specific India and Pakistan in undertaking these assessments: at bottlenecks in key thematic areas and determine policy and the national level in Bangladesh, state level in India and strategic recommendations for sector reform. provincial level in Pakistan. This report presents the key findings of the exercise based The Government of Sindh is the second provincial on the development of the scorecard and costing model. government in Pakistan to undertake the Service Delivery It attempts to analyze past trends and current status of the Assessment (SDA). The timing of the SDA coincides with sector, to understand whether future targets and goals can the enactment of the Local Government Act (LGA) 2013, be achieved beyond the MDGs. Specifically, it attempts to which reframes the institutional landscape. The SDA understand which elements of the service delivery pathway provides an opportunity to reassess the broader institutional are particularly weak, and what needs to be done to landscape and investments and determine provincial accelerate progress in the sector. Priority recommendations priorities. The SDA has taken place over the period of have been highlighted for each area of analysis. www.wsp.org 13 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 2. Sector Overview: Coverage and Finance Trends KEY POINTS • Definitional issues hinder clear consensus on coverage estimates for the water and sanitation. • Weak sector monitoring is a barrier to assessing the coverage, whereas different assessment tools administered by diverse players present information at different administrative levels (national, provincial and district). Coverage: Assessing Progress Clearly, it would be desirable for the province to review its Over the past years, the dialog on coverage of water and goals and strategic objectives and determine provincial sanitation has been in the context of the MDGs, and/or targets as a basis for planning and investment. national and provincial targets, though these have tended to be ambitious. Water and sanitation has always been the Definitional issues continue to plague the sector, across remit of the provinces, but the federal role has further been Pakistan, and this extends to Sindh. There are differences of redefined and scaled back, following the 18th Constitutional opinion on what constitutes ‘improved coverage,’ and this Amendment. The SDGs are as yet awaited, and it is not yet confusion is reflected in the indicators used by the various clear which tiers of government will hold prime responsibility household surveys. This notwithstanding, current trends for tracking and ensuring conformity to these. In Sindh, there indicate that the goal of universal coverage would be difficult are no provincial sector targets, and there is no visioning or to achieve for either water supply or sanitation, without planning document, which could help guide the sector. In bringing about radical changes in levels of investment and the absence of this, the federal government’s Vision 2025 delivery of services. becomes the salient guiding framework. This document calls for universal coverage for both water and sanitation by Against a backdrop of weak sector monitoring, household 2025. The SDGs will likely advocate for universal access by surveys, notably the Multi-indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) 2030, but this remains to be clarified in the coming months. and the Pakistan Living Standards Measurement Survey The analysis in this report has, therefore, been based on the (PSLMS) become the key tools for measuring access. Both the Vision 2025 targets. Should the revised Sindh Sanitation MICS and PSLMS allow disaggregation to the district level Strategy (2014) be passed, this contains a target of universal for water and sanitation indicators (though the PSLMS loses coverage by 2025. There is currently no similar target for granularity at the district level). A key issue in Sindh has been water supply in Sindh, though the National Drinking Water the delay in the release of the latest round of MICS. With the Policy (NDWP) of 2009 advocates for full coverage by 2025. earlier round of MICS dating to 2007-08, analysis in this Figure 1: Progress in coverage Water supply Sanitation 100% 100% 100% 100% 90% 91% 80% 87% 80% 82% 75% 60% 60% 43% 40% 40% 20% 20% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Target Trend Target Trend 14 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment report has been based on the PSLMS round of 2012-13 (the well as the definitional challenges when capturing access to PSLMS is conducted in alternate years). This is unfortunate, improved sanitation facilities. given that the MICS 2014 contained a module on water quality and has a greater number of variables allowing Critically, these trends mask strong rural-urban variations analysis across income quintiles. It is also more consistent and the bias introduced by the metropolis Karachi. They with the definitions used by the World Health Organization also mask significant issues of water quality, which are (WHO)/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). prevalent throughout Sindh (generally no treatment is The JMP only provides data at the national level. provided in urban areas, and there are also serious issues of contamination in rural areas). A 2014 Pakistan Council of The trends captured in Figure 1 are based on analysis Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) study in two districts of data from the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey of Sindh found 68 percent of the water samples were unsafe (PIHS), 1991, the base year for MDG targets. Correcting for drinking purposes. Interestingly, the Sindh MDG Report for improved sources using the JMP guidelines, and the of 2011 shows the drinking water supply coverage target PSLMS data of 2012-13, the trends were extrapolated. of 93 percent as having been attained. This is indicative of For sanitation, the JMP does not accept the data from definitional variations, when describing an improved source PIHS 1991 and, hence, Pakistan-level data from the JMP of water. were used for Sindh. Clearly, there are problems with this approach but in the face of data limitations, few alternatives. Disaggregating the data, rural water access is currently Improved sources were considered as all flush latrines and 50 84 percent, and is expected to rise to 89 percent in 2025. percent of non-flush latrines for the sanitation subsector. For Urban water coverage is currently 91 percent, surprisingly water supply, in rural areas, sources included piped supply, showing a minor decline from the base of 91.9 percent in hand pumps, motor pumps and dug wells. For dug wells, 50 1991. It is expected to further decline to 90.6 percent by percent were taken as an improved source. 2025. This could be indicative of the inability of services to cope with growing urban populations; there are large gaps in Coverage in water supply stands at 87 percent and for supply and demand in all urban areas, particularly Karachi. sanitation at 75 percent. Projecting to 2025, what is Additionally, severe institutional weaknesses, leakages and significant is that, based on current trends, water supply aging infrastructure further undermine urban water supply. will increase only to 90 percent, falling short of the target. Achieving the last ‘decile’ of coverage is known to be difficult Sanitation will also fall short of the target at 91 percent, but globally, and Sindh is no exception. there has been a greater rate of increase in coverage, starting from a low base of 43 percent in 1991. It is important to Sanitation coverage, when unbundled, stands at 54.5 percent understand the stagnation in the water supply sector, as for rural sanitation, increasing reasonably fast but from Figure 2: Required versus anticipated public investment Water supply Sanitation 149.3 25.0 75.4 105.5 148.1 83.4 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 US$ million/year US$ million/year Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) CAPEX deficit CAPEX deficit www.wsp.org 15 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Table 1: Coverage and investment figures Coverage Population CAPEX requirements Anticipated public CAPEX Assumed Deficit 1990 2014 2025 requiring Total Public Domestic External Total household access CAPEX % % % '000/year US$ million/year Rural water 73% 84% 100% 1,017 122 64 45 19 64 12 46 supply Urban water 92% 91% 100% 1,063 128 86 57 28 86 13 29 supply Water supply 82% 87% 100% 2,080 250 149 102 47 149 25 75 total Rural sanitation 9% 55% 100% 1,656 157 33 21 13 33 94 29 Urban sanitation 78% 98% 100% 926 180 72 53 19 72 54 54 Sanitation total 43% 75% 100% 2,582 337 106 74 32 106 148 83 Note: Some rounding errors introduced. a dangerously low base of 8.9 percent in 1991. It is only requirements are analyzed against existing commitments expected to increase to 76.3 percent in 2025, falling far short from the government and donors. of the target of universal coverage. The Sindh MDG Report of 2011 struggles both with definitions and data in reporting on The results show that, to meet the universal coverage sanitation coverage, falling back on the MICS 2002-03 data. target of 2025, despite significant capital expenditure (CAPEX) contributions from households (particularly With urban sanitation, correcting for what can be defined as in sanitation), there are still worrying gaps in required improved sanitation, current coverage stands at 97.5 percent. annual investments. The gap is greater for sanitation than This implies the MDG target of 89 percent has been achieved. for water supply, particularly for rural sanitation which Projecting forward, the target for universal coverage is also shows serious neglect and is severely under-invested in by likely to be achieved. It is likely, however, that the Karachi the public sector. While the investment amounts required factor influences these results. These findings also do not for rural sanitation are not high – given the expectation factor in that a bare 15-25 percent of sewage is treated, which of household contribution – there has been inadequate would ultimately negate the benefits of improved coverage. investment in accompanying measures for ‘software’ and external ‘hardware’. In sum, coverage figures are reasonably positive, even indicating that MDGs have been met in some subsectors, Budgetary analysis indicates a CAPEX shortfall in Rural and this is laudable. However, the figures mask serious Water Supply (RWS) of US$46 million/year and in Urban structural and quality issues, which would indicate that the Water Supply (UWS) of UD$29 million/year. For sanitation, current trajectory would not be sustained, and benefits could the shortfall is US$29 million/year for rural sanitation be negated in the not too distant future. and US$54 million/year for urban sanitation. RWS is departmentally managed, and the figures indicate the state Investment Requirements: Adequacy of of disrepair of the sector. Financing Trends The SDA provides estimates of annual investments Operations expenditure or Operation and Maintenance required to meet targets based on coverage data, unit costs, (O&M) expenditure (OPEX) is estimated at US$12 ‘technology-mix’ and technology lifespan. These investment million/year for RWS and US$97 million/year for urban 16 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment areas.7 Currently, OPEX in rural sanitation is limited to takes into account water treatment and network maintenance, drains and street paving and, clearly, greater investments and the serious water quality issues in the province would be required to factor in the ‘software’ needed for demonstrate the neglect on this front. Rural sanitation health and hygiene promotion and community mobilization needs have been largely ignored, with an emphasis on street approaches. The OPEX requirements for rural sanitation are paving and drainage which is classified as ‘sanitation’. The a modest UD$15 million/year but, for urban sanitation, the need for mobilization and behavior change has been ignored, figure is far larger at US$113 million/year. UWS and urban although the associated costs are small. The virtual lack of sanitation comprise the bulk of the required OPEX. The lack sewage treatment in urban sanitation points to a critical of community management or public-private models in the gap in investment. Lack of O&M results in the bulk of RWS subsector is a serious gap, and it is important to note sanitation infrastructure in urban areas being dysfunctional that approximately 58 percent of schemes are dysfunctional. and choked. With severe water shortages, there has been It is also worrying that the percentage of dysfunctional RWS inadequate focus on desalinization and other technologies. schemes is highest in Sindh in relation to other provinces. Declining water resources and contamination are likely to impact on investment requirements. Investment expenditures take into account the need for expansion and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure. Many Sindh is a province in which both donor and household water supply schemes have outlived their useful life. OPEX financing are not insignificant, given the gravity of issues in the sector. It is also a heavily industrialized province, in which insufficient progress has been made in mobilizing Table 2: Annual O&M, SDA estimates private sector financing. Where private provision and self- provision are common, models of public-private partnership Subsector O&M could be taken to scale. US$ million/year Rural water supply 12 High utilization of recurrent and capital expenditures is Urban water supply 97 indicative that the sector is seriously under-invested. Should this scenario continue, it is likely that any gains in coverage Water supply total 109 will be negated in the context of fast growing populations Rural sanitation 15 and rapid urbanization. As we move from the MDGs to a Urban sanitation 113 focus on sustainability, the need to invest adequately in a sector which underpins economic and social growth becomes Sanitation total 128 ever more critical. 7 Lack of data necessitated extrapolation of OPEX; for rural areas as 10 percent of CAPEX, and for urban areas based on actual Karachi Water and Sanitation Board expenditures extrapolated across urban areas. www.wsp.org 17 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 3. Reform Context KEY POINTS • Devolution has not been realized on the ground and multiple players are active with duplicate roles The reform context in Sindh is framed by: the need for better links between the PHEDs, LGRs, RDDs and Health Departments; (2) the need for provincial sector i) The 18th Constitutional Amendment which has devolved investment plans; (3) greater investments in sanitation; power and, through the National Finance Commission (4) a minimum level of water supply coverage for all; (5) (NFC), finances, to the provinces; an assessment of funding needs for basic sanitation and ii) The institutional vacuum due to a political impasse that drainage; (6) increased private sector participation (PSP); has deferred local body elections over the past years; and (7) tapping community resources, user management and iii) Sindh’s lower riparian status and the exigencies of a financing of schemes. Two-and-a-half decades on, most of dwindling water resource; these recommendations remain alarmingly relevant. iv) High levels of urbanization and industrialization and a high urban: rural poverty gap; Under the Social Action Program (SAP) of the 1990s, v) The dominance of the metropolis Karachi; and principal reforms related to developing a unified policy, vi) Severe issues of governance and capacity, which limit the which stipulated beneficiary engagement in the management demand for reform. of the sector while also strengthening institutional capacity to deliver the service. The reforms were not believed to be Historical Context successful; capacity to engage with communities was low, Water and Sanitation Service (WSS) delivery in Pakistan has the drive to achieve targets resulted in virtual ‘dumping’ of seen radical changes over the past decades, mirroring shifts in schemes on communities, and the present scenario with large the national polity from centralized to decentralized paradigms. numbers of schemes lying dysfunctional is part of that legacy. The sector has been characterized by the ascendancy of the While poorly executed, this era of policy dialog did result in Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), created some awareness that the previous supply-driven model was initially to address the specialized technical needs of the sector, not a sustainable one. However, neither this decade, nor the and later assuming the mantle of a service provider. Local following decade of devolved governance under the Local Government Departments (LGDs), generally the legal owners Government Ordinance (LGO) 2001, resulted in complete of water and sanitation assets (other than in one million plus reform of the sector – testimony to deeply entrenched cities), have remained the weaker actor, and have suffered interests which have resisted efforts towards reform. from serious capacity issues. This was not always the case; at one point, small-scale provision was a trademark of the LGDs The decade under the LGO 2001 saw the rural-urban divide and Rural Development Department (RDD), and they were abolished, and service delivery for the sector to be shifted to reputed to deliver a high quality service at an appropriate the Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs), with technical service level for a large portion of the rural population. advice from the newly deputed staff of a dissolved PHED. The reform team underestimated the degree of institutional A World Bank Technical Paper in 1989 (Pasha and resistance to these reforms, which ultimately reverted back to McGarry)8 identified the core issues for the sector as: (1) the old model for the water and sanitation sector. 8 H. Pasha and M. McGarry. Water Supply and Sanitation in Pakistan: Lessons from Experience. World Bank 1989. 18 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment In Sindh, while guidelines for community participation do the 2013 LGA has been enacted, although it remains exist, this model has since reverted with the service provider incomplete in implementation in the absence of elected local managing schemes in rural areas. In rural areas, the provider governments. Local governments will hold responsibility for remains PHED, with some provision by the RDD. In urban services but, in effect, the rural-urban divide has once again areas, the two WASAs (in Karachi and Hyderabad) and been instituted, and the Act signals a return to the LGO administrative wings of urban local councils in other areas 1979. WSS has suffered in this period, with rural services in are currently managing services. Once they are constructed, particular falling between the cracks, with no elected district rural schemes are also managed by the TMAs. The highly governments in place. technical nature of the sector has meant that non formal sector involvement has been limited, and technical capacities It is not surprising that reforms in the sector have been generally reside in the public sector. Despite rhetoric difficult to entrench or even initiate against a national regarding private sector involvement, there has been minimal backdrop of instability, and waves of centralization and progress in this regard. decentralization. The 18th Amendment and Local Government Policies and Strategies in Sindh The 18th Amendment abolished the concurrent legislative Following the National Sanitation Policy of 1996 and the list and gave powers for the delivery of virtually all services National Water Policy of 1999 (developed by the MoE), all to the provinces. While WSS has always been a provincial provinces and special areas had initiated a process of policy subject, policy drivers at the federal level lost impetus as a formulation, with the national policies serving as a template. result. It is argued that the federal government does retain the Progress varied across each province and special area. Sindh constitutional right to ensure equity and harmony across the has yet to enact a policy, although a Sanitation Strategy federating units as well as ensure adherence to international was passed in 2011. A draft Municipal Water Act (2012) conventions that the Government of Pakistan is signatory was prepared but never went further than the preliminary to. There are articles of the constitution, which also confer drafting. the role of research and learning to the center. The Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance do have roles in The Sanitation Strategy (2011) focuses on access, approving provincial development programs and allocation affordability and developing services with a focus on of resources from federal to provincial levels. poor and marginalized communities. Additional themes include leveraging technology and supporting PSP in the This has coincidentally been a period where there is a development and operation of services. hiatus post-2015 and MDGs, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) framework does not appear to carry The Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act (2013) much weight. The drivers for reform and ‘push’ factors for gives the Board the right over solid waste-related issues across attaining targets have thus diminished. The Federal Ministry the province. of Environment (MoE), which had led the policy dialog for WSS, is now reduced to a Climate Change Division in the There is a draft Sanitation Policy (2014) which was recently Cabinet Secretariat. revised. This stipulates