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Water Inaccessibility Components in Delhi, India

Water Inaccessibility in Delhi, India

Elements of Injustice causing Water Inaccessibility in Delhi

The most conspicuous element of water injustice is the weakness of the Indian constitution. The Indian constitution does not recognize water as a fundamental human right (Mehta, Allouche, Nicol & Walnycki, 2014). However, citizens’ right to water can be pushed for in the court of law under the right to life and clean environment. This constitutional weakness creates loopholes for water injustice signified by scarcity and inaccessibility in cities such as Delhi. Another element of injustice that cause water issues is the elite biases in which the socioeconomically privileged in Delhi are more favored than the poor, as if they have more rights as citizens than the poor. This is evidenced by the deplorable conditions that the poor populace live, signified by informal water access, and poor sanitation and drainage systems due to water scarcity and inaccessibility (Mehta, Allouche, Nicol & Walnycki, 2014). Lastly, there are issues of corruption involving state officials who embezzle or divert funds allocated for water supply systems in water-scarce areas of Delhi such as Ghaziabad and Faridabad.

How the State and Political Agency Shape Access to Water in Delhi

The Indian government and State agencies of Delhi responsible for the distribution of water and improvement of the water and sanitation systems largely determine the rates of water accessibility by Delhi residents. For instance, the government of India delegates water-distribution responsibility to the municipality (Scott, 2015). Although the government drafts water policies, the implementation of the policies is left to the municipal authority that often has contradictory policies to the central government depending on the current leaders. Therefore, water is supplied depending on how the municipality leaders deem appropriate, a method that is usually biased to favor rich elites at the expense of the poor majority. Further afield, class environmentalism, beautification drives, and world events such as Commonwealth Games have led to water injustice against the poor in Delhi through the government’s legitimization of relocation and pollution in certain regions (Mehta, Allouche, Nicol & Walnycki, 2014). As a result, poor citizens have been forcibly relocated in the peri-urban regions where citizens have to travel long distances to get clean water, and the sanitation conditions are deplorable due to lack of sufficient water for domestic and commercial uses.

How Marginality Influences Water Access in Delhi

Marginality is depicted by the theme of displacement of poor people from regions that have sufficient water supply systems and efficient sanitation infrastructure to regions lacking these privileges. Since the Indian government values rich elites more than poor citizens, the marginalized dwell in areas signified by water scarcity and poor sanitation systems. In Ghaziabad for instance, citizens have gone for not less than a decade without formal water supply (Mehta, Allouche, Nicol & Walnycki, 2014). Furthermore, there are issues of pollution from industries and faulty drainage systems in Ghaziabad from nearby elite dwellings. As a result, Ghaziabad residents have resorted to informal water-sourcing methods such as tapping into the municipal’s pipe systems for a few hours late at night to get some water for domestic use (Shaw, Umma & Abedin, 2013). However, the main source of water remains contaminated informal sources, which are sometimes recycled thereby posing health hazards such as waterborne diseases and exposure to high levels of harmful industrial wastes such as nitrates. The lack of a proper water purification system further complicates health issues. This is because the contaminated water is used for drinking, cooking, and irrigation (Demaria & Schindler, 2016). This further makes the food crops and animals reared for food purposes harmful for human consumption due to accumulation of toxic chemicals.

References

Demaria, F., & Schindler, S. (2016). Contesting urban metabolism: struggles over waste-to- energy in Delhi, India. Antipode, 48(2), 293-313.

Mehta, L., Allouche, J., Nicol, A., & Walnycki, A. (2014). Global environmental justice and the right to water: the case of peri-urban Cochabamba and Delhi. Geoforum, 54, 158-166.

Scott, M. E. (2015). Water privatization tactics: Cochabamba, Manila, New Delhi.

Shaw, R., Umma, H., & Abedin, M. A. (2013). Water Insecurity : A Social Dilemma. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.