ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF THE LARGEST ASIAN COUNTRY

A. M. GORYACHEVA

Leading Researcher of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Key words: India, urbanisation, water supply, dams and reservoirs, water supply networks, drinking water shortage

The lack of clean drinking water is becoming one of the most acute problems in the world today. And in India, it has - without exaggeration-reached a critical stage. This problem attracts close attention at all levels of government - from the central government to local authorities: municipalities in cities and panchayats in rural areas. In the 12th five-year plan (2012-2017), the tasks of assessing water resources and water supply for all sectors of the economy are set out as the main ones for the current period and for the future. And no matter how great the progress in the development of information and other high technologies, the future of the country largely depends on how it manages to manage its fresh water sources.

The main causes of the water crisis were such factors as population growth and the near-depletion of surface runoff in the largest Indian rivers. Some of the rivers that are used for irrigation do not reach the ocean. Underground water reserves, which are pumped out of control by farmers for the needs of their farms, are being depleted. For many Indian cities, artesian water has become the only source of water supply, but it is also extremely wasteful. Finally, the water crisis is being driven by poor management and underfunding of the water sector by the State, regional and local authorities.

Unpredictable climate changes due to the warming of the Earth's atmosphere under the influence of increasing carbon dioxide emissions are also affecting. The regularity and frequency of precipitation, the direction of prevailing winds change, the hydrological cycles of replenishment of underground water and surface runoff are disrupted, the melting of glaciers increases, etc.

All these phenomena do not add certainty to the future of India's water resources - their seasonal availability and compliance with the growing needs of the population and economy. The domestic sector of Indian cities is experiencing particularly great difficulties with water supply.

INDIAN URBANISATION MODEL

The process of urbanization in India has a number of features that are not typical of the classical Western experience. Until the beginning of the twenty-first century, Indian cities grew slowly, and the share of urban population did not exceed 25-27% of the country's population. The increase in the number of urban residents was mainly due to natural growth, and the share of rural migration, in contrast to European cities, was insignificant. It is believed that the main reason for the low attractiveness of cities was the difficulty in finding work, as well as the strong attachment of peasants to the rural social community, caste and family ties. Hence the extreme overpopulation of villages and the surplus of able-bodied population in them.

At the beginning of the new century, the role and significance of these factors under the influence of the economic transformations taking place in the country weaken, and the rural population begins to "overflow" into cities, which began to grow in breadth and height at an unprecedented pace for India. A. Kundu, a well-known expert on urban issues, believes that more than 400 million rural residents will soon move to cities.¹

The twenty-first century is becoming the age of urbanization worldwide, and India, which has long been on the sidelines of this process, is now showing an accelerated rate of urban expansion. As a result, the growth of the number of urban residents for the first time in the history of independence in the first decade of the new century exceeded the absolute growth of rural residents, thus integrating into the global trend of "overflow" of peasants to cities.

According to the 2011 census, the main milestones of urbanization in India are as follows: the urban population was 372.2 million (in 2001 - 286.1 million); its share in the total population was 31.16% (in 2001-27.81%); the average annual growth rate in the period 2001-2011 was 2.76%; the number of cities was 7,935 (in 2001-5,161); cities with a population of more than 1 million people - 53 (in 2001-35). At the same time, the share of large megacities in the total urban population is 70.2%, and the share of millionaire cities is 42.6%.

The last census showed a violation of the classical Indian scheme of increasing the urban population mainly due to natural growth. So, in 2001, the number of citizens increased by 59.24% due to it, and in 2011 - only by 44%. The contribution of rural migrants to urban population growth has increased dramatically , from 40.6% in 2001 to 56%

in 2011². In 2011, the urban population grew by 91.1 million people.

It is interesting that cities are now growing not so much due to internal reserves, but rather due to the expansion of the area and the involvement of rural suburbs in their orbit. In many cases, the influx of migrants is caused not so much by an increase in the supply of jobs, but rather by the extreme poverty of the rural population, the ongoing process of fragmentation of land plots below the economic feasibility of commodity farming, or, in other words, the marginalization of the rural population and the rural workforce. The inability to support their existence by farming on tiny plots of land pushes people to forced migration to the cities. This type of urbanisation is referred to as "poverty induced" in India.

