competing attraction to Kennedy in a way that Rockefeller, battered by fate, and Javits, who will be sixty-four in 1968, are not.

As Mayor of a huge, trouble-prone city, however, Lindsay has formidable problems to solve and his rather free-and-easy campaign promises will not make his task any easier. He has pledged himself among other things to maintain the uneconomic fifteencent subway fare, undertake an ambitious. programme to reform narcotics addicts, spend two billion dollars on housing, and modernize and computerize the police force as well as increase its size. There is no money in the city treasury to meet these or any other increased costs. The city is running a capital-budget deficit on public-works projects already started and had to borrow money to balance its routine expense budget in the past year. The only hope is a giant infusion of Federal funds-which the city could reasonably request, since New York, after all, was not responsible for annexing Puerto Rico and making its residents citizens. Nor was it responsible for the lack of education and mistreatment of Negroes in Alabama and Mississippi for the past hundred years. Were it not for the influx of Puerto Ricans and Southern Negroes and the cost of trying to meet their needs, the Wagner Administration in recent years would have had budget surpluses pleasing to the most orthodox conservative.

But standing at the gateway to Federal funds is New York's Junior Senator, Robert Kennedy. Even under a Democratic Mayor he was already assuming a kind of viceroy role as the Federal Government's Mr. Big in New York City. Thus, in one week last June-the week when Wagner decided to retire-Kennedy made the front pages three times by his actions involving city problems. On Monday, June 7, he participated in a tour of the city's parks and recreation areas, bringing Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall in from Washington. On Wednesday, he and Javits introduced with considerable fanfare a bill providing a new approach to the treatment of narcotics addicts. The next day, he opened the anti-poverty office in Harlem. If Kennedy was as active as this in the Wagner period, he is not likely to slack off during Lindsay's tenure. He chafes at the passivity of the legislator's role and

Kennedy's intervention, coupled with the still heavy Democratic majority in the City Council, may make life hard for Mayor Lindsay. But the City of New York, which has been becalmed for so long by the consensus of Wagnerism and ignored for so long by the benumbed native Republicans, can only benefit from the lively competition of these two ambitious, fiercely determined, and socially responsible young politicians. -(Harper's Magazine)

International Road Federation

Fifty-five governments are to send toplevel delegations to London next month for the Fifth World Meeting of the International Road Federation. Nineteen of them will be led by senior ministers.

Lord Chesham, President of the World Meeting, speaking at a lunch in London, on August 9, said: "I don't remember any other meeting in London at which this number of governments was represented". Among those who attended the lunch for the World Meeting Council of Honour was the Minister of Transport, Mrs. Barbara Castle.. Mrs. Castle will officially open the six-day meeting on September 18th and welcome delegates from nearly 100 countries.

Lord Rootes, a former President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, told guests that the World Meeting would undoubtedly draw attention to the significance of road transport and of a first-class

road network in the economies of both developing and under-developed countries.

Road transport, Lord Rootes added, was an international problem and he hoped that industry would take full advantage of the knowledge to be gained from a frank interchange of ideas between road transport experts from all parts of the world.

Water Supply

Bombay's Water

Bombay city and suburbs, now facing an unprecedented water shortage, opened for their water supply on monsoon-oriented sources. Water is received by gravity from four lakes-Vaitarna, Tansa, Vihar and Tulsi.

Under normal conditions-when the lakes are full, and the trunk mains are in perfect condition-the maximum supply which could be brought to the Corporation's gauging station is 223 million gallons per day. Against this, the actual feasible draw-off is to-day about 210 mgpd.

This supply is hardly adequate to meet the basic needs of the city, as its actual demands are of the order of about 310 mgpd. This big deficit is the principal cause for the difficulties felt in the water supply to the city for the past few years.

