Costs of providing sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in rural and peri-urban India: WASHCost-CESS Working Paper

Water, sanitation and hygiene services are central to addressing poverty, livelihoods and health. They are also critical in addressing the needs of poor communities and in
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The efforts of government to reach these targets are often subjected to many challenges. Despite huge investments
in the sector in India, (more than $ 27,625 million in the last 60 years) the objective of providing access to water and sanitation to the entire population has yet to be achieved. According to the government publications, 94 percent of the rural population has access to safe drinking water through 4 million hand pumps and 0.2 million- piped water schemes. At the same time, waterborne diseases affect 37.7 million Indians annually, 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone and 73 million
working days are lost due to waterborne diseases each year. The estimated annual economic burden is about $ 600 million a year, which is more than the annual expenditure ($ 460 million) of the sector. In the case of urban population the coverage is about 91 percent. However, the sources often provide irregular and scanty water
supplies. Besides, the appalling sanitation conditions in most of the urban areas cause severe health hazards. It is estimated that India needs to invest $6700 million in urban drinking water and sanitation alone by 2015 in order to meet its MDG target. [authors abstract]

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