The political economy of water supply in Chennai, South India

Weber, Eberhard (2001) The political economy of water supply in Chennai, South India. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

By 2005, most of the people living on Earth will be living in cities. Even today the water supply in many urban agglomerations is a problem that is hard to solve. Not only conflicts among different users of the water available are arising, but also conflicts among urban and rural areas, and between different regions, which are competing for the same water.

‘Many Wars of this century has been fought for oil, but those of the coming century will be fought for water’. This pessimistic assessment of the vice-president of the World Bank, Dr. Ismail Serageldin (Frontline, 7 May 1999), shows the socially and politically explosive effects of water distribution and the conflicts attached to it.

In the past great efforts have been made to increase water supply. Dams have been constructed to expand irrigation areas, to tame rivers, to reduce flood damage, and to gain energy. Such projects however seem to be more and more difficult to realize (Perry et al., 1997). The most favourable sites have already been used, the ecological consequences have often proved negative (Goldsmith/
Hildyard, 1986; Singh, 1997) and in many countries social and political tensions have been the result of such mega projects (Baviskar, 1999; Dixon et al., 1989; Methfessel, 1988; Thukral (ed.), l992). Economically many of the realized constructions could not yield the expected (and often promised) results (Gulati, et al. 1994; Paranjpye, 1990).

Item Type:	Other
Uncontrolled Keywords:	India, water supply, Chennai, Political Ecology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment
Depositing User:	Eberhard Weber
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2014 21:04
Last Modified:	15 Jan 2014 21:04
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/7095

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