Embedded Files
scrutinizing the inequalities beneficiaries face
The disparity in India:
The disparity in India:
The privileged get water for as less as €13 a month through pipes round the clock to spray their manicured lawns, wash their stable of cars and even shower their pets. Delhi’s government district and cantonment areas get about 375 litres of water per person each day. On the contrary, the majority of the city’s more than 20 million residents are forced to make do with less than 5-10 litres, if they are lucky. Delhi requires about 3,324 million litres of water each day, but gets about only 2,034 million litres, a majority of which is consumed by the capital’s privileged.
The cost of a tanker of water is about 52 times the price of piped water as per a study published in paper by the World resources institute. In Bengaluru, water is supplied only 3 days a week, and seven hours a day in Mumbai. Moreover, people living in informal settlements don't have access to piped water and are forced to buy from tankers at unaffordable prices.
Piped water is subsidized, however, many poor households are not connected to piped water and thus are not benefitted by the subsidies. The irony here is that water is being subsidized for people who can afford it anyway.
The disparity on a global level:
The disparity on a global level:
The UNESCO report's editor-in-chief, Rick Connor, said that poor people living in slums, who often have to buy water from trucks, kiosks, and other vendors, spend roughly 10 to 20 times more than the privileged who get a water supply round the clock.
Half of the population suffering from the water crisis lives in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 22% of the people have access to safe drinking water.
In a disturbing study, 75 percent of drinking water samples from schools in Nepal were contaminated with fecal bacteria.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 25 percent of the population must walk 30 minutes or more to collect water, a burden that falls on women and girls the vast majority of the time. This trend of women tasked with the responsibility of water collection spans many developing nations and takes critical quality time away from income generation, child care, and household chores. Moreover, Africa has a high risk for desertification, which will reduce the availability of fresh water even further, and increase the threat of water inequality in the future.
Page updated
Report abuse