Experts suggest that the question on water is not its availability but access .”Today some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. These deficits are rooted in institutions and political choices and not in availability,’’ said Arunabha Ghosh, one of the author’s of this year’s report while speaking at its release in New Delhi.

The report reiterates that it is the poor people who suffer the most: In Delhi, Karachi and Kathmandu, fewer than 10% of households with piped water receive the service 24 hours a day. The poor are less likely to be connected, facing deprivation.

In Gujarat, there are waterlords who buy and dig deep wells and sell water at high rates to the poor people. In parts of India, groundwater tables are falling by more than 1 metre a year, jeopardizing future agriculture production. The report states that climate change is going to make the situation more acute.

However, India demonstrates both problems and solutions. It is possible to reverse the situation with additional investment and proper regulatory policies. In Kerala, research following implementation of seven rural water projects found that incidence of water-bourne diseases fell by half in five years after construction of deep wells.

The report is peppered with numerous case studies from across the country that show how community mobilization with good governance can make a difference. The National Slum Dwellers Federation in Mumbai galvanized people to construct low-cost toilets. The successful Total Sanitation Campaign in Bangladesh, later adopted by West Bengal, has achieved extraordinary progress (see accompanying story).

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