Water: Unreliable supply in Delhi

Insufficient and inadequate infrastructure supply often hinders the economic development of cities in developing countries, despite large investments. Usually, the percentage of population with access to potable water is considered a relevant indicator of the progress achieved in supplying water. The validity of such a binary approach can be questioned, as reality is more complex. It presupposes that there are households with access to water, though the actual problem lies in the cost of access itself. This book based on a case study of Delhi highlights the qualitative dimensions of water supply for connected households, evaluating the consequences of an unreliable supply on households’ behaviour and estimating their costs.