World Water Day special
- 22 March 2009 -
Water Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink
Water constitutes about three fourths of the earth’s surface, but only less than one percent of it can be used by its inhabitants. Most of it is salt water oceans (about 97%) and 2% of it is contained in glaciers. With every country seeking to satisfy its ever increasing water needs from shrinking and limited water resources, there could be a future of conflict. As the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon remarked recently that water scarcity is the potential fuel for wars and conflict. But cooperation, not conflict should guide us in our quest for a solution to this crisis.In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22, as the World Water Day (WWD) to draw international attention to the critical lack of clean, safe drinking water worldwide. The theme for this year’s WWD is ‘Shared Water—Shared Opportunity’, with the focus on transboundary water management and sharing. There are about 263 transboundary lakes and river basins, which include territories of 145 countries and cover nearly half of the earth’s land surface.Despite an apparent abundance of clean water in most of the developed nations, more than 1 billion people around the world lack clean safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation services. One third of the earth’s population lives in ‘water stressed’ countries. The crisis is worst in sub Saharan Africa and South Asia .Lack of clean drinking water and basic sanitation is a big obstacle to progress and development. The worst sufferers are women and children who have to trudge long distances to retrieve meager amounts of water for domestic use. This prevents them from pursuing an education and earning more or doing any thing more productive. The quest for water can drive one mad..India faces a rapidly worsening water crisis in urban and rural areas. A soaring population, a speedy sprawl of cities, a vast and thirsty farm belt and indiscriminate use of water has left water, in our country, too scarce in some places, contaminated in others and in useless surfeit for others who are flooded every year. . The result is there for all of us to see and ponder. More than 700 million Indians do not have adequate sanitation, let alone safe drinking water. According to a UN report, about 2.1 million children die every year, largely for lack of clean water.Changing life styles and dietary habits, private control over water resources and climate changes (resulting in floods and droughts) are all worsening the water crisis and wreaking an economic and ecological havoc on our blue planet. Poor countries, like India , are at a greater risk as water scarcity threatens the health and livelihood of their populace.Ground water depletion is a major environmental concern in our country and calls for an immediate and effective agenda in ground water management. Coca cola bottling plants are contributing largely to this in regions where they are situated. Over use of pesticides/chemicals has added to ground water pollution in rural areas. People in some regions of India are compelled to drink water polluted with an excess of fluoride leading to dental fluorosis and arthritis. Water borne diseases are still a bane of our society.To get a bucket of drinking water is a struggle for many rural women. The cost of fetching water in India is almost equivalent to 150 million women days each year, which amounts to 10 billion rupees. In Rajasthan, the desert state of India , a rural woman walks, on an average, 14,000 km. a year just to fetch water. Their urban sisters are slightly better off, standing in long queues for hours together, to collect water from public taps or lorries. There is a grim rural saying in one water starved region of India which translates into—‘Let the husband die, but the earthen pot of water should not be broken.’Even in metropolitan cities like Delhi , Chennai, Bangalore , Hyderabad , intense water rationing takes place and the residents are relying more and more on private water tankers to meet their daily requirement of this very precious commodity.It is ironic that even as India is touted as a global power to reckon with, the Indian government has failed to deliver the most basic of all needs to its citizens. In fact water should not be a demand or a need, but a basic human right, just like clean breathing air. Yet, it has become a commercial product, like oil, thanks to a lack of political will and citizens’ apathy.The need of the hour is rain water harvesting, judicious use of water for domestic use and, above all, the political will to tackle the problem.. I remember that in my childhood, the domestic taps rarely went dry and none of us ever used private water purifying systems at home. Now the scenario is reversed. The taps seem to be there just for decorative purposes, unless there is a booster pump (which is usually connected to the main supply and still works at specific hours). The water thus obtained is not fit for human consumption till it is boiled, filtered or chemically purified. So basically the supply of clean, potable water is a business which is in private hands. This will have to go. . Public- private partnership will have to be replaced by public- public (government) partnerships. In Thailand , I was appalled to see the concept of just buying bottled water for drinking purposes. In India , too, the trend is catching on, but most of the urban households still resort to purifying water obtained from taps/ private tankers.Of course, we are as much to blame as the government. Our daily domestic requirement of this scarce commodity has increased by leaps and bounds over the years. Clothes/dish washer machines, flush toilet systems, shower baths, water hose watering of house plants and car washes are just some of the areas which use water insensitively. In the city of Delhi alone 4.5 crore litres of potable water is used every day to wash its 30 lakh odd cars. The city also boasts of 300,000 private tube wells.What can we do at our level to reduce this global water crisis? Well for starts, let us solemnly resolve not to waste water and, if possible, limit its use. Children, as well as adults will have to realize the impact of water shortage. Only if we would:1. Not use the toilet as an ash tray or a waste basket to flush avoidable trash. Every time we use the flush, we actually use about 12 litres of water.2. Turn off the tap while brushing our teeth in the morning and at night. This will save about 20 litres of water everyday.3. Fix up leaking taps as one drip per seconds amounts to wasting 30 litres of water per day.4. Wash our cars and bikes with a bucket of water and sponge, instead of a hose which wastes around 15 litres of water per minute if left running.5. Use the shower in the bathroom judiciously. A 4 minute shower uses more than 60 litres of water.6. Use clothes/dish washer for full loads for optimum utilization.All this will go a long way in contributing our mite towards solving this global problem. And we really do not have to go out of our way to do any of these things.Let the governments and international bodies seek solutions at a more global platform. As for us, just let us, be a bit more sensitive and sensible, so that water does not blush and turn into wine.