private sector participation, but does not outline mechanisms for enabling this. It also stipulates The post-18th Amendment scenario in Sindh has also been universal coverage and an Open Defecation Free (ODF) characterized by the inability to reach agreement on local environment by 2025. government or hold local body elections. Political infighting, turf wars over the control of local governments, inability The Federal Government has produced a visioning document, to agree on who redraws constituencies – all contributed Vision 2025. The target for universal coverage enshrined in to the impasse and have left an institutional vacuum. The this document has served as a basis for the analysis in this 2012 LGA was challenged in court and withdrawn. Since, SDA, in the absence of official Sindh-specific targets. www.wsp.org 19 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Water Resources The scores suggest serious weaknesses both in enabling and Sindh is a lower riparian province and has seen marked sustaining services, with a slight emphasis on developing. declines in the water available to it over the years. Further, With both upstream and downstream weaknesses, some 79 percent of its population is dependent on surface the developmental pathway would also intuitively be water for drinking water purposes. Under conditions of compromised. high water stress, it is incumbent on the Government of Sindh to adopt a holistic approach to water management The report assesses the institutional framework, and financing within a regulatory framework. This is important because: for and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of the sector, (1) of the dependence on surface water; (2) high industrial before examining each subsector in detail. Indicators have demands; (3) mixed/competing uses of water; and (4) severe been extracted from the scorecard and are presented at the water quality issues across the province. Unbridled use of the start of each subsector chapter. Overall results would indicate resource with little regulation or planning can have grave that fundamental weaknesses stem from the lack of a clear consequences for the province. This requires coordination policy environment. Associated planning and budgeting of the policy frameworks for agriculture, industry and water processes remain weak, thus undermining the ‘enabling’ supply and sanitation, and a regulator to ensure adherence. pillar of the pathway. Weaknesses in maintenance and expansion also undermine the ‘sustaining’ dimension of the Figure 3: Average scorecard results for pathway across sectors. The thematic area of ‘development’ is enabling, sustaining and developing service strengthened by high utilization of funds, which is, however, delivery also indicative of severe under-financing of the sector, and Enabling the development building blocks in rural sanitation remain extremely weak. Table 3: Key dates in the reform of the sector Year Event 1993-2002 Social Action Program and Uniform Policy 1996 National Sanitation Policy Sustaining Developing 1999 National Drinking Water Supply Policy 2001 Devolution Program and Local The historical narrative serves as a backdrop to the serious Government Ordinance 2001- delegation structural issues the sector faces, which have been explored of responsibility to TMAs in detail using the SDA Scorecard, an assessment tool that 2009 Local Government Ordinance legal cover provides a snapshot of the reform process and bottlenecks lapses along the service delivery pathway. The SDA Scorecard 2011 18th Constitutional Amendment assesses the building blocks of service delivery, which relate to (decentralizing to provinces) three key areas; (i) enabling services; (ii) developing services; 2011 Sindh Sanitation Strategy and (iii) sustaining services. Each building block is assessed 2013 Sindh Local Government Act 2013 through specific indicators, which are scored from 1 to 3. 2014 Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Figure 3 shows the average scores for the three main groupings Bill 2014 along the service delivery pathway. 2014 Draft Sindh Sanitation Policy 20 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 4. Institutional Framework KEY POINTS • A disconnect between the de jure and de facto institutional responsibilities in the sector has led to parallel discourses and coordination challenges • A clear sector roadmap required to rationalize the institutional settings and ensure clear incentives for operational efficiencies and effectiveness Priority actions for the Institutional Framework • Urgently constitute a Water and Sanitation ‘Task Force’ based on the SDA Subcommittee/Steering Committee to prioritize actionable recommendations and initiate follow-up actions. • Carry out a province-wide stakeholder analysis to map and document the multiple stakeholders in the sector and their current roles (as mandated and de facto) by May 2016. • Review the incentive structure in the system to mitigate the supply driven capital investment focus; as part of this, devise mechanisms for the private sector, communities and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to participate and manage assets with legal cover. • Reach institutional clarity within the sector to align the sector, rationalize mandates and address historical issues of fragmentation. Develop a consensus-based framework by December 2016 to segregate roles and responsibilities: (i) regulator; (ii) policy formulation (including broader water issues and integrated water management); (iii) service provision (water assets and O&M). • Ensure a “regulatory body” is created by June 2016. The watchdog body will require sustained policy and financial support. It will provide for a long-term sector perspective with regulatory functions to cover: (i) compliance with environmental regulations and monitoring of water quality; (ii) surface water use and groundwater abstraction; (iii) tariff setting; (iv) providers’ performance; (v) rationalization of competing uses of water; and (vi) protection of customer interests. • Review the service cadres engaged in sector service delivery (at all levels) with a view to developing a coherent service cadre for the sector by Financial Year (FY) 2017. Assess existing capacities and human resources needs for: (i) strategic planning and management; (ii) engineering and technical; (iii) financial management; (iv) urban management; and (v) social/community development/customer focus. • Improve sector governance through various measures including e-procurement, ensuring market-based rate structures which are standardized and regularly updated for civil works in WSS tenders, and introducing mandatory design and supervision by consultants of civil works contracts above a threshold, and so on. • Codify in policy the role of elected representatives in relation to WSS investments, the supporting role of the administrative and technical arms of local governments and line departments, the roles of communities and CBOs and the potential roles of the private sector. The institutional architecture for water supply and sanitation Constitutional Amendment and the dissolution of local in Sindh is characterized by a multiplicity of institutions, governments has been particularly deleterious for the fragmentation of roles and responsibilities in the delivery sector, and opportunities for institutional realignment and of the service, severe capacity issues, poor governance, and sector reform presented by the 18th Amendment and NFC a debilitating level of political interference. Importantly, have not yet been realized. Sindh is home to an important the institutional vacuum which has followed the 18th experiment in forming a regional utility (North Sindh Urban www.wsp.org 21 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Services Corporation – NSUSC), and has also been home to Hyderabad-WASA). The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation globally recognized sector initiatives in the non-formal sector (KMC) also reports to it. This would suggest, in theory, a which could provide institutional paradigms for partnerships degree of institutional alignment but, in practice, there was (notably the Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training little evidence of coordinated planning and monitoring. Institute has demonstrated community-based infrastructure More recently PHED and RDD have been shifted to a at scale in partnership with the government: the Sindh separate line ministry. Katchi Abadi Authority (SKAA)). While there has been some discussion on replicating the NSUSC experiment, this is yet PHED was responsible for all urban construction (except to happen and the appetite for broader reforms addressing Karachi, Hyderabad and Sindh Cities Improvement Project institutional misalignment seems to be limited. (SCIP) areas), RWS and sanitation construction and major O&M of UWS and sanitation. However, over recent The sector throughout Pakistan, and in Sindh, demonstrates a years, this role has been circumscribed, shifting PHED serious disconnect between de jure and de facto responsibilities responsibilities more towards the rural subsector. The PHED which has led to a parallel discourse. As designed and is not responsible for O&M of urban schemes (which lies with legislated, local governments hold responsibility for service urban councils on construction) but, in Sindh, has a mandate delivery and ownership of all assets in the sector (in urban for O&M of rural schemes (water supply and drainage). areas with the two WASAs which report to the LGD). Reportedly, performance is weak in terms of percentage of This was intended to ensure cohesion and institutional nonfunctional schemes (in relation to provinces/areas where alignment. De facto, rural delivery is governed largely CBOs have been delegated this function). by the PHED (which is also contracted to provide urban infrastructure in small and medium towns). PHED is also Municipalities are corporate bodies by act, and through the recipient of associated budgets and has remained the TMAs are responsible for municipal services currently. They repository of technical expertise in the sector. The original vary greatly in capacity, depending on size. Due to limited role as a technical advisory body has thus been superseded capacity to develop water and sanitation assets, support is and expanded. Strong sector players, weak local government provided through PHEDs for construction, while small capacities, and resistance by entrenched interests to change scale/routine O&M functions remain their responsibility. rendered the reforms and decentralization efforts emanating They report to LGD. from the LGO 2001 ineffective for the sector. In urban areas, the range of actors is even greater, creating issues of The two WASAs, which are autonomous corporate bodies coordination. With each agent operating in a silo, and no clear established by a provincial act, have a reporting line to the over-arching apex body with responsibility for planning and sector coordination, there is a degree of institutional chaos. There is broad agreement that the sector is in desperate need Figure 4: Scorecard indicators relating to of a more cohesive and coordinated conceptual framework, institutional framework, with average of which rationalizes the institutional system and also creates indicator scores by subsector and peer-group clear incentives for operational efficiencies and effectiveness. comparison Rural water Figure 4 shows progress in institutional reform as reflected in the scorecard, and broadly reflects institutional short-comings; scores are generally low, in particular for urban sanitation. Urban Rural Sector Actors sanitation sanitation LGD till recently incorporated PHED, RDD and the Housing and Town Planning Department (HTPD). This is the line department for municipalities and the two WASAs (Karachi Water and Sanitation Board (KWSB) and Urban water 22 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment LGD. This includes KWSB and the Hyderabad-WASA, arrangements which may include septic tanks or open which is a directorate within the Hyderabad Development defecation. Authority. (There are two further directorates within it: a project directorate for a federal program and a Directorate for Nonsector actors which are important to the Sindh Water Supply and Sewerage under the Islamic Development scenario include irrigation authorities, the Sindh Irrigation Bank’s Greater Hyderabad Sewerage Package.). Construction and Drainage Authority and the Sindh Environmental is undertaken through private contracting for the WASAs. Protection Agency (EPA). The former becomes important because of the heavy reliance of the sector on surface water Private sector utilities, NSUSC. NSUSC is a regional utility (a reported 79 percent of the population uses surface water), (that is, it includes several municipalities over more than one and the lower riparian position of Sindh, which makes it district), and has been registered with the Securities and critical to manage a dwindling resource holistically. The latter Exchange Commission in Pakistan. This has been created is particularly important given the level of industrialization under the SCIP of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The in Sindh. While the EPAs are not currently known for model has been gaining some momentum. However, while their strength in enforcement of regulations, their role in regional utilities for water supply, sanitation and solid waste enforcing regulations related to industrial and other waste were also being considered for central and southern Sindh, requires enhancement. It is also important to note the role this has not yet materialized. of informal settlements or katchi abadis, under the ambit of SKAA, which holds responsibility for mapping, and enabling Other actors, such as private housing colonies and regularization and development in these areas. Cantonments, are responsible for their own provision but should be captured in the planning and monitoring of the Figure 5 provides an overview of sector agencies and their sector, which is not presently the case. This places pressure associated responsibilities under the current dispensation. on resources, which are also difficult to account for in sector data. Conceptual Framework for Service Provision The conceptual framework assigns the state the responsibility In Karachi, there are a host of federal and other agencies, for water and sanitation provision. This responsibility was which impact the sector, but again are not captured, in interpreted in national (federal) drinking water and sanitation its planning, regulatory or monitoring mechanisms. This policies that provided a template for provincial policies. The includes Pakistan Railways, Karachi Port Trust, housing and national policy framework assigns responsibility for operating development authorities and others. Figure 5: Sector agencies and their Small-scale private sector providers play a key role in responsibilities Karachi and other parts of Sindh. The data on this are not adequately captured, but there is literature on the role of tankers and water vendors in Karachi. Some data are captured by MICS and indicate private provision is even Other Urban Million Plus more prevalent in rural areas than in urban ones. Areas Cities Urban Local 1 WASA Councils Self-provision by households is widely prevalent in Sindh. 1 KWSB According to the PSLMS 2010-11, at least 28 percent of households in urban areas and 86 percent of households Non Notified Villages/Dehs in rural areas were receiving water through hand pumps, Areas (rural or PHED motor pumps, dug wells and other such sources. The MICS urban) Local Councils (2007-08) report indicates that 17 percent of households in urban areas and 92 percent of households in rural areas are not connected to a public sewer, and rely on their own www.wsp.org 23 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment and maintaining rural assets in particular to communities; Building Control Authority, and so on, have been retained however, in Sindh, this is undertaken departmentally by the by the province. PHEDs. The Act also includes provision of a Local Government National policies continue to provide the template for Commission for administrative accountability, and the provincial policies, including in Sindh, although rural assets establishment of the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC). are not maintained by communities. In effect, there is a continuation of the de facto situation of some years, a more Local government elections are yet to be held, though there centralized mode of provision, while the province remains in has been a recent amendment to the Act (December 2014), a state of transition till newly elected local governments are giving the Election Commission of Pakistan the appellate in place. authority for redrawing constituencies. The province consists of: The political compromise had previously resulted in a mélange • 24 districts, 136 talukas, 1,271 union councils, and of the old ‘commissionerate’ (based on the sub provincial 7,585 villages/dehs; divisions) and township system. Currently, the LGA 2013 • Two large cities (population 1-20 million); and governs which structures will be in place but, in the absence • 13 intermediate cities (population: 0.25-0.75 million). of elected local governments, is incompletely implemented. There are three Municipal Corporations (Karachi, Hyderabad Local Government in Sindh and Sindh LGA and Sukkur), some 20 Municipal Committees and 76-odd 2013 Town Committees. District Councils are not in place. It is The years since passage of the 18th Amendment have been inevitable that the vacillation and pendulum shifts in local marked by discord over local government in Sindh and the governance, and accompanying institutional confusion, have resulting vacuum reflects the polity of the province, marked had serious impact on service delivery. by internecine struggles between the two ruling parties. The Sindh Peoples Local Government Act of 2012 was challenged Planning and Regulation in court and replaced by the Local Government Act (LGA) Under the conceptual framework: The Federal Government of 2013, which was passed by the provincial assembly and under the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Act retains enacted on August 29, 2013. Based on the LGO of 1979, water resource management. This is important in the context it concerns itself largely with municipal functions (and, in of rapid urbanization and reliance on depleting groundwater effect, represents a reversal of LGO 2001), and subordinates for bulk water supplies. It is also critical in a situation where the local government to the provincial government. The local there is high pressure on and competing demands for water government tiers include: resources, which must be managed sustainably, particularly • Metropolitan Corporation; in the face of climate change. For Sindh, water resource • District Municipal Corporations in Karachi; management considerations are paramount. • Municipal Corporations; • District Councils; Critically, at the provincial level, there is no regulator • Town Committees; and for the sector, and no one agency with responsibility for • Union Councils. sector planning.   