What is more important for Delhi: Water for all or free water supply?
Taking on Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is not the same as solving Delhi’s water problems. One can understand urge to take on DJB, since there is a 2004/05 history of Parivartan’s opposition to DJB privatization plans. Before DJB was set up in 1998, there was of course a non-private Delhi Water Supply & Sewage Disposal Undertaking, which didn’t work particularly well. But let that be. DJB supplies bulk potable water to Delhi Cantonment Board and NDMC and “retail” water to the MCD area. Raw water comes from Ganga, Yamuna, Bhakra Beas Management Board and there is some ground water too (fast depleting). This means deals with States like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. More importantly, there are costs of constructing reservoirs and treating water. Think of water supply in South and East Delhi before the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant was constructed. To bring down distribution losses, one needs new water lines, installation of bulk meters and metering for non-metered connections. Note that 54% of water supplied by DJB is “non-revenue”. It doesn’t bring resources to DJB. Distribution losses are around 40%. Rare is the developing country where it is more than 20%.
Who knows? Some day we might have 24/7 water that conforms to BIS quality standards and dual pipe-lines divided into potable and non-potable water. Nor is DJB only about water. There is sewerage too and sewage treatment plants have to be constructed. Let’s bring in NSS 2011-12. Contrary to what some people think, Delhi has “rural” areas. 78.5% of rural Delhi’s households had drinking water facilities within the premises, the figure was 85.8% for urban Delhi. I am not going to give figures for slums, since “slum” definition requires a collective entity of at least 300 households and often, that threshold isn’t crossed. In these relatively poor slums and non-slums, what’s the mode of water supply? It’s through tankers and private contractors. In our locality, poor households pay Rs 150 to use the tanker for 20 minutes. What’s Delhi’s population? Depending on definition, let’s say 15 million. DJB has provided 1.5 lakh water connections. The domestic/non-domestic difference makes comparisons difficult. Plus there are complications because of Cantonment Board and NDMC. But roughly, 5 million people probably don’t have access to formal water supply. What’s more important? Ensuring water supply to them or talking about free water supply? DJB has 20 divisions. Check out any of these for water supply timings. As every resident of Delhi knows, water supply essentially means 2 hours every morning. The 2 hours every evening is rare. For those who have formal water connections, regular supply is surely more important than free water.
If we take away 5 million from 15 million, we are left with 10 million. Delhi’s water supply isn’t that bad, it’s around 300 litres per capita per day, compared to a recommended 160 litres per capita per day. The problem is distribution is uneven, even if one excludes the commercial category. If you take out your water bill, there will be a service charge and there will be a sewerage maintenance charge, levied as a percentage of consumption charge. Because of thresholds, an average rate is difficult to work out. As indication, if there is a single domestic connection, and consumption is less than 20,000 litres per month, the consumption charge won’t be more than Rs 162. To get some kind of benchmark, a private water tanker charges anything between Rs 500 and Rs 800 for 1000 litres. I don’t think reliable data exist. But barring commercial supply and NDMC area, I doubt there are too many households which cross threshold of 700 litres per day. (These will have to pay full rates.) The question to ask is thus the following. The 5 million poor are out of the free water category. Perhaps another 2 million will have to pay full rates because they are above the 700 litres threshold. Can the remaining 8 million not afford to pay something like Rs 150 per month, with service and sewerage charges thrown in additionally?
The issue isn’t fiscal. Indeed, the fiscal part is the least important. Try out some back-of-the-envelope calculations, with an average DJB bill of Rs 500 per month per household, for that 8 million category. You will get a maximum of Rs 600 crores per year that will not be earned now. The actual figure will probably be more like Rs 400 crores. Just so that we have the perspective right, in 2010-11, Delhi government transferred Rs 334 crores to DJB. The figure was Rs 294 crores in 2010-11 and Rs 100 crores in 2012-13. Delhi government’s non-Plan expenditure is of the order of Rs 20,000 crores. An additional Rs 400 crores is relatively insignificant. No wonder that 8 million is happy that it will now get free water for 2 hours, or less, per day. But this is also a transfer, in a way, from the 5 million to the 8 million.
By: Mr. Bibek Debroy in his column "POLICY PUZZLES" of ECONOMIC TIMES of December 30, 2013.
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