Right to water versus water pricing: challenges in Developing Countries
Water is essential for life, yet 884 million people across the globe lack access to clean water supply, partly due to lack of regional availability of water resources and partly due to the inability of the relevant governments to provide potable water for all. Although water has been internationally recognised as a fundamental human right and recently, as an economic good, many developing countries still do not acknowledge these provisions explicitly in the laws. While setting prices for water, developing countries grapple to balance the issues of equity, sustainability and affordability, as trying to make water available to the poor through lower tariffs often reduce the revenues for water utilities, making them unable to fulfil their obligations. This paper investigates the challenges faced by developing countries in relation to urban water supply and explores the issues in details with reference to four selected Asian countries: India, Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh.