In some poor developing countries, the municipal government departments, responsible for providing water and sanitation services, do not provide the water and sanitation services to the informal settlements within a city, or informal colonies located at the periphery of a city. The ready-made reply, they give, is: “these informal settlements are not within our jurisdiction.” They won’t budge a bit in their approach, when told that the people in these settlements are poor; and that non-provision of water and sanitation services is creating unhygienic conditions. The municipal government departments simply don’t care.

Against this background, it is heartening to know that there is a municipal office that cares for the poor people, because of moral responsibility. The case in point is the eThekwini Municipality Water and Sanitation Department, Durban, South Africa. Just read these few lines:

“But Durban’s most important innovation is its unwavering commitment to actually providing water and waste services to the poor. City leaders view providing fresh water, showers, and clean toilets to more than 1 million residents in the city’s informal settlements as a moral responsibility. So many other big cities—Delhi, Lima, Manila, Mexico City, Mumbai, Ulan Bator—don't really care.”

‘The city decided it’s our responsibility to service these areas,’ says Teddy Gounden, the acting project manager for the eThekwini Water and Sanitation unit.

"The city decided it's our responsibility to service these areas," says Teddy Gounden, the acting project manager for the eThekwini (pronounced ett-ta-kweeny) Water and Sanitation unit. "People demanded our service. One third of the more than 3 million people who live here are in the settlements. It was not a good situation. It's much better now."

Read more details at:
www.citylab.com/housing/2016/02/how-durb...rce=nl__link5_021616

or

cityminded.org/how-durban-set-the-global...n-for-the-poor-15001

The eThekwini Water & Sanitation Department won the 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award. The citation said:

eThekwini has championed the approach to provide sufficient water to sustain human life, as expressed in the South African constitution, now embedded in national policy. The methods used and results achieved by eThekwini Water and Sanitation serve as a sterling example for the many communities worldwide facing similar challenges (www.siwi.org/prizes/stockholmindustrywateraward/winners/2014-2/).

This is simply amazing. It is very rare that one come across with such a case.
Congratulations to the eThekwini Water & Sanitation Department, Durban, South Africa.

F H Mughal