India's" integration " into the global process of "spillover" of rural residents into cities is generally a positive phenomenon, especially given the high level of agricultural overpopulation that has already accumulated in the country. Urban economies play an increasingly important role in GDP production: they grew from 50% in 1980 to 75% in the 2000s. ³

But the infrastructure of Indian cities, even the most developed ones, does not correspond to the current level of development of the economy and the household sector, primarily in terms of water, electricity, sewerage, etc. Everywhere in Indian cities, the acceleration of urbanization is not limited only to an increasing burden on infrastructure, but is also accompanied by the withdrawal of acutely deficient arable land from agricultural circulation and ecological collapse in adjacent territories due to pollution from wastewater and solid waste.

The peculiarity of Indian cities is the interspersed blocks within the city limits, inhabited by citizens with different income levels, as well as interspersed slums. Such an overlap hinders the effective implementation of State programs to support the poor. In terms of water supply, ordinary urban areas and slum areas are connected to water networks in different ways. In the first case, each apartment or building has its own personal water supply system, and in the second it is a single tap outside the housing for several families (in Russia they call it a "water intake column").

At first glance, the picture of access to urban amenities for the urban poor living in slums looks relatively good. Thus, according to the 2011 census, 65% of all" slum " households have access to tap water, compared to 61% living in other urban areas; 67% of them have a shower and 37% have access to closed sewerage, compared to 80% and 40% living in other areas, respectively. 91% of slum areas are connected to electricity , which is almost the same level as in the other ⁴ blocks.

To correctly interpret the" greater " access of the slum population to water supply, compared to residents of other quarters, it should be borne in mind that in the former it is a single street tap for several families, and in others it is an individual connection of an apartment or house building to the indoor water supply. 29% of families living in slums have only a public water tap, although it is close to their homes, and 6% of families are far from where they live. Census surveys have shown that 48% of slum households are water deficient.⁵

DISAPPOINTING FORECASTS

Almost all experts agree that the growth of India's population and economy in the coming years will take place against the background of overexploitation and serious contamination of all available water sources, both surface and underground. As you know, in the industrial world, most of the water is consumed in industry and in cities; this trend is beginning to prevail in India - here, too, there is a reorientation of water consumption from agriculture to cities. According to the developers of the 12th five-year plan, this trend cannot be reversed, and the only way is to minimize water consumption in the industrial and household sectors of cities.

In other words, all modern areas of development require the strictest water savings. Unfortunately, this path is not possible for the Indian agricultural sector, as there is a close relationship between irrigation and increased food production. The documents of the 12th plan state that an increase in gross harvests and an increase in yields are possible mainly within the framework of irrigation agriculture: "Water is an extremely valuable but limited resource, and the attitude towards it should be appropriate" ⁶.

The Plan aims to abandon archaic, out-of-date methods of water extraction and transportation. According to the document, cities and industry should build their development strategy solely on the use of technologies with minimal water demand and minimize the volume of wastewater. At the same time, it is necessary to reduce the cost of extracting and transporting water to the consumer and reconstruct local sources - canals, reservoirs, artesian wells. As cities grow and expand, it turns out that local sources are either almost exhausted, or destroyed and polluted with sewage, and therefore it becomes necessary to use more and more remote sources.

Cities are increasingly looking towards reservoirs with large dams, the peak of construction of which fell on the first 5 five-year plans of independent India. They were built for the purposes of hydropower and irrigation. Until the late 1990s, water from reservoirs at large dams (there are 3,303 of them in India, according to the Central Water Commission of India) was very cheap, but now the situation has changed, because it is now consumed not only "in the neighborhood", but also over long distances, and for this it is necessary to build long pipelines. and expensive pipelines.

