Water and Health: Struggling for Survival in a South Indian Megacity

Floods during the monsoon period, water scarcity during the dry months, contaminated drinking water, lack of waste water facilities – embedded in this multifaceted water crisis the populations of the South Indian megacity Chennai are struggling just to maintain their health. The Munich Re Foundation rendered a start-up funding of a research project that seeks to reduce health risks for the urban poor.

Chennai megacity as a hotspot of risk

The megacity Chennai, located in South India at the Bay of Bengal, is a fast-growing metropolis. Its development is characterised by the widening gab between wealth and poverty and the exclusion of large parts of the urban population. On the one hand, the rapidly expanding information technology (IT) sector is establishing a wealthy urban middle class. On the other hand, there is a growing vulnerable population, which is forced to settle in marginal areas. These people are mostly living in precarious circumstances. Typically they do not have enough capabilities to cope with crises to which they are frequently exposed. This is conspicuous when water related risks in Chennai are considered: People who live in slum communities are the most affected by water scarcity with which the city is regularly struggling. In fact, while the wealthy consume as much as 300 litres per capita per day, the poor have to get along with only 16 litres. They even have to pay a higher price for the water they get. Furthermore the slum dwellers, whose settlements are often located in low lying areas and along riverbanks, are particularly affected by urban floods caused by tropical cyclones during the monsoon. In the course of these catastrophes, they are not only loosing their belongings but they are also suffering from manifold health problems such as malaria, diarrhoea, and typhoid from heavily contaminated drinking water and disease transmitting vectors.

Outline of the project

The research project focuses on the health of the vulnerable population living with water related risks. Water is essential for the survival of human beings. Water fulfils fundamental human needs, being used for drinking, personal hygiene and a wide range of other uses. Yet water can also be a source of risk for human health. Health is a crucial asset for the survival of vulnerable people, whose only possession is often their ability to work. As the first empirical analysis shows, impaired health does not only lead to loss of income, but is a grave burden for the affected household, e.g. through the treatment expenses, with which they can hardly cope. Therefore the research project explores the following question set:What do vulnerable people who are continuously threatened by water related risks do to protect their health? What are the constraints and the enabling factors for coping and adaptation among vulnerable people? How can their coping options be extended? How can the water related threats be minimised? How can the resilience against water related health risks of the vulnerable be strengthened?

Outlook

The first field trip, which was co-financed by the Munich Re Foundation, has explored the possibilities and limits of the research project and preparatory surveys have been conducted. Since October 2006 the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are financing the cooperative project between the University of Bonn and Madras University. The funding enables the project to involve a female Indian doctoral student.

Contact

Prof. Dr. H.-G. Bohle

Prof. Dr. T. Vasantha Kumaran

Patrick Sakdapolrak

Jaganathan