Institution

There are many institutions working in the Water Sector in Pakistan which include Federal and Provincial Organizations, public agencies, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations, NGOs and community organizations. However, water use and management is undertaken in a manner which is very subject specific. Thus the institutions dealing with irrigation water, domestic water supply, hydropower generation, industrial water supply and waste water disposal are all separate. For a holistic approach for the need for a broad integration in the water sector.

 

The institutions as they exist, with centralized decision-making structure and lack of accountability, face common problems of low delivery efficiency, high O&M costs, low cost recovery and consequent poor maintenance of infrastructure. what is more, the institutions have a limited charter, with aspects relating to planning, monitoring and evaluation, financing and pricing being left to other agencies. The institutions, by and large are insolated from the beneficiaries of their operations and there are no mechanisms whereby the grievances of the affected people could be rectified. this highlights the need for the active participation of the stakeholders in decision-making in a meaningful manner. These institutional problems needs to be addressed urgently in Pakistan.

 

Core Challenges/Issues

 

• Integrated Water Resources Management: How do we restructure the existing institutional infrastructure for water in a manner that is conductive to integrated water resource management. Do we consider it necessary to create new institutional arrangements or is it possible to work within the existing system for greater integration of the water sector.
• Conservation & Efficiency: How we change the orientation of the staff of our institutions and create a system of incentives that will be more conservation oriented in terms of use of water and enhance the efficiency of the system.
• Sustainability: How do we preserve the investment in the physical infrastructure in the water sector, recover costs for water use and the operation and maintenance of the system and ensure community participation in scheme planning, management and maintenance for sustainability.
• Gender Concerns: How do we incorporate the concerns of women and the poor in institutions that are not only male dominted but in which the participation of women is negligible and there is no field staff and no institutions forum at the village level for the participation of women equivalent to the Water User Association, etc. Furthermore the concerns of the poor and the more vulnerable sections of society are not reflected either.

Core Objective

 

• Coordinating the activities of all the institutions dealing with water or impacting on water, at the Federal and Provincial levels for ensuring integrated water resource development and management.
• introducing institutions reforms to allow for the participation of stakeholders in decisions making. Enhancing institutional efficiency through monitoring, evaluation and feed back, while ensuring accountability and transparency.
• Monitoring of performance of institutions.

Strategies

• Integrated water resources management through networking and reinforcing a networking idea among partners and through integrated planning which looks upon the basin as a unit. The establishment of a fully independent body which is de-politicized and can act as the custodian for the use, management and development of water resources in an integrated manner.
• Involving the stakeholders in the decision-making functions of the institutions.
• Introducing transparency in the working of the institution.
• Introducing performance criteria and system of rewards and punishment based on them.

Proposed Actions

• The Planning Division at the Federal level and the Planning and Development Department at the Provincial Level should develop in constitution with concerned agencies mechanisms for integrating the functions in the water sector, so that the inter-related issues could be continually kept in review and steps evolved to deal with them.
• Critically review the working of the existing institutions in water, through institutional studies, to determine the changes required for improving the performance.
• Introducing a system of performance monitoring of the institutions for needed actions by the controlling public bodies.