Water and Sanitation: Institutional Challenges in India

Researchers and practitioners from India and the Netherlands met for a seminar on developments in the Indian drinking water and sanitation sector. The seminar was organized by IDPAD, which stands for Indo-Dutch Programme on Alternative Development. Manohar Books in New Delhi has now published a book in which the work of the participants has been laid down.

• Part I of the book sets the context: the shift towards a decentralized demand-driven sector, the growing water crisis and the challenge for financial sustainability.
• The papers in Part II analyse the situation on the ground with cases of self-government, support from NGOs and a specially formed water and sanitation support organisation.
• Part III addresses the great challenge of scaling up the new approaches through pilot projects, capacity building and the new partnerships between the people and public and private sector organisations.
• The last part of the book draws conclusions on private sector participation in the urban sector, compares developments in water resources management in India with similar developments in Europe and outlines the areas for further research.

The book costs 750 Rs (€ 12,50) excluding shipping costs and copies can be obtained from Manohar Books, India. E-mail: manbooks@vsnl.com