For provision of water supply and sanitation facility in the province, the Punjab government has allocated Rs 22.4 billion in the Annual Development Progarmme 2019-20. Out of the total allocation, Rs 12175 billion are allocated to on-going schemes while Rs 10.225 billion for new programmes. Comparing to the last year budget, this year the government has slightly increased the allocation for this vital sector by Rs 4.5 billion.
When it is compared with the previous government, the allocation falls well short of what they had allocated. In the Budget 2017-18, the PML government had allocated over Rs 50 billion for provision of water supply and sanitation facility. In the ADP 2018-29, initially an allocation of Rs 20.50 billion was made to water supply and sanitation sector, but later it was revised to Rs 12.720 billion due to diversion of funds of new programmes to other sectors. This year, the government has shown its intent of providing adequate, safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to the entire rural and urban communities of Punjab through equitable, efficient and sustainable services.
The government is aware of an impact of water and sanitation projects on the economy. In the document, the government states that the need for improved water and sanitation infrastructure is fundamental to the wellbeing of all citizens and increased coverage of these essential services will significantly contribute to socio-economic development.
A study conducted by World Bank in 2012 for Pakistan has shown that impact of poor sanitation and hygiene has cost the economy Rs 344 billion annually in 2006 or the equivalent to 3.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This translates into an economic cost at an average of Rs 2,140 per capita annually.
"The impact of poor sanitation and hygiene is manifested in adverse health effects and cost associated with medical treatment. This has an overall impact on the economy and socio-economic development. Also, the indirect effect of malnutrition owing to contaminated water and poor sanitation facilities is further loss of infants and children lives. Thus, investing in water and sanitation can help in both improved health and confront economic challenges," the document states.
Hence, in the budget, the government has outlined six objectives that it intends to accomplish to achieve sustainable development goals and its targets; and improving standards of public health through provision of improved services, backed by legal, regulatory and binding framework. Moreover, it wants to lay down a roadmap for mobilization of resources to ensure provision of drinking water and sanitation to all by targeted timelines, assigning a priority to unserved and under-served areas.
It will also focus on capacity building of local governments and promoting public-private partnerships to improve the operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation schemes. Other objectives are to raise living standard of communities by providing quality drinking water and improved sanitation services and to reduce the spread of water-borne diseases.
In the ADP, the government has focused on the timely completion of ongoing schemes to avoid cost overrun by spending 54 percent of the total funds on on-going schemes. Out of the total allocation, Rs 3,808 million and Rs 8,368 million will be spent on the execution of 318 on-going water supply schemes and 1344 sanitation schemes, respectively.
Moreover, during the new fiscal year the government intends to launch 40 new water supply and 62 new sanitation schemes at the cost of Rs 917 million and Rs 1,307 million, respectively. Also, the Punjab Ab-e-Pak Authority will get its share of Rs 8,000 million; a project spearheaded by Punjab Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar launched for provision of clean drinking water.