Public Facilities Class 8

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.

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 under this section:

1. Anna Nagar in Chennai is a lush and green neighborhood 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 where 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. 
2. 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. 
3. 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.

Check Out: Class 8 Pollution of Air and Water

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 diarrhea, 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.

Must Read: Class 8 Resources

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 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. Chennai’s water supply is characterized by shortages. 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 fewer. The poor take 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.

Check Out: Colonialism and the City Class 8 Notes

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 liters 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 liters of water per day (one bucket), while people in luxury hotels can consume up to 1,600 liters (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 supply of water. They would be able to outperform.

NCERT Solutions Public Facilities Class 8

Take some of the public facilities in your area, such as water, electricity, etc. Is there scope to improve these? What in your opinion should be done? Complete the table.

Public Facilities	Is it available?	How can it be improved?
Water
Electricity
Road
Public Transport

Answer:

Public Facilities	Is it available?	How can it be improved?
Water	yes	Construct independent water tanks and have water available 24 hours a day.
Electricity	yes	Making power accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week by preventing electricity theft and conserving energy.
Road	yes	No improvement is needed. But if there are no proper roads, then the construction of new roads, more flyovers and highways will be of help.
Public Transport	yes	While public transportation is adequate, greater access to more parts of the city can be accomplished by adding new buses and increasing bus frequency.

(The answers may vary due to different opinions)

We hope the notes and NCERT solutions provided on “Public Facilities Class 8’’ were helpful to you. Check out more Class 8 notes for SST, Science and other subjects here! Stay tuned to Leverage Edu for more such informative reads!