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Water is used as a primary example in Chapter 9 of CBSE Class 8 SST Civics “Public Facilities Class 8” to address public services. It is essential that students learn exactly what is implied by the concept of public services and why the government must play a critical role in their provision and therefore assume overall responsibility. Browsing through these CBSE Class 8 Civics Notes will help students prepare more competently for the exam.
Download Social Science Class 8 Civics Chapter 9 Important Questions and Answers PDF
Important Short Notes in NCERT Class 8 Chapter 9
Water and the People of Chennai
The first section of Public Facilities Class 8 focuses on the situation of water shortage and scarcity in Chennai. Let’s take a look at the important points to remember in this section:
- Anna Nagar in Chennai is a lush and green neighbourhood with lawns that are kept lush and green by liberal watering. For the most part of the day, tap water is available in this region. On days when the public water source is insufficient, residents should contact the municipal water board’s senior officer and a water tanker is sent to their homes.
- Meanwhile, Mylapore is suffering from a water shortage and receives city water only once every two days. Any of the residents’ water needs are met by a private borewell. Borewell water, on the other hand, is freshwater, so people use it in their toilets and for cleaning. Water is imported from tankers for other purposes at a monthly rate of Rs 500-600. Water is sent to the Madipakkam region every four days. Residents must purchase bottled water to drink.
- Saidapet Slum is another place where certain hutments lack both a bathroom and a water supply. There is a popular tap in one corner for 30 such hutments, where water comes from a borewell for 20 minutes twice a day, allowing a family to fill a maximum of three buckets. The same water is used for drinking and bathing. In the summer, the river slows to a trickle, allowing one family to get water at the expense of another. People must wait for water tankers for lengthy periods of time.
Water as Part of the Fundamental Right to Life
As one of the most important natural resources, Water is essential for human beings to exist. The Class 8 chapter on Public Facilities elaborates on the following points focusing on how water is a part of the fundamental right to life:
- Water is important for life and good health, and it is also needed to fulfil our everyday needs. Healthy drinking water also avoids many water-related diseases. Every day, over 1,600 Indians, the majority of whom are children under the age of five, die as a result of water-related diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, and so on.
- Access to clean drinking water will help in the prevention of these deaths. According to Article 21 of the Constitution, the right to water is a component of the right to life. As a result, it is the right of any citizen, rich or poor, to have enough water to meet his or her everyday needs at a price that he or she can afford.
- In other words, everybody should have access to clean water. In some cases, both the High Courts and the Supreme Court have ruled that the right to clean drinking water is a Fundamental Right.
Public Facilities
Other required items aside from water, Class 8 Public Facilities also talks about the importance of access to public services such as healthcare and sanitation. Electricity, public transportation, classrooms, and colleges are also required. The most critical feature of a public facility is that once it is built, its advantages can be enjoyed by a large number of citizens.
The Government’s Role
The next section in Class 8 Public Facilities elaborates upon the part that the government plays in ensuring public access to basic utilities. Here is a summary of this sub-section:
- The government is responsible for supplying residents with public services. They must ensure that all services are open to everyone. In the economy, private companies exist to make a profit. There is little benefit to be made in the majority of public facilities. As a result, a private corporation is unlikely to be involved in doing such work.
- In a city, some private companies often provide water through tankers or provide drinking water in sealed bottles- not at affordable prices- living by the rule that people can get as much as they can pay for will mean that many people who cannot afford to pay will be deprived of the ability to live a decent life.
- People’s basic issues are met by public facilities. The right to life guaranteed by the Constitution applies to all citizens of this republic. As a result, the burden for providing public services must fall solely on the shoulders of the government.
Where does the government get money for public facilities?
The government budget is presented to Parliament next year. This is a breakdown of the government’s spending on programs over the last year and how much it expects to invest in the next year.
Water Supply to Chennai: Is it Available to All?
Here are some important factors mentioned in Class 8 Public Facilities pertaining to the availability of water in terms of water shortage in Chennai:
- Everybody should have access to public services. However, those services are in short supply. Shortages characterize Chennai’s water supply. On average, municipal supply serves just about half of the needs of the city’s residents.
- Water supply is more secure in some regions than in others. Colonies closer to the storage locations receive more rainfall, while colonies farther away receive less. The poor take the burden of the burden of water supply shortages.
- Few people have access to safe drinking water, depending on their financial situation. It seems that only those with resources have the right to water, which is far from the objective of equal access to “sufficient and clean” water.
In Search of Alternatives
Class 8 Public Facilities also provides the following useful alternatives for tackling water shortage:
- Chennai’s case is not exceptional. During the summer months, other cities in India face a similar scenario of scarcity and extreme crisis. Municipal water shortages are rapidly being filled by an increase in the number of private companies that sell water for profit.
- Water consumption inequalities are still common. The Urban Water Commission has set a minimum of 135 litres of water per person per day (roughly seven buckets) in an urban area in India. People in slums must make do with less than 20 litres of water per day (one bucket), while people in luxury hotels can consume up to 1,600 litres (80 buckets) per day.
- Municipal water scarcity is a symptom of government failure. Some people claim that because local water services are losing money, the government should authorize private corporations to take over the water supply. They would be able to outperform.