However, there are not many alternatives to water from reservoirs. However, more and more often they talk about the need for-

construction of channels that divert some of the water from large rivers. So, there is already a project of the giant Ganges-Telugu canal, which should solve the problem of water supply in large cities in southern India with a rapidly developing industry.

In the 12th five-year plan, for the first time, the task is to develop a new, albeit costly, source of urban water supply - the construction of reservoirs for the conservation of rain and flood waters. For centuries, the practice of digging ponds for this purpose has existed in India, but the resumption of it planned in the 12th plan involves a different engineering and technological approach, plus the use of materials that will not only ensure the durability of reservoirs, but also prevent the evaporation of accumulated moisture.

Special attention will be paid to the drilling of artesian wells to meet the water needs of cities. In India, this process is not yet regulated by law. Private homeowners, if for any reason they do not have access to water supply or believe that the water consumption rate is too high, resort to drilling their own well, which is not yet prohibited. The 12th plan states that there is a need to introduce such a private initiative into the legal framework, as well as to conduct an inventory of existing wells. In order to streamline the use of underground water supply sources, it is also necessary to map the territories of cities and then drill only with the permission of local authorities in accordance with the plan prepared by authorized organizations.

Inequality in the distribution of India's water resources across its regions creates serious problems. Thus, the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin covers a third of the country's land area, but accumulates 60% of its water potential. The catchment area of rivers flowing west in peninsular India is only 3% , with a potential of 11%. Thus, 71% of the country's water potential is located on 36% of its land area.⁷

Since the south and west of India are economically ahead of the north, there may be a conflict based on the lack of water in some regions and the relative abundance of it in others. And these conflicts are already taking place in India in the form of disputes between states about the division of river waters. So-called water tribunals have been established to resolve such disputes.

The south of the country, experiencing a constant shortage of water, relies on the transfer of water from the north. According to the calculations of the "Water Resources Assessment Group" under the Ministry of Water Resources, by 2030, the need for water may double its available volumes.⁸ But there are also more optimistic estimates of water resources, according to which the country's water reserves are 66% (and according to other sources, even 88%) higher than the officially recorded ⁹.

The main role in the water resources of India is played by the surface runoff of rivers, which is formed mainly due to precipitation during the monsoon rains (from June to September). Precipitation volumes are distributed unevenly over the territory, with an average of 1,160 mm per year for the country.

The minimum precipitation falls in Rajasthan, most of which is occupied by the Thar desert, only 500 mm per year, the maximum falls on the Karnataka coast-3,798 mm. During the monsoon period, up to 80% of the average annual precipitation falls. During the winter period, the rivers become shallow, and there is a shortage of water for agriculture, but other sectors of the economy suffer as well. Meanwhile, the peculiarities of the soil structure of India are such that they do not retain moisture well, and even such a record holder of the country and the world in terms of precipitation as Cherrapunji (foothills of the Himalayas), is experiencing a shortage of water when the monsoon rains dry up.

WATER FOR FARMERS

India ranks 1st in the world in terms of irrigated land area and agricultural production. There is a huge contribution to the national treasury of non-irrigated or rain-fed land, where all production of grain and other crops is based solely on precipitation. The share of bogarna in the area of cultivated land is 56.7%, in grain production-40%, in livestock production-66%. 80% of all second-class cereals (barley, millet, sorghum, etc.), 83% of legumes, 42% of oilseeds, and 65% of cotton are grown on land where the only source of water is precipitation during the monsoon. ¹⁰

The only way to increase water reserves for agriculture is to build reservoirs. Since the 1950s, the country has been undergoing large-scale hydraulic engineering construction.

Mostly, large and medium-sized dams are being built, which have regulated the flow and formed reservoirs in the main river basins of the country, and there are 12 of them in India. The total amount of retained runoff in the mid-2000s was 212.78 billion cubic meters of water, a number of other facilities under construction will add 76.26 billion cubic meters to this figure, and facilities with a potential of 107.5 billion cubic meters are currently being designed.¹¹

But even after the construction of 4,525 dams over all the years of independence (including small dams), the volume of water saved in reservoirs per capita in the country is only 213 cubic meters (For comparison, in Russia-6,103 cubic meters, in Australia - 4,733, in the USA-1,964, in China - 1,111 cubic meters)

India will reach the level of 400 cubic meters only when the construction of all ¹² facilities under construction and already designed is completed. Taking into account other sources of water, its reserves in India per capita, of course, more than the reserves only in artificial reservoirs, but the "water hunger" in the country is still developing on the rise.

