March
27,
2004
Press
Release
The
issues
of
`Bijli,
Sadak,
Pani'
have
been
recurring
themes
on
which
BJP
and
the
NDA
is
claiming
to
capture
the
development
paradigm
pursued
by
their
government.
We
have
already
exposed
the
reality
of
`Bijli'
(the
power
sector)
and
`Sadak'
(the
road
sector)
in
earlier
episodes
of
the
"Lies,
damned
lies
and
statistics"
series.
In
the
tenth
study
of
the
series,
we
release
facts
about
`Pani'
(the
water
sector)
a
vital
ingredient
of
`feel
good'
which
is
being
sought
to
be
espoused
and
reinforced
by
the
`Shining
India'
campaign.
Is
India
Really
Shining?
Lies,
Damned
Lies
and
Statistics
Infrastructure:
Water
v
The
Vajpayee
government
could
have
jolly
well
come
up
with
another
advertisement
with
its
really
‘big
achievement’
vis-ŕ-vis
drinking
water:
Bottled
water
sold
in
the
previous
50
years:
negligible!
Bottled
water
sold
during
5
years
of
NDA
rule:
Rs.5000
crores!!
Scarcity
and
poor
quality
of
drinking
water
has
led
to
the
emergence
of
a
huge
bottled
water
industry
worth
over
Rs
1,000
crore
per
annum,
with
drinking
water
being
sold
at
the
price
of
milk.
Over
200
million
people
in
India,
by
conservative
estimates,
do
not
have
access
to
safe
drinking
water.
About
15,000
habitations
in
the
country
are
reported
to
be
without
any
source
of
potable
water;
about
200,000
villages
are
only
partially
covered
by
drinking
water
schemes,
and
the
existing
water
sources
in
about
250,000
villages
have
severe
problems
of
quality.
v Urban water supply has also become notorious for its irregularity and poor quality. The per capita availability of fresh water in the country, which was a healthy 5,177 cubic metres in 1951, has dropped to 1,869 in 2001. (See http://www.chennaionline.com/science/10watersecurity.asp) Various international agencies have estimated that water scarcity in India will become acute with per capita availability dropping to 1,341 by 2025. Irrigation efficiencies are estimated to be around a very low 35 per cent, mostly due to poor maintenance and low budgetary allocations for the purpose.
v
In
response
to
the
unstarred
question
No.
2773
in
Rajya
Sabha
on
8th
April,
2003,
the
Minister
of
Water
Resources,
Shri
Arjun
Sethi
informed
that,
"As
per
the
`United
Nations
World
Water
Development
Report
-
Water
for
people,
Water
for
Life',
India
has
been
ranked
120th
among
122
selected
nations
in
the
world
in
terms
of
quality
of
water".
He
further
informed,
"The
report
states
that
the
indicators
like
the
widespread
occurrence
of
poor
water
quality,
the
diversion
of
water
from
natural
aquatic
eco-systems
and
the
emerging
problems
with
ground
water
recharge
were
noted
for
indications
of
relative
water
quality."
v
Natural
resources
like
land
and
water
have
not
received
the
attention
they
deserve.
India
shares
16
per
cent
of
global
population,
but
has
only
2.4
per
cent
of
total
land
and
4
per
cent
of
the
total
water
resource.
The
number
of
dark
blocks
where
there
is
overexploitation
of
groundwater
are
over
85
per
cent
and
is
increasing.
Between
1984-85
and
1998-99,
the
number
of
dark
blocks
increased
from
253
to
428.
(Source:
Tenth
Plan
documents,
Planning
Commission)
v
The
two
major
elements
of
the
BJP's
response
to
the
problem
of
water
security,
the
inter-linking
of
rivers
and
privatisation,
are
recipes
to
aggravate
the
situation
further.
Numerous
studies
by
different
agencies
and
expert
groups
cite
serious
problems
in
the
proposed
River
Inter-linking
Project,
which
is
estimated
to
cost
around
a
huge
Rs.
5,70,00,000
crores,
not
to
mention
the
inevitable
cost
escalation.
Tushaar
Shah,
head
of
the
IWMI
(International
Water
Management
Institute,
Colombo)
-Tata
Water
Policy
Programme,
has
suggested
that
besides
entailing
huge
costs
the
project
would
need
a
long
gestation
period
of
about
40
years
by
which
the
priority
and
requirement
of
the
country
could
change.
(The
Hindu,
31st
January
2003)
v
The
BJP
led
government
has
set
a
deadline
for
2016
to
complete
the
river-interlinking
project.
However,
many
state
governments
including
the
BJP
government
of
Gujarat
have
objected
to
the
diversion
of
water
from
rivers
passing
through
their
States.
The
Gujarat
government
raised
objections
to
the
Centre’s
project
to
divert
water
from
the
Daman
Ganga
river
in
South
Gujarat
to
Pinjal
in
Maharashtra,
stating
that
this
will
defeat
the
very
purpose
of
inter-linking
of
rivers
having
surplus
water
to
those
having
deficit
water.
(Indian
Express,
Ahmedabad
edition,
April
19,
2003).
This
brings
into
question
the
source
from
where
water
proposed
to
be
transferred
to
deficit
areas
would
come
from.
All
these
problems
remaining
unaddressed,
the
BJP-led
government
has
been
selling
the
river
linking
project
as
a
vote
catching
machine.
v
Faced
with
growing
shortage
of
water
for
irrigation
in
rural
areas,
and
water
scarcity
in
urban
areas,
reckless
exploitation
of
groundwater,
mainly
by
private
and
corporate
parties,
is
accelerating
under
the
patronage
of
the
government.
Groundwater
has
been
allowed
to
become
the
‘private
property’
of
the
rich
who
has
the
financial
capacity
to
invest
in
its
extraction
and
distribution.
Trade
in
groundwater
in
India
today
is
close
to
Rs.3000
crores,
with
around
50
per
cent
of
the
urban
domestic
and
industrial
demand
being
met
through
groundwater.
And
yet,
despite
public
pressure,
neither
the
NDA's
National
Water
Policy
nor
its
various
legislative
or
administrative
measures
have
showed
any
desire
to
regulate
or
control
this
dangerous
trend.
v
This
should
surprise
no
one,
since
the
BJP
and
its
allies
are
only
following
the
World
Bank
which
has
long
argued
for
privatisation
of
water.
World
Bank-financed
projects
in
Latin
America
and
Africa
have
even
supported
small-scale
water
businesses
by
rich
land-owners.
The
NDA's
National
Water
Policy
adopts
an
explicit
position
in
favour
of
privatisation
of
water
resources.
It
states
that
“Private
sector
participation
should
be
encouraged
in
planning,
development
and
management
of
water
resources
projects
for
diverse
uses,
wherever
feasible.
Private
sector
participation
may
help
in
introducing
innovative
ideas,
generating
financial
resources
and
introducing
corporate
management
and
improving
service
efficiency
and
accountability
to
users.”
The
NDA’s
approach
has
therefore
been
contradictory
to
the
preservation
of
water
as
a
precious
national
resource,
which
should
necessarily
be
under
public
control
and
ensure
universal
access.