The local councils to be established will be bodies corporate. Drinking Water and Sanitation Planning remains with: Karachi will include one Metropolitan Corporation, five At the provincial level with LGD and RDD, and, de facto, District Municipal Corporations and one District Council PHED. for rural areas. • Two WASAs in million plus cities; • All other Urban Local Councils (ULCs) (Metropolitan While the Act devolves key service delivery functions to Corporations, Municipal Corporations, Municipal the local governments, larger entities such as KWSB, Sindh Committees and Town Committees); and 24 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment • Zila Councils in rural areas – currently with TMAs The provincial government’s planning exercise places and PHED. emphasis on capital expenditure planning and disbursement. (At present, the TMAs remain in place on the ground, though The provincial government disburses funds based on: administratively managed in the absence of elected bodies.). • Bureaucratic imperatives; • Review of previous year budgets; For one decade (2001-11) planning was moved to the • Request from departments to present budgets; and regional and sub regional levels, that is, District and Tehsil. • Political demands. The reversal in the decentralization experiment actually began some years prior to 2011, when it was given a legal There is a heavy weightage towards the political process, which umbrella. determines sector allocations, and thereafter geographical allocations (previously through the PFC to districts, and City level planning is conducted by agencies other currently apparently using similar criteria). However, there than those responsible for Works and Services (W&S) are formulae prevalent, which, to some extent, determine planning: ULCs do have theoretical responsibility for allocations in accordance with need/deprivation. preparing Annual Plans. It is important to note that budgets are determined largely WASAs prepare Annual Plans: In addition, provincial in the absence of: departments prepare Outline Development Plans and • Policy financing plans (capital and/or O&M and/or Structure Plans in the case of ULCs and Development human resources and/or systems); Authorities prepare city-wide plans in the case of WASAs. • Determination of scenarios and projections for the planning horizon (technology options, financing While the mandates are present, capacities for planning options, service level options); effectively and executing plans have remained limited. • Sector financing plans (capital and/or O&M); and • Sector strategic plans (capital and/or O&M). Water and sanitation assets continue to be owned by the state. In theory, these are owned by: Importantly, while the political process is not inherently • WASAs, deleterious, it is notably not generally informed by • ULCs in non million plus cities; and the above considerations and limited by the lack of • Zila Councils (not currently in place). compiled data and planning information, which remain to be developed for the sector. All capital funds are routed Water services management remains with: WASAs in through the LGD: million plus cities which are meant to have a relatively more • WASA subsidies and capital budget transfers; and professional and better technical teams; and ULCs/TMAs in • RWS sector. all other urban areas. In the new LGA, provincial control has been retained over a PHED/TMAs in rural areas: The absence of community number of areas, and it is not clear to what extent ULCs will management and engagement in planning and design be able to raise funds from own source revenues. of schemes is a serious area of concern and compromises sustainability. As institutional interests in capital formation are greater than in O&M, the reform process has been unable to address the Financial Planning institutional fragmentation and political economy in the Financial flows in this model (post 18th Amendment): water and sanitation sector. An attempt, under LGO 2001, The Federal Government disburses funds through the NFC was made to integrate capital and O&M functions but this to the provincial governments. has not succeeded. www.wsp.org 25 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment The key issue relates to the design of institutional capital expenditure decisions, at times with little consideration arrangements, which are more geared towards the creation for O&M resources, and with service expansion overriding of capital infrastructure than accountable and customer- considerations for service sustainability and improvement. focused service provision. The current incentives in the system emphasize CAPEX, while human resources and While the institutional structure for water and sanitation finances for system O&M are sidelined. The impacts of this in Sindh is currently plagued with structural and capacity are most evident in the sanitation subsectors. issues, there are several new initiatives, which do hold promise. This includes the creation of the Urban Unit, Figure 6 shows the sectors institutional architecture,9 while which could provide the data and analysis to ensure better- Figure 7 demonstrates the critical ‘disconnect’ between informed decision-making and a deeper understanding of the planning, financing, execution and O&M. sector. The need for a formally designed central repository for sector M&E, however, remains. The creation of the Critical Issues and Mitigating Factors NSUSC and its potential replication also demonstrate ways A number of critical issues and gaps are highlighted from the of doing business differently. There are initiatives underway discussion above: to improve geo-spatial planning (through United States • The absence of an overall regulatory body for the Agency for International Development (USAID) support) sector; and water quality monitoring (under the Saaf Suthro Sindh • Lack of capacity for service provision (as opposed to (SSS) initiative). All these need to be nurtured, but within a asset formation); far better rationalized conceptual framework for the sector. • Weak demand responsiveness; • Fragmented responsibilities with no clear accountabilities; Figure 7: Missing links: O&M with capital planning • No cohesive M&E system; and • Lack of incentives and political will to improve O&M operational efficiencies (Non-Revenue Water (NRW), • Households • Community tariff collection, staffing, and so on). • Urban Local Council/ PHED • WASA Tarriff Proceses The ‘disconnect’ between capital expenditure and O&M • Community unregulated • WASA responsibilities is an important one. This is reflected in: • LGD- RD, PHED Construction RWS sector, where TMAs and communities are held • Households • Private Sector (outsourcing construction by responsible for systems, which they do not have the capacity households, WASAs and/or departments/PHED) or resources to operate and maintain, and have had a limited Technical Engineering Design • Departmental (PHED) role in identifying, designing and planning, with little legal • Private Sector • Some design work is done in some of the WASAs cover for the community/CBO roles. While the community and some ULCs role in Sindh is not clearly articulated, weak or absent service Capital Work Budgeting delivery places the onus of supply in their hands. • Department • WASA UWS, where technically limited TMAs/ULCs have little Macro Data option but to subcontract PHED for capital expenditure on • Federal Bureau of Statistics • Provincial Bureau of Statistics their behalf, with the more powerful department driving the 9 The PHE and RDD were merged into an independent line department following conclusion of the study. 26 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 5. Financing and its Implementation KEY POINTS • Financial information management system lacks as consolidated annual data collection and reporting is not practiced by the provincial government. • Demand based budgeting and sector investment plan need to be structured to track the investments and gaps. Priority actions for Financing and Its Implementation • Policy frameworks should be reviewed to cover the critical issue of cost recovery; both for capital investments and O&M. Where subsidies are to be provided, these should be targeted and explicitly stated. • High levels of advocacy within Government of Sindh to ensure that the required investment levels for each subsector are tapped from within “provincial” resources. Lobby and obtain approvals for a minimum percentage annual budget allocation for the W&S sector. Where necessary, lobby for federal support to cover critical investment shortfalls. • Initiate demand-based budgeting, responsive to identify and rationalized needs, based on clear mandates and jurisdictions between key sector institutions (WASAs, PHEDs and TMAs). • Support for advocacy with provincial government and selected donors to tap additional projects and funding for new and existing W&S initiatives. • Mandate the KWSB, NSUSC, WASAs, PHED and TMAs to generate sector funding from markets and other sources. • Promote public private partnerships in W&S through a clear policy, enabling environment and targeted marketing campaign. • Immediate attention on comprehensive financial information management, including consolidated annual data collection and reporting with a particular focus on subsector allocations and expenditure tracking. Sector financing and capacity to spend are critical indicators are still serious shortfalls, particularly for the rural and urban of sector performance. The assessment has reviewed the sanitation subsectors, but also worryingly for the RWS budgetary structure, adequacy of subsector budgets, and subsector. These weaknesses are reflected in Figure 8, which utilization under capital and recurrent heads. There are averages scorecard scores. Cumulatively, there is an annual systemic issues on the budgetary front, in part related sector investment requirement of over US$550 million, to the fragmentation of the sector, and in part due to the about half of which is in shortfall. While users contribute limitations of the planning and budgeting process. Without significantly to sector financing, the ability of the sector to accurate consolidated figures for each subsector, it is difficult mobilize private sector financing has been limited, despite to determine the fiscal space for the sector. policy guidelines, which encourage this. As Pakistan’s most industrialized and urbanized province, the opportunity The costing exercise for the SDA has, therefore, had to use a lost in not mobilizing private sector financing could be a number of assumptions to determine sector-financing needs. significant one. Assumptions have also been made with regard to targets, as the absence of clear provincial targets by subsector (for The sector has historically been an emotive one, where socio- example, in the RWS sector) makes it difficult to define religious considerations have stood in the way of generating financing requirements. Despite significant user and donor adequate resources through cost-recovery, to allow for contributions within each subsector in Sindh, we find there rehabilitation and expansion of deteriorating systems. In www.wsp.org 27 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment fact, the virtual absence of cost recovery also implies a heavy Figure 8: Scorecard indicators relating to reliance on external resources and subsidies for even the bare financing and its implementation, with average of indicator scores by subsector and peer-group minimum requirements of O&M. Incomes from tariffs have comparison not been able to keep pace with rapidly rising expenditures, fuel charges and salaries. RWS Sindh suffers from weaknesses in the planning process; there is a gap in instruments for a medium- or long-term planning horizon. The Medium Term Development Framework USH UWS (MTDF) of 2011-14 has remained a paper exercise, and not been operationalized. Further, even if followed, it is hardware biased, and shows block allocations, which do not enable an understanding of sector financing and needs. A RSH planning instrument based on in-depth sector analysis across the various subsectors is lacking. Actual sector allocations are Note: RSH: Rural Sanitation and Hygiene; USH: Urban Sanitation and Hygiene determined on the basis of political imperatives and power play, and competing demands from other segments of the Annual Development Program (ADP). Special initiatives Previously, the PFC would, even if in a rudimentary manner, and vertical programs, which bypass sector mechanisms, also take into account issues of equity and regional disparities add distortions to the sector. in its dispensation. With the abolition of this following the 18th Amendment, considerations of equity become less clear; The budget structure does not allow disaggregation of although it is stated that allocations are made along similar allocations and expenditures. There is no segregation of rural lines, the basis for determination is not apparent. Without and urban budgets and expenditures in TMAs and PHED. clear criteria for determining equity, the impact of financial Sanitation budgets typically amalgamate drainage, street allocations is questionable. paving, solid waste and other expenditures. Human excreta disposal and latrine coverage are not the substantive focus of In examining the needs of the subsectors, the largest sanitation budgets. Recurrent budgets are similarly hard to allocations are needed for the urban sanitation sector disaggregate across the subsectors. There is no consolidation (US$180 million/year), followed by the rural sanitation of budget and expenditures for the four subsectors, with sector (US$156 million/year). Urban and rural water departmental reporting and reviews taking place in silos supply requires US$127 million/year and US$122 million/ and on a project basis. While donor budgets are monitored year, respectively. Importantly, the financing gap for RWS rigorously, they do not often allow disaggregation of water is significantly larger than for UWS. The financing gaps supply and sanitation expenditures. for both rural and urban sanitation are significant. The extremely low domestic investment in rural sanitation is also The plethora of sector agencies (WASAs, KWSB, NSUSC, evident, highlighting this as a sector in crisis. The relatively LGD, PHED and Planning and Development Department high user involvement in financing and self-provision points (P&DD) operating in the sector without an effective apex to a failure of the public sector to deliver adequately. body or platform to provide a sector perspective makes coordination difficult. While P&DD has the remit to Sector institutions show good capacity to spend both consolidate across the range of sectors, lack of concrete capital and recurring budgets. However, this is misleading, instruments and resources does not allow it to do so. The as virtually every subsector is under-invested. This issue is lack of an effective sector-wide planning and budgeting compounded by the system of quarterly releases, which not framework, or instruments for tracking expenditures, thus only makes planning difficult, but frequently results in hasty has a serious impact on sector performance. and poorly executed expenditures. Annual releases typically 28 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 9: Overall subsector annual investment and per capita requirements and the contribution by each anticipated source Rural water supply Urban water supply Rural sanitation Urban sanitation Total: US$122,120,300 Total: US$127,617,200 Total: US$156,600,000 Total: US$180,392,900 Per capita: US$3.89 Per capita: US$3.90 Per capita: US$4.98 Per capita: US$5.51 Domestic Anticipated Investment External Anticipated Investment Assumed Household Investment Gap fall far short of allocations (50 percent on average), and there schemes such as the K-IV mega water scheme barely received is continuing dependence on federal transfers through the 3 percent of its total cost in FY2013-14. National Finance Commission awards. The ability of Sindh, as of other provinces, to generate own-source revenue remains In view of the dire financial situation, it becomes incumbent limited. In this scenario, budgets allocated to PHED, for on the Government of Sindh to review sector planning example, can be a mere 15-20 percent of the demand, in and budgeting mechanisms to optimize the use of scarce the light of which high utilization is not surprising. Critical resources. www.wsp.org 29 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 6. Sector Monitoring and Evaluation KEY POINTS • Complexity in roles has resulted in convolution in tracking quality and level of services. • The sector lacks a regulator to ensure improved service delivery. • A sector level set of monitoring indicators needs to be developed and implemented. Priority actions for Sector Monitoring and Evaluation • Prioritize and fast track the development of a Sector Information and Management System (SIMS). Agreement on the principles of management of the SIMS, integration with planning processes and sustained resourcing needs to be urgently reached. • Definitional consistency and harmonization between the macro-sources of data (MICS, PSLMS, Demographic and Health Survey (DHSO, Census, and so on), which will also allow for triangulation and a better understanding of coverage and equity. The indicators should be defined with the longer-term perspective of monitoring outcomes and adjusted to the SDGs. • Review departmental and existing systems of monitoring (at all tiers of government) in 2016. Determine capacity needs and where to strengthen existing structures for better and more systematic generation of information, in relation to physical assets, financial management and service delivery/customer focus. Third party audits and performance monitoring to be systematically carried out and built into the work plans of oversight bodies and the regulator. • Develop a Monitoring Cell in the LGD to bring together data from the various departments in its purview in a cohesive form to allow for planning. • Geo-reference databases and asset registries to allow for spatial analysis. • Put in place mechanisms to monitor the significant self and private provision (through collaborative mechanisms with the private sector). While the M&E architecture in Sindh is not dissimilar to demand for accountability and data at lower tiers of that of other provinces and areas of Pakistan, structural government. weaknesses are further exacerbated by low levels of commitment to transparency and good governance, Despite enactment of the Sindh Freedom of Information and heavy politicization of virtually all-administrative Act in 2006, the regulatory regime that governs the right to processes of government. In turn, weak capacity for M&E information as a fundamental right, issues in both supply contributes to poor governance. In these circumstances, and demand for information have limited its effectiveness. In the demand for evidence to base decision-making on, and general M&E capacity, including performance management, accountability for efficient and effective resource use, is limited by poor data, lack of capacity to process/analyze remains low. Political shortsightedness in turn does not the data, and limited demand for information. encourage a long-term planning horizon, and is limited to expedient choices. With no elected local governments Figure 10 indicates relatively low scores for all subsectors in in place, there has been an institutional transition where relation to M&E, with sanitation faring worse than water service delivery in the sector has suffered, as has the supply. 30 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 10: Scorecard indicators relating to M&E, local governments, numerous agencies and departments are with average of indicator scores by subsector involved in service delivery. The LGD incorporates RDD, and peer-group comparison PHED and HTPD. The PHED is responsible for rural Rural water schemes and construction of urban schemes other than in Karachi, Hyderabad and the NSUSC areas. Municipalities through their Municipal Corporations and TMAs are responsible for municipal service delivery but, due to limited capacity, are dependent on PHED for developing Urban sanitation Rural sanitation new assets. The role of the LGD remains restricted to O&M. While theoretically subsuming the PHED within LGD Urban water should create integration of data, and more harmonized planning, there is no evidence that this is the case. Each wing Responsibilities for M&E are as fragmented as service delivery operates independently, and there is cursory oversight of the in the sector, and the lack of a robust SIMS obstructs efforts PHED by the LGD. The PHED does monitor its assets, and to effectively analyze the sector. Planning and performance in rural areas has de facto responsibility. The LGD remains measurement efforts are stymied by the lack of a cohesive and weak, and while a Local Government Board exists, it does not integrated SIMS, and this prevents a sector-wide approach. have a remit for monitoring water and sanitation assets. Data with TMAs have, in general, not been collated systematically Conceptual Framework and remains dispersed with limited utility for planning. The essential architecture of Sindh’s M&E system is depicted in Figure 11. The KWSB and Hyderabad WASA report to the LGD. WASAs in general self-report, which can create system distortions, While water and sanitation is, by design, a local government though there have been more structured performance and subject and water and sanitation assets are de jure owned by benchmarking initiatives in recent years (IBNET). Figure 11: M&E Architecture Local Government Board (data Departmental information sent by regarding the performance of field offices (e.g., list of nonfunctional local council employees) schemes compiled by LGD/RDD/ PHED/HTPD) Coverage figures included by the Provincial Bureau of Statistics Federal Surveys (PSLM, PCO, Mouza and PCRWR Sindh M&E WASA & ULC Accounts Multiple Indicator Budgets (Yearly Plan) which Cluster Survey indicate expenses Local Government Department’s M&E Wing/Directorates www.wsp.org 31 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment The NSUSC reports through SCIP to the P&DD. It is a Broad oversight is provided by P&DD, but the capacity for part of IBNET, and has identified key indicators related to detailed sector oversight by the small cell responsible remains service delivery performance, capital works, implementation, limited. environment, land acquisition and resettlement compliance, institutional reforms and capacity building. Quarterly and National/Macro Data Sets annual reports are prepared. Data are gathered from TMAs. In practice, therefore, provincial governments, scheme and There is also a complaint management system. USAID’s city-level providers have limited information. It is understood Municipal Services Development Program (MSDP) will also that monitoring has to operate on two axes: (i) monitoring of build M&E capacity, both in the municipalities in which it outcomes, that is, people using the facilities; and (ii) monitoring is working, and in developing the nascent Provincial Spatial of outputs, that is, the functionality of facilities. Both are Data Infrastructure to cover all extant municipal services and complementary and important for assessing sector performance. demographics in three selected divisions. In the absence of consolidated and harmonized data on There is no defined M&E system with a set of clear goals, outputs, the sector is reliant largely on examining coverage indicators and systems in place to assess: through surveys, which look at access from the household • Quality to entry; perspective. Reliance on coverage is limited to the PSLMS • Participation; and MICS, the latest round of which has been under debate • Provision; for some time and not released. Sporadic monitoring of water • Performance; quality is undertaken by PCRWR. For some indicators, data • Staffing; sets provide similar trends, however, there are discrepancies • Complaints; and anomalies that need further work. • Quality; and • Equity. Macro Review Process With the