NGO moots networking for better civic services

Mysore has 1.3 lakh households with water supply connections and 2,900 public taps. The drainage system connects 75 per cent of the city.

The sewage generated is about 70 metric tonnes. Forty-four government and 21 private vehicles clear garbage daily and the city produces 260-280 tonnes of solid waste. The city corporation has a citizens' charter and started preparing annual performance reports.

These is part of the data 'Samaj Vikas', a development support organisation, has collected about Mysore on the eve of a consultation and consensus-building workshop on urban municipal service levels in Mysore tomorrow, the fifth in the series of such programmes it is conducting in the four Southern states.

"Mysore is better-well placed when compared to Bijapur, Bellary, Gulbarga in North Karnataka, where the situation is dismal. Even in Hyderabad, the footpaths have vanished. Pedestrians have lost their right to a footpath. The systems in Mysore need to be maintained and improved upon to meet the increasing needs of a growing population, which is now around 7.8 lakh," observes Samaj Vikas chief B K D Raja.

To build up strategic communication for improved urban services, after realising that success of water and sanitation programmes depend on the use of effective strategic communication with the stakeholders, administrators, civil society, community-based organisations and the media, the Hyderabad-based organisation has been organising such brain-storming sessions.

It has already held five workshops in Cuddappah, Guntur, Warangal in Andhra Pradesh and Bijapur and Hospet in Karnataka. After Mysore, the team will go to Amaravati, Aurangabad and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra in January, Raja told Business Standard in Mysore today.

"In these five workshops, the participatory response has been very good. Even in Hospet, 60-70 stakeholders joined the discussion on the civic situation in their areas and came out with suggestions and recommendations. We will forward their recommendations to the concerned civic body and the State Government," he said.

The presentations at the workshops cover water and sanitation sector national and international information brief on coverage, quality and service; water sanitation status of the urban local bodies (ULBs), ULBs' plans, gaps in service provision and its impacts, and some success stories and case studies.

On success stories, Raja cites Chandrapur in Nagpur district of Maharashtra. "The water supply situation was very bad for the three-lakh people in the municipal area. The municipality lost Rs 2 crore annually. Water supply was only once in 4-5 days, despite having a good water source. Now, the city is witnessing the other side of the picture. It is making a profit of Rs 6-7 lakh by ensuring water supply for a minimum two hours on an equitable share. The tax realisation is as high as 95 per cent."

The communication initiative of Samaj Vikas is part of the effort launched by the Water and Sanitation Programme, South Asia "" in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, to increase information and awareness levels leveraging to reform and improved services.