Our urban bodies cannot possibly ensure sustainable delivery of water in our cities unless financing mechanisms are put in place. Water delivery requires heavy investment in collecting it from a natural source, treating it to make it potable, and laying a distribution network of pipes for delivery to the users. It also requires investments in sewerage infrastructure and sewage treatment plants so that the sewers can carry the wastewater to these plants to ensure that no untreated sewage is discharged back into natural water bodies. If our cities were rich enough to meet the entire cost, water could be delivered free. They are not.

Correct Option (B)

The passage explicitly states that urban bodies cannot ensure sustainable water delivery without adequate financing mechanisms. It details the heavy investments required for water collection, treatment, distribution, and sewerage infrastructure, concluding that cities are not financially capable of bearing the entire cost. This directly implies a fundamental inefficiency or inadequacy in the current financial capacity of urban local bodies to sustainably meet the water requirements of cities.

Incorrect Options:

• Option (A): While cost recovery through user charges could be a potential financing mechanism, the passage does not specifically advocate for or mention user charges as the solution. Its primary focus is on the lack of financial capacity and the necessity of "financing mechanisms" in a broader sense, rather than prescribing a particular method of cost recovery.

• Option (C): The passage identifies a significant challenge related to financing water infrastructure but does not suggest that the problem of water shortage is perennial or unsolvable. Instead, it points towards the need for "financing mechanisms" as a pathway to ensure sustainable delivery, implying that solutions are possible with appropriate financial structures.

• Option (D): The passage's central theme revolves around the financial investment required for water and sewerage infrastructure and the capacity of urban bodies to fund these. It does not discuss or propose population control as a solution to the water crisis; the focus remains on infrastructure and financial sustainability.