passage of the 18th Amendment, there are This has resulted in practice with limited departmental or sensitivities around monitoring of the provinces by the administrative data availability. The limited data available are federal level. While there is a clear federal role in equity, only for NSUSC, the WASAs and basic data on assets that lie harmonization and commitment to international targets with PHED in relation to rural schemes. This has historically and conventions, the federal-provincial relationships are yet been further constrained by limitations to acquiring satellite being worked out. Modalities for tracking the SDGs, at the imagery (which have now been lifted). To date, there is no federal level, and mechanisms for provincial submissions, consolidated geo-referenced database, which will allow for will be interesting to note. planning. At the provincial level, mechanisms, which exist, for There are also a very wide range of private housing authorities providing overview include: and significant self-provision in Sindh, none of which is • MTDF (not operationalized); monitored. • Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) (being tested in six departments); and Regulator as Neutral Arbitrator • ADP. No regulatory body exists. In effect, this means that there is no body that provides neutral or third party audited It is the ADP, which thus forms the crux of planning efforts. information on: Critically, it is not possible to accurately access capital • Water resource management and competing uses of expenditure by USH, RSH, UWS and RWS. In addition, water; O&M expenses at the macro level are not readily available. • Coverage; Data are not readily disaggregated by subsector or fully • Performance; and aggregated at one point to build a detailed sector-wide picture. • Sector financing/targets formulae. This is partly due to outdated financial management systems 32 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment in WASAs and at TMA level, and broader public resource sector management in Sindh but this does not obviate the management bottlenecks. All of these can be addressed by need for a SIMS. consolidation and integration of institutional roles, assigned finances and coherent financial flows. Moreover, although feedback from the field and anecdotal information would suggest that there have been improvements Poor public expenditure management means that it can in services over the past decade, it is felt that third party be difficult to establish unit costs of services (important surveys may lead to statistics that are closer to ground reality, for planning and determining efficiencies) regardless of and on the basis of which credible decisions should be made. whether it is at the city level or the macro level. Moreover, disbursement linked to outputs continues to be a challenge. Harmonizing Data Sets Unlike other social sectors, there is no critical mass of water The only apex body where information is collated is and sanitation indicators against which sector performance is P&DD. The monitoring of schemes in the provincial ADP monitored or evaluated. is conducted by the Monitoring and Evaluation Cell of P&DD. Information regarding financial releases is obtained This nonalignment and lack of commonality in indicators is periodically from the Finance Department. Administrative apparent in all three dimensions: data from LGD/PHED are collated, and evidence on a) Vertical: comparisons between federal, provincial, district, physical progress may be obtained from physical visits of union, city/village, and schemes are almost not possible; schemes under development by field monitors. The focus is b) Horizontal: rural and urban disaggregations are available on physical and financial progress. Information on inputs but not for all data sets; poor and non poor disaggregations is limited and there is no information on quality, which are available but not across all data sets; and does not enable decision-making. Departments do not have c) Sub-sectorally: comparisons across the sanitation access to the dashboard and are unable to add information. subsector, or across the water subsector. Ideally, different Given limited resources, it is only politically visible schemes, levels of governments would have some common which are generally actively monitored. While government- and some different indicators across quantitative data planning documents (the PC-1-5 documents) do include sets. The common indicators would be used to form a provision for M&E, the PC-5 document to be prepared ex- backdrop for the qualitative/perception-based data. post, is rarely completed. Importantly, the P&DD, through its Special Initiatives Department, is also an ‘implementer’ of In Pakistan, at the federal level the, four data sets with some schemes (for example, the water purification initiative), significant information on the water and sanitation sector are: which would bring its oversight role in some question. (i) Population Census Organization (PCO), which is the There are several issues with the current mechanisms for custodian of the Population Census and the District portfolio monitoring: Census Reports (now also available by Union Councils). • The database is not geo-referenced so the scheme Theoretically, the census should be conducted every 10 cannot be geo-tagged or viewed on a map. This years but historically this has not been practiced due to precludes any spatial analysis. It can also throw up political reasons. The value of the census data is that it doubts about whether the scheme was actually visited; covers the entire country (so none of the federal territories • Detailed pictures of various stages of scheme are excluded), it includes 100 percent coverage, the data development are not captured for systematic auditing; is disaggregated to the Union Council level and can be and analyzed along with data on utility access, housing access, • There is no beneficiary feedback or grievance redress family size, and so on. However, the indicator used by mechanisms. the PCO measures level of service not quality or source. So, tap water may simply mean a tap attached to a pipe There is current World Bank support to improve the capacity attached to a motor pump, or a dug well. The PCO’s to monitor and assure quality, as part of improving public indicator is ‘potable water’ and ‘latrine’; www.wsp.org 33 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment (ii) PSLMS, which is conducted every other year. The (i) Sindh Bureau of Statistics and P&DD and UNICEF’s indicator used here is ‘source of water’ (that is, tap, hand MICS, from which information is available by district pump, motor pump, dug well, others) which confuses but cannot be used to compare to any national level data the level of service, for example, tap with source of set (although, for some indicators, it can be compared water, that is, groundwater, surface water, and so on. For to MICS data in other provinces/regions) that has a sanitation the PSLMS uses ‘type of toilet’ as an indicator number of indicators with some indicators disaggregated (flush, non flush or no toilet); by urban and rural, income group, and educational status (iii) The Agriculture Census Organization’s Mouza10 of the head of the household; Statistics (2008) is the only public sector data set (ii) ADP of the Government of Sindh provides data in the water and sanitation sector that provides on capital investments in the given year, which are perception-based information, that is, what coverage publicly accessible and are maintained by the P&DD do the patwaris11 think there is within their patwari in electronic form. However, analysis of the ADPs and circle (which can through a fairly longwinded process other government documents do not necessarily generate be superimposed on disaggregated data from the the same data and information; Population Census). Mouza statistics include indicators (iii) Departmental level data may be collected by the on sources of drinking water (piped supply, tube well, LGD and PHED. This information is not accessible well, hand pump, private/electric pump, canal/river, publicly and is not collated or analyzed manually or in spring/stream/karez, tank/pond and other). In addition, computerized form. The WASAs self-report around a Mouza statistics includes taste of drinking water (sweet/ range of indicators and, despite some acknowledgement brackish) and availability of filtration facility for drinking of benchmarks, these generally do not drive decision- water. This makes it the only data set other than MICS, making; which provides some information on the quality of (iv) Local Council/TMA Annual Budget Document is drinking water. On sanitation, toilet facilities are covered submitted to the Local Government Board at LGD. (inside house/open place). In addition, it includes data These documents are not accessible publicly and are not on bricked streets, bricked drains and sewerage system collated or analyzed manually or in computerized form; (all, mostly, some, none). From the gender perspective, (v) Scheme-wise data are meant to be collected at the the Mouza statistics are important as they provide scheme level. This information is not accessible publicly information on social organizations by gender (NGO, and exists in systems, some not computerized, at the Community Organizations, Community Centered departmental level; and Board, Community Center/Library, and none). From (vi) Annual Budget Statements of the Government of Sindh the integrated water perspective, it includes sources of are available publicly. irrigation and watercourse improvement. The survey has not been repeated since 2008; and As no template exists for an overall sector performance report, (iv) DHS conducted by the National Institute of Population it is difficult to consolidate the input data, that is, investments Studies under the aegis of the Ministry of Population and operational costs in one place, and the output/outcome Welfare and largely funded by USAID. DHS’s indicators data in one place, let alone monitor or evaluate it. What can are similar to the MICS indicators on water and be done in a nonconsolidated framework is the monitoring sanitation: source, distance, purification, and type of of outcomes in the sector. However, the lack of a critical toilets. The latest round is for 2012-13. mass of indicators means that sector monitoring is not comprehensive. Moreover, broadly speaking, MICS and In Sindh, at the provincial level, there are currently six PSLMS, data, for instance, do not present the same outcomes sources of information on the sector: for similar indicators. 10 Administrative district. 11 Administrative government official/village accountant. 34 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Quite critical is the fact that there is a lack of consistency common indicators at all levels, would help in providing a in the definitions used by various surveys and no common baseline on which sector performance may be measured. As understanding at the federal and provincial level of what a later step, quality of data could be improved and a system constitutes safe water or sanitation. for triangulation and cross verification introduced. Sector MIS The Urban Unit could make a good start towards this, but If institutional consolidation and synergy remain a medium- eventually a clear institutional home is essential. to long-term challenge, greater work needs to be undertaken on building a sector Management Information System Additionally, MISs needs to be created for: (MIS). This requires: • Services at the household level (quality, level and • Definitional parameters to be improved; financial management as by income and area); • Anomalies to be investigated; • Services at the community level (quality, level and • Analysis against other data sets to be enabled; financial management as by income and status); • A process of participation; and • Scheme level (condition, operational cost, • Credibility to be improved. rehabilitation, depreciation, and so on); • City level/settlement level (income, status, area, and A sector-wide MIS should draw on the disparate data so on); sources mentioned and collate these into a comprehensible • Outcomes; and legible report with presentation of key data in the • Performance and operational indicators; forms of maps, graphics and tables to enable the planning • Benchmarking; and process. This, further supported with an agreement on some • Complaints.   www.wsp.org 35 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 7. Subsector: Rural Water Supply KEY POINTS • An estimated US$122 million (US$46.2 million additional) annual investments will be needed to meet the rural water targets. • Distinct role allocation, efficient planning and budgeting, performance monitoring, operation and maintenance mechanism, cost recovery system and priority based investments required to realize the universal coverage dream. Priority actions for Rural Water Supply • Rehabilitation of nonfunctioning schemes verified as demand-based. • Accepting communities’ and small scale service providers’ role in RWS management, especially for simple-to-operate systems. • Agree on and ensure recovery of operational costs to ensure sustainable O&M of built assets. • Significant increases and equitable distribution of budgetary allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) from the provincial/federal government to ensure current level of coverage is sustained. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for ‘policy’, ‘regulation’ and ‘service provision’ supplemented by support for subsector coordination and planning. Sindh is a lower riparian province and, due to over dependence UNICEF (JMP and correcting for the percentage of private on Indus water, has over the past decades seen the gradual and public wells that can be considered as improved sources, decline of water quality and availability per person. Some the overall rural coverage in 1990-91 is estimated at 73.9 79 percent12 of the population uses the surface water source percent.14 According to the estimates based on the PSLMS and the balance depends on rainwater ponds and aquifers. 2012-13, RWS coverage is 84 percent which is almost a 10 The indiscriminate dumping of untreated sewage and percent coverage increase over just a 20 year period. surface runoff into the surface water bodies leads to heavy degradation of its water sources. Projecting the available trends, the 2025 coverage is estimated at 89 percent. This indicates that Federal Government’s Vision According to the Federal Government’s Vision 2025 and 2025 goals are unlikely to be achieved unless the current rate NDWP of 2009, Pakistan’s goal is to provide universal access of progress is accelerated. However, while coverage figures to drinking water in an equitable, efficient and sustainable are encouraging, growing concerns over quality could erode manner by 2025.13 The main public data source with some of the associated benefits, as is explained later. Figure disaggregated water supply coverage by province at the time 12 shows the graphical illustration of coverage trends since of estimating the MDG targets was the PIHS, 1991. Based 1990. on this, rural drinking water coverage for Sindh includes private taps (11.7 percent), private wells (61.2 percent), and Based on the current gaps, technology distribution, associated public wells (1.9 percent). Using the guidelines of the WHO/ costs and 2025 targets, an estimated US$122 million annual 12 Sindh Urban Unit, presentation in Pakistan Urban Forum, January 2014. 13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Pakistan#cite_note-18 14 The MICS 2014 shows existing coverage at 90 percent. This suggests some acceleration of coverage, which could be attributed to an increase in trends towards self-provision. 36 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 12: Coverage trends since 1990 Figure 13: Rural Water Supply 63.7 12.2 46.2 100% 100% 88.6% 80% 83.5% 72.9% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 60% US$ million/year 40% Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) 20% CAPEX deficit 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Target Trend Figure 14: Rural Water Supply (RWS) scorecard Enabling Developing Sustaining Policy Planning Budget Expenditure Equity Output Maintenance Expansion Use 1.25 0.75 0.75 3 0.75 1.5 1.5 0.5 2.5 investments will be needed to meet the subsector targets. officially notified provincial water policy available as yet. The Against this investment, the provincial government currently existing federal policy guideline does not provide provincial can mobilize an estimated US$63.7 million per annum, targets, broken down into urban and rural. Vision 2025 does which includes a modest donor commitment of US$18.9 set targets for the drinking water sector, however, it is not million, federal grants and some funding in the non- clear if the federal Vision 2025 will be adopted by Sindh or governmental sectors (that is, US$5 million). An additional not. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the province US$46.2 million in public sector funding commitment is does need to set its own policy targets. The draft Water Supply needed to meet the 2025 sector target for RWS in Sindh Policy which was developed in the pre-18th Amendment – a 73 percent increase over available commitments. The era needs to be updated in the light of the new LGA. Due bulk of the investment requirements are for replacement/ to the current impasse on local government elections, rural rehabilitation purposes as large numbers of existing schemes areas are neither catered for by the TMAs (that is, Municipal are near or past their design life and require costly investments. Councils/Town Committees) nor by the District Councils According to a PCRWR survey, 9 percent of the schemes are (as these are still not in existence due to delays in conduct over 20 years old, 16 percent 20-25 years old, 28 percent of local government elections, lately. Vertical programs and between 15-20 years old, whereas 47 percent are 10-15 years special initiatives create overlaps and distortions. old. Over 58 percent of PHED schemes are not functioning. No formal and consistent mechanism exists to coordinate RWS Scorecard water and sanitation sector investments. Quarterly and A stakeholder review of the SDA performance indicators annual departmental reviews take place at the level of LGD, shows that policy guidance is a weak area, as there is no RDD, PHED and P&DD. However, there is no evidence www.wsp.org 37 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment of a structured W&S institutional group for sector-wide (15-20 percent of the demand). A large gap exists between review. No division of responsibilities and roles exists to funding requirements and allocations. allow structured sector coordination resulting in improved funding flows or joint reviews of progress across respective The budget structure at the provincial and agency level is such domains. Foreign aid coordination at some level exists but that subsector investments can be identified (for example, in remains weak as no Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) exists the MTDF 2011-14). However, the budget structure fails to and meetings to coordinate the multiple fund flows do not capture and record sector subsidies where they exist such as regularly take place. Those TMAs (a few) which are supported the PHED, LGD and RDD operations, which rely on heavy by donor projects have investment plans which are either and continuing subsidies from the provincial government. available or under preparation for small towns. The focus on Also, while the consolidated RWS budget allocation data expansion of existing village piped schemes is limited. for PHED are available, these do not cover TMAs whose budgets are not available in a consolidated form, and so do A long-term planning horizon is noticeably absent, with not entirely reflect the sector. A MTDF 2011-14 exists, but no practice of formulation of multiyear (three to five year) this is not considered as an operational document. investment plans, based on costing of subsector hardware and software needs for the achievement of the subsector TMAs own-source revenues are a fraction of annual targets. Ideally speaking, such a plan has to be built up from development and establishment costs. The breakdown a location-based assessment (for example, service provider of RWS recurring budget allocations is currently asset registers, business plans, village listings, and so on). Such unavailable. Within the PHED and TMAs, recurrent a holistic plan should prioritize or sequence interventions budgets are typically not segregated for urban or rural against criteria (for example, rates of return, existing service areas. However, all recurring budgets are typically short of level, equity, and so on). Sector planning also suffers due annual requirements and reportedly utilized 100 percent to the lack of multi-stakeholder assessments of subsector on an annual basis. In effect, 60-65 percent of the budget performance, which should review corrective actions. allocations are finally released. Of this, 90 percent of the releases are booked as expenditure. For PHED, this figure Presently provincial level reviews are held but occasionally stands at 98-99 percent. and are not multi-stakeholder, lack a third party dimension and often fail to set corrective actions. Equity is another area of concern for the RWS subsector. As compared to an average of 75 percent of the poorest having Sector budgeting is another area of concern. In terms of access to improved water supply, only 72 percent have access adequacy, the study finds that public financial commitments to water supply in Sindh.16 In some districts, such as Umer to the subsector are insufficient for meeting the requirements Kot and Tharparkar, as low as only 19 and 21 percent of the for new and replacement infrastructure. A 2005 PCRWR study poorest quintiles, respectively, have access to water supply, suggests that 95 percent of samples collected from different indicating huge disparities. In order to develop an equity- parts of the province under the National Water Quality focused approach to delivery of water services, there is a Monitoring Programme (NWQMP) were bacteriologically need for creating evidence, and to align service delivery with contaminated.15 The main reasons are ageing and/or failing the equity profile of the area to be serviced emerging from systems and the need for critical rehabilitation/replacement analysis. This requires equity-based water supply mapping of investments. PHED does have estimates of funds required all districts to allow identification and prioritization of areas for new and replacement schemes but for those under its most in need of interventions. This will provide the basis domain only and not for the entire RWS subsector. The for effective lobbying and advocacy for appropriate resource budget demanded by PHED is only partially provided for allocation. 