Synthesis report for Jabalpur, a shorter version of the Base Line Study conducted by PRIA in association with WSP and Shodh for the ongoing SLB Connect Project. Under this project PRIA is conducing citizen survey on the level of services in the area of water and sanitation across 6 cities. For more details visit: https://terraurban.wordpress.com/category/slb-connect/

1. 1
Water and Sanitation services in Jabalpur,
Baseline survey for SLB Connect
Synthesis Report
Prepared by
PRIA Educational Trust
42, Tughlakabad Institutional Area
New Delhi, India
Web: www.pria.org

2. 2
About
The synthesis report for the baseline study conducted in Jabalpur is a shorter version of a more
comprehensive study report. The comprehensive baseline report has been prepared based on an
extensive scoping study undertaken by PRIA’s local partner in Jabalpur- SHODH- between August and
September, 2014. The synthesis report culls information from the longer report which has immediate
bearing on the survey results.
The information for the scoping study has been gathered through both primary and secondary research.
The research team conducted interviews and held discussions with the commissioner, JMC; deputy
commissioner, Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC); the chief engineer for zone wise information, JMC;
heads of the project management unit, JMC; the finance officer and ward councilors from some of the
wards in the part office. Secondary research includes gathering information from the JMC website, NIC
website for district information and Capacity Building for Urban Development Project-Rapid Baseline
Assessment Jabalpur City. In addition, the team referred to documents shared by JMC officials including
ward wise disaggregated household data, information n notified and notified slums and budget details.

3. 3
Management of Water and Sanitation services in Jabalpur
SLB Connect: Background
In 2009 the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India under the Jawaharlal
Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) initiated ‘Service Level Benchmarks’ (SLB). SLB
encourages municipalities and utilities to collect data to report their performances. The type of
information to be collected encompasses data on three broad aspects, namely: financial
performance, operational efficiency, and citizen service.
As of now, SLB related information is generated and reported by service providers. Based on official
reporting for Jabalpur’s SLB indicators, table 1 provides results for water and sanitation services.
Table 1: SLB Indicators for water and sanitation services, 2012-2013
WATER Coverage of
water supply
Connections
(%)
Per capita
supply of
water
Extent of
metering of
water
connections
(%)
Extent of
non-
revenue
water (%)
Continuit
y of
water
supply
Quality of
water
supplied
(%)
Target 70 135 lpcd 0.75% 28% 4 hours 98%
Achievement 65 135 lpcd 0.75% 30% 3 hours 98%
SANITATION Coverage of
toilets (%)
Coverage of
sewage
network
services (%)
Collection
efficiency of
the sewage
network
(%)
Adequacy of
sewage
treatment
capacity
(%)
Quality of
sewage
treatment
(%)
Extent of
reuse and
recycling
of treated
sewage
(%)
Target 35 20 20 20 20 10
Achievement NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL NIL
The feedback process in its current form does not involve residents.
World Bank’s SLB Connect builds on the service-metrics model established by SLB. It is designed to
survey users/citizens and collect information on service levels in water and sanitation. It aims to
provide feedback on SLB indicators and collect and analyse citizen feedback on service delivery
using an innovative mobile app and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) enabled
analytical tools.
To collect data on the metrics included in SLB, proxies have been created. Some of the proxies
include - source, quality, timings, and adequacy, user charges, and ease of payment. For sanitation
services proxies include availability, ease of use, bill payments, grievance redressal, and coverage
etc.

4. 4
The survey is being launched in six cities across three states. These include Ajmer and Jhunjhunu in
Rajasthan; Jabalpur and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh; and Rae Bareilly and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The overall goal is to improve access to UWSS services with special focus on poor and marginalized
citizens.
The survey seeks to collect information on the quality of water and sanitation services as
experienced by citizens as users of the services. The analysis of the data collected from citizens as
users of the services will then be used to complement SLB information as reported by the
municipality.
PRIA is undertaking the SLB Connect project to help improve water and sanitation services in cities
by mobilizing citizen participation and feedback. PRIA brings to SLB Connect its conviction in social
accountability and draws from its years of experience as an enabler of participatory democracy.
In doing so, PRIA is training and engaging with grassroots organizations and local (youth) citizens
in the selected cities to both conduct and manage the survey. The results will be shared with citizen
groups, civil societies, thought leaders and opinion makers including members of the academia and
the media, NGOs operating in the area, government officials at the city, state and national level.
SLB Connect will be launched in Jabalpur on 29 March 2015.
City: Overview
Jabalpur city is one of the largest urban agglomerations of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.) and also the
regional center in Jabalpur District which serves as an agricultural market. Jabalpur District is
spread over 10,160 km² and has 7 blocks comprising 542 Gram Panchayats. It has a total
population of 24.60 lakhs with a decadal population growth rate of 10.09% according to Census
2011. The literacy levels are high at 82.5%.
Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) covers approximately 134 square kilometers. With the recent
delimitation, Jabalpur now has 79 wards under the supervision of JMC. According to census 2011,
there are 439284 households in the city. A large part of the city’s population resides in slums. There
are about 359 slum settlements spread over 79 wards. Most slums in Jabalpur are located on
government and private lands.
In JMC, each ward has a ward committee and a mohalla committee in compliance with the Madhya
Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956. JMC serves a fixed term of 5 years as per the 74th CAA.
All infrastructure and developmental projects are implemented by JMC and Jabalpur Development
Authority (JDA). Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) has not been constituted in Jabalpur.
Four major components of SLB Connect:
 Conducting a mobile-based survey of sample households on service aspects
 Real-time monitoring of survey quality using an online survey management system
 Real-time analysis of survey results using a web-based dashboard and data analysis tool
 Supporting ULBs to design appropriate reform and response processes based on the findings
from the survey

