Water Woes Vs. Water Vows! (Mail Today- 23 March 2011)

Tarni Manchanda

You will need to drink water today, just like you did yesterday and will tomorrow, but today is World Water Day. It is the year 2011 and we all know that India, a country that once boasted of baolis, kunds, and other methods of traditional water management, is facing what looks like a nasty water scarcity. Water falls from the sky, flows in rivers and is an arm of nature as it makes plants stand up and holds the soil together. Living beings are alive because of water. Logically, every human should have enough water to drink, as should the plants and animals that are all a part of the balance of life on Earth. The question people tend to worry about at this point however is- do we have enough water left on the planet?

Let’s use World Water Day to reflect on water related movements in 2010, in Delhi’s scenario two words stand out: ‘equitable’ and ‘sustainable.’ This year we saw protests for clean water from marginalized communities in East Delhi, longer daily queues behind water tankers all over Delhi, and yet – severe monsoon flooding in the River Yamuna. People continued to wash big cars with pipes of gushing water, while others in the city continued to drink yellow contaminated water. All this also happened in the year that the General Assembly of the United Nations, on the 28^th of July, recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right.

Conclusion: some people have easy access to consume a lot more water than others in Delhi. At the same time, we still don’t know if there is enough water for the rest in the city.

In terms of Delhi’s supply, the Yamuna River in Delhi is dead, groundwater is being extracted faster than it is replenished while the Hathnikund Barrage, Tehri and Bhakra Dams were built to bring water to Delhi. The planning commission has said that Delhi has more water per capita than many European cities like Paris and Amsterdam. YES, we have enough water in Delhi – let’s distribute it equitably and manage it sustainably.

In 2000, Bolivians in South America protested and prevented the privatization of their water resources. In 2005, Delhi’s citizens fought off privatization. Governments say privatization is a solution to inequitable water distribution and inefficiency. According to Himanshu Thakkar a keen observer of water issues and coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, “Governance of water supply system needs to be more transparent, accountable and participatory and it is because of the absence of these qualities that the water system is inefficient, wasteful, inequitable, and economically unviable. But instead of addressing the lack of transparency, accountability and participation, they are saying they will solve the problems by privatization, which is barking up the wrong tree.”

Another government solution proposed to address Delhi’s supposed water scarcity is the building of new dams, such as Renuka Dam in Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh or dams in Uttarakhand. The Renuka Dam will submerge more than 1000 villages, and destroy a fertile agricultural valley where people already live sustainably and distribute resources equitably.

In light of the gloomy facts presented above, you may decide to mourn World Water Day. Here, however, lies the hope- the key to sustainably managed and equitably distributed water resources is the reclamation of water as a common property resource, something to share and use carefully. Communities have revived water sources around India and the world. People in Delhi are reviving baolis for water management, others have come together to build check dams and demand water rights in Maharashtra, communities in Rajasthan have revived rivers. The strength of communities who realize their responsibility over water resources, has lead to movements and positive change. On the 15^th of April 2011, an estimated 1 lakh people from Braj and other places downstream of the Yamuna, will march to Jantar Mantar in Delhi to voice their concerns over the death of the River Yamuna. I think this leaves hope for World Water Day 2012, I hope Delhiites join them!