15 The MICS 2014 data shows 3 percent of samples with arsenic contamination and 39 percent showing e-coli contamination. 16 Analysis of Inequities in Basic Water Supply and Sanitation Services In Pakistan, Avicenna Consulting for UNICEF Pakistan, 2014. 38 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Procedures and guidelines for local participation exist as does While, generally, all new water schemes are tested as per the practice of community voice and choice during scheme national guidelines and standards, in the absence of routine implementation, but these practices are not followed when surveillance and O&M mechanisms, a large number of it comes to sector planning and budgeting. Further, human systems fail to deliver safe water consistently. Water quality and other resources to enable community engagement are and acute periodic deterioration during the monsoon are not fully institutionalized. In conclusion, a comprehensive further aggravated by the presence of arsenic in groundwater. community and stakeholder participation approach At least five districts, namely Khairpur, Dadu, Nawabshah, encompassing all aspects from planning through to execution Naushahro Feroze, and Thatta, are known to have arsenic in has not been officially notified and is not uniformly applied. drinking water.17 Besides, there is a need for the development of an equity- based district profile for improved water coverage in Sindh. In recent years, a number of efforts were made to put in place a subsector MIS with little success. Current information on Clear and widely understood and adhered to criteria for the number of new schemes and their locations cannot be budget allocation contribute a great deal towards bringing easily retrieved across agencies (PHED, LGDs, NGOs, and equity into the RWS subsector. The study finds that no so on) and, hence, this is not reported in a consolidated such criteria exist to guide allocation of resources within the format each year. While some form of agency specific asset broader RWS and sanitation sector (for example, between inventory registers are maintained for internal planning and water and sanitation) or within a district to guide equitable monitoring by PHED and TMAs, these often fail to record distribution between rural and urban areas. Some broad PFC systems built in the same geographic areas by NGOs and type criteria are followed at the provincial level, however, to other agencies, for example. The lack of a sector MIS to direct resources towards less developed districts. serve as a foundation for planning, asset management and monitoring is a serious gap. Development of the subsector is also confronted by issues surrounding outputs (new services). While, apparently, an Maintenance of schemes is an important area of concern adequate number of new systems are being constructed each for the RWS subsector. Unlike in Punjab, beneficiary year, it is believed that not enough existing systems are being communities in rural Sindh are not expected to pay for replaced and/or rehabilitated at the end of their design life. operational and basic maintenance costs in the RWS Given the large volume of schemes, which are nearing the subsector. Hence, even minor maintenance becomes an end of their design life, this is a serious area of concern and issue. During study-related consultations, it was noted that could reduce coverage and further affect quality. Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) funds are drawn even for those schemes, which are declared as defunct. Figure 15: Average RWS scorecard scores for It was revealed that the lack of a robust accountability enabling, sustaining, and developing service, and mechanism and lax policy on basic cost recovery are key peer group comparison issues. In case of major breakdowns or complicated schemes, Enabling downtime is often a protracted affair. Recently PHED has been provided significant resources to rehabilitate defunct schemes, however, lack of cost recovery initiatives will eventually lead to breakdown again. Overall, the private sector is adequately responding to the supply chain needs with exceptions in inaccessible and remote desert areas of Thar and Umar Kot where the study found that distances impact on time taken to obtain spare parts, and still affects Sustaining Developing scheme downtime. 17 Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Science and Technology, PC-I Performa for Provision of Safe Drinking Water, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Islamabad, January 2014. www.wsp.org 39 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment A key debilitating factor for the government of Sindh in specific water sector legislation or general legislation covering achieving its target of universal water supply coverage by 2025 cooperatives, societies, company law, and so on). It will then is its policy of no cost recovery and absence of community be possible for such CBOs to receive technical support, for management of RWS schemes. This will continue to bind example, for engineering design and scheme management, the scarce provincial and local government resources in and so on. It will be imperative that CBOs are recognized capital investments. It is important to review the scheme as legal entities and necessary support programs initiated to management and cost recovery options. For example, CBOs capacitate them to not only manage their own supplies but, could be provided support and handholding not only to over time, graduate to become small-scale providers. maintain the RWS schemes but also to address issues of expansion and service provision as small businesses as part Besides community management, it is important that other of a medium- to longer-term vision. Under such a vision, management options be explored and tested, so that the village and small town piped water supplies may be allowed schemes are sustained and universal coverage targets by 2025 to expand and recognized as legal entities (for example, under are not compromised. 40 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 8. Subsector: Urban Water Supply KEY POINTS • Urban water coverage is declining in Sindh and the province is likely to miss the government’s universal coverage target by 2025. • Investments to be increased by one third to meet the fiscal gap. • Service providers in urban Sindh (Hyderabad WASA, KWSB and NSUSC) are facing a grim fiscal situation with poor tariff structures while recurring costs increasing continuously. Priority actions for Urban Water Supply • Ensure urgent reform of the urban utilities including KWSB, NSUSC and WASAs and TMAs with a view to introduce needed autonomy and structural changes covering performance-based systems; full authority for tariff setting and adjustment; hiring and firing; as well as raising of finances to ensure effective service provision. • An institutional reform plan for urban municipal services should be developed and approved by the provincial government in 2016-17. This should begin with the constitution of functional, representative and independent boards for all urban utilities. • Starting with FY 2016-17, a mandatory doubling of the subsector budget allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) should be ensured. • Major water supply projects such as K-IV should be fully funded and efforts made to ensure completion in the next two years. • A crash program for mapping and rehabilitation of all fit for repair, dysfunctional urban water schemes should be urgently initiated. • Immediate quality mapping of all UWS should be ensured with a view to plan and implement a Sindh Drinking Water Quality Improvement plan across entire Sindh. • Public awareness campaigns on water and health issues should be promoted with the help of nongovernmental bodies, educational institutions and mass media. This should be an on-going year round campaign with dedicated budgets in the public sector. • Promotion of public-private partnership models for urban service provision, collection and M&R should be piloted and results assessed in 2016-17. • Capacity building in areas of planning, M&E , asset management, regulation and financial management is a high need across all utilities. • Advocacy with the federal government and selected donors to ensure that the CAPEX gap identified by the SDA is fully covered and Vision 2025 targets are met. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for policy, regulation and service provision should be reflected in the institutional reform plan for the subsector. • Systems for need-based planning and investment provision should be ensured through policy and verifiable protocols that are open to public scrutiny. • Quarterly multi-stakeholder review forums should be established and made mandatory for all utility companies and municipal service providers. • Advocacy with selected donors to plan, design and fund new subsector projects for Sindh. WSP can play a key role with the provision of technical assistance and other support. www.wsp.org 41 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 16: Coverage trends since 1990 Figure 17: Urban Water Supply 85.6 12.8 29.2 100% 100% 90.6% 91.9% 91.0% 80% 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 60% US$ million/year 40% Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) 20% CAPEX deficit 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Target Trend Figure 18: Urban Water & Sanitation scorecard Enabling Developing Sustaining Policy Planning Budget Expenditure Equity Output Maintenance Expansion Use 1.5 0.75 1.5 3 0.25 2 1 0.5 1.5 Sindh’s total population in 2014 was estimated at 47.3 KWSB, several WASAs and NSUSC cater to the water and million which is likely to grow to nearly 64 million by 2025. sanitation needs of the urban population in larger cities and In this most urbanized province of Pakistan, a high 48.8 towns. percent of the population lives in cities and smaller towns. The rapid urbanization trends are expected to continue (4-5 Within Karachi, KWSB accounts for barely 60 percent of percent in cities) with a projected reversal of the urban/ the urban water connections while the balance is serviced rural demographic mix in 2025 when nearly 51.5 percent of by other players. There is also a large presence of federal Sindh’s population will become urban. government institutions with varying jurisdictions in parts of Karachi. These include six Cantonment Boards, Defense Sindh’s urban character is largely defined by Karachi which Housing Authority, Port Qasim Authority, Karachi Port houses nearly 10 percent of the national population of Trust, Pakistan Railways, Sindh Industrial Trade Estate, Lyari Pakistan, 30 percent of the total provincial population Development Authority, Malir Development Authority and and nearly 63 percent of the province’s urban population. Cooperative Housing Societies. Outside of Karachi, a number Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Umerkot, of development authorities also operate in Hyderabad and Larkana, and a few other cities and towns account for the some of the larger cities. These institutions typically operate remaining 37 percent of the urban population. independently of each other and the key municipal service providers. Therefore, holistic planning and regulation of the The institutional landscape for water and sanitation services sector remain a huge challenge. The Sindh LGA 2013 draws is visibly complicated by the multiplicity of players with on LGO of 1979 and provides the basis for a Metropolitan overlapping mandates and authorities in several areas. Corporation in Karachi and five Karachi District Municipal 42 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Corporations and one District Council for the rural areas percent), and public wells (9.5 percent). Using the JMP of Karachi. In addition, three Municipal Corporations guideline and correcting for the percentage of private and operate in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana, while District public wells that can be considered as improved sources, Councils, Town Committees and Union Councils service the the overall provincial coverage in 1990-91 was estimated municipal needs of other areas. As a new municipal service at 91.9 percent. The current coverage has been estimated model, the NSUSC was established under the Companies from PSLMS 2012-13 data, which surprisingly show a slight Ordinance 1984 for the secondary cities of Northern Sindh. decline in urban coverage over a 21-year period. The data The NSUSC covers Sukkur, New Sukkur, Rohri, Khairpur, show a breakdown of tap water (72 percent), hand pumps Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Ghotki. (7 percent), motorized pumps (17 percent) and other sources at 4 percent, thus aggregating to a 91 percent urban Among other players, a sizeable PHED, Municipal coverage, which reflects a small drop over this period.18 The Corporations/Town Committees, RDD and HTPD also MDG targets aimed at halving the share of people without operate under the auspices of the large LGD and service sustainable access to an improved water source by 2015. This the water supply needs, particularly in smaller towns across essentially required Sindh to achieve a target of 96 percent Sindh. Other provincial departments such as the W&S by 2015. However, projecting a linear declining trend, the department that traditionally engages in roads and buildings MDGs are not likely to be achieved. Figure 16 shows the work also takes up water and sanitation sector work on a need graphical illustration of coverage trends since 1990. basis. Another provincial player, called the Special Initiatives Department, operates under the umbrella of P&DD, and Meanwhile, NDWP 2009 and a recent Pakistan Vision has been also mandated to take up large water sector works 2025 document call for universal access by 2025. Estimates for many years. Some of its work includes the large reverse of provincial water supply coverage for 2014 are also being osmosis plants that are being set up across the entire Sindh estimated through a Sindh MICS 2014-15. However, these province. data are currently not accessible. In terms of water sources, Sindh is heavily dependent on The available data show large gaps in supply and demand in River Indus. Nearly 79 percent of the population relies on the virtually all urban areas, particularly in Karachi where water use of surface water sources while the rest tap groundwater is ensured through a bulk conveyance system comprising aquifers, rainwater and other sources. However, per capita a complex network of canals, conduits, siphons, multi- water availability has gradually depleted due to competing stage pumping and filtration system. The present supply to upstream demands on the waters of River Indus which is Karachi from Indus and hub sources is approximately 650 a Sindh-wide concern due to its status as a lower riparian. million gallons a day (MGD). However, water demand Within Karachi itself, subsoil water is brackish and the only (at the rate of 54 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) for reliable source is River Indus, which is 130 kilometer away. a population of 20 million) is estimated as 1,080 MDG. The water supplies typically do not reach all areas of the city, Thus the city is faced with a short fall of 430 MGD. This often due to high levels of water theft, which are reported is expected to be met through K-IV which is a new bulk to be 40 percent of the total supply. As a result, many urban water system planned to draw water from Kinjher lake to dwellers rely on water tankers that transport the daily needs augment the current supplies. On completion of K-IV, of various households on a regular basis. With no other Karachi is expected to become self-sufficient in water for the alternatives, this is a way of life for many in the peripheries next 20 years with 1,200 cusecs or 650 MGD of additional as well as settled areas. water supplies. Meanwhile serious water shortages occur due to poor regulation and large water losses due to siphoning Based on PIHS, 1991, urban drinking water coverage from the bulk supply. On average, barely four hours of water included private taps (68.2 percent), private wells (14.9 supply is reported in Karachi while water losses are currently 18 The MICS 2014 shows coverage at 90 percent which is not widely divergent from the projections of the study, and confirms the slight decrease in coverage over a 20-year period, confirming that expansion is not able to keep up with growing populations. www.wsp.org 43 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment estimated at more than 30 percent of the total quantity Figure 19: Average UWS scorecard scores for supplied. Field discussions suggest that the supply of water is enabling, sustaining, and developing service delivery, and peer-group comparison typically short of the demand in many of the cities and towns thus forcing residents to rely on private arrangements. Enabling A variety of political and external interferences have heavily impacted the sector, thus compounding the large imbalance between demand and supply and a significant weakening of the regulatory role. The lack of real autonomy, required resource provisioning from the provincial government, poor services and highly inadequate cost recovery has also meant that the service providers have little or no leverage to improve Sustaining Developing performance. Evidence suggests that large players such as KWSB, NSUSC and many of the WASAs largely operate under the direct control of the government and have no real On the operational front, virtually all of the Sindh urban say in the affairs of the sector. As a result, sector investments water and sanitation service providers are also faced with a and key decisions are often decided on political grounds very difficult fiscal situation. Poor tariff and cost recoveries rather than technical or need-based criteria. mean that KWSB is heavily dependent on annual subsidies from the provincial and/or the federal government. The Driven by these considerations, a Japan International organization generates a monthly billing of PKR 800 million Cooperation Agency (JICA)/Government of Sindh study of which barely 500 million is collected. Meanwhile the team recommended far reaching institutional reforms in large fixed expenditures on monthly salaries/pensions (PKR 2008 with a view to achieving the two main objectives of: 450 million/month), electricity bills owed to K-Electric (a) eliminating political/external interferences in the day-to- (PKR 600 million/month) and O&M (PKR 50 million/ day operations and management of the retail water supply month) have to be met with virtually no funding. Continued and sewerage services; and (b) enabling the services to be provincial subsidies and a vicious cycle of circular debt operated/managed on a full cost recovery basis by 2025. Key between KWSB and K-Electric are therefore the norm. In aspects of the reform called for a separation of bulk and retail the recent past, power supplies have been cut down to KWSB supplies in the long run. The bulk supply will be managed pumping stations due to lack of payment for the electricity and operated by KWSB while the responsibility for providing supplied. This has led to further reduction of water supplies retail services (water supply and sewerage) will be transferred to urban residents and has created law and order situations, to new retail service companies to be established under the particularly during summer months. The KWSB officials provisions of the Companies Ordinance 1984. In addition, have indicated an urgent need for a three-fold increase in an independent regulatory board will be established for the tariff, greater autonomy in decision-making and enhanced economic and technical regulation of the services. Evidence capacities to check the large water thefts. However, the suggests that the reform plan has yet to be fully implemented. reform process has not picked up pace to respond to the growing needs of Karachi. Elsewhere in urban Sindh, the situation on the water supply front is equally grim. Among the major issues, water quality The feedback from other WASAs including Hyderabad and is a serious worry across much of Sindh as, generally, no water some of the other towns serviced by NSUSC is also fairly treatment is provided in any of the towns before supplying to similar. Due to poor collection efficiencies (30-50 percent), households. Most water supply systems are poorly maintained