The dynamics of increasing "water hunger" in India, due to population growth, is shown in Table 1.

By international standards, when there is less than 1 thousand cubic meters of water per capita per year, the situation is regarded as an" acute shortage " (water scarcity). In the 1950s, India consumed 3 to 4 thousand cubic meters of water per year per capita, but the increase in the population over 60 years of independence

Table 1

Total water reserves per capita in India from 2001 to 2050

Source: Water in India: Situation and Prospects. UNISEF, FAO - www.unisef.org/India/finalreport, 24.03.2014. P. 4.

almost 4 times led to a drop in this indicator by almost half. However, these average figures do not take into account the difference in water consumption between rural and urban populations. For comparison, in the United States, for example, the availability of water per capita in the 2000s was 8 thousand cubic meters. m per year. The most difficult situation is in the east of the country: here the reserves of surface water per capita do not exceed 500 cubic meters. m per year ¹³.

India is the world's largest user of groundwater. About 230 cubic km of water is extracted and consumed annually from the earth's interior. In the US, for comparison, only 112 cubic meters. km, and this level has been maintained since 1980. In India, the extraction of water from underground reservoirs is growing rapidly , from 90 cubic km in 1980 to 251 ^{cubic km in 2010.14}

Artesian water meets 60% of the needs of agriculture and 80% of the needs of the urban household sector. The latest estimate of proven groundwater reserves (432 billion cubic meters). m) was produced in 2004. However, as mentioned above, the standards and procedures for the use of artesian water are not regulated either in agriculture or in the domestic sector of cities, since all wells are privately owned.

The pressure on India's groundwater reserves is enormous, and this is evident from the scale of the use of mechanical and electric pumps for pumping water. In the 1960s, there were several tens of thousands of them, and now - more than 20 million. Every fourth farm in the rural sector has an artesian well, and every two out of three farms buy water from their neighbors if they do not have their own well. 75-80% of the area of all irrigated land uses artesian water. Such a gigantic uncontrolled withdrawal of water from underground sources has already led in a number of states to a decrease in the water table, which is irreplaceable in a natural way and threatens to completely exhaust this resource in the near future.

Studies have shown that between 1995 and 2004, 31% of all districts of the country, which are home to 35% of the population and account for ³³% of the territory of India, experienced the maximum permissible decrease in the water table15. Only since 2011 have the first steps been taken to develop laws in the field of groundwater use.

THE RICH GET A WATER TAP, THE POOR GET A WATER PUMP

Now let's turn to the problems of water consumption in cities, where, according to forecasts, 40% of the population of India will live in 2030.

The question arises: how much can the need for water increase against the background of the undeniable trend of growth in the number of the middle class? Moreover, in the country there is an inequality in the use of water between the well-to-do and the poor.

For example, in Delhi in 2006 (more recent data, unfortunately, could not be found), 92% of water was used for the needs of 20% of the upper-income groups of the population, while the remaining 80% used water from an outdoor tap, and they accounted for only 8% of water consumed ^.16 Moreover, in most Indian cities, tap water is available for no more than a few hours a day (see Table 2).

The demand for water from the domestic sector is only 7% of the demand of agriculture and industry. But this does not reduce the severity of the water supply problem due to rapid housing construction in cities and, most importantly, due to the rapid "shallowing" of underground sources. The main reason for the water shortage in cities is the poor technical condition of water supply networks, unsatisfactory operation of public utilities and low water tariffs for the population. Urbanisation in India has unexpectedly picked up such a rapid pace that urban municipalities have been unable to cope with the repair of water pipes and adjust water prices.

