Public Demand for Improved Urban Water Supply Services in Multan

Junaid Alam Memon, Junaid Ishaq () and Fateh Muhammad Mari
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Junaid Alam Memon: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
Junaid Ishaq: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
Fateh Muhammad Mari: P&D, Government of Sindh

IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), 2020, vol. 16, issue 1, 171-192

Abstract: Governments in developing countries face financial constraints to ensure supply of clean drinking water.They may benefit from increasing water charges for those who are be willing to pay little extra in lieu of their demand for improvement in water quality and service.To check the plausibility of this proposal, we investigated drinking water supply and quality, and welloff consumers demand for improved service delivery in Shah-Rukun-e-alam and Mumtazabad towns in Multan city of Pakistan.Qualitative data obtained through a questionnaire survey was analyzed using descriptive and regression techniques.Qualitative information obtained through semi structured interviews was helpful in designing survey questionnaire and to elaborate quantitative results.Results reveal that the respondents accord high importance to the provision of safe drinking water than to other daily household needs.The demand for improvement in water supply parameters exceeds the demand for improvements in water quality parameters, with the reliable supply being the most demanded improvement.Majority realize the government’s budget constraints in improving service delivery.Most respondents would pay PKR 100 in addition to what they are paying now.Their willingness to pay (WTP) this amount correlates with their awareness on water and health nexus, and depends household income, number of children under 14 years age and awareness of actual water quality tested through laboratory.Besides recommending raise of water charges by PKR 100 per month per household in both towns, the service quality improvement may consider interventions such as mobile water testing laboratory and awareness campaigns motivate citizens to pay for safe drinking water.

Keywords: Water services; Utility functions; Quality & Supply of water services; Household’s Income; and Household’s willingness. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aib:ibtjbs:v:16:y:2020:i:1:p:171-192

DOI: 10.46745/ilma.jbs.2020.16.01.12

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