virtually all-municipal entities are surviving on annual and water distribution systems in most areas are old and have provincial subsidies. Incomes from water tariffs and other outlived their useful life. Frequent power outages also further sources have generally stagnated while recurring costs have compound the water worries in large areas of Sindh. grown due to rapid salary increases, electric bills and other 44 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment costs. The water treatment capacities are a major issue, On the equity front, sector policy and best practices particularly in interior Sindh, thus forcing a growing reliance highlight the need for local participation. However, this on untreated water from a variety of sources. The water quality is not operationalized; neither KWSB nor WASAs or the issues noted by the PCRWR report are also a clear indicator NUSUC have any structured system for local participation that water treatment and network maintenance requirements in planning and decision-making in urban areas (although have received a low priority with negative consequences for NSUSC does have a focus on customer responsiveness). In the residents of Sindh. A recent World Bank study has noted a few pilot projects, a structured approach to community a 4 percent annual loss to the economy, which is directly participation has been successfully demonstrated. However, attributable to the poor water, and sanitation practices that these are fairly minor exceptions to the general practice of impact on human health, life and productivity. top-down planning and investments. Field evidence also suggests that there is no practice of five- Multi-stakeholder events in the sector are also ad hoc and year plans, business plans or any other analysis that would infrequently held. KWSB, Hyderabad WASA and NSUSC allow the water and sanitation service providers to effectively receive annual funding linked to urban population needs respond to the growing human and financial crises. Based and service spread. For other areas, there are currently no on the current gaps, technology distribution, associated costs allocation criteria for rural/urban water supply allocations. and Vision 2025 targets, an estimated US$29 million annual Likewise, none of the urban entities show any specific focus investment will be needed to meet the subsector targets. on the poor. However, some special development schemes Thus, a 34 percent increase in public sector investment is have been approved for the least developed districts such as needed to meet the budgetary gap on the CAPEX front. Tharparkar. Similarly, some donors such as USAID also have also broadly focused on flood-affected districts in northern The stakeholder review of the SDA performance indicators Sindh. shows that the largest gaps exist on the planning equity and expansion fronts which are all very poorly rated. This is The expansion of urban services has also received a fairly low largely attributed to the subsector chaos and multiplicity of score. Several factors contribute to this situation; however, players dealing with the sector. On the planning front, no a large part of this is attributable to excessive governmental formal or consistent mechanism exists to coordinate water controls and lack of financial autonomy. Despite the legal sector investments. Quarterly and annual departmental autonomy enjoyed by KWSB, WASA and NSUSC, virtually reviews take place at the level of KWSB, WASA, NSUSC, all organizations are practically managed by the Government LGD, PHED and P&DD. However, there is no evidence of of Sindh. They have limited or no autonomy for hiring and a structured W&S institutional group for sector-wide review, firing, investments, disinvestments, major appointments, coordination of funding flows or joint reviews of progress fixation of tariff or other key actions to address the across respective domains. fundamental issues. Likewise, there is no practice, nor any incentive, for business planning in any of the utility A multi-sectoral MTDF 2011-14 exists but is not companies/boards. In the absence of own source revenues, operationalized; it is also fairly biased towards hardware and and inability to tap external finances, municipal investments is highly project oriented resulting in a low score; meanwhile are typically ad hoc and invariably linked to fluctuating NSUSC as well as KWSB have multi-year plans which are public sector or donor funding that determines if a short-, partially funded. No other agencies have any system for medium- or longer-term investment is made. A few multi- multi-year planning. Multi-stakeholder reviews of subsector year projects (such as the K-IV for Karachi) and water supply performance do not take place; an annual or quarterly review projects launched with the assistance of ADB and USAID takes place at agency and ministerial levels, but not by various (that is, SCIP and the Municipal Services Project) reflect stakeholders. The reviews that do take place are typically some of these investments. With a cash-strapped public project and/or ADP specific and not across the sector. sector, the only other source for subsector investment could www.wsp.org 45 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment be credit from the local financial institutions. However, none A large part of the budgetary problem is linked with a heavy of the municipal entities are mandated to tap funds from the reliance on federal transfers that are, in turn, linked to the markets. efficiency of tax collection. The reduction of collection targets is now a routine phenomenon with highly negative There is currently no provincial policy for drinking water. consequences for the Sindh government and onward allocations However, the National Water Policy calls for a 93 percent to various sectors. Due to the prevailing system and continuing access target by 2015. Legislative changes introduced during uncertainty, budgets are released on a quarterly basis. However, the Musharraf regime (1991-2008) led to huge changes these are invariably short of the annual allocations. A review of within the local governments and municipal bodies. As the past few years of data shows that actual releases are typically a result, sector institutions have remained in flux with 50 percent of the annual allocations. The SDA projections overlapping and unclear roles, particularly in non WASA for annual capital receipts/allocations from the provincial areas. Among the key areas of concern, the separation of government have, therefore, built for this budgetary reality. responsibilities on the policy-making front, regulation and service provision will need to be ensured. Predictably, sector expenditures received the highest rating. On the utilization of domestic and donor capital funds, field At the provincial level, a MTDF and MTBF exist, but the interviews and review of quarterly budget utilization reports finance team noted that this has limited and theoretical value show some surrender and re-appropriations on an annual only. For all practical purposes, ADPs provide the basis for basis. However, over 90 percent of the development budgets investments and have little or no relationship with medium- are reportedly spent annually. Within the PHED and LGD term plans or budgetary provisions in MTBF. establishments, recurrent budgets are typically not segregated for urban or rural areas. However, all recurring budgets With highly limited own source revenues, large utility are typically short of annual requirements and reportedly companies and most smaller municipal service providers utilized 100 percent on an annual basis. All expenditure are largely surviving with the help of provincial and federal versus budget (or domestic flows) is regularly reported and grants. For instance, the 2013-14 budget shows a special closely watched on a quarterly basis. Donor programs also federal grant of PKR 5 billion for KWSB and PKR 800 follow project/program specific work plans and reporting million for Hyderabad Development Authority to enable systems, which are fairly rigorous. the two utilities to pay their electric bills. Likewise, PKR 900 million has been allocated for PHED electric bills and All utilities show fairly poor tariff structures and a high another PKR 4 billion for meeting electric bills of municipal percentage of NRW thus forcing large annual deficits bodies across Sindh. The budget analysis also underlines and continuing cash flow crisis that has inhibited service the large resource crunch, which has heavily impacted on improvements. The KWSB staff indicated a regular effort the sector. Despite the urgent needs in various cities and to update tariffs; however, this has fallen short of the actual towns of Sindh, numerous projects are partially funded with requirements. Any further increases in tariff have been large throw-forward liabilities with the associated risks of reportedly blocked by the provincial government due to continuing cost escalations and reduced benefits. Among political sensitivities. The utilities also show a virtual lack the many examples, the PKR 25 billion K-IV mega water of metering, thus a land area versus water usage based flat supply project for Karachi, which is a desperate need of rate tariff is commonly levied in all areas while collection Karachi, only received an allocation of PKR 849 million efficiencies remain poor. Barely 30 percent of domestic and during the FY 2013-14 (that is, barely 3.3 percent of the 50 percent of commercial users pay water bills in Hyderabad. total cost). On completion, the K-IV is expected to provide KWSB, though, reported a collection efficiency of 62 percent an additional 250 MGD of water to Karachi, which is barely for all users billed during any given year. enough to meet the current gaps. However, large delays in project execution would clearly impact on the expected water In terms of the subsector outputs, coverage has surprisingly supplies. declined between 1990 and 2014-15 (from 91.9 to 91 46 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment percent) and water quality remains a major concern across in 1990 to 91 percent in 2012-13). Thus, the MDG target the entire province. Investments are required for network of 96 percent coverage in 2105 is not likely to be achieved. replacement and upgrade, which is a large challenge. Several factors appear to have contributed to the state of Available reports suggest that anywhere from 40-50 percent affairs. Rapid urbanization has clearly not been matched by of the smaller schemes (funded by PHED and LGD) are a commensurate capital and recurring budgetary injection, currently nonfunctional due to source failures, engineering nor has urban Sindh ensured the necessary institutional and flaws or M&R issues. regulatory environment to respond to the growing challenge. Based on available data from Karachi and Hyderabad (only), In theory, large municipal entities including KWSB, NSUSC filtration capacities exist to treat 70-80 percent of urban and WASAs have the legal mandate as well as the autonomy supplies although additional water treatment plants are being to make policies, ensure administrative and financial set up through some projects which is expected to raise this to management, set tariffs, hire and fire staff and maintain high 100 percent. Meanwhile, large water quality issues have been quality services for customers. However, the review shows reported by PCRWR whose study across Sindh shows that a that virtually all urban entities operate as another government majority of municipal water supplies from various sources is agency with little or no autonomy for policy making, business not fit for consumption. Summarizing these very disturbing planning or, indeed, overall management. The respective facts, the PCRWR study highlights that “all of the 15 sources governing boards practically operate under the directions of monitored in Hyderabad city were found unfit mainly due the government and have typically little leverage or incentive to bacteriological contamination (93 percent), excessive for significant actions or fundamental reforms. levels of iron (47 percent) and turbidity (93 percent). Karachi, the largest metropolitan city and capital of Sindh The large number of players catering to urban municipal province, revealed 93 percent unsafe water sources due to the services in Karachi and other cities also makes sector planning, presence of bacteriological contamination (86 percent), Total regulation and overall governance a huge challenge. There is Dissolved Solids (TDS) and fluoride (4 percent), sodium, also limited coordination across the players thus inhibiting chlorides, sulphate (7 percent), nitrate (11 percent) and iron prospects of joint planning and action. Meanwhile water (18 percent). In Sukkur, 11 of 12 sources were unfit because services for urban residents have shown a decline in both of bacteriological contamination (67 percent) and turbidity coverage and quality. The latter has assumed an alarming (50 percent), hardness, chlorides, sodium, potassium, arsenic proportion due to inadequate attention to water treatment, and fluoride (8 percent), nitrate (25 percent), sulphate and poor M&R and a virtual lack of regulation. TDS (17 percent). Likewise, 22 water samples including from six dams, nine rivers, two canals, four lakes and one Evidence shows poor collection efficiencies, inadequate drain, left bank outfall drain and right bank outfall drain tariffs and growing patterns of overheads that cannot be (Sukkur) from 23 selected surface water bodies were also supported by any of the utilities. As a result, provincial and collected and analyzed for 28 water quality parameters. All federal governments continue to annually inject subsidies samples (22) were found microbiologically contaminated.” at the expense of other development projects. The budget review shows that, in 2013-14, a nearly PKR 7 billion On the supply front, stakeholders from KWSB noted (US$70 million) subsidy was provided for the W&S sector approximately four hours of water supply; smaller cities players in Sindh. under NSUSC also reported water supply for three to four hours/day. Meanwhile, most urban users typically rely on Municipal services in northern and interior Sindh are household-level storage tanks at the ground and roof levels particularly grim. There is an urgent need to support the to ensure 24-hour water access. newly created NSUSC, which is still struggling with the reform process while trying to address very large service gaps. Conclusions The organization also appears to lack the wherewithal and Despite the relatively large focus, urban water supply human resources to transform the old TMA-led mindsets coverage has declined over a 20-year period (91.9 percent that still represent and run the front lines of the organization. www.wsp.org 47 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Serious resource constraints of the public sector and utilities Finally, the subsector is very poorly regulated with unclear themselves seriously inhibit the expansion of new systems roles and responsibilities. Service provision and regulation to cater to the rapidly growing population. Karachi and all functions are currently intertwined which is in clear contrast other cities and towns suffer from a resource crunch thus with the stated public policy and best practices. Based on this widening the supply and demand gaps. As a result, a very review, independent regulatory capacities for the subsector large population continues to rely on self-provision through are emerging as a very high priority. Urgent measures will water tankers and other means with associated quality issues be needed to ensure that quality; health and environmental and health risks for the larger population. considerations receive sustained and high levels of attention. 48 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 9. Subsector: Rural Sanitation and Hygiene KEY POINTS • A 23% increase (additional US$29.3) on an annual basis is required in investments to achieve the envisioned progress. • Definitional issues, lack of institutional home, non- regulation of service standards, no discrete role allocation, capacity gaps and absence of equity based planning and service provision are issues to be settled. Priority actions for Rural Sanitation and Hygiene • The existing institutions of sanitation service delivery in rural areas (for example, District/Union Councils/PHED) as per the Sindh LGA 2013 are not oriented to and geared to the challenges of civic engagement/education behavior change, and so on. They have serious capacity issues. The policy requires that a separate division of enviornemntal health and sanitation should be established within LGD having at least two environmental health technicians per Union Council. Such a department will, in future, accumulate a mandate for addressing vulnerable practices and emerging challenges such as dengue control, Ebola/H1N1 type outbreaks, indoor air pollution control, climate- change adaption for water and sanitation services, and so on. • In the interim period, a Sindh Sanitation Task Force, comprised of LGD, RDD, PHED, Education and Health departments and other key stakeholders may be created which is mirrored at the district and subdistrict levels to collaboratively address the complex and ever looming challenges of climate induced disasters and environmental sanitation risks. • Mobilization of necessary Government of Sindh, local government, health and donor resources for the implementation of the SSS program. The SSS provides a clear multi-sectoral roadmap for achieving the ODF Sindh goal by 2020. According to PSLMS 2012-13, rural sanitation coverage in unimproved sanitation category. Resultantly, current rural Sindh stands at 55 percent. The PSLMS does not provide sanitation coverage in Sindh is considered as 55 percent.19 breakdown of improved and unimproved coverage figures Lack of a standard definition of sanitation remains an issue, and reports overall sanitation under categories of flush toilet which is needed to be urgently addressed if the province has and non-flush toilets. The anecdotal evidence suggests that to provide authentic reports on its achievements towards its large numbers of these non-flush toilets do not fit the criteria national and international commitments. of improved sanitation. It is a common observation that, in rural areas, effluent from septic tanks is discharged directly An increase in coverage from 9 percent in 1990 to 55 percent into open drains, which is environmentally unacceptable. by 2014 suggests that the subsector target of 100 percent by Vis-à-vis pit latrines, most fail to disrupt the feco-oral 2025 will not be achieved if the current trend continues. transmission route due, primarily, to missing pit covers. Incorporating these two corrections, the study concludes that Based on current gaps, technology distribution and their half of the PSLMS reported non-flush toilets fall under the associated unit costs and national Vision 2025’s target20 of 19 The study awaited the results of the MICS. The data from MICS 2014 show coverage at 38 percent which is significantly lower than the trend line indicates. This could be due to definitional issues but, regardless, highlights the gravity of the situation with regard to rural sanitation. This would imply that rural sanitation coverage would fall far short of targets. 