Shobha Shukla
Privatising water is denying people a human right: UN President
Questions raised on the legitmacy of the corporate-controlled World Water Forum
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has told delegates at the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) in Istanbul, Turkey, that, "those who are committed to the privatization of water, making it a commodity like oil, are denying people a human right as basic as the air we breathe."In a speech delivered by his senior advisor on water Maude Barlow, UN president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann said, "We must work quickly to guarantee that access to drinking water constitutes a fundamental right of all peoples...""Water belongs to the people, to the ecosystem and the species and it belongs to the future" had said Maude Barlow earlier this week in Istanbul.Ms Barlow, who is also the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, delivered the president's message to the People's Water Forum, a counter-forum being held by hundreds of civil society members from nearly 70 countries whose voices have not been at the WWF. The speech was later released to the World Water Forum, which is being attended by 20,000 delegates from 150 countries.The UN president also questioned the legitimacy of the forum itself. His speech stated, "The forum's orientation is profoundly influenced by private water companies. This is evident by the fact that both the president of the World Water Council and the alternate president are deeply involved with provision of private, for-profit, water services."He added that future forums should, "conduct their deliberations under the auspices of the United Nations."D'Escoto Brockmann also criticized the World Water Forum's draft Ministerial Declaration, which sees water as a "human need" rather than a human right. He said, "As it stands, this important statement undermines the efforts of those who are struggling for access to clean water and sanitation.""Global water justice movement advocates welcome this being the last World Water Forum in its present format," adds Barlow. "There is an urgent need for an accountable and legitimate global water forum to be held regularly to address the grave threats facing our blue planet."Earlier last week, a group of 118 organizations from 33 countries had signed and issued a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon that calls on him to withdraw his support for the 'CEO Water Mandate', a corporate driven water initiative under the 'UN Global Compact' that facilitates corporate control of water resources. Representatives of the letter's signatories had delivered a copy of the letter to the Deputy Director of the UN Global Compact, Gavin Power at the 5th World Water Forum.The CEO Water Mandate's leading endorsers currently include water bottlers Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and Pepsi, as well as Suez, one of the world's largest privatizers of water services and systems."All of these corporations have a vested interest in controlling water resources and profiting from water scarcity, so there is a great danger in leaving international water policy in such hands," said Richard Girard, researcher for the Polaris Institute."Those who are dealing with corporate control of water's manifold downsides – water takings, water shut-offs, price hikes, short cuts on water treatment – are people deeply affected by the water crisis and corporations' actions," said Mark Hays from Corporate Accountability International. "Yet these same people, who are going thirsty, don't have a true voice at these meetings – their voices need to be heard, and they should be in the drivers' seat."The Global Water justice Movement activists are calling on the United Nations to take the lead in creating transparent, democratic space to decide international water policy. But to date, the UN continues to be in a contradictory position by, on the one hand, raising awareness about the world water crisis and calling for needed change, and on the other housing the CEO Water Mandate. Groups like the Polaris Institute and Corporate Accountability International are challenging the CEO Mandate because it allows corporations to undermine democratic control of water under the aegis of the United Nations.- Citizen News Service (CNS)
Corporate Water Forum Spurs Mass Protest
Coalition urges UN to stop providing cover for life-threatening privatization of water
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – As the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) begins in Istanbul, activists, social movements and non-governmental organizations from Turkey and around the world are holding counter events and actions that directly challenge the legitimacy of the Forum itself. As part of these actions, a group of 118 organizations from 33 countries has signed and issued a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon that calls on him to withdraw his support for the CEO Water Mandate, a corporate driven water initiative under the UN Global Compact that facilitates corporate control of water resources. Representatives of the letter’s signatories will deliver a copy of the letter to and share their concerns with the participants of a CEO Water Mandate meeting in Istanbul at the World Water Forum on the evening of March 16th, 2009, at 6 p.m. in Hasköy H
all, in the VIP Block, on the 1st Floor of the Sütlüce Congress and Cultural Center. “Those who are dealing with corporate control of water’s manifold downsides – water takings, water shut-offs, price hikes, short cuts on water treatment – are people deeply affected by the water crisis and corporations’ actions,” said Mark Hays, organizer for Corporate Accountability International. “Yet these same people, who are going thirsty, don’t have a true voice at these meetings – their voices need to be heard, and they should be in the drivers’ seat.”
