Viji, I completely agree. I have read that slum dwellers pay almost 2,000 to 3,000 percent more for water than the people that are getting water piped into their houses. And it’s ridiculous: the water mafia is really doing that.

But a larger issue is that rampant urbanization has led to huge imbalances in where the food is produced, where the water exists, and where it is transported to. There was a time when cities were built where water was. If the water and food just disappeared, the city disappeared and people went elsewhere. That doesn’t happen any more. Now water is brought to where people are and these cities just expand more and more. It depletes the resources that are available where the food is grown and where the water exists.

This is a problem that we really have to solve. It’s led to the rise of a huge amount of resources being pumped away from where the resources are created. It’s led to the rise of food and water packaging industries -- bottled water is a very inefficient product of urbanization - and higher and higher prices of transporting food and water to large urban areas.

- Shekhar

I think urban dwellers - especially the well-to-do junta, have got away pretty lightly as far as access to water is concerned. they pay very low taxes for a precious commodity, made so easily available to them. the result:they take it wholly for granted. the slum dwellers and the poor pay a much higher price for water which is not even plentifully available to them. it is time the users are made accountable for this fast dwindling commodity.