Chapter 9 PUBLIC FACILITIES

Water And The People Of Chennai

The water supply situation in Chennai highlights significant inequalities. Wealthier residents like Mr. Ramagopal in Anna Nagar have consistent tap water and easily arranged tanker services, while those in areas like Mylapore face shortages, relying on brackish borewell water or purchasing from tankers. Siva, living in a slum, experiences severe water scarcity, with common taps providing water only briefly twice a day. The lack of adequate water supply, particularly in poorer areas, underscores the disparity in access to this essential resource.

Water As Part Of The Fundamental Right To Life

The Indian Constitution recognizes the right to water as fundamental to the Right to Life (Article 21). This means every citizen, regardless of economic status, has the right to sufficient, safe, affordable, and accessible drinking water for personal and domestic use. The Supreme Court has affirmed this right, directing governments to ensure timely medical treatment and adequate water supply, even directing compensation for denial of such services.

Public Facilities

Public facilities are essential services that need to be provided to everyone in society, often involving the government. These include water supply, electricity, public transport, schools, and healthcare. A key characteristic is that their benefits can be shared by many people, contributing to societal well-being and development. While private companies may provide some of these services for profit, they often fail to ensure universal access or affordability, making the government's role indispensable.

The Government’s Role

The government bears the primary responsibility for providing public facilities to all citizens, as these relate to basic needs and are often not profitable for private companies. The government funds these services through taxes collected from the public and sets prices to ensure affordability, especially for essential supplies like water.

Where Does The Government Get Money For Public Facilities?

The government finances public facilities primarily through taxes collected from its citizens. The budget allocates funds for various government programs, including defence, infrastructure, social welfare, and public services like education and healthcare. While some services are funded entirely by taxes, others, like water supply, might involve a combination of taxes and user charges, typically set at affordable rates.

Water Supply To Chennai: Is It Available To All?

In Chennai, municipal water supply covers only about half the city's needs, leading to shortages, especially in poorer areas. Wealthier residents can afford private solutions like borewells or bottled water, while the poor face severe scarcity, relying on limited municipal taps or expensive tankers. This disparity highlights that access to safe drinking water is often determined by affordability, contradicting the principle of universal access.

Taking Water From Farmers

The shortage of municipal water in cities has led to private companies exploiting water sources in surrounding towns and villages. Companies pay farmers in advance for the rights to exploit water, draining groundwater resources needed for local agriculture and drinking water, causing drastic drops in water levels and further hardship for rural communities.

In Search Of Alternatives

The shortcomings in public water supply have led to a greater reliance on private companies, often resulting in increased water prices and exclusion of the poor. However, alternative models exist. Porto Alegre in Brazil, for example, has achieved universal access to safe water through its publicly managed water department, which keeps prices low, offers concessions to the poor, reinvests profits into improving services, and involves citizens in decision-making. While some Indian cities show improvements in water management and revenue collection, and rainwater harvesting efforts are underway, the challenge of ensuring equitable and adequate supply remains significant.

Public Water Supply In Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre, Brazil, is cited as an example of successful public water management, achieving universal access to safe water. The city's water department keeps prices affordable, provides concessions to the poor, reinvests profits into service improvement, and maintains transparency by involving citizens in decision-making through public meetings.

Extending Sanitation Facilities

Sanitation is another critical public facility for preventing water-borne diseases. India's sanitation coverage is significantly lower than water access, with a large portion of the poor, both rural and urban, lacking adequate toilet facilities. Organizations like Sulabh have worked for decades to address this issue by constructing community toilets and household latrines, improving access for millions, especially the poor and working class, often in partnership with municipalities.

Conclusion

Public facilities are essential for citizens' basic needs, and the Indian Constitution recognizes rights to water, health, and education. The government has the primary responsibility to ensure equitable provision of these facilities. However, progress has been uneven, with shortages and inequalities in supply, particularly affecting poorer and rural areas. While private companies can be involved, overall government responsibility is crucial to ensure universal access and affordability. Addressing these challenges requires improving water supply, sanitation, and other public services to meet the constitutional mandate of providing a decent life for all citizens.

Exercises

The exercises in this chapter focus on understanding the concept of public facilities, the government's role in their provision, and the inequalities in their distribution. Questions require students to define public facilities, explain why the government is responsible for them, and compare public and private services. They are asked to analyze the water situation in Chennai, discuss the impact of water shortages and private water supply, and consider ways to improve water and electricity services. Activities include researching the Census on public facilities, discussing the role of the government versus private companies, and exploring the meaning of 'universal access' and 'basic needs'.