Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions.
For each of the key WASH services listed below, identify the important service providers at a town level.
- Water supply services
- Solid waste disposal services
- Liquid waste disposal services.
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The important WASH service providers at town level are as follows:
- For towns of moderate to large size, utilities provide water supply services.
- Solid waste disposal services are provided by municipalities in partnership with MSEs.
- Utilities provide sewerage or liquid waste disposal services, if these are present.
Describe three specific challenges posed by peri-urban areas and slums for improving access and utilisation of WASH services.
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Urban communities living in slums and peri-urban areas have particular characteristics that make it challenging to provide sustainable WASH services. These are:
- Poverty: Communities are usually very poor and cannot pay for improved services.
- Lack of infrastructure: These areas have little or no infrastructure and often there are no access roads. In the absence of access roads, bringing WASH services to residents of slum areas is impossible or very challenging.
- Unplanned settlement patterns: These are a key feature in peri-urban and slum areas. This makes it difficult to provide basic infrastructure, including WASH services. Roads, water supply networks and public latrines with proper access for sludge removal are lacking. The settlement pattern also hinders attempts to plan interventions that can improve the situation.
- Illegal settlement: People living in slum areas and at times in peri-urban areas have no legal status, which automatically makes it impossible to improve the WASH situation. For example, utilities provide connections to legally owned premises but most slum dwellers do not have these rights. The case of latrine construction is similar.