Políticas públicas de saneamento básico, redes e o território na Baixada Fluminense, RJ Brasil)

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief overview about the access to water and sanitary services conditions at Baixada Fluminense, metropolitan area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We adopt a perspective that deals with sanitary services as a human right and not just as a simple priced service. They are inherently related to the territory used, to the implementation and infrastructure networks control, and to the development and promotion of public health and social justice guarantee. In this sense, in light of a theoretical debate on infrastructure networks, public policies and territory, we aim to present analytical data from the Baixada Fluminense, highlighting territorial inequalities. We draw a methodology based on a specialized bibliographic review and a water and sewage indicators analysis obtained from a historical series of the National Sanitary Information System (SNIS) under the Ministry of Regional Development. Despite numerous public policies and investment programs in recent decades, the inequalities in access to sanitary services at the Baixada Fluminense are impressive, revealing deep territorial inequalities between its municipalities and between the capital, Rio de Janeiro. The sanitary sewage infrastructure stands out negatively, marked by a sewage insufficient collection and low treatment rates, in addition to deficiencies in the information system (SNIS), whose data is provided by the service companies themselves.