Water Supply and Sanitation in Pakistan - Responsibility For Water Supply and Sanitation - Service Provision

Service Provision

Service provision is, in principle, a responsibility of local government, although in practice provincial governments still play an important role in service provision, especially in rural areas.

In seven of the largest cities, which are among the ten City District Governments in Pakistan, there are semi-autonomous utilities called Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs). Some WASAs were created in response to loan conditions imposed by foreign donors during the 1990s, such as the Belochistan WASA in Quetta in 1989 and the WASA in Rawalpindi in 1998, the latter in fulfillment of a condition of a loan by the Asian Development Bank. WASAs also exist in Faisalabad, Lahore, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Multan. The WASA in Faisalabad had already been created in 1978. The WASA's are "wings" of the respective City Development Authorities. In Karachi, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) was separated from the City Development Authority and is an autonomous utility established by law in 1996.

Since the 2001 Local Government Ordinance, water supply and sanitation services in other cities and towns are expected to be transferred from provincial governments to the roughly 500 newly created Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs). Responsibilities for coordination and joint implementation across TMAs were devolved to the 120 District Governments. However, as indicated above, challenges in the transition period were reported and provincial Public Health and Engineering Departments (PHEDs) in the four Pakistani Provinces continue to provide water services, especially in rural areas. In urban areas outside the largest cities, local governments have formed public sector water boards.

NGOs are particularly active in sanitation, and have reached some notable achievements. Under the National Drinking Water and Sanitation Policies, the participation of NGOs and the private sector is encouraged.