20 Pakistan Vision 2025-One Nation One Vision, Planning Commission, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms, Government of Pakistan, May 2014. www.pc.gov.pk www.wsp.org 49 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 20: Rural sanitation coverage Figure 21: Rural sanitation investment requirements 33.4 94.0 29.3 100% 100% 76.3% 80% 60% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 54.5% US$ million/year 40% 20% Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) 8.9% CAPEX deficit 0% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Sanitation Needed Sanitation Trend Figure 22: Rural sanitation and hygiene scorecard Enabling Developing Sustaining Policy Planning Budget Expenditure Equity Output Maintenance Expansion Use 1.5 1 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 0.5 1.25 100 percent sanitation coverage as envisaged in the Vision from rural Sindh and deals with the issue of both liquid and 2025 document, an estimated US$156.6 million per year in solid wastes in order to address all elements of sanitation. More CAPEX is required to meet the sector target. Of this, it is recently, LGD has drafted the SSS program. The initiative has anticipated that the sector will get US$33.4 million per year been conceived as a component of the ongoing Sindh Inter from public investments and will potentially be leveraging Nutrition Sector Program (NSP). The common objective of US$94 million as household contributions (assuming the SSS and NSP is to improve the nutritional status of the rural households will bear the cost of latrine construction while communities through supportive sanitation interventions such the government will pick up only program support costs, as eradication of open defecation and hygiene improvements. for example, information, education and communication, This multi-sector integrated program is to be implemented behavior change campaigns, and so on, in a government-led by the LGD in coordination of the Health Department and scale up program). Any effort to achieve the Vision 2025 district administrations. target would require mobilization of an additional US$29.3 million annually, between 2014 and 2025. Although under the SSS plan, LGD has laid basis for the establishment of a sector coordination unit, called a Hub, the The sector scorecard shows that the subsector is generally in fact remains that overall sector planning and aid coordination disarray and facing neglect in the arena of policy, planning remains weak. No formal and consistent mechanism exists and even more so in budgeting. The province has a Sanitation to coordinate water and sanitation sector investments. Policy, recently revised, but this is still in draft form with a Quarterly and annual departmental reviews take place at the 2025 target date for universal sanitation coverage in line with level of LGD, RDD, PHED and P&DD. However, there is the goals of the National Sanitation Policy guidelines. The no evidence of a structured water and sanitation institutional revised draft policy calls for the eradication of open defecation group for sector-wide review, existence of terms of reference, 50 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment coordination of funding flows or joint reviews of progress sanitation items. A similar breakdown of PHED budgets across respective domains. shows that, at the provincial level, no CAPEX is allocated for onsite sanitation and hygiene promotion programs Due to the current impasse in the local government system, in rural areas. However, a significant proportion (30-40 rural areas are neither catered for by the TMAs (that is, percent) of the PHED’s budget is spent on urban sanitation, Municipal Corporations/Town Committees) nor by District again primarily on construction of drains, sewers and street Councils (in which still don’t exist). Vertical programs and pavement. The situation clearly establishes that significant special initiatives create overlaps and further distortions as, funds are being spent in the name of sanitation but on those each year, significant resources are spent from the provincial aspects of sanitation which have a relatively lower impact on and national exchequer on special initiatives and Members environmental health and, at the same time, require relatively of National Assembly/Provincial Assembly constituency much higher unit costs compared to human excreta disposal programs. interventions. In other words, resources are available for and being spent on sanitation but on lower priorities therein. Multiyear (three to five year) investment planning, which Hence, it is important that decision makers prioritize human is essential for systematically allocating resources, does excreta disposal (and eradication of open defecation) above not exist. Hence no one knows the hardware and software other sanitation aspects resulting in allocation of enough resource requirements to achieve subsector targets. Ideally resources on an emergency basis, at least for the next four to speaking such a plan has to be built up from a location-based six years.21 assessment (for example, service provider asset registers, business plans, village listings, and so on). Such a holistic Only 60-65 percent of the allocations made in the budget see plan should also prioritize or sequence interventions against a release in the financial year. Almost 90 percent of the releases criteria (for example, rates of return, existing service level, are booked as expenditure. The system of quarterly releases equity, poverty, and so on). Lastly, the prevailing planning remains a major issue and is considered highly inefficient. The practices in the sector are not evidence based and fail to fact, however, remains that sanitation receives low funding learn from and build upon multi-stakeholder and third and within that human excreta management receives almost party assessments of subsector performance. What exist zero funding; utilization of such a low sum remains high and are occasional (annual or quarterly) reviews held at agency hence these higher expenditure figures should be treated with or departmental level which are not multi-stakeholder and caution. However, the end results, as assessed in the output, often fail to set corrective actions. Such reviews are typically uptake, and use building blocks are lagging (Figure 21). project and/or ADP specific and not sector wide. With limited application of participatory procedures for Rural sanitation is the most neglected of the four subsectors, local planning and implementation, and absence of a budget receiving the lowest local government budget allocations. allocation criterion for rural sanitation, equity receives a low Multi-year analysis of TMA budget allocations for water and score, and represents a real barrier to effective service delivery sanitation reveals that sanitation receives 55-60 percent of the (Figure 21). Guidance to ensure equity in rural sanitation total budget. It is interesting to note, however, that the word programs exists in the draft sector policy and strategy but sanitation is almost universally interpreted by LGD staff these practices are not followed when it comes to sector to refer to wastewater collection, conveyance and disposal planning and budgeting. In conclusion, comprehensive systems along with brick paving of streets and lanes. This community and stakeholder participation approaches, general definition also includes solid waste collection and encompassing all aspects of rural sanitation, have not been disposal. However, human excreta disposal and, inter alia, officially notified and are not always uniformly applied. latrines are almost universally considered as a fringe or non- TMAs/Municipal Corporations lack a structured approach 21 Poor hygiene and open defecation pose
the greatest risk to human health and planners need to prioritize these areas as they are relatively cheap to implement, resulting in the widest impact on human health. This should be followed by other
environmental health risks that are posed by improper solid waste collection, disposal and poor drainage. www.wsp.org 51 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment to local participation in planning and decision making for regularly reported and closely watched on a quarterly basis. rural sanitation; PHED too lacks skills in rural sanitation Donor programs also follow project/program specific work promotion, and absence of any sanitation behavior change plans and reporting systems, which are fairly rigorous. activity is conspicuous in the current PHED portfolio of However, no desegregated data for water and sanitation are projects. Multi-stakeholder consultative events in the sector available. are few and ad hoc. Capacities in terms of staff, expertise, tools/materials, and Lack of clear, widely understood and adhered to criteria for so on, to deliver a RSH program at scale, using community- budget allocation at any level of government contributes a based behavioral change approaches are extremely limited, great deal towards the absence of equity in the rural water almost nonexistent within TMAs and PHED and exist and sanitation subsector. The study did not come across to degrees within the Health department. The Health any such criteria to guide allocation of resources within department with its extensive outreach at the grass roots level the broader rural RWS and RSH (for example, between through Lady Health Workers (LHWs) and other trained water and sanitation) or within a district to guide equitable staff of its existing provincial NSP is well placed to take the distribution between rural and urban areas. At the provincial lead in the RSH sector. The LGD sponsored ongoing SSS level, the PFC remained in force up until 2010 which would, program does provide a clear approach to the development in theory, distribute provincial resources amongst districts, of necessary capacities at all levels but the plan has to still based on multiple indicators such as poverty, population, area, receive funding for its implementation at scale.22 and so on, criteria including access to water and sanitation. However, with the rolling back of the local government Challenges for output and markets, two other building system, the provincial government has stopped following blocks in the sanitation service delivery pathway, intersect: the PFC formula for resource distribution amongst districts. on the one hand, the government must ensure provision of During the time of PFC currency, it advocated for and software (such as promotion tools) but, on the other, must worked towards some sort of equitable financial allocations also help stimulate markets which provide sanitation goods based on needs and ‘disparities, but a ‘SMART’ criterion and services. even then was not available to translate good intentions into fair practices. The PFC is not operational any more but The Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach the de facto distribution is based on some sort of PFC type has been replicated and is being scaled up in many areas understanding. of the province with encouraging results. There is a general consensus on adoption of CLTS as the main approach for The sector currently does not benefit from clear and rural sanitation promotion. The study, however, finds that the measurable indicators of equity in the rural water and latrines constructed by rural households do not necessarily sanitation subsector. Hence no evidence exists to guide meet the JMP criteria, and additional work is needed on the subsector on whether allocation criteria and local the supply side and in developing a sanitation-marketing participation procedures set by the government have been component. adhered to and are reducing disparities in access. Limited stakeholder consultations and an inadequate evidence base A review of TMA and provincial ADPs does not establish will lead to further widening of coverage disparities. significant allocations for rural sanitation programs focusing on promotion of improved household latrines following The budget breakdown at the provincial level provides community-led approaches to sanitation. No line items information on domestic and official donor investments, but exist for awareness or promotion for rural sanitation and such information is not available at the local government household improved latrines in budgets. The ADP contains level. Expenditure versus budget (or domestic flows) is line items for capital and recurring budget; however, these are 22 With the new local government system in place now, the SSS program has to be modified to suit the current and emerging institutional and financing arrangements. 52 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 23: Average RSH scorecard scores for LHW database does offer a good starting point in this enabling, sustaining, and developing service direction for future RSH programs. Once developed, more delivery, and peer-group comparison accurate estimates of coverage will be available allowing Enabling factual planning, monitoring and resource allocation. Relatively little is known about rural populations’ attitudes and practices regarding hygiene and sanitation. Typical sanitation schemes in rural areas consist of construction of combined open drainage systems (catering for both household wastewater and storm water) and brick or concrete pavements of local lanes and streets. Wastewater is disposed Sustaining Developing of into water bodies almost always without proper treatment. The community carries out the cleaning of drains on a self- help basis. highly inadequate or unavailable. Consolidated RSH budget allocation data are available for PHED but not for TMAs. The supply side assessment of RSH reveals that the sanitation and hygiene supply chain exists almost everywhere in rural The Sanitation Policy (draft) widely recommends PSP in Sindh, but costs remain high for poor rural communities. (In rural sanitation. However, there has been no real support to Bangladesh, for example, a water closet costs less than a dollar facilitate or promote the private sector. While the Sanitation while in Sindh it still costs more than US$3 or 4). Masons Policy provides for private sector engagement (CBOs, NGOs are available almost everywhere. The draft Sanitation Policy and the private sector), the strategy for PSP is neither fully does acknowledge the role of the private sector in RSH. articulated nor practiced. However, there has been no real support on the ground so far to facilitate or promote the private sector, as the strategy for Sector monitoring is a major shortcoming, with issues of PSP requires more detailed articulation and implementation definitions, systems and responsibilities for data collection, support. collation and utilization. No unified M&E system exists within TMAs/PHED/LGD to capture and report on ODF The area of uptake is the most critical in limiting the villages except under the ongoing, somewhat sporadic, RSH effectiveness of the RSH subsector. Since there are no formal interventions, which are supported by a limited number annual sub targets available for the RSH subsector, service of development partners (for example, the World Bank, providers and planners do not know where they are and what UNICEF, PLAN, Water Aid and WSP). However, under the interventions and level of funding are required to achieve SSS program, the LGD has developed a vision for a unified targets. Also, in the absence of sector regulations, there is M&E system using modern technologies, which will allow no information available on the quality of uptake in terms province-wide tracking of ODF villages in collaboration of whether or not the quality conforms to the subsector with the key stakeholders and development partners. The standards for improved sanitation. department reports good progress on developing this and a pilot approach is currently under finalization. In conclusion, the rural sanitation subsector in the province has to undergo a transformation – from a provider’s movement Monitoring of uptake – in terms of the quantity and quality into a people’s movement. This requires a substantive shift of latrines constructed by households, and hygiene behavior in the approach of the institutions of sanitation and change – is limited, and constitutes a further barrier in the hygiene service delivery in rural areas. The shift calls for service delivery pathway. the fullest adoption of the community led approach where the grass roots demand for improved sanitary conditions In the absence of a RSH MIS, it is hard to expect evidence- emerges from local communities themselves. The proposed based planning and monitoring in the sector. The existing shift in the existing approach also calls for closer multi- www.wsp.org 53 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment stakeholder partnerships, where citizens, government necessary resources (human, logistic and financial) are agencies (Department of Health, PHED, LGD, RDD, available to help them achieve their respective targets. Department of Environment), NGOs, donors, media and academics 
all work together to foster a ground swell of Sindh is a densely populated province with a population public demand for improved sanitary living conditions. density of 300 against an average of 233 for Pakistan. The Lastly, it calls for a specific government institution (for bulk of the population in Sindh is located along the rivers example, LGD) to become the institutional home for rural and canals, where the water table is often shallow. In a typical sanitation promotion, actively facilitating and regulating village, wastewater from streets and septic tanks is often sanitation service delivery through a multi-agency task discharged untreated into these water bodies. This implies force (comprised of health, public health engineering, that the prevalent sanitation technologies such as flush education and environment departments, with NGOs toilets; pit latrines and septic tanks only partially address and development partners, and so on, also included). The the environmental sanitation problem. Innovative solutions broader terms of reference of this task force shall include the such as household latrines connected to shallow sewers or formulation of provincial, district and tehsil level plans for communal septic tanks with secondary treatment will have to eradication of open defecation by an agreed to cutoff date, be promoted. This will mean that the per capita cost of such ensuring well-coordinated implementation and resourcing technologies will be higher relative to current technologies of the plan, development of required capacities, putting and the 10-fold funding increase required will, in fact, in place a robust planning, monitoring and evaluation escalate to 12 folds or even higher. However, as mentioned mechanism, sanitation marketing and behavior change earlier, prioritization of human excreta disposal over other communication through mass media besides knowledge aspects of sanitation and redirecting budget allocations from management and documentation. The provincial task hardware oriented projects (construction of drains and street force will also ensure that necessary technical assistance is pavements) as currently pursued by PHED and TMAs to provided to district and Tehsil level agencies to formulate behavior change oriented approaches will, to some degrees, their own ODF plans. This task force will require mirroring address the subsector funding requirements. at the district and Tehsil levels as well to ensure that lower level ODF plans are not only formulated but implemented A recent study, the Economics of Sanitation Initiative, in a coordinated manner at the Union and village levels. estimates that the overall economic cost of poor sanitation in Pakistan stands at PKR 344 billion (US$5.7 billion) per To provide the necessary boost to the implementation of year (PKR 2,160 per person per year) and is equivalent to ODF province/district/Tehsil plans, the provincial task force 3.9 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)23. may consider reflecting the various level ODF targets as There is clearly a compelling case for redistribution of performance benchmarks in the Annual Credential Reports financial resources from curative to preventive healthcare (ACRs) (performance reviews) of the respective staff of interventions. With increased allocation of resources to local the different agencies involved. This action on its own will government authorities, PHED and Health department, it is trigger the speedy development of an MIS and clear sight anticipated that the large financial shortfall would be broadly of annual targets to be achieved by senior managers and covered internally with only a modest need for mobilization field implementers. It would also push managers to ensure of external resources from development partners and banks. 23 http://www.wsp.org/wsp/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-esi-pakistan.pdf 54 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment 10. Subsector: Urban Sanitation and Hygiene KEY POINTS • Public sector funding needs to be increased by 75% to meet the urgent budgetary gap. • Empowerment of institutions, policy reforms and implementation, non-regulation of service standards, weak cost recovery and tariff system, prioritized investments, and absence of equity based planning and service provision are the key issues to be addressed. Priority actions for Urban Sanitation • Medium- and longer-term planning for the subsector should be urgently ensured with inputs from all urban sector players. In addition, a regular system of subsector coordination and multi-stakelholder inputs and oversight should be initiated. • Clear segregation of roles and responsibilities for policy, regulation and service provision should be ensured and all service providers including the KWSB, WASAs, NSUSC and others, suitably restructured as part of the broader institutional reform plan for the subsector; the reform recommendations contained in the Karachi Master Plan could provide one basis for initiating change. In addition, updated studies could be commissioned. • Urgently ensure the needed autonomy within the large urban players with a focus on the introduction of performance- based systems; regular tariff adjustments to meet cost of service provision; hiring and firing; and raising of finances to ensure effective service provision. • Urgent mapping of urban sanitation priorities with a focus on smaller cities and towns of Sindh that show signs of long and continuing neglect. As an output, a five-year business plan should be developed, adequately resourced and closely monitored. • Expedite and enhance resource allocations for S-III (in Karachi) and other sewage treatment projects (across Sindh) whose delay can seriously impact the urban environment and health of all residents. • Build public awareness and institutional capacities for enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. • Starting with FY 2016-17, an annual doubling of the subsector budget allocations (capital/recurring expenditures) should be ensured. • Budget shortfalls for the subsector should be ensured from the federal government and selected donors to ensure that the CAPEX gap identified by the SDA is fully covered. • Advocacy with selected donors to plan, design and fund new subsector projects for Sindh. Available country data show that the proportion of national towns. Rapid urbanization trends are expected to continue urban population has steadily grown from 28 percent in (4-5 percent in cities) with a projected reversal of the urban/ 1980 to 36.5 percent in 2012.24 Sindh’s total population in rural demographic mix in 2025 when nearly 51.5 percent of 2014 was estimated at 47.3 million25, which is likely to grow Sindh’s population will become urban. to nearly 64 million by 2025. Sindh’s urban character is largely defined by Karachi which As the most urbanized province of Pakistan, Sindh has a houses nearly 10 percent of the national population of high 48.8 percent of population living in cities and smaller Pakistan, 30 percent of the total provincial population and 24 JMP estimates, March 2012. 