Developing nations should strive to provide water security 8212; experts

It was important that countries in the subcontinent opt for continuous water supply to avoid contamination during storage, undetected leakage due to low pressure and to ensure accurate meter reading, he said.

Since water resources are a constraint, long term planning is needed to secure water rights as in most of the countries with intermittent supply, only the poor suffer the most, Mcintosh said.

The solution to intermittent water supply lies in putting the provision of supplying water into the hands of people qualified to manage water resources along with financial and human resources. 8220;It is about equitability where the rich and the poor have equal access to water,8221; he said.

Mcintosh called for specific action for water resource development like major tariff increases, less water consumption and more accountability to consumers.

8220;Only continuous water supply can ensure safety by way of keeping adequate pressure in the water distribution system WDS to avoid contamination from outside and making water available round the clock,8221; according to Rajesh Gupta and Pramod Bhave from the V R Engineering College, Nagpur.

Once continuous water supply is made available, then preventive maintenance programme had to be taken care of, they said.

Representatives from Northmbrian, a sister concern of the French company Suez Lyonnause Des Eaux which maintains continuous water supply in 120 countries including America and Europe, said that they have opened an office in Bangalore and might explore possibilities of having a dialogue with the Indian government to help establish continuous water supply throughout the country.

8220;We have to take up rehabilitation and renovation of existing infrastructure and make investments in new assets.8221;