Public Facilities Class 8 Notes

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 most 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.
3. 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.

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 fulfill 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.

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.

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 about 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.

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.
You can download the Public Facilities Class 8 Notes PDF by clicking on the link given below.