When there is a great shortage of public facilities like water, the burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor. The middle class citizens are able to cope through a variety of private means such as digging borewells, buying water from tankers and using bottled water for drinking. The wealthy have more choices, they can afford bottled water and water purifiers. People who can afford it have safe drinking water whereas the poor are again left out. So it becomes apparent that it is only people with money who have the right to water-a far cry from the goal of universal access to 'sufficient and safe water'.

Porto Alegre It is a city in Brazil. What is remarkable is that despite having a large number of poor people, the city has a far lower number of infant deaths. The average price of water is kept low and the poor are charged half the basic rate. Whatever profit the department earns is used to improve the water supply in the city. The water department functions in a transparent manner; people have a direct say in deciding which projects should be taken up by the government. Through a process of public meetings, people hear what the managers have to say and also, vote on their priorities.

No, in Chennai, water is not available to all  equally and it is not affordable by all. The municipal water supply meets only half the needs of the people of the city. There are areas which receive more water than others as they are closer to the storage point. The poor people are the worst sufferers as they do not have a water connection and even the brackish water from borewell is available for only 20 minutes everyday. They cannot afford to buy bottled water, so they have to make do with the poor quality and limited supply of water. Those comparatively well-off get submersible pumps installed and buy bottled water.

This is because private companies work for profit and not for public welfare. They provide water supply at a price which only some people can afford. This leads to huge protests by the people thereby forcing the government to take back the service from private companies. This is why, there are so few cases of private water supply in the world.

Taxes paid by salaried persons are Income tax, House tax, Water tax, etc. Taxes paid by business persons/ shopkeepers are Service tax, VAT, Excise and Custom duties.

The budget is an account of the expenses the government has incurred on its programmes in the past year and how to spend in the forth coming year. The main source of revenue for the government is the taxes collected from the people. The government is empowered to collect these taxes and use them for such programmes. The government also charges a price for water. For instance, to supply water the government has to incur costs in pumping water, carrying it over long distances, laying down pipes for distribution, treating the water for impurities and finally, collecting and treating waste water. This price is set in a way such that most people can afford a certain minimum amount of water for daily use. 

The situation of water supply in Chennai is not  very good. All citizens do not have equal access to water.
Anna Nagar, where senior government officials live, in lush green with-maintained lawns due to generous spraying of water. The bungalows here have tap water for major part of the day. In case the water supply is inadequate, residents here get water tankers arranged easily for themselves.
Mylapore suffers from water shortage. This area gets municipal water once in two days.Residents meet their water needs with the help of private borewells. Borewell water is however brackish, so residents use it in their toilets and for washing. For other uses, water is purchasecd from tankers. For drinking water, residents have installed water purification systems in their homes.
Madipakkam house in this city get water once in four days. Water shortage is an accepted way of life in this area. Residents buy bottled water for drinking.
Saidapet slum dwellers near Saidapet live in hutments that do not have water taps. They collect water for their daily needs from a common tap at the corner of the street. Water is supply to this common tap from a borewell for 20 minutes, twice daily. They get about 3 buckets of water daily. During summer months even this meagre supply is reduced.     

If private companies are given the responsibility of providing public facilities such as water, they will charge more. In such a situation, only some people will be able to afford to buy water. Thus, even though some private companies are providing the facility of water, this facility is not available to all at an affordable rate. If we go by the rule that people will get as much as they can pay for, then many people will be deprived of the opportunity to live a decent life. The government not private companies should work towards making available public facilities for all and guarantee the Right to Life.