According to the 2011 census, 70.6% of all urban households get their drinking water from water supply sources.-

Table 2

Water supply to Indian cities in 2006

Source: Water in India ... P. 13.

water, 20.8% of households - from artesian wells, 6.2% - from wells; 71.2% of all households have indoor plumbing, 20.7% use plumbing located closer than 100 m from the house, and 8.1% must go for water further than 100 m from the house ¹⁷.

The private and public water supply sectors have different "weights" in different cities and states. For example, in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, 86.5% of the urban population receives water from government campaigns, while 45% of the poor use water from public sources, 39% from private sources and ¹⁶% from sources with undetermined status18. In the cities of Madhya Pradesh, between 31% and 66% of families use public sources, while the rest use private sources.

Two main factors underlie the differences in water consumption between states: geographical location and the overall level of development, which affects the quality of urban utilities.

From the point of view of geographical location, the states of northern India, on the territory of which the main reserves of water resources of the country are located, win. Water consumption in Uttar Pradesh is 4,382 million liters per day. It is second only to pcs. Maharashtra (12,483 million liters), the most developed in India. The most severe water situation in the southern state. Tamilnadu - 1,346 million liters per day; this is one of the last places in the country, while in terms of economic development it is among the top three. In Tamilnadu, there is only 80 liters of water per capita per day. Water starvation is attributed here to the huge competition with agriculture, where irrigation levels have reached such a scale that almost all the flow of rivers in the state is taken up for irrigation, and they no longer reach the ocean. The conflict between cities and agriculture is already escalating in many states.

The availability of water for citizens of all strata without discrimination is also a matter of social justice. Studies have shown that water consumption per capita is most closely correlated with the level of affluence of a family, especially with the size and value of real estate owned by it.

Most poor and very poor households consume less than 100 liters per day per person. Even such a small amount of water as 175,200 liters per day is available to only 1.7% of all urban poor. Well-to-do families consume daily, of course, more than 200 liters of water per person, but the volume of its consumption is far from "exorbitant". And this fact only confirms that the situation with water supply in Indian cities is not good. This gives every reason to say that the supply and consumption of water in Indian cities are insufficient, and moreover they are characterized by social injustice.

ALTHOUGH ALL NORMS ARE OBSERVED...

All over the world, as in India, there are certain norms of water consumption per capita and per family in urban settings. So, according to the norms of the World Health Organization

Table 3

Water consumption per day in million-plus cities, in liters

Источник: Shaban A. Water Poverty in Urban India: a Study of Major Cities. Mumbai. Seminar Paper UGC Summer Programme (June 30-July 01, 2008). P. 7.

(WHO) There are 4 categories of water supply: 1) there is no access at all (less than 5 liters of water per day); 2) access at the level of meeting the simplest needs (approximately 20 liters per day); 3) there is some shortage (50 liters per day); 4) optimal water supply (100-200 liters per day).

These norms are abstracted from the characteristics of the climate, food and cultural habits, level of development, etc. The Indian Bureau of Standards has developed water consumption standards specifically for Indian cities. Over the past two decades, they have been revised three times and now amount to 150 liters for cities with a population of one million, and 135 liters per day for others.

At the end of the last century, 80% of urban residents considered such standards quite sufficient, but in 2007 the share of satisfied urban residents decreased to 71%.

In Delhi, the proportion of urban residents satisfied with water supply was 73%, in Mumbai and Kolkata 77%, in Hyderabad-49%, in Kanpur-75%, in Ahmedabad-63%¹⁹. Although these cities are located in different parts of the country, the indicators of satisfaction of citizens with water supply are quite close, which indicates that sanitation and hygiene skills are approximately the same for residents of all cities. However, with an increase in the standard of living and the growth of the middle class, there is a change in water consumption standards, which causes an increase in demand for water. Table 3 shows the situation with water consumption in cities with millions of inhabitants.

Thus, water consumption per urban resident in the largest Indian cities is significantly lower than the norms recommended by the Indian Bureau of Standards. The highest consumption is in Kolkata, the lowest in Delhi and Kanpur.

