India's urban poor suffer water crisis as cities grow

There's no escaping urban India's growth.

In the capital, hundreds of migrants arrive daily at railway and bus stations, densely populated slums burgeon at the seams and building complexes, shopping malls and industrial plants are sprouting up in every direction.

But as industrialisation takes effect and growing numbers of rural populations move to towns and cities like New Delhi, experts say the inability to provide clean and safe drinking water - especially to the urban poor - has reached crisis point.

"Higher demand for water, increased pollution by humans and industry and the mismanagement of water is most of all impacting the poorest people in the country's towns and cities," said Sushmita Sengupta of a Delhi-based think-tank, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

"Cities are already water-stressed and with increasing urbanisation, we need to learn to stop wasting vital resources."

According to India's last census in 2001, around 286 million - 28 percent of population - live in towns and cities.

This is projected to reach around 575 million people in 2030, which will mean around 40 percent of India's total population will be urban.

Yet no major cities and towns have a 24x7 water supply. Most households receive water twice daily - in the morning and evening - with many middleclass families relying on water storage tanks.

Water cuts that last days are becoming increasingly common in the scorching summer months, and water protests and reports of violence over water scarcity are on the rise in urban centres.

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