District Level Consultation on

Safe Drinking Water and

National Drinking Water Policy

Wednesday, June 24, 2009, Nawabshah

Organized by: Supported by:

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 District Level Consultation on
Safe Drinking Water and National
Drinking Water Policy
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Nawabshah
Narrative Report

Supported by:

SANGAT Development Foundation

Head Office:
Flat# 7, Second Floor Sharif Building, Market Road,
Nawabshah, Sindh
Phone & Fax: 02440292758, Cell: 0334-3475360
Email: sangatsindh@gmail.com, sangat2006@yahoo.com
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The elected representatives, political leaders, women activists, journalists, government
officials and social activists of the district Nawabshah called the National Drinking
Water Policy as the "document of hollow claims and contradictions". They expressed
their concerned on the National Drinking Water Policy 2007 and demanded a
comprehensive National Level Policy on Safe Drinking Water which represents the
genuine concerns and also offer sustainable solution for the safe drinking water problems
of all local stakeholders especially the vulnerable segments of the society at the grass
root level.

They expressed their concerns in a District Level Consultation on "Safe Drinking Water
and National Drinking Water Policy" organised by Sangat Development Foundation with
collaboration of Actionaid, International Pakistan, on June 24, 2009, in Nawabshah.

The District Level Consultation Program was addressed by Abdul Rauf Khan Taluka
Nazim Nawabshah, Prof. Abdul Karim Bhatti Principal SZABIST, Nawaz Ali Domki
Taluka Municipal Officer (TMO) Nawabshah, Ali Bux Umrani District Officer (DO)
Community Development Department (CDD) Nawabshah, Masood A. Jamali Project
Director Quaid Awam University of Science and Technology (QUEST), Ali Asghar
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Kalri Taluka Municipal Officer (TMO) Sakrand, Usama Unwer Manager WWF,
Nawabshah, Tasleem Gaho, Naziran Khaskheli Women and Political Activist, Shakeel
Sohtra Minority Wing Nawabshah, Nisar A. Brohi Director SANGAT, Riaz H. Shar
District Officer (DO) Population Welfare, Dr. Zulfiqar Shahani Focal person of
Executive Health Officer (EDO Health) Salih Billo Senior Journalist, Wali M. Jokhio
Village Development Society Taluka Daulatpur and also a large number of other
community representatives.

They further said the current National Drinking Water Policy has been developed
without consultation with the local communities and their representatives as well as local
government officials. The most of the local government officials, elected representatives
and the other local stakeholders are not even aware of the policy and its framework.

The National Drinking Water Policy should be consulted with all stakeholders at the
local level, because the local communities do understand in a better way of their safe
drinking water problems and their possible solutions.

The majority of the urban and rural community at present facing serious safe drinking
water problems, which has resulted into various deadly diseases in vulnerable and
marginalised segments of the society, frequent victims are the women and children in the
district.

However, there is a need to effectively address the genuine concerns of the local
community and possibly provide them safe drinking water facilities to the local
vulnerable communities of the district.

There is also need to develop a comprehensive safe drinking water and sanitation
awareness and education campaign in the remote rural areas in order to involve the rural
and remote areas communities in the efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).

Recommendations On the Policy

• A comprehensive National Drinking Water Policy should be redesigned through

consultations with all local concerned stakeholders and local line departments at
the district level

• The participation and involvement of the local communities especially the

vulnerable segments of society should be ensured in all local level activities of
the National Drinking Water Policy

• The community mobilization activities has been proposed in the current National
Drinking Water Policy document but having passed two years, no such
mobilization efforts have been made, therefore, in order to ensure the

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 sustainability of the results of the policy, the local community should be
mobilized and actively involved in all activities at local level

• The government should provide accessibility of safe drinking water and

sanitation facilities to the local community, make them secure from possible
deadly water borne and hygiene related diseases

• Special efforts should be made for the vulnerable segments of the society i.e.
women and children who have more sufferings

• The un-served and marginalised communities should be given more focused and
priority in all national and local level polices and plannings with regards to safe
drinking water supply and sanitation initiatives

• Special efforts should be made to ensure the safe drinking water quality supply in
the local areas specially in rural and remote rural areas, where due to unsafe and
contaminated drinking water, the local communities are hosting various deadly
diseases

• The local community and other concerned stakeholders should be involved in the
"Surveillance Agencies" with view to regularity check and ensure the Standard
Quality of Drinking Water at the local level

• It has been noticed that due to lack of technical and expert staff in the locally
established offices of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources
(PCRWR), proper and standardized testing of the water is not undertaken,
therefore, sustained efforts should be made to equip the (PCRWR) offices with
expert staff and required equipments as the proper and standardized testing
results of the safe drinking water to be ensured

• The sub offices of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR)

should also be established at the union council level, as the rural community
should have easy access of getting tests of their drinking water

• The water filter plants which have been installed at the different Union Councils
of the district are not properly working, therefore, quality of the filer plants
should be ensured

• The water filter plants which have been installed due to political affiliations and
leanings in such areas where it is not required, should immediately be cancelled
and to be installed in such areas where there is dire need of it.

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• Public-Private Partnership bonds should be made more effective and stronger as
the local community to be provided timely possibly relief in the provision of safe
drinking water and sanitation activities

• The local CBOs, NGOs and CCBs representatives should be involved in all safe
drinking water related initiatives at the local level to ensure the quality and timely
completion of all locally launched projects on safe drinking water

• The sufficient allocation and timely release of funds should be made to the
concerned local government line departments for the undertaking the safe
drinking water and sanitation projects get effectively operationalised within due
course of time

• Capacity building and sensitization programs should be organised for the local
government officials and staff and local community to make them aware and
capable to manage the safe drinking water and sanitation problems and their
possible solutions

• Sustained efforts should be taken for the local institutional capacity building as
they could properly and efficiently deal with safe drinking water and hygienic
problems

• Shortage of water due to low flow of water from upper stream, the local
communities are compelled to drink contaminated water which has resulted into
very serious diseases such as kidney failure problems, hepatitis, diarrhea,
dysentery etc, therefore, special arrangements should be made to provide safe
drinking water to the local communities as their water borne problems/diseases to
be reduced

• Arsenic in drinking water is the major issue in local water drinking resources,
which requires special attention and efforts to deal with it immediately and to
provide non arsenic drinking water to the local community