ADB’s flawed water programme promotes scarcity

Looking beyond privatisation

Karen Bakker is an old hand at tracking the expansion of private control of water utilities in the 1990s by companies such as Bechtel, Enron and Vivendi (now Veolia). She has also researched the more recent shift towards public private partnerships (PPP) in water supply.

Subverting a basic human right

The new draft National Water Policy circulated by the Union Ministry of Water Resources to water experts suggests that the government is poised to withdraw from its responsibility of water service delivery, and that multinational corporations and financial institutions might have too big a say in water allocation and policy.

Channels of interest

THE Union Ministry of Water Resources recently uploaded the draft of National Water Policy, 2012, on its website, inviting comments from the public. The draft underlines the need to treat water as “economic good”, but deliberately misses a crucial point: prioritising competing users of water, thus providing flexibility for allocating water for industrial use even at the cost of agriculture. The approach, says the ministry, is to steer clear of water allocation priorities because they lead to conflict. The Centre had adopted a water policy a decade ago which states that