Challenges in water and sanitation services: Do natural disasters make matters worse?

Abstract

This article exploits a plausibly exogenous variation in peak ground acceleration to evaluate the impact of the 2015 earthquake on water and sanitation services among affected households in Nepal. Estimates from a difference‐in‐differences research design show that the severity of the earthquake is associated with a 9.4 percentage point decline in the likelihood of washing hands, a 6.63 percentage point decline in the likelihood of using water filters and an 18.16 percentage point decline in the likelihood of using flush to a piped sewer system. These negative effects of seismic shocks on binary indicators of water treatment and toilet services continue to persist even in earthquake‐affected districts where aid for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services was allocated for disbursement. While prospects of leakage in aid distribution across different levels of governance cannot be empirically tested, findings indicate that effective implementation of WASH‐related aid can partially mitigate disaster‐induced adverse outcomes related to water treatment and toilet services.