Hydroschizophrenia: The Case of Water Privatisation

Abstract

The term “hydroschizophrenia” is in the past mainly discussed in the sphere of increased extraction of ground water with reference to use of it for agriculture purpose. The domestic water component and water privatisation of it has not received much attention. This paper tries to discuss it in the sphere of domestic water more specifically drinking water with bringing cases from few of the important cities of India. Case of water supply in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar has been discussed. The result shows that private player emerged mainly to fill the gap of demand and supply of water which the public water supply created or not filled. The paper conclude by stating that the hydroschizophrenia in this sphere led to ill consequences to the ground water resource with both depletion and contamination of it. Thus, it is imperative to bring constructive measures urgently to curtail the suffering of common people especially the poor. The solution is the democratic governance which bring efficient and responsible public water supply and look to the integration of various components of water supply.