The situation is further aggravated in summer when, due to the low levels in the lakes the draw-off comes down to about 200 mgpd, and even less. The average per capita availability for democratic use, which was 40 gallons in 1947, has now fallen to 29. In some parts of the extended suburbs, this figure is as low as 10 to 12 gallons. Defective Distribution

Of the total supply of 210 mgpd. brought to the city, 40 per cent is delivered into three reservoirs, whence it is drawn into the distribution system. The remaining 60 per cent is supplied directly to those areas which have no reservoirs, the supply being tapped from the mains. This system is defective, as it leads to unequal distribution of supply. To overcome it, a master-plan for improving distribution has been drawn up, under which 10 more service reservoirs are planned. Work on five of these has been taken up.

Contributing to the growing water scarcity is the rise in the population of the city and the extension of its area by the addition of new suburbs. Blueprints to meet the requirements of the growing population are many in the Corporation's history.

As far back as 1845, when the water position became critical, the Government set in motion measures to overcome the situation. Alarmed at the deficiency of water in the town, Government passed a resolution on June 2, 1845, appointing a committee to report immediately on the state of the wells on the island. Governmental machinery moved very fast and remedial measures were obtained quickly.

The history of water scarcity in Bombay is more than a century old. Though the Corporation undertook various schemes at brief intervals, they were not able to keep pace with the growing population of the city. In the pre-Vaitarna days, i.e., in 1947-48; the jurisdiction of the Corporation extended over the island of Bombay proper, the area of which was about 26 square miles and the estimated population in those days. was 23 lakhs.

The Corporation limits were extended in 1950, by including 68 sq, miles of suburbs on the east and on the west. These areas, in those days, had a total population of about four lakhs. In 1958, another 75 sq. miles of eastern and western suburbs, with a population of 1.5 lakhs, were added to the city limits, taking the total area under the Bombay Municipal Corporation's jurisdiction to 169 sq. miles.

The 1961 Census has revealed that the total population of Greater Bombay is about 41.5 lakhs-suburbs 8.75 lakhs. Apart from this, there is a floating population of about two to three lakhs. Estimated Demand

As a result of continuous representations and demonstrations outside the Corporation by affected people, a committee of experts was appointed to investigate and advise on future needs of the city. The report suggested the following figures: 1966-population 51 lakhs, probable demand-349 mgpd; 1971-50 lakhs, 418 mgpd; 1976-67 lakhs. 487 mgpd; 1981-75 lakhs, 560 mgpd.

The Corporation has, already sanctioned two schemes to meet the immediate deficit. The Upper Vaitarna, estimated to cost Rs. 42.18 crores, will supply about 120 mgpd. The other, the Dahisar river scheme, estimated to cost about Rs. 5.25 crores, will supply about six million gallons per day. Work on the two schenes has already begun.

When completed, these schemes will only wipe out the existing deficit. It would be necessary to implement other schemes to place water supply to Greater Bombay on a sound footing. The State Government has suggested the following schemes: (1) Bhatsai to give 250 mgpd., at an estimated cost of Rs. 66 crores and (2) Upper Kalu, to give 200 mgpd. at an estimated cost of Rs. 60 crores.

The Corporation has already given administrative to the Bhatsai approval scheme. Detailed field investigations and work on preparing plans and estimates have been taken up.

Assistance from the World Bank is being sought for the implementation of these larger schemes. Foreign exchange to the tune of about Rs. 15 crores is necessary for the Bhatsai scheme, for importing about 1,75.000 tons of steel plates and other

essential materials. The Union Government has already recommended this proposal to the World Bank for technical assistance grant, as a prelude to financial assistance.

To meet the present crisis, Government has taken steps to tap the Ulhas river for augmenting the city water supply. If the emergency preparations now being made are carried out according to schedule, the scheme could be completed within three months and the city's water supply would increase by about 40 million gallons daily.

One of the lessons of the present water scarcity is that the should Corporation undertake measures to tap river water a source so far neglected, for augmenting the supply to the city.

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