5. 5
District Planning Committees (DPC) has been formed for 50 districts by the state government in
Madhya Pradesh. The DPC is active under the chairmanship of the minister in charge of the
respective district.
There are eight administrative zones for water service management and four zones for sanitation
service management in Jabalpur.
Water Services: Management
The Jabalpur Municipal Corporation undertakes the responsibility for both water and sanitation
services in the city.
The city is divided into eight administrative zones for the management of water supply and there
are a total of 1,26,025 reported water connections in the city. Jabalpur gets 130 million litres per
day (MLD) of water from Narmada; and 25 MLD from the Garr and the Khandari reservoir
collectively. The coverage of municipal water supply in the city covers 40% of the total households.
The water supply system consists of 20 storage reservoirs with a joint capacity of approximately 80
million litres (ML).
Jabalpur city has 15,000 stand posts and 1471 bore wells which form part of the water distribution
system. In areas at greater heights JMC provides water through 30 tractors which undertake 150
trips daily. Additionally, 20 tractors are hired which make an additional 150 trips. The supply
pressure is generally low and users usually have to boost water pressure at their premises.
Collection of water tax is low due to a large number of unauthorized connections.
A single fixed fee is charged for a service based on the type/size of connection. The charges are not
usage based. It is INR 1,680 per year for domestic connections in the general category and INR 360
per year for Below Poverty Level (BPL) households.
Challenges faced by Nagar Nigam, JMC are:
 A majority of the staff members of the water supply department are hired on a contractual
basis without adequate levels of training to carry out responsibilities optimally
 There is high revenue leakage due to unauthorized connections, water leakage from stand
posts and point of supply/transmission
 High slum population which is migratory and therefore difficult to account for in planning
 Low accountability in service provisioning with different water service provisioning
functions being handled by different entities. JMC primarily looks after operation and
maintenance
Sanitation Services: Management
JMC is responsible for sanitation services in Jabalpur city. JMC’s functions specifically relate to
maintaining public toilets in most wards, getting solid waste collected, and keeping the city clean.
There are four sewerage zones in the city. There is no sewerage network in place currently.
Households are dependent largely on septic tanks, soak pits and pit toilets. Currently domestic
sludge is disposed directly into open drains meant for storm water discharge. Jabalpur has many
dry latrines. Its septic tanks lead to surface and ground water pollution. There currently is no
appropriate or standardized way in which septic tank sludge is disposed.

6. 6
Jabalpur city has toilet coverage of 60%. There are a total of 588 public toilet units in the city
comprising 1,203 seats (588 for male users and 615 for female users). Of these 588 public toilet
units, 103 units are pay-and-use, while 485 units are free of cost. JMC maintains public toilets in
most wards. It has a total of 994 seats – 485 and 509 for male and female users. Sulabh Sauchalaya
International maintains the remaining 209 seats of which 103 seats are for males and 106 seats are
for female.
The city generates 450 tons of solid waste of which only 400 ton is collected. In Jabalpur, solid
waste collection is outsourced by JMC and two private operators. Of the total 70 wards, solid waste
from 27 wards is collected by these operators and 43 wards are collected by JMC.
Challenges faced
 The lack of a sewerage network/underground drainage network makes sewerage
management haphazard
 There is loss of revenue since no sewerage tariff is collected leading to substantial financial
burden on the JMC
 There are inadequate staff members
 Among the existing staff members, there is inadequate capacity building initiatives
 E governance initiatives work at sub optimal levels because officials are not trained in
handling online systems and processes
 A lot of staff members are on the verge of retirement and are not willing to upgrade soft
skills
Citizen Engagement and Grievance Redressal
JMC has a citizen charter since 16th May, 2002 which was made by the State Government for all
Municipal Corporations. The municipality has instituted various ways to address citizen grievances
for both sanitation and water services. It organizes Jan Sunwais every Tuesday.
JMC maintains the connections and complaint register for the entire service delivery sector. It tries
to resolve complaints within a maximum of three days as per the citizens’ charter.
JMC has deployed an online complaint module. A dedicated cell to monitor citizen’s grievances is in
place and an online application system has been established for all registered citizen grievance. A
dedicated cell with toll free numbers to receive complaints from citizens is also in place. It has
launched an app Apna Nagar Nigam available for download on its website, for citizens to register
complaints relating to leakage in water and sanitation services.
Consumers can pay water supply bills using the online facility via the JMC portal. There is an
operational e-governance system in place. JMC is implementing various communication
programmes through initiatives like Tele-samadhan and Lok Sammelan. These initiatives aim at
greater engagement between the community and the municipal authority.