The water supply and consumption situation in Indian cities is much worse than in many other cities around the world. So, in Amsterdam it is 156 liters per person, in Singapore - 162, in Hong Kong.-

Table 4

Distribution of urban households by per capita water consumption per day (%)

Source: Shaban A. Water Poverty in Urban India ... P. 8.

ge - 203, in Sydney - 254, in Tokyo - 268 l ²⁰. Only 35% of the population of the 7 largest cities in India consume more than 100 liters of water per person per day (see Table 4).

The traditions of everyday life and climatic differences between regions also explain the target distribution of water used in the economy. In the first place in terms of water use is the washing of family members (up to a third of the total water budget), in the second place is the drainage system (about one-fifth), and only 10% is used for drinking and cooking. It can be noted, but not explained, that the least water is used for washing in the North Indian cities of Delhi, Kanpur and Kolkata.

On average, the majority of the country's population receives water from public sources: 70% use water supplied through municipalities, 21.7% - from artesian wells and 6.7% - from wells. The share of closed water supply is 92%. However, this applies only to large cities. Of those surveyed, Mumbai has the best rates, with only 5.7% of households without access to indoor running water. Public water supply is very high in cities such as Kanpur (84.5%), Madurai (82.3%), Hyderabad (60.3%).

Often, water supply sources in farms are of a mixed type: tap water is used for household needs, and artesian water is used for drinking and cooking. In Kanpur, 80% of all households use artesian water and 41% of them only use it. In other cities, it is used only in 5-7% of all households.

In general, in 7 large cities, 2/5 of all households use artesian water, and 7% use only it and nothing else ²¹. The role of underground sources in urban water supply is constantly increasing. In Delhi, Kanpur, Hyderabad, the greatest shortage of tap water is observed in the summer. Uncontrolled use of underground water storage facilities leads to their depletion not only inside urban buildings, but also in their surroundings.

This phenomenon is accompanied by a dangerous increase in the concentration of harmful substances.

The problem of supplying water to Indian cities is complicated by the great remoteness of large reservoirs. Many cities receive water from sources located tens of kilometers away, which requires the construction of pumping stations on the water path to the city, and the inevitable use of electric pumps. Transportation of water over long distances not only increases its cost at the final destination, but also increases water losses due to evaporation, seepage and leaks in old pipes.

So, in Delhi, up to half of the water supplied is lost in the city water supply. For comparison, this figure does not exceed 3% in Berlin and 2.5% in Singapore. From 30 to 50% of water budget items are spent by city municipalities to pay for electricity consumed by city water supply pumps. As a result of the high costs of delivering water to cities and high operating costs, the state is forced to subsidize water tariffs.

A paradoxical situation has been created, when there is a shortage of water in cities for the household sector, the population pays a pittance for it. So, for example, in Delhi, the real cost of delivering water to an apartment is, on average, 262 rupees* per month, and the population pays only 141 rupees ²². More and more experts believe that tariffs for the population should be revised upwards to encourage water saving ²³.

WHAT ARE THE "GOOD NUMBERS"?

According to the 2011 census, more than 90% of citizens have access to drinking water sources. But what lies behind these seemingly "safe figures"?

India ranks only 133rd out of 180 countries in terms of drinking water supplies for the population of ²⁴.

* As of mid-December 2014, 100 ind. rupees - about $1.6 (editor's note).

In none of the Indian cities, the water supply system does not work all day and all week long. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, in four out of five cities, the water supply works less than 5 hours a day. In the most developed state of Maharashtra, only two out of 249 cities have uninterrupted water supply. In Andhra Pradesh, with its capital Hyderabad, home to the most high-tech manufacturing facilities, 86 out of 124 cities have no running water at all.

The situation is relatively better in Delhi, where the gap between water demand and supply is 24%, and in Mumbai, 17%. First of all, industrial cities are suffocating from lack of water. The "water crisis" in cities such as Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Kanpur was most acute because of the extremely rapid population growth and the fact that the city authorities ignored the problem for a long time until it became critical. The last factor - the inaction of the city authorities-is generally characteristic of the country.

