Water Aid India(WAI) has launched a pilot project in four slum settlements in Delhi in partnership with Foundation for Change Management(FCM) and INDCARE trust, as a completely community led initiative for improvement of basic urban services . The selected slum settlements are situated in West Delhi and New Delhi areas and have 1251 households and a population of 7470. The project commenced in September 2007 and had a duration of 12 months in the first phase.

The slum selected settlements are situated in different geographical settings, though three of them are in the same revenue district (West District) while one is situated in the New Delhi district. In the West district, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is the main service provider for solid waste management and sanitation, while Delhi Jal Board (DJB) provides water supply. In the New Delhi area, NDMC is the key agency for all services. The key objective of the intervention was to create a replicable model of urban service delivery which has community ownership and is sustainable. The project also aimed at creating awareness amongst key policy makers and to initiate a process of establishing an integrated policy for basic services to the urban poor. The project is expected to run over a period of two years, after which it shall become self sustaining.

Four slum settlements covered in the scope of this project are tabulated below -

Two Non Governmental Organizations(NGOs) were involved with the project, operating at two different levels. Foundation for Change Management(FCM) provided the role of project design, infrastructure assessment, policy dialogue, networking and building partnerships, while INDCARE was tasked with community mobilization, creation of a demand for change, baseline assessment at the household level. The project implementation structure involved a Project Management Team to steer the entire project, with representatives of the two NGOs and WAI , to ensure a coherent approach and adherence to timelines.

The focus on the project was on three basic services : Water Supply, Sanitation, Solid Waste Management and each community was addressed in the unique characteristic of that community to evolve an appropriate model of service delivery. At the outset, the following broad issues were identified and various options of improvement were listed out to guide the project activities. The basic understanding was that a community driven approach would be followed and the project design would be tailored to meet the specific requirements of the community as articulated by the residents of the community.

• Sustained behavior and attitudinal change in the targeted settlements towards sanitation, hygiene and solid waste management-. Promoters of Infrastructure, Providers of Service( The Delhi Jal Board, Municipal of Delhi Corporation, JJ & Slum Department and NDMC) and Users (the community) should better work together in order to achieve a sustainable change .

• Community led total sanitation in urban context though enhanced awareness and leveraging of resources –Through training, workshop centres and lectures and community mobilization initiatives the best practices regarding sanitation and solid waste management would be embedded in the community.

• To introduce an integrated policy at the government level, for the service delivery for the poor.

• Need for community partnerships where the poor should be involved in planning, organizing and maintenance of the toilets, water facility and solid waste disposal .

• Enhance capacity of the area level committees to make a link between authorities and community for effective local authority, WATSAN Users Committee and the community which will bring more transparency and accountability. Also the delineation of the roles of policy maker, regulator, and service provider to be redefined and the relations between the various actors to be formalized in enforceable contracts with the objective of increasing accountability .

• Open defecation free communities in the targeted settlements.

• Developing a model for forging public private community partnership between the municipal body, the local community and the private sector (schools, office complexes, hotels, etc) for implementing environmental and financially sustainable solutions .

• Establishing a replicable model demonstration pilot for sanitation, solid waste management and hygiene .

The project was structured in a manner to create partnerships with key stakeholders at multiple levels. This was done, both with a perspective of effective and sustainable results and also from a perspective of devising a strategy for a city wide scale up.

The partnerships were sought to be created in a pyramidal, though interconnected manner, starting from the community at the lowest level, and going up to the government at the policy level.

A baseline assessment was carried out in the project settlements to assess the nature and extent of deficiency in infrastructure and service delivery . The objective of this exercise was to guide the contours of the project interventions, based on identified weaknesses in the selected communities.

• A household survey was carried out , supervised by INDCARE, to assess the demand side situation in terms of key parameters relating to water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and hygiene .

• A policy assessment was carried out to map out the institutional arrangement for service delivery in these settlements, issues of overlap and the gaps between policy and practice .

• A technical assessment was carried out in these settlements, to assess the existing community level infrastructure in these four settlements and the condition of the physical infrastructure and the standard of service provided to these communities .

The technical assessment covered the three broad areas of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management. The scope of assessment covers the following:

Existing peripheral water network in the settlement, the internal network inside the settlement was surveyed. The public stand-posts, community taps , storages inside the settlement were surveyed and marked on the map and a condition assessment carried out. Water quality assessment was carried out from the DJB central laboratory for the quality of groundwater and the piped water available in these communities. The hours of supply , quantity and the water deficit was assessed.

The number of community toilet blocks, and the condition of the toilets was assessed. Also , available open spaces were marked on the map. The focus was on community level sanitation infrastructure.

The community level infrastructure was assessed in terms of community garbage bins or dhalos and their condition.

The base line survey was conducted for drawing out the information on slum infrastructure and to study people’s perception on key issues related to water, sanitation and drainage i.e. quality of water supply, sanitation and waste management services in that area. The study also intended to assess the willingness of the community to pay for these services. In order to have baseline estimate, census survey was conducted at the household level during 13th to 28th of December 2007. The process was initiated with the pre-testing and finalization of household schedule. The data collection process was initiated with a two days training programme to brief investigators about the objective of the study. The training helped investigators to acquaint themselves to the tools and techniques of data collection. Indcare carried out a primary base line survey, which covered four slum clusters across West Delhi and New Delhi in Delhi. The basic purpose of the primary base line study was to conduct the community based vulnerability assessments of the current situations and problems of the urban poor community groups.

Having gained a 12 month experience in working in the four settlements, the project team along with WAI has agreed on a scale up strategy fro the next 2 years wherein more slums have been added and the way forward. Clearly, the way forward has to draw from experience of the last year , drawing from the strengths and building on the opportunities , while also addressing the weaknesses and threats to the project .