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Water Wars | Associated Articles
Deccan Herald, April 24, 2005
India’s water wars
Water, a daily commodity, is being privatised. Eco-feminists like Dr Vandana
Shiva who are battling this crisis, may be our only hope for a better future
in this regard, writes Malvika Kaul.
Today, 1.3 billion persons in the world don’t have access to safe drinking water and some 2.4 billion are denied sanitation. According to experts, this silent emergency kills 6,000 people daily. Increasingly, privatisation of water services- where water becomes a commodity owned by a few instead of a natural resource owned by common people- is being promoted as the new mantra to solve the crisis. But eco-feminists like Dr Vandana Shiva are campaigning against this corporate hijack of water.
At the recent Third International Conference on Women and Water- 2005, held in Dehradun, Dr Shiva spoke about the politics of water and the “water stress” women undergo in their daily lives.
More and more countries, including India, are taking the road to privatisation of water. Yet you are against this concept....
How can you make water a commodity? Water is a living system, a life giver, sacred to many communities. But private companies see water only as a commodity. They see water only in terms of dollars, a moveable commodity that can be moved from its original source and sold to a largely urban population for profit.
I am against this concept as an eco-feminist too- commodification of a natural resource is patriarchal in thinking. In different cultures, women are closer to water. They are also trained to live within the limits of water- consuming only as much is necessary and always leaving enough for others. Gender considerations are at the heart of providing, managing and conserving our finite water resources.The water world is solidly “male.”
Now, water management is being handed over to big transnational companies (TNCs)- who they stand for big water systems, massive water pipelines, latest technology. But they take away a person’s right/access to a natural resource. Big can mean stupid too. Look at the big river-linking plan of the government. It does not need intelligence to stop or divert the flow of a river!
Even the Indian government is encouraging the entry of international private companies in the water sector. Delhi’s water crisis is expected to be resolved once the Sonia Vihar treatment plant comes up?
All the five giant companies entering the water market today are basically construction companies- Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (French), Bechtel Enterprises (American), Vivendi Environment (a French company now called Veslia), RWE/Thames Water (German) and Saur (French). They are known to build canals and sewage systems. And they all have entered the water market for huge profits.
The Sonia Vihar treatment plant (inaugurated in June 2002) is designed on a 10-year (build-operate-transfer) basis, at a cost of Rs 1.8 billion (approx. $50 million). The contract between Delhi Jal Board and the French company, Ondeo Degremont (a subsidiary of water giant Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Water Division), is supposed to provide safe drinking water for Delhi.
Where will the water come from?
It will come from the Tehri dam through the Upper Ganga Canal in Uttaranchal and then through a giant pipeline. The canal is the main source of irrigation for the region, the lifeline of hundreds and thousands of people in the region. Thousands of families have been displaced due to Tehri. Thousands more will be affected once the canal is fully operational.
In this region, women suffer from severe water stress. In recent years, many have committed suicide because they cannot travel ten km every day to fetch water. They have been used to staying close to water. But now they cannot access water which was always there for them.
But water is a political issue today. If people in Delhi don’t get water, the politicians panic. People see Sonia Vihar project as the answer to their prolonged demand.
People in Delhi don’t know, otherwise they would not accept the Sonia Vihar deal. The water is ours (Ganges); the sacrifice is ours (families displaced due to the Tehri dam) and the payment is also ours (what Delhi residents will eventually be paying). But instead of us having control over our water, it is Suez that will have control and charge us- and call it full cost accounting!
But even some environmentalists argue that the water crisis is largely due to wastage of water and that once people are made to pay for it, the crisis will end.
This misconception is because of our understanding of water. The privatisation lobby sees water as a commodity. They believe it should not be free, even for the people who live near a river- the rural communities. But I believe that it is not free anyway. A villager's (usually a woman) labour is involved in getting the water. She pays the price through her labour. By channelling more and more water to overcome the scarcity in the cities, they are making the poor communities pay a huge price. But this loss is not being accounted for.
So, what are the alternatives?
Instead of going for this privatisation model by big giants, we need to tap indigenous knowledge to revive water systems, conserve what we have, take only as much as we need. Women must take the lead here, as they are more connected with water in their daily lives.
Instead of the pubic-private partnership that the government and the water barons are talking about, we must go for public-public partnership. We need to enact and reinforce water legislation that conserves water.
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