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Water and the people of Chennai

Four illustrations showing the varying amounts of water getting by people
1- Mr.Ramgopal lives in posh area, gets water daily and not facing shortage of water.
2- Subramanian lives in apartments in Mylapore, gets municipal water once in two days and sometimes pays for it also.
3- Shiva gets water once in 4 days and buys bottled water for drinking.
4- Padma from slum area gets water from the common tap of a borewell for 20 minutes twice daily.

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Water as Part of the Fundamental Right to Life

Right to drinking water is a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are those rights, which are essential for intellectual ,moral and spiritual development of citizens of India.
water is essential for life and good health.
Safe drinking water can prevent many water related diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, Cholera etc. Over 1,600 Indians, most of them children below the age of 5 reportedly die everyday because of water related diseases.
The constitution of India recognises the right to water as a part of ' Right to Life 'under article 21 .It means, there should be universal access to water.
According to United Nations declaration of 2002 "right to water and titles everyone to sufficient, safe ,acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use."

Public Facilities

Those facilities that need to be provided for everyone like electricity,public transport,schools and colleges, healthcare and sanitation etc are known as public facilities .
Once it is provided, its benefits can be shared by many people.

The Government Role

Public facilities are very important and for everyone.Therefore, Government is responsible for providing public facilities to everyone.
In most of the public facilities, there is no profit to be had. Private companies operate for profit in the market and will probably not be interested in undertaking work like keeping the drains clean or running and anti- Malaria campaign.
Private companies provide public facilities at a high price that only some people can afford. Those who cannot afford to pay for it ,will deprived of the opportunity to live a decent life.

Where does the government get money for public facilities?

The main source of revenue for the government is the taxes collected from the people.To supply water the government incur costs in pumping water, laying down pipes, treating for impurities, which meets partly from the the various taxes it collects and partly by charging an affordable price for water.

Water Supply to Chennai:Is it Available to All?

While there is no doubt that public facility should be made available to all, but there is a great shortage of such facilities.
Water Supply in Chennai is marked by shortages.Municipal supply meets only about half the needs of the people of the city on an average.
The burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor. The middle class is able to face the shortage by digging borewells, buying water from tankers and uses bottled water for drinking .
Apart from ,the availability of water, access to safe drinking water is available to only those people who can afford it ,whereas the poor is left out.

In Search of Alternative

The situation in Chennai is not unique. A similar scenario of shortages an acute crisis during the summer months is common to other cities of India.
The supply of water per person in an urban area in India should be about 135 litre per day -a standard set by the Urban water commission.
Where as people in slums must make do with less than 20 litres a day per person.
People living in luxury hotels make consume as much as 1,600 litres of water per day.

Consider the following facts�

Throughout the world, water supply is a function of the government.
In Porto Alegre,a city of Brazil, has a far lower number of infant deaths only because of universal access to safe water.
Handing over of water supply to private companies will create a steep rise in the price of water, which may causes riots and huge protests like in Bolivia.
Within India, there are cases of success in government water department in like the cities of Mumbai ,Chennai and Hyderabad.

Extending Sanitation Facilities

Sanitation is a must in prevention of waterborne diseases .
Official figures for 2001 shows that 68% of the households in India have access to drinking water and about 36% have access to sanitation.
Sulabh, a non-governmental organisation constructed public toilets ,private toilets for the poor working class.

Conclusion

Public facilities relate to our basic needs and the Indian constitution has recognised the right to water , health, education etc. As being a part of the right to life.
The major roles of the government is to ensure adequate public facilities for everyone.
Public facilities should be provided to every citizen in an equitable manner.