The problem of water scarcity is closely related to the problem of undeveloped urban sewerage. According to the 2011 census, only 60% of the population has access to closed flushing sewers, and they are mainly concentrated in middle-class neighborhoods.

In poor neighborhoods and slums, there was no modern sewage system. Latrines are still located outside the houses and huts, open and saturate the air with miasma. Sewer networks, where they exist, suffer from leaks in old pipes. The poor quality of tap water in Indian cities is a consequence of the unsatisfactory state of sewage and water pipes - it is saturated with harmful impurities, pathogens and becomes a source of infectious diseases.

WHO estimates that 97 million Indians are unable to use sources that provide safe drinking water for their health. According to this indicator, only China is ahead. 21% of all infectious diseases in India are caused by bad water ²⁵. Water in almost all rivers of the country is not suitable not only for drinking, but also for washing. The dubious title of "champion" in terms of pollution has been held for 30 years by the Jamna River, which supplies water to Delhi and belongs to the Ganges basin. Back in 1984, a state program (The Ganga Action Plan) was adopted, designed for 25 years, to clean up the waters of the Ganges basin. However, the problem has not been resolved so far.

The state is concerned about the quality of drinking water in India. The problem is reflected even in the country's Constitution, Article 47 of which proclaims that clean drinking water is the property of all citizens. In 1986, the state program for providing the population with drinking water - National Drinking Water Mission-was launched, the latest version of which dates back to 2012.

According to the country's Planning Commission, 60% of all diseases (infectious, endocrinological, oncological, etc.) are caused by poor-quality drinking water26.Up to 377 million cases of infectious ^diseases caused by contaminated drinking water are recorded annually in India. A huge number of children under the age of 5 suffer from diarrhea, and up to 1.5 million children die from it every year27. State standards for water with regard to the degree of infection with eggworms and high-temperature resistant bacteria were adopted in 1991, but they are poorly observed.

According to surveys conducted in 2009, in 43 of the 88 industrial centers of the country, the level of water pollution reached a critical level of ²⁸. And it's not just the bacteria. In 13 states, the content of fluoride, which causes serious stomach disorders, is significantly higher than the norm (1.5 mg per 1 liter). Arsenic standards (1.05 mg per 1 liter) are significantly exceeded in 5 states (all in the north of the country).

This type of pollution occurs mainly in underground sources. In recent years, arsenic in water is found even in those states where it was not previously available. We are talking about West Bengal, where the role of underground sources of drinking water is great.

Another problem is the increase in iron, nitrate, and total groundwater salinity observed in 10 states. The latter is a consequence of an increase in the salt concentration in groundwater due to excessive irrigation of cultivated land. These impurities cause stomach disorders, skin diseases, and tooth decay. Drinking water in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Delhi has been found to contain cadmium, zinc and mercury, which can cause kidney and nervous system damage.

The quality of drinking water has long been a concern for residents of Indian cities. From Table 5, you can find out how residents of the 7 largest cities of the country evaluate its quality.

Based on the data of this survey, it is clear that the level of confidence of citizens in the safety of tap water, oddly enough, is quite high 2/3 of residents of Indian cities rate it as safe. Only Cawnpore has less than 10% confidence in water. But the opinion of citizens indicates, first of all, their ignorance about what kind of water comes to their homes and apartments.

Water quality is particularly poor in slum areas. Slum dwellers during the survey period showed complete ignorance about what kind of water flows in their taps: only less than 3% of them rated it as harmful. In Mumbai, for example, between 5% and 14% of slum dwellers still boil water, 80% filter it through cloth, and only 8% do not pre-process it in any way. The picture is different in Delhi: here 85% of residents do not process water before drinking, and only 6% boil it ²⁹.

Bottled water production is well established in India. However, surveys show that even in urban families with high incomes, it is not in demand either for drinking or for cooking.

The country has a very poor record of water consumption. Surveys show that 28-45% of water supplied to households is unaccounted for (non-revenue)³⁰.

