question_answer 2)

 Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.    

Answer:

 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. There are areas which get water more regularly than others. Those areas that are close to the storage points get more water whereas colonies further away receive less water. The burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor. The middle class, when faced with water shortages, are able to cope through a variety of private means such as digging bore wells, buying water from tankers and using bottled water for drinking. Apart from the availability of water, access to 'safe' drinking water is also available to some and this depends on what one can afford. Once again the wealthy have more choices. They buy bottled water and water purifiers. People who can afford it have safe drinking water, whereas the poor are again left out. In reality, therefore, it seems that it is only people with money who have the right to water-a far cry from the goal of universal access to 'sufficient and safe' water.