The city’s households spend a minimum of 3% of their monthly income
towards water, particularly during drought conditions, to cope with the
shortfall in piped water supply.

With the growing gap between
demand and water availability, it is essential to have a water budget
and develop a sustainable drainage system during urban planning, experts
stressed here recently.

At a media workshop on ‘Floods, cyclone
and drought: The puzzle of Chennai’s water and climate’, organised by
Care Earth Trust, K.S. Kavi Kumar of Madras School of Economics said
many households with piped water connection spend Rs. 553 per month
towards water needs. Those without piped water supply spend Rs. 658 per
month on the same.

People without municipal water supply spend
nearly 6.2% of their monthly income towards sourcing water from the
private sector. Citing various studies, he said besides implementing
water metering system, the government sector must change the pricing
strategy. At present, the cost of water supply is nearly Rs. 13-15 per
kilo litre. Economic incentives may be provided to encourage reduction
in use.

Workshop on city’s water supply situation underlines the need to increase the reservoir capacity