The country's authorities are aware of the importance and severity of "water problems". If we analyze what is being done in the country to radically improve the supply of-

Table 5

Assessment of water quality and safety in urban water supply systems (according to residents of the 7 largest cities in India) (%)

Source: Shaban A. Water Poverty in Urban India ... P. 14.

In order to provide the population with clean drinking water, at least three areas can be identified. First engineering: technical improvement of equipment and replacement of pipes in water supply networks. The second is commercial: rationalization of water use tariffs. The third is social: ensuring equal access to water for all segments of the population.

Since 2005, there have been two main state programs in the country, which include a wide range of tasks to solve water management problems. These are the Jawaharlal Neru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns.

In accordance with the first program, 80% of all required financial resources come from the central government; in accordance with the second, the share of the center is 50%. The JNNURM program includes housing construction, urban transport regulation, etc., but 70% of all funds are directed specifically to water supply and sewerage development. For these purposes, 42 billion rubles have already been spent in recent years. Rs. It is expected that in the next 20 years, funds in the amount of 754.6 billion rubles will be raised under this program. Rs. (approx. $1.2 billion). The principles laid down in the basis for the restructuring of the entire urban water management system, according to the 12th five-year plan, are as follows: : 1) reduction in the cost of water delivery and distribution; 2) total water savings in the domestic sector; 3) waste water processing with subsequent use for household needs.

* * *

"Water is an invaluable resource for the country, but it is limited, and it should be treated accordingly," says Plan ³¹. It is important that this absolutely fair thesis is consistently and purposefully implemented by both state structures and private entrepreneurship.

¹ Economic & Political Weekly, Mumbai, 15.03.2014. P. 18.

² The 2011 Census Results (provisional), Government of India, New Delhi, National Institute of Urban Affairs. Vol. 4. 2011. P. 5.

³ Economic & Political Weeklv...

⁴ Ibid. P. 5.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Twelve Five Year Plan 2012-2017. Vol. 1. N.D. P. 346.

⁷ Water in India: Situation and Prospects. UNISEF, FAO www.unisef.org/India/finalreport.24.03.2013. P. 1.

⁸ Ibid. P. 2.

^{Carg N., Hassan A.} 9 Alarming Scarcity of Water in India. Current Science. New Delhi. Vol. 93. 2007. N 7. October 10. P. 932.

¹⁰ Water in India... P. 3.

¹¹ Water Resources Development in India: Critical Issues and Strategic Options. Asian Development Bank. N.D. - http://www.adb.org/documents/assessmtents/water/ind/water-assessmtent.pdf [accessed, January 6, 2011.

¹² Water in India... P. 19.

¹³ Ibid. P. 5.

^{Luthra S., Kundu A.} 14 India's Water Crisis: Causes and Cures. The National Bureau of Asian Research, 2013 - http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=356

¹⁵ Water in India... P. 6-7.

¹⁶ Ibid. P. 11.

¹⁷ Ibid. P. 35.

¹⁸ Ibid. P. 36.

^{Shaban A.} 19 Water Poverty in Urban India: a Study of Major Cities. Mumbai. Seminar Paper UGC - Summer Programme (June 30 - July 01, 2008). P. 19.

²⁰ Ibid. P. 7.

²¹ Ibid. P. 12.

²² Water in India... P. 13.

^{Nillekarni R.} 23 Building Urban Infrastructure in India. Center for South Asia Studies. Berkely. California, 2013.

^{Bedi J.} 24 Quantitave, Qualitative and Equity Issues in Urban Domestic Water Supply in India // Man & Development. N.D. September 2013.

^{Luthra S., Kundu A.} 25 Op. cit. P. 1.

²⁶ Water in India... P. 39.

^{Bedi J.} 27 Op. cit. P. 40.

²⁸ Water in India... P. 39.

^{Shaban A.} 29 Op. cit. P. 15.

³⁰ Water in India... P. 30.

³¹ Twelve Five Year Plan... P. 346.

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