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Chapter 9 Public Facilities
Q.1 Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Ans. Water is a basic necessity. Hence, A standard of living requires universal access to clean drinking water. It must be made available to all, either for free or at a reasonable cost. However, since private companies are primarily concerned with maximizing income, there has been a significant increase in the price of water in situations where the responsibility for water supplies has been delegated to private companies. Many people have been unable to afford water as a result of this. Cities saw massive protests, with unrest breaking out in many locations. As a result, the government was forced to retake the operation from private ownership. As a result, there are only a few cases of private water sources in the country.
Q.2 Do you think water in Chennai is available to and affordable for all? Discuss.
Ans. In Chennai, not all residents have fair access to water. Chennai’s water supply is provided by the municipality, which is unable to satisfy 100% of the demand. Some areas have a consistent water supply, and others have an irregular water supply. People in the middle and upper classes purchase bottled drinking water or tanker water. The poor take the burden of the risk of water supply shortages because they cannot cover the costs of tankers or bottled water. Colonies closer to the storage points receive more rainfall, while colonies farther away receive less.
Q.3 How is the sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai affecting the local people? Do you think local people can object to such exploitation of groundwater? Can the government do anything in this regard?
Ans. Due to the scarcity of water, private firms have taken the opportunity to supply water to cities by purchasing it from various locations in the city. Water is brought into Chennai from nearby towns such as Karungizhi Palur and Mamandur villages to the north of the city by a fleet of over 13,000 water tankers. Water dealers pay farmers a monthly advance for the right to access water supplies on their property. As a result, the water taken away not only creates a shortfall for agricultural purposes but also contributes to a lack of drinking water sources in the villages. As a result, the groundwater level in all these towns and villages has dropped dramatically.
Q.4 Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Ans. The majority of private schools and hospitals are situated in cities rather than towns or villages. Since their ultimate goal is to maximize benefits, the facilities they provide are expensive and can only be afforded by the city’s wealthy residents.
Q.5 Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair? Give an example of your own to explain.
Ans. Although there is no question that public services should be made open to everyone, we see a severe lack of such facilities in fact. Our country’s allocation of public services is neither satisfactory nor equal. For example, Delhi residents have access to all public services, including healthcare and sanitation, water, electricity, schools, colleges, and public transportation. However, if we travel a few kilometres away to places like Mathura or Aligarh, people face severe shortages of these amenities. Water shortages and power failures are common occurrences in those areas. Public transportation is still underdeveloped. Towns and villages are underserved in comparison to metropolitan areas and major cities. Poorer areas are underdeveloped in comparison to wealthy areas. Giving these facilities to private corporations is not an option. The crucial thing to remember is that every resident of the country has a right to these facilities, which should be made available to everyone in an equal manner.
Q.6 Are the above public facilities shared equally by all the people in your area? Elaborate.
Ans. No, the facilities mentioned above, are not distributed uniformly throughout the regions. Everyone should not have fair access to water. Slum-dwellers must make do with a single water tap, while each house in a middle-class neighbourhood has a different water link. While people of middle-class homes buy water from tankers to meet their needs, those in slums cannot afford it. However, other facilities, like electricity, roads and public transport are shared equally by all.
Q.7 Private educational institutions – schools, colleges, universities, and technical and vocational training institutes are coming up in our country in a big way. On the other hand, educational institutes run by the government are becoming relatively less important. What do you think would be the impact of this? Discuss.
Ans. Education is a fundamental right, and everybody should have equal access to it. However, since the primary goal of private education institutes is to make a profit, they demand outrageous fees that are only available to the most wealthy members of society. As a result, only the wealthy class has the right to a good university. Similarly, if government education institutes are not up to the mark, then weaker sections are again deprived of quality education. This, in turn, results in the disparity of quality education between the rich and the poor.
Explore CBSE Civics Class 7 Notes
FAQs
Water is a basic necessity. Hence, A standard of living requires universal access to clean drinking water. It must be made available to all, either for free or at a reasonable cost. However, since private companies are primarily concerned with maximizing income, there has been a significant increase in the price of water in situations where the responsibility for water supplies has been delegated to private companies. Many people have been unable to afford water as a result of this. Cities saw massive protests, with unrest breaking out in many locations. As a result, the government was forced to retake the operation from private ownership. As a result, there are only a few cases of private water sources in the country.
In Chennai, not all residents have fair access to water. Chennai’s water supply is provided by the municipality, which is unable to satisfy 100% of the demand. Some areas have a consistent water supply, and others have an irregular water supply. People in the middle and upper classes purchase bottled drinking water or tanker water. The poor take the burden of the risk of water supply shortages because they cannot cover the costs of tankers or bottled water. Colonies closer to the storage points receive more rainfall, while colonies farther away receive less.
The majority of private schools and hospitals are situated in cities rather than towns or villages. Since their ultimate goal is to maximize benefits, the facilities they provide are expensive and can only be afforded by the city’s wealthy residents.
Although there is no question that public services should be made open to everyone, we see a severe lack of such facilities in fact. Our country’s allocation of public services is neither satisfactory nor equal.
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