The letter was delivered to the Secretary General last Thursday, and outlines the group’s concerns about the transparency and legitimacy of the CEO Water Mandate. Water justice activists are calling on the United Nations to take the lead in creating transparent, democratic space to decide international water policy. But to date, the UN continues to be in a contradictory position by, on the one hand, raising awareness about the world water crisis and calling for needed change, and on the other housing the CEO Water Mandate. Groups like the Polaris Institute and Corporate Accountability International are challenging the CEO Mandate because it allows corporations to undermine democratic control of water under the aegis of the United Nations. 
The Mandate’s leading endorsers currently include water bottlers Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and Pepsi, as well as Suez, one of the world’s largest privatizers of water services and systems. “All of these corporations have a vested interest in controlling water resources and profiting from water scarcity, so there is a great danger in leaving international water policy in such hands,” said Richard Girard, researcher for the Polaris Institute.
“While the corporate endorsers of the Mandate will be discussing this week how corporations can ‘be part of the solution’ to the water crisis by exerting more influence over global water policy, people around the world are saying loud and clear that corporations that profit from people’s access to water should not be in driver’s seat when it comes to decisions about who gets water and who doesn’t,” said Bobby Ramakant, letter signatory from India. - Citizen News Service (CNS)
The Istanbul Water Tribunal
Istanbul Water Tribunal was convened on 11 and 12 March 2009 where five cases related to bodies of water and hydrological systems were heard - and the Tribunal's verdict announced on 14 March 2009, a couple of days before the 5th World Water Forum is scheduled to open in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Water Tribunal is an international, independent and autonomous body for environmental justice, created for the purpose of helping resolve conflicts related to bodies of water and hydrological systems. It is based on coexistence principles, respect for human dignity, solidarity between peoples, sanctity of all life forms, and environmental responsibility.The Tribunal seeks to bring back consciousness to people so they can form opinions on the handling and protection of water, as well as fomenting a vigilant attitude on the projects that can affect these valuable systems.The Tribunal (created in 1998), held a meeting for the first time in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2000, to analyze eleven cases of threats to the hydrics systems in Central America. A second Central American hearing was conducted, also in the city of San Jose, from March 15 to 19, 2004, with the purpose of settling nine causes on the infringement to the hydrological systems and the environmental rights of the communities in the region. As a result of those experiences, the Tribunal met again, from March 13 to 20, 2006, in Mexico City, to settle 13 causes on infringement to the hydrological systems and environmental rights in Latin American countries, affected by far-reaching hydroelectric projects, like the La Parota, in Mexico; by cases of industrial and mining contamination; and by privatization of the water, as happened in Bolivia, amongst several other cases. In the following hearing, in the Mexican city of Guadalajara in October 2007, the Tribunal reaffirmed its international vocation, with the judging of seven cases, from Mexico and South America, to diverse cases of contamination by open-cast mining operations in Central America. The last hearing was conducted in 2008, in the city of Antigua, Guatemala. This hearing had the particular task to analyze cases of abuse to the hydrics systems in indigenous territories, and counted on the participation of representatives from some of the main indigenous communities of Guatemala.Istanbul Water Tribunal was held with the support of the Heinrrich Böell Foundation. The Water Tribunal analyzed five different cases related to bodies of water and hydrological systems. Three cases were from Turkey, one case from Mexico and Brazil each:- The Yusufeli Dam Project, in the Çoruh river, the Turkish region of the Black Sea- The Ilisu Dam Project, in the Dicle river (Tigris), in the provinces of Mardin and Şırnak- The dams in the valley of Munzur, the province of Tunceli, on the Euphrates river- The construction of mega dams on the Madeira river, in the state of Rondônia, Brazil; and- The social and environmental impacts of water projects in Mexico.Although it is certain that the verdicts and resolutions of the tribunal are not obligatory for compliance by the authorities of any one country, still these statements and the censorship from the international community impel a moral sentence, encouraging the search for alternatives in the solution of hydrological conflicts.Bobby Ramakant - Citizen News Service (CNS)
Shobha Shukla
