City-Level Decoupling-Case Studies

services where government lacks the capacity to act alone. Following 6 months of talking to Orangi residents about their problems and how they might be resolved, inadequate sewage disposal was identified as a major issue. Residents were using bucket latrines, open drains or soak pits, which frequently overflowed into the streets. A few sewer pipes were in place, channeling the waste into neighbourhood creeks, but these had technical faults that limited their effectiveness. Lack of sewage disposal was damaging buildings and health, and households were spending about 500 Pakistani Rupees – Rs- (approximately US$5) per month on medicines and house repairs, limiting the income available to improve their quality of life. In response to this challenge, the OPP’s Low Cost Sanitation Program was established to enable low income families to finance, manage and maintain sanitary latrines in their homes, underground sewerage lines in the lanesand secondary sewers that connect to mains. It also works with government to ensure that the required main sewers, box drains and treatment plants are provided to make these systems work. A team of social organizers and technicians was set up to educate and assist the role-players in implementing the program. Appropriate low-cost technical approaches like pipe laying, jointing and manhole casting were identified following action research into possible options, and these were shared with community and government partners. Active community members were identified in each area, and were encouraged to arrange community meetings where slide shows reiterated the problems and demonstrated solutions. Lane managers and masons were selected by the community and trained, and were in turn used to educate participants in other lanes. The managers were responsible for overseeing the project on a lane level, and for collecting the Rs300-500 (US$3-US$5) contribution from each house. The OPP provided them with guidelines for dealing with cases where households were unwilling or unable to contribute, and provided technical assistance throughout the project. The process of mapping and documenting the existing water and sewage infrastructure in low income settlements and now in the broader city has played an important role in the project, and has supported the process by providing a powerful tool for advocacy and influencing larger-scale planning. A youth program continues to train community architects, technicians and surveyors to map the settlements and plan for the future, and this has promoted the component-sharing model whilst developing valuable skills amongst the youth. Where large main sewers were required, the OPP-RTI (OPP Research and Training Institute) supported government with its expertise in low cost designs, estimates and monitoring. The project demonstrated that foreign aid was not required due to the availability of local human and financial resources, and this has influenced planning at the city level. For example in 1999, a loan of US$100 million from the Asian Development Bank for a sewerage project for a township in Karachi was cancelled by the government, and the OPP-RTI’s low cost alternative was accepted instead. A city-wide network of NGOs, CBOs and citizens has evolved, advocating alternatives to the mega projects in Karachi that promote the use of local resources and the need to build on what exists. Government policies have been influenced, and the OPP-RTI’s plan for a realistic sewage disposal system for the city of Karachi has now been accepted by the government.

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