URBAN WATER CRISIS: Rationale for Pricing

This book is one of the first attempts in India to look at the demand side aspects of water resource management. While focusing on urban residential water in Rajasthan this study deals with the following issues: (i) demand and supply of water, (ii) cost and pricing of water, (iii) distributional aspects of residential water, (iv) estimation of actual water use pattern at the household level, (v) estimation of the water demand functions at aggregate (town) and disaggregate (household) levels, and (vi) estimation of households willingness and ability to pay for improved water supply. In the process the study questions the rationale for continuing subsidies for urban residential water and systematically builds a strong case for cost-based pricing of water.