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Another setback for reform of India's water utilities
"MULTINATIONALS and profit sharks versus the people of India," is how one respected newspaper summed up a controversy surrounding Delhi's water board, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The row contains most of the elements that usually raise hackles among India's anti-globalisers. Alas, the ideological debate may delay a solution to Delhi's water crisis.
As in many Indian cities, this is chronic. The DJB says it supplies some 2.9 billion litres (650m gallons) of water a day, against demand of 4.2 billion litres. But that understates the gap. It estimates demand only from those with water connections, variously estimated at 60% and 80% of Delhi's 16m people. As for supply, some 15% is stolen and 40% lost to leakage. Many people queue at tankers, standpipes and boreholes fitted with handpipes.
With Delhi's population growing by 500,000 a year, "things are a little out of hand," admits Rakesh...