The per capita standard, combined with population figures, is used to compute the domestic water demand of a city. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
How much water should a person receive each day? In India, this question is not answered by science or necessity, but by an arbitrary metric — the per capita water supply standard, prescribed in litres per capita per day (lpcd). While the human right to water guarantees access to safe and clean water, and obligates governments to provide basic services, in practice this right is shaped by the per capita standard. This benchmark not only dictates how much water citizens are entitled to demand for their daily needs, but also drives planning and investments in urban water infrastructure, from dams to household taps. Yet, despite its widespread use by municipal authorities across India, it lacks empirical grounding, objective rationale, and validity, making it a policy instrument built more on convenience than evidence.
Defining per capita standard
The per capita standard, combined with population figures, is used to compute the domestic water demand of a city. It serves as a reference point to assess the adequacy, ‘water shortages’, and ‘over consumption’. The per capita standard is also used to assess future investments required for developing and maintaining water supply services. In addition, water demand computed using this standard determines how much water is to be diverted from rural to urban areas — and the scale of its negative consequences. Mumbai, for instance, justifies the development of upcoming dams using the per capita standard of 240 lpcd for domestic use alone, excluding losses.
The per capita standards are prescribed by multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO), a technical wing of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Additionally, cities such as Mumbai and Delhi follow their own standards. Evidence suggests that these standards are not based on extensive consumer surveys or empirical data on water consumption. Studies show that the per capita water demand varies based on socio-economic status, climate, geography, and culture. Yet, a single value is often prescribed for the entire country despite its vast geographical expanse and climatic variations.
For example, CPHEEO prescribes 150 lpcd for megacities and 135 lpcd for all other cities with existing or planned sewerage systems without providing any rationale to substantiate these numbers. Similarly, the standard of 55 lpcd prescribed under the Jal Jeevan Mission for all rural drinking water supply schemes lacks any empirical rationale. The same standard was set under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (2013) for designing rural piped water supply. However, it only aimed to provide individual tap connections to at least 30% of households — far from universal coverage. Later, the Swachh Bharat Mission pushed for universal access to individual household toilets, significantly increasing per capita water consumption. Yet, while promising a functional tap connection for every household under JJM, the earlier standard of 55 lpcd was retained.
While designing urban water supply schemes, cities often follow the per capita standards prescribed by the project financing agency. The per capita standard influences the overall cost of the scheme. Since water supply schemes are capital-intensive, the majority of cities depend on central government assistance (through AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission) for their construction. As CPHEEO provides a technical sanction to these schemes only if the design adheres to prescribed standards, engineers and consultants follow CPHEEO standards unquestioningly to ensure a smooth approval process, regardless of the actual water requirements. CPHEEO standards have therefore become the de facto norm in urban water supply.
Cities conveniently apply multiple per capita standards simultaneously, regardless of actual water requirements. For instance, in 2012, while preparing the detailed project report for the Gargai Dam, Mumbai adopted a standard of 150 lpcd — deviating from the 240 lpcd used for other projects — just to meet CPHEEO requirements and secure Central government funding.
No monitoring
The prescribed standards are not monitored during service delivery to ensure water supply according to the design standards at the doorstep of all citizens. To ensure water delivery as per the standard, the consumer connections need to be metered, and the installation of bulk water meters in the distribution network is a prerequisite to measure water flows. However, very few cities have connections with functional meters. In many cities, supply zones are not isolated, and bulk water meters are not installed. Therefore, it is not feasible to trace how much water is flowing where in the city.
Although the service level benchmarks used by MoHUA to assess the performance of municipal water supply include per capita supply as a parameter, it is measured at the city level and, therefore, fails to indicate whether water is delivered to citizens according to the standard. As a result, the per capita standard of water supply, a useful metric for planners (to allocate financial resources) and engineers (to design infrastructure), remains a fictitious number for citizens when it comes to actual service delivery. Systematic efforts are needed to establish evidence-based per capita standards and ensure equitable water delivery so that every citizen receives their rightful share.
Sachin Tiwale, Fellow, Water and Society Programme, Centre for Environment and Development, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
Published – May 13, 2025 01:49 am IST