25 Estimates of urban population, Sindh, Pakistan (multiple studies). www.wsp.org 55 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 24: Rural sanitation coverage Figure 25: Rural sanitation investment requirements 100% 72.2 54.1 54.1 100% 97.6% 97.5% 80% 78.3% 60% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 40% US$ million/year 20% Public CAPEX (anticipated) Household CAPEX (assumed) CAPEX deficit 0% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Sanitation Needed Sanitation Trend Figure 26: Rural sanitation and hygiene scorecard Enabling Developing Sustaining Policy Planning Budget Expenditure Equity Output Maintenance Expansion Use 1.75 0.75 0.75 2.25 0.5 1 1 0.75 2 nearly 63 percent of the province’s urban population. The of house and street level septic tanks or by connecting cities of Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Nawabshah, household sewerage with the nearest municipal drain, natural Umerkot, Larkana and a few other cities and smaller drains or water bodies. towns, account for the remaining 37 percent of the urban population. Based on some official estimates, the sewage system serves only 40 percent of the city’s population. Barely 12 Across Sindh, over 50 percent of the population has percent of the 435 MGD sewage generated in Karachi no access to sewer systems or wastewater treatment is actually treated. If used to full capacity, the currently and most households depend on onsite disposal installed treatment plants would allow KWSB to treat with negative consequences for groundwater quality. approximately 150 MGD. However, pushed by the Oxidation ponds are a common treatment option; growing crisis, two new projects are in the pipeline, however, most are dysfunctional. Of the 40 million including a large treatment system (S-III), which will people practicing open defecation in Pakistan, nearly 10 eventually take the total treatment capacity to 500 MGD. million reside in Sindh. Meanwhile over 80 percent of the wastewater goes into the Arabian Sea without any treatment. A large network of underground sewerage systems exists in Karachi and to a lesser extent in some of the cities. However, Available literature also point to a sizeable self-provisioning maintenance is a major issue and expansion has not kept of sewerage systems through organized urban communities pace with rapidly growing demands. In the absence of public residing in large private townships, through several sewerage networks, a large number of urban residents have non KWSB players operating in the city and a few resorted to ad hoc arrangements including the construction nongovernmental bodies also active in lower and lower 56 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment middle income settlements. Various estimates suggest that urban areas with population ranging from 25,000 to nearly nearly 50 percent of Karachi’s population is serviced through 500,000. non-KWSB sewerage networks. As a new municipal service model, the NSUSC, was In addition to the untreated domestic waste, a very large established under the Companies Ordinance 1984 for the percentage of hazardous industrial waste also remains secondary cities of Northern Sindh. The NSUSC covers unchecked and has seriously polluted the waters around the Sukkur, New Sukkur, Rohri, Khairpur, Larkana, Shikarpur, shorelines with highly negative consequences for sea life and Jacobabad and Ghotki. the fishing sector at large. A recent USAID assessment of the northern towns in Sindh Other large cities in Sindh such as Hyderabad show an also shows a fairly bleak picture on the sanitation front. The equally grim picture. Due to limited plant capacities, only 20 assessment only covers only a few towns in Dadu and Kambar percent of the 51 MGD of the sewage generated is actually Shahdadkot (that is, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Johi, Mehar, treated. However, a sizeable treatment plant is reportedly in Shahdadkot and Kambar) but it is reflective of virtually all the pipeline under the Hyderabad Development Authority small towns and cities of Sindh. The assessment shows that a and should supplement the existing capacities to cover nearly large majority of residents rely on open drains for wastewater 100 percent of the current demand. that are mostly choked due to solid waste intrusion, poor design and lack of maintenance. Barely 20 to 30 percent The institutional landscape for water and sanitation services of the wastewater is collected, as many of the wastewater is visibly complicated by the multiplicity of players with disposal stations are nonfunctional due to flood damages or overlapping mandates and authorities in several areas. lack of M&R. As a result, wastewater ponds up in streets and KWSB, several WASAs and NSUSC cater to the water and low-lying areas, creating serious environmental concerns. sanitation needs of the urban population in larger cities and Machinery installations in most towns are technically faulty towns. while power backups for pumping are typically unavailable. As a result, the few disposal stations that do operate cannot There is also a large presence of federal government institutions function during long hours of load shedding. There are no with varying jurisdictions in parts of Karachi. These include arrangements for wastewater treatment in any of the towns six Cantonment Boards, Defense Housing Authority, Port currently managed by NSUSC, although some funds have Qasim Authority, Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Railways, been recently allocated for wastewater stabilization ponds. Sindh Industrial Trade Estate, Lyari Development Authority, Malir Development Authority and Cooperative Housing Among other players, a sizeable PHED, Municipal Societies. Outside of Karachi, a number of development Corporation/Town Committees, RDD and HTPD also authorities also operate in Hyderabad and some of the larger operate under the auspices of LGD and service the water cities. These institutions typically operate independently of supply needs – particularly in smaller towns across Sindh. each other and key municipal service providers. Therefore, Other provincial departments such as W&S that traditionally holistic planning and regulation of the sector remains a huge engages in roads and buildings work also takes up water and challenge. sanitation sector works on a need basis. The Sindh LGA 2013 draws on LGO of 1979 and provides The National Sanitation Policy of 2006 aimed to meet the the basis for a Metropolitan Corporation in Karachi, five MDGs for sanitation by 2015 and achieve universal access Karachi District Municipal Corporations and one District by 2025. The large public data source on disaggregated Council for the rural areas of Karachi. In addition, three sanitation coverage by provinces is PIHS, 1991. However, Municipal Corporations operate in Hyderabad, Sukkur the JMP does not accept PIHS 1991 sanitation figures, and Larkana, while 20 Municipal Committees and nearly hence JMP’s 1991 figures for Pakistan have been assumed to 76 Town Committees service the municipal needs of other be valid for Sindh as well. www.wsp.org 57 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Based on this, urban sanitation coverage of improved Outside the large cities, the Municipal Corporations and sources in 1990 was estimated at 78 percent.26 Estimates of TMAs are also faced with a similar financial crunch. Limited sanitation coverage for 2014 are likely to be reflected in the by poor tariff structures and with no mandates or capacities Sindh MICS 2014-15; however, this has yet to be officially for generating other revenue sources, virtually all Municipal approved. Meanwhile, the 2012-13 estimates from PSLMS Corporations and TMAs are heavily reliant on annual provide the following coverage estimate: flush toilets (96 provincial transfers that keep them afloat. In the absence of percent); non flush (3 percent); and no toilets (1 percent). radical changes to the investment and recurring budgetary Assuming flush toilets and 50 percent of the non-flush toilets trends, coverage and quality targets are not likely to be met as improved sources only the coverage figures work out to or sustained. 97.5 percent.27 Urban Sanitation Scorecard Measured in relation to coverage in 1990, the MDGs aimed The Federal Sanitation Policy (2006) calls for a universal at halving the share of people without sustainable access coverage target by 2025 which is also endorsed by the yet to an improved sanitation source by 2015. This essentially to be approved draft Sindh Sanitation Policy with distinct required Sindh to achieve a target of 89 percent by 2015. provisions for urban and rural sanitation. Thus the MDG for urban sanitation is already achieved. The subsector has shown steady progress in terms of coverage. CAPEX and OPEX However, serious issues exist on many fronts. Among these, Based on the current gaps, technology distribution, associated the largest gaps exist under the broad headings of planning costs and MDG targets, an additional US$54 million and budgets, which together with equity and uptake are the annual investments will be needed to meet the subsector most poorly rated on the urban sanitation scorecard. targets. Thus, a 75 percent increase in public sector funding commitment is needed to meet the urgent budgetary gap on On the planning front, no formal and consistent mechanism the CAPEX front. exists to coordinate sanitation sector investments. Quarterly and annual departmental reviews take place at the level On the operational front, virtually all of the Sindh urban of KWSB, WASAs, NSUSC, LGD, PHED and P&DD. water and sanitation authorities including KWSB, WASAs However, there is no evidence of a structured water and and NSUSC are faced with a grim fiscal situation. KWSB sanitation institutional group for sector-wide review or has been running a multi-billion rupee annual deficit for the coordination of funding flows or joint reviews of progress past many years, and has just received a PKR 5 billion bailout across respective domains. from the Federal Government. The situation is fairly similar in WASA Hyderabad, NSUSC and the various Municipal Based on the coverage data in urban areas (PSLMS 2012- Corporations across Sindh where large gaps exist between 13), 95 percent of the households in urban Sindh have flush incomes and expenditures. Consultations with NSUSC toilets, which suggest sufficiency of private, and public sector management also suggest an evolving institutional crisis as investments. However, sewerage treatment remains a huge virtually all of the frontline staff belongs to the TMAs who issue; even in large cities (Karachi and Hyderabad), barely have been deputed to NSUSC without clarity on their future. 15-25 percent of the sewerage is treated. The rest is disposed Incomes from sanitation tariff’s and other sources have not of untreated into water bodies or into the groundwater. No kept pace with the annual recurring costs that have grown data are currently available on replacement costs of sanitation due to rapid salary increases, electric bills and other costs. infrastructure that has outlived its utility in urban areas. 26 This includes improved facilities at household levels at 72 percent and 6 percent additional coverage of shared facilities. 27 The MICS 2014 data for Sindh, received in January 2016, show coverage at 89 percent. This lower coverage could be attributable to definitional issues as well as the assumptions used in arriving at coverage of safe sanitation in Sindh. This may also be indicative of a tailing off and downward trend in coverage as populations grow and aging infrastructure and limited expansion affect coverage. 58 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Therefore, a variety of assumptions have been made in arriving Budget availability for the subsector is inadequate in all at replacement costs. Based on budget trends, a very small urban areas; sewerage disposal and treatment remains a huge percent of replacement needs are actually met in the province. issue. Virtually all-urban utilities require annual subsidies from the government to continue operations. For instance, The sector budget for urban sanitation is not available in the current budget document (2014-15) shows a huge PKR any one document and, therefore, very difficult to analyze. 7 billion subsidy for KWSB and a few other players servicing Multiple agency/department and donor projects have budget the water and sanitation sector. line items that need to be aggregated for any sensible analysis. Likewise, data on subsidy to the sector are also unavailable. Likewise, all local government corporations are heavily However, this can be aggregated from the annual losses dependent on the provincial government for the annual accruing for KWSB, WASA, NSUSC and other players salary and non-salary needs of the subsector. None of the active in urban sanitation. Field evidence confirms that the urban utilities are authorized to tap funds from the market sector is heavily subsidized. and are, thus, entirely dependent on the provincial resource allocations. Policy guidelines exist for local participation but the policy has yet to be approved. Meanwhile, none of the large utilities The institutional roles outlined in the provincial sanitation or Municipal Corporations and TMAs has any structured policy and the recently drafted sanitation strategy is not system for local participation in planning and decision fully operationalized. The regulator’s role is still unclear and making for urban sanitation. unassigned. The separation of policymaking, regulation and service provision roles is critical for sector reform and needs No specific criteria are available for USH allocations. The to be ensured. annual allocations to KWSB, NSUSC and other urban areas define the allocations that are eventually passed on to urban Within the array of SDA indicators, the annual budget sanitation. KWSB, WASA and NSUSC plans for addressing spending or expenditure has received the highest rating, the needs of the poor are currently unavailable. The various largely because annual recurring budgets and over 75 percent meetings held thus far do not show a specific focus. of the capital budgets are reportedly utilized on an annual basis. Meanwhile, the system of quarterly releases remains a KWSB, WASA Hyderabad and NSUSC are largely managed major issue and is considered to be a serious barrier to sector by the Government of Sindh decision makers rather than efficiency. In general, expenditure versus budget (or domestic their respective boards. These have limited or no autonomy flows) is regularly reported and closely watched on a quarterly for hiring and firing, investments/disinvestments, major basis. Donor programs also follow project/program specific appointments and so forth. Likewise no formal business plans work plans and reporting systems, which are fairly rigorous. exist in any agency. Available information suggests a listing of possible/required interventions. However, investments are The annual increase in urban fecal waste collection capacity typically ad hoc and invariably tied to available funding from is reported to improve in Karachi and may touch over 50 the public sector or donors. PSP is advocated in policy (that percent of the generated quantities. However, elsewhere in is, National Sanitation Policy and the draft Sanitation Policy, urban Sindh, the capacity to collect and treat is fairly weak. Sindh), however, this policy dimension is not operationalized (apart from a few pilots). The sanitation related O&M costs are generally known. However while a meager 50 percent of the O&M costs for Multi-stakeholder reviews of subsector performance do not sewerage are recovered, there is no cost recovery for other take place. Annual or quarterly reviews are typically held areas of sanitation, for example, solid waste and drainage. at the agency and ministerial levels, but not by all of the key stakeholders including civil society, private sector and Mandatory tariff reviews are conducted but decisions on rate citizen’s forums. Subsector reviews are normally project and/ adjustments typically rest with the political leadership and or ADP specific and do not cover the entire subsector. are invariably deferred. Thus the gaps between the costs of www.wsp.org 59 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Figure 27: Average USH scorecard scores for regulatory environment to respond to the growing challenge. enabling, sustaining, and developing service The need to run large cities along professional lines is reflected delivery, and peer-group comparison in government policy and the establishment of KWSB, Enabling WASAs, NSUSC and other players that were supposed to manage municipal service provision in the larger urban centers of Sindh. These organizations were expected to run with considerable autonomy including the ability to make policies for urban water and sanitation, draw up business plans, hire and fire staff, set tariff, ensure cost recoveries, raise finances and take other measures to ensure that customer needs are met. However, the review shows that the urban Sustaining Developing utilities practically operate as another government agency with little or no autonomy for subsector management. Several efforts, including the large Karachi Master Plan for water and service provision and cost recoveries, has grown substantially. sanitation (funded by JICA), suggested fundamental reforms The national and provincial policy also calls for PSP in service for KWSB and regulation of the sector. However, the reform provision. However, apart from a few pilots, the policy is process has yet to be launched. generally not implemented. Thus municipal service provision in the cities is currently Within the large cities of Sindh, 96 percent of households faced with an institutional challenge that remains the biggest have installed flush latrines while coverage of sewerage hurdle in service delivery and any future reform. systems varies from 50-85 percent. On the solid waste front, barely 60 percent of solid waste is collected in the urban areas The institutional challenge is further compounded by of Sindh (some estimates indicate that this may only reach continuing legal and policy changes over the past 10 years half of that) while no system of solid waste collection exists that brought major structural changes in the municipal in most of the rural areas. entities across the entire country including Sindh. Having experimented with the local government reforms introduced Even where some systems exist, sanitary landfill sites and in 2001, the sector has undergone another change as a recycling of solid waste are highly limited. result of new political developments during the current administration. For purposes of water and sanitation, the Conclusions legal and institutional landscape in Sindh has largely reverted While access has steadily improved, safe disposal of sewage back to the municipal systems in vogue prior to 2001. remains a huge challenge. Over 80 percent of sewage generated from the urban areas is untreated and currently disposed of Donor funding to the sector has also generally declined while into the Arabian Ocean, natural nullahs28 or just stays in low municipal service providers are currently not mandated to lying areas to create huge health and environmental hazards. raise funds elsewhere. Therefore, unless government priorities Household sewage from septic tanks eventually finds its way are altered with a new focus and significant additional into street-level drains, adjoining lands and eventually into investments, the subsector performance is not likely to the groundwater with serious health consequences. improve. Quite clearly, rapid urbanization has not been matched by A realistic prospect for change essentially lies in mandating a commensurate capital and recurring budgetary injection and reforming the service providers. The Karachi Master nor has urban Sindh ensured the necessary institutional and Plan provides a good basis for institutional reforms and 28 Natural drains. 60 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment could serve as the starting point for the issues faced by Finally, the sector is very poorly regulated with unclear the metropolis. With varying degrees, similar autonomy roles and responsibilities. Service provision and regulation and reform initiatives can be considered for the WASAs functions are currently intertwined within the broad roles and NSUSC that are also struggling because of serious of KWSB, WASAs, NSUSCs, Municipal Corporations and management issues and lack of autonomy. TMAs, which is in contrast with the stated public policy and best practices. New and independent regulatory capacities Introducing a large-scale reform is difficult but doable and for the water and sanitation sector are emerging to be a also an urgent need. It will, however, require political will very high priority need to ensure that quality, health and and a coordinated response from the Government of Sindh. environmental considerations receive sustained and needed In addition, the government and potential donors will need levels of attention. to ensure significant additional resources for the subsector to facilitate the transition. www.wsp.org 61 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Notes: 62 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Notes: www.wsp.org 63 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment Notes: 64 Sindh Service Delivery Assessment www.wsp.org 65 Water and Sanitation Program The World Bank 20 A Shahrah-e-Jamhuriat, Ramna 5, G-5/1, Islamabad, Pakistan Phone: (92-51) 2279641-46 Fax: (92-51) 2826362 E-mail: wspsa@worldbank.org