Water

Pilot and Demonstration Activities
Advocacy for Change:
Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP) for Reforms of Dehradun Water Corporation

Basic Information

Top

Background and Rationale

Dehradun Water Corporation, which handles the water supply of Dehradun City, faces political pressures from various stakeholders. At the heart of the issue is the corporation’s use of reservoirs in rural areas to service a growing city population and its accompanying industries. The reservoirs, fed by river flows, catchment areas and groundwater, are also the main source of water of rural communities.

The politically-driven processes of decision-making regarding water use in the city have prevented systematic and long term planning for managing its scarce water resources. The water governance problem in Dehradun is further complicated by lack of transparency between and among agencies and the lack of regulation in water use. Some soft measures have been undertaken to overcome severe water shortages and in response to political pressures. This has led to the classic “low equilibrium” situation of poor delivery at low cost.

A multi-stakeholder dialogue process is necessary to come up with least contentious solutions for the intensive use of water by both rural and urban constituencies. A suitable policy framework and instituting measures that account for the needs of the poor need to be formulated.

The mobilization of institutional representatives of diverse categories of stakeholders will make the establishment of a Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP) possible.

Top

Objectives

• Identify and organize the various categories of stakeholders of Dehradun Water Corporationinto a federated structure to prepare for their participation in the MSP
• Establish MSP by mobilizing the various stakeholders of Dehradun Water Corporation, especially the urban poor

Top

Expected Results

Outputs

• Federation or Network of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) water consumers structured according to their broad socio-economic category
• Establishment of MSP for Urban Water Supply comprising the public sector, private sector and civil society
• Gender balanced representation in MSP and RWAs

Outcomes

• Articulation of water voice of the urban poor
• Advocacy for urban water sector reforms
• Institutional platforms on water management for slum dwellers/poor – supply and internal distribution
• Greater awareness and acceptance of the voice of the poor in the governance of urban water supply
• Public sensitization to open, transparent and democratic governance strategies for water management
• Creation of institutional structure of citizens committees that can be used for a wide range of public service delivery interface between the government and the citizens

Top

Measurable Performance Indicators

• MSP in place
• Federated structure of RWAs in place
• Water, technology and managerial scans for Dehradun Water Corporation

Top

Scope for Replication in Other DMCs

The methodology is easily replicable in any town or city. The proposed model will have significant repercussions for revamping the urban water supply services in other urban centers as well. The scans for each center comprising the water, economic and institutional aspects will need to be conducted separately for each specific town/city, but the strategy for addressing the problem can be similar.

Top

Reports and Related Documents

Read the Proposal.