The South Asia region holds the key to the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals related to water and sanitation. Any effort towards achieving the 2015 targets would require investments in the sector that cannot be generated internally by the countries of the region. The authors demonstrate that such efforts will invariably require at least a 10-fold international inflow of investments to the region, besides massive domestic investments and adoption of sector efficiency measures. This article identifies and discusses a plethora of problems that the sector faces in the South Asia region and links the problems to two root causes: inappropriate tariff structures and poor governance. The article also discusses the issue of prevalence of corruption in the water and sanitation sector in the South Asia and concludes that the sector needs wide reforms with a strong political commitment to take on the challenge of the year 2015 development targets.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) (1997), Second Water Utilities Data Book: Asian and Pacific Region, Arthur C. McIntosh and Cesar E. Yñiguez , (eds), Manila: ADB .
2.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2001), ‘Regulatory Systems and Networking: Water Utilities and Regulatory Bodies’, Proceedings of the Regional Forum. Manila: ADB .
3.
Ahmed, Sadiq and Suman Bery (2004), ‘Introduction’, in Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics 2003: South Asia Component. Bangalore: World Bank and National Council of Applied Economic Research .
4.
Annamraju, S. , B. Calaguas and E. GUTIERREZ (2001), ‘Financing Water and Sanitation’, WaterAid briefing paper. London: WaterAid .
5.
Davis, Jennifer (2004), ‘Corruption in Public Service Delivery: Experience from South Asia's Water and Sanitation Sector’, World Development, 32(1): 53–71 .
6.
Development Co-Operation (DAC) (2003), Development Co-operation Report 2002. Paris: OECD .
7.
FIRE(D) (2000), ‘Measures to Address UFW Improving the Operation of Urban Water Supply Systems in India: A Discussion of Unaccounted for Water’, Note No. 23, November 2000 Project Notes. New Delhi: USAID .
8.
FIRE(D) (2002), ‘State Incentives to Increase Efficiencies in Urban Water Supply in Maharashtra: Indo-US Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion Project—Debt Market Component’, Project Notes, Note No. 28. New Delhi: USAID .
9.
Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) (2003), ‘Development: South Asia Holds the Key to Millennium Goals’, 8 July. London: IPS .
10.
Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) (2000), Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report. Geneva: Joint Monitoring Programme For Water Supply and Sanitation, WHO AND UNICEF .
11.
Kulshrestha, M . and A.K. Mittal (2003), ‘Diseases Associated with Poor Water and Sanitation: Hazards, Prevention, and Solutions’, Reviews on Environmental Health, 18(1): 33–50 .
12.
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) (1994), ‘Evaluation of Engineering, Economics and Social Aspects of Intermittent vis-á-vis Continuous Water Supply in Urban Areas’, report. Nagpur: NEERI .
13.
Pakistan Water Gateway (2004), 28 February, http://www.waterinfo.net.pk/artwpwl.htm.
14.
Paul, S . (1995), A Report Card on Public Services in Indian Cities: A View from Below. Bangalore: Public Affairs Centre .
15.
Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, World Bank, World Bank Institute, and Water and Sanitation Project (PPIAF, WB, WBI and WSP) (2002a), ‘Water Tariffs and Subsidies in South Asia: A Scorecard for India’, Paper 2, December. India: PPIAF, WB, WBI and WSP .
16.
Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, World Bank, World Bank Institute, and Water and Sanitation Project (PPIAF, WB, WBI and WSP) (2002b), ‘Water Tariffs and Subsidies in South Asia: Do Current Water Subsidies Reach the Poor in India?’, Paper 4, December. India: PPIAF, WB, WBI and WSP .
17.
World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure (2003), ‘Financing Water For All’, Report, chaired by Michel Camdessus and set up by World Water Council, 3rd World Water Forum and Global Water Partnership. Marseille.
18.
Shukla, R.S . (1999), ‘Urban Water Sector: Beyond 2000 A.D’, Journal of Indian Water Works Association, 31(3): 167–74 .
19.
Transparency International (2003), ‘The 2003 Corruption Perception Index. Berlin: Transparency International , http://www.transparency.org/cpi/index.html#cpi.
20.
Tynan, N . and B. Kingdom (2002), ‘A Water Scorecard’, Note 242, Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, DC: World Bank .
21.
UN (2000), General Assembly Resolution A/RES/55/196 declaring 2003. The International Year of Fresh Water. New York: UN.
22.
UN (2003), ‘Second Committee Recommends Proclamation of International Decade on ‘Water For Life’, 2005–2015’, 58th General Assembly Second Committee 36th Meeting (PM) Press Release GA/EF/3068 dated 09/12/2003, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/gaef3068.doc.htm.
23.
Vaidya, C . (1995), ‘A Study on Willingness to Pay for Water and Sanitation Services: Case Study of Baroda’, report. New Delhi: Housing and Urban Development Corporation .
24.
WEHAB (2002), A Framework for Action on Water and Sanitation. Johannesburg: World Summit on Sustainable Development .
25.
World Bank (2004), ‘Anticorruption’, www.worldbank.org/publicsector/anticorrupt.
26.
Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) (1999), ‘Willingness to Pay but Unwilling to Charge: Do “Willingness-to-Pay” Studies Make a Difference?’, field note. New Delhi: Water and Sanitation Program—South Asia, DFID .
27.
Yepes, G . and A. Dianderas (1996), Indicators, Water and Wastewater Utilities (Water and Sanitation Division of the Transportation, Water and Urban Development Department, TWUWS). Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank .
28.
Yepes, G. , Ringskog K . and S. Sarkar (2001), ‘The High Cost of Intermittent Water Service’, Journal of Indian Water Works Association, 33(2): 167–70 .
