Preface

Operations and maintenance of urban infrastructure has been neglected for many decades by both scientists and decision makers. Government and donors were predominantly concerned with the planning and provision of infrastructure. During the late 1980s, however, the consequences of ignored operation and maintenance aspects of urban development programmes have become very obvious. In many cases the requirements for operation and maintenance of the systems are not met, which often results in under- or even non-utilization by the target groups. Presently many governments are faced with the fact that in different sectors facilities have ceased to function properly, leading to major capital destruction. One of the investment areas in which lack of proper operation and maintenance directly affects the urban poor, is the sector of low cost sanitation.

Planners and engineers are often surprised by the occurrence of failing operation and maintenance, especially in those cases where sanitary systems have specifically been designed to minimize complicated and costly operation and maintenance requirements. Previous explorations on this phenomenon revealed that many factors, such as technology, socio-economic conditions, users' attitudes and institutional support, are of influence on the functioning of low-cost sanitation systems. However, these explorations did not lead to generally applicable insights into the requirements for operation and maintenance. The dramatic situations in the urban low cost sanitation sector and the complexity of the problems revealed, urged for systematic applied research in which the various aspects of the problems would be taken into account.

In 1989 it was agreed to launch a joint research programme focusing on the problems of operation maintenance of low cost sanitation in India and Thailand. Both countries were prepared to make institutional and financial arrangements to carry out the research. In India the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and its training and research institute, the Human Settlements Management Institute (HSMI), based in Delhi, made available their professional capacity and institutional arrangements. In Thailand the same was done by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Chiang Mai (CMU).

The design and methodology of the research were jointly developed during the preparatory discussions with the research teams of the two countries, based on the actual needs and perceptions of their own working environment. During the preparations and the actual research process the teams were supported by staff from IHS and IRC, for which IHS undertook the overall coordination.

As part of the research cooperation, joint activities were organized such as field visits and an inter-country seminar, which was held in Delhi, April 1992. During the seminar the outcome of the research was discussed in an international forum. In both the countries national seminars were held in order to enhance the dissemination of the research outcomes to the responsible agencies and professional institutions which were actively involved in this sector. The research outcomes for both Thailand and India are presented in country reports. The final report is written on the basis of these country reports, the available literature, and the discussions at the different seminars. Besides these reports, the research resulted in audiovisual materials which are being used for training purposes at HSMI, NHA, IHS and IRC.