Public water service delivery mechanism in urban Kerala : an analysis of governance and effectiveness

Abstract

The study discusses the delivery of water supply services through decentralized and centralized institutions and attempts to find out whether decentralization leads to better delivery of water supply services in Kerala. This is because local governments operate more closely with the people than any other level of government. Therefore, local government would be better able to identify the needs and preferences of communities than central level. In this study, the researcher tried to examine and choose the active Thrissur municipal corporation as an example and analysing its performance of water supply delivery mechanisms. For the purpose,the study is using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered by using primary and secondary sources.Then thestudy illustrates the responses of urban households with respect to water supply services and interviews with respective personalities from the supply side of both state level and local level departments. To capture the difference between the water supply services of the state and local governments, the study has been conducted in the areas of Thrissur district, where the service is provided by the state line department like the Trissur Kerala Water Authority and the local government department like the Trissur Corporation water supply department. The major finding of the study is that,Thrissur Corporation took on a special responsibility and successfully implemented water supply schemes in the long run. AlsoThrissur Corporation has much better, sufficient and highly accessible piping water supply, an affordable price, and good quality with efficient management as compared to KWA water supply. Under the decentralized governance arrangement, administrative, political, and regional features are given prominent consideration in the delivery of public goods and services. Local governance support is a necessary factor for the implementation of strong and successful public water service delivery at grass root levels. Also, the strength of institutions depends on its governance framework. The study found that the involvement of local governance has a favourable impact on the corporation’s effective water supply. The study explains the delivery of water services is better through decentralized institutions than centralized institutions. Then the study proves thatDecentralization promises an appropriate and conducive environment for people at the local level through effective water service delivery.