Articles by Keith Schneider

Keith Schneider is senior editor and chief correspondent at Circle of Blue [http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/]. A two-time winner of the George Polk Award and other honours for his work, he also reports on energy, agriculture, the environment, and policy for The New York Times, where he has served as a national correspondent and contributor since 1981.

The story behind the $180-million industry fuelled by Chennai water crisis

by May 17, 2017

Rajan tried all manner of entrepreneurial enterprises. He sold scrap paper and cardboard to recyclers. He built a street corner chai and cigarette cart, and repaired truck and bus tires. He started an office cleaning service for high-tech companies in the growing IT sector south of the city center. None of these delivered the financial returns and workday flexibility of selling clear, sky blue, 20-litre water “cans” in Chennai’s immense bottled water industry. The 32-year-old business owner, stocky and muscled, fits the enterprise. Every day, Rajan explained through an interpreter, he and a partner purchase some 200, 20-litre water cans…

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