1. Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the
world?
Answer
There are very few cases of private water supply in the world because water is
an essential amenity.
Water supply is a public facility that every government must provide to all
citizens of a State. In cases where water supply was placed in the hands of
private companies, the prices of water rose, making it unaffordable to the
masses. This resulted in riots, protests and violent demonstrations in countries
like Bolivia. Hence, it has been deemed best that the government must handle
water supply services.
2. Do you think water in Chennai is available to and affordable by all?
Discuss.
Answer
Water in Chennai is not available to and affordable by all. Availability of a
good, regular water supply is proportionate to the level of income one earns, in
this city. Senior government officials in areas like Anna Nagar can get a whole
water tanker arranged for themselves; most areas like Mylapore get water once in
two days; in Madipakkam, people buy bottled water for drinking purposes but the
situation is the worst in slums. Here, water supply runs for barely an hour
everyday from a single tap serving over thirty families for all their water
needs.
3. How is the sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai affecting
the local people? Do you think local people can object to such exploitation of
ground water? Can the government do anything in this regard?
Answer
The sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai is affecting the local
people in various ways:
→ The water they are taking away is for irrigation of agriculture. Because of
this exploitation irrigation and so, agriculture is bound to suffer.
→ This water is also for general supply and drinking purpose of the villagers. →
As a result of the heavy exploitation of water, the ground water levels dropped
drastically in these areas.
Yes, the local people can object to such heavy exploitation of ground water
since it is a public facility or nature’s gift on which everyone has equal right
and so nobody can sell or take away exclusively.
The Government needs to play a crucial role to find out a suitable alternative
in this regard. Our Constitution recognizes many of the public facilities
including access to safe drinking water, as being a part of the Right to Life.
So, the Government must see that these rights are protected so that everyone can
lead a decent life.
4. Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major
cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Answer
The distribution of public facilities in our country is inadequate and largely
unfair. For example, urban areas are provided with and consume more electricity
than villages or townships. Most metropolitan cities consume vast amounts of
power for market-places, multiplexes and air-conditioning while villages and
towns bear huge power-cuts even in summer so much so that there is no
electricity available to them for domestic purposes too. This is a gaping gap in
the distribution of just one of the public facilities provided by the
government.
9. Private educational institutions - schools, colleges, universities,
technical and vocational training institutes are coming up in our country in a
big way. On the other hand, educational institutes run by the government are
becoming relatively less important. What do you think would be the impact of
this? Discuss.
Answer
Private educational institutions levy very high fees, which only affluent people
can afford. So quality education will be the right of only the rich. If
educational institutions run by the government are not up to the mark, the
weaker sections of the society are deprived of quality education. The end result
of this disparity will be that only the rich will get good education while the
poor will be deprived of it.