About 1.2 billion people in the world live with inadequate
access to safe drinking water. Over 2.6 billion do not have access to sanitation facilities
In developing countries 80 per cent of the health
problems are linked to inadequate water and sanitation, claiming the lives of nearly 1.8 million children every year
Experts concur the problem is a water governance crisis. As
competition for water becomes intense, corruption affects all aspects of the sector water resource management, drinking water and sanitation
services, irrigation, hydropower and dams
Corruption affects both private and public water services. Every
year, 10-30 per cent of the funds allocated for managing the water sector are being siphoned off. At this rate, the cost of
water connection over the next decade will increase by 30 per cent
In industrialized countries, corruption is more common in awarding of
contracts for building and operating municipal water infrastructure. The market is worth us $210
billion a year in western Europe, North America and Japan alone
In developing countries bribes to win contracts range from 1 to 6 per cent
of the contract values. Petty corruption is rampant in service delivery
In China, corruption has left 90 per cent of the
aquifers polluted and over 75 per cent of the river water flowing through urban areas unfit for drinking or fishing
In India, corruption undermines irrigation, as bribe
exceeds 25 per cent of the contract value. Malpractices are common in tanker supply (73 per cent), meter installation (71 per cent), bill
payment (43 per cent) and new connections or restoration of water supply (67 per cent). Financial leakages in watershed
management programmes range from 30 to 45 per cent of the approved amounts
| Types of corruption in water sector | |
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| In percentage (An analysis of cases in Bangladesh) |
In Bangladesh, cases of corruption in projects run by
the water resources ministry is estimated to have cost up to us $1.5 billion between 2001 and
2006 Regions with chronic water problems are South Asia, China,
sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia, Australia, the western us and South America's Andean region Climate change, which is escalating environmental
degradation, adds new pressures to the problem Given the current projections on climate change, by 2025, more
than 3 billion people could be living in water-stressed countries. Crop yields are expected to fall by 25 per cent, giving rise to
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