Literature Review

Literature Review

Over the years residents living in various neighborhoods in New Delhi have grown accustomed to the city’s water scarcity issue. Water booster pumps have become a regular feature in these neighborhoods to provide water to the residents by sucking water out from public groundwater wells. The water is then filled up into large tanks that usually are atop the roof of many of these homes and consequently supplied to these households. However these resources are being overused and eventually become exhausted, leaving the residents of Delhi with a greater challenge.

In his study, (Pramit Mitra 2007) further highlights this problem in a revision published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He states that “the Delhi Development Report 2006 (Delhi government [New York: Oxford University Press]), published with the help of the UNDP, points out that almost 27 percent of homes in the city receive tap water for less than three hours a day, and 55 percent of households receive water for only three to six hours a day. “[footnoteRef:1] There is a high level of strain on the available resources due to the obvious shortages of water. It is alarming to note that despite a large demand for a good and a service such as water, little is being done to improve supply channels. Comment by erika teng: Be more descriptive, what’s actually being done and why is it insufficient? [1: Mitra, Pramit: 2007, Running on Empty: India’s Water Crisis Could Threaten Prosperity, South Asia Monitor, no.103. (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies)]

The Yamuna River, which is the main source of water for the Delhi region, does not meet the needs of the residents in the city. Anil Kumar Misra identifies the probable to be that “generally no water is allowed to flow in the down-stream of the Tajewala Barrage especially during summers and winters to fulfill the water demand of the surrounding districts. Due to this the river remains dry in many areas between Tajewala and Delhi. Whatever water flows between Tajewala Barrage and Delhi of the river is the untreated or partially treated domestic and industrial effluents discharge by several drains.”[footnoteRef:2] Thus it is up to the government and corporations take on the responsibility thus environmental sustainability and ethical issues arise. [2: Misra, Anil Kumar. "A River about to Die: Yamuna." Journal of Water Resource and Protection 2.5 (2010): 489,489-500. ProQuest Central. PROQUESTMS. 21 Sep. 2011 ]

The Delhi Jal board is a municipal body formed to act as a distribution channel of water in capital. “Delhi Jal Board was constituted through an Act of Delhi Legislative Assembly on 6th April 1998”.[footnoteRef:3] The board using a network of connections to ensure water is being supplied to the various areas in Delhi. The city is divided into eight zones. However water tankers are outsourced from private firms and organizations to reach all eight zones. In his assessment (Manish Kumar 2011) tabulates a performance indicator for the Delhi Jal board. Figure (a) is listed below. Comment by erika teng: What are these eight zones [3: http://www.delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/DOIT_DJB/djb/home]

Figure (a): Performance Indicator for Delhi Jal Board[footnoteRef:4] [4: Kumar, Manish. Institutional and Regulatory Economics of Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure: Evidences from Stochastic Cost Frontier Analysis and Three Case Studies of Urban Water Utilities. Public Policy and Public Administration, 2009 United States -- District of ColumbiaProQuest. PROQUESTMS. 21 Sep. 2011]

Another sector that is involved with the supply of water is the privately owned firms. These firms invest in water treatment plants and are more efficient with providing clean water. However this comes at a high cost. This leads us to the argument that the private sector is not an effective alternative as a distribution channel because it does not cater to a vast majority of the population that cannot afford these services. Migrants from neighboring cities and states settle in the outskirts of Delhi or live in slums. Migration is one of the most dominant causes for an increase in the population of Delhi. This brings us to an argument presented by (Tracy Philips and Haugh 2005) “Regardless of their motivations, when corporations have agreed upon their social objectives and priorities, their next step is to consider the mechanisms through which these are to be achieved.”[footnoteRef:5] [5: Tracey, P., N. Phillips and H. Haugh: 2005, _ Beyond Philanthropy: Community Enterprise as a Basis for Corporate Citizenship_ , Journal of Business Ethics 58 ,327–344.]

This raises the question of what strategies and policies are being formulated and implemented by the government and corporations in order to eradicate the problem of a lack of clean and safe water in the Delhi region. The studies and journals presented above identify the key problems as well as solutions. However there is a gap between the identification of the problem and the implementation of the solution. With the help of primary research and in depth analysis of case studies, a possible solution for improving the current water situation in Delhi can be reached. It is important to recognize the right distribution channel that will help eradicate the water scarcity problem Delhi currently faces. “Short term pressures in water administration are current problems to be solved, whereas what is impeding the implementation to long term policies is the lack of required resources and investments rather than the complexity of the problem.”[footnoteRef:6] Organizational inefficiency is caused by the lack of strategic planning and implementation of strategies that strengthen the structure of the organization and clearly define both short term and long-term goals that tackle operational and management related issues. Addressing this problem will not only strengthen the governance of the firm but will also help achieve the mission of the organization. [6: Pahl-wostl, Claudia, et al. "Maturing the New Water Management Paradigm: Progressing from Aspiration to Practice." Water Resources Management 25.3 (2011): 837-56. ProQuest. 30 Nov. 2011 <http://search.proquest.com/docview/851445622?accountid=12261>.]