Rethinking water policy in India with the scope of metering towards sustainable water future

The water sector in India has undergone several institutional and structural reforms through different policies and legislation changes over the past decades to address the water scarcity challenges. This study presents and analyses various water utility policies chronologically emphasising persuasive conservation and use efficiency approach towards their implementation. A review of existing policies indicated that most of them have been only partially effective in implementing efficient water management due to the lack of a need-specific institutional framework, further deepening the water crisis. Moreover, the Indian water sector has been identified to concentrate majorly on water resource management, while overlooking sustainable aspects like water use efficiency through water metering. This study performed an 'indicator-based analysis', applying the framework of bounded rationality coupled with a 'cause-effect' model to recognise the effect of 12 significant water supply policies executed since independence. While initial policies focused on coverage and supply of adequate, safe, and improved drinking water majorly to rural sectors, the water sector gained holistic importance during the post-1990s considering aspects of the water source, supply frequency, water tariffing, etc. However, the gap coherence analysis illustrated that the concept of ‘water metering’ has not been distinctly considered in these policies. The findings from this study indicate a need for a discrete water metering policy, an equitable, universal, and cost-reflective tariff structuring, and the formulation of an institutional metering framework involving codes, testing laboratories, water metering standard associations. The above offers an alternate approach to the existing policy and a feasible solution to the water crisis in India. Internalising the advantages of metering in policy agenda may unlock the possibilities of success of the forthcoming policies.