water voes

it is said that now if a world war were to take place it surely will be fought over water. so almost an year back, unarmed protesting villages in rajasthan were shot at by the administration because they were asking for the right which has traditionally always belonged to them- the right of acess of the local community over the local water resources.

well to say that water has never been a bone of contension would be a white lie, beacuse for times immemorials water or rather acess to it has been a cause as well as a indicator of the existent social and an economic divides in the society. so all the so called upper castes had acess to the nearest and the safest water supplies of the village to which,the rest of the residents were denied acess.
cut to the modern age, comes the role of international economic bullies and bosses ( world bank in this particular case) who are in somewhat similiar vain the water bosses , the only difference being that these agencies are not even a part- inheritors ( as is the case of upper castes) of the traditional right of the local population over the natural resources of the region.
so whats my point here:
as a happily ignorant resident of delhi, my first encounters with what resulted from the privitazation of water in delhi came up when taps began to run dry ever more frequently then before this season.
what has caused this? the sonia vihar water plant was hailed by the delhi govt. as one of its great achievements which was to end the water vows of its privileged citizens ( well we are priviliged at least relatively speaking because: a) we do get some water in our taps and; b) on days when we don't we can atleast afford those bisleries..)
but what was chosen not to be told was that the delhi govt. was indeed quite clandistenly engaed in the process of privitization of water distribution. now this is an important point to be noted. personally i am not against privitization but whenever the rule : 'power without responsibility' comes into play things do get murky. afterall its a well proven dictum: power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely' (lord acton).

so when water is being privatized it should be done so in a rational manner; what has actually taken place is that water distribution has been privatized but its treatment and availability to the supply points has not. so basically it means that: although the private players have been entrusted with the task of distribution( therby giving them direct acess to the consumers thereby enabling them with a position to play traditional arm twisting gimmicks with the consumers); however, ensuring acess to safe treated potable water remains with the djb (delhi jal board).

there is yet another angle to the whole issue: the callous indifference of the local residents of delhi. so when installing water pumps continues to be illegal, its a law which is flouted in almost every single house hold of delhi (including mine). further despite regular studies proving that the ground water tables in delhi esp. south and south west delhi are plunging rapidly and dangerously, direct extraction of the ground water continues to flout every rule present in this regard. so now once the municipal water supply has run dry, we have the kind of money to acess the ground water. and it is to be admitted that now with this 'new found resource'- we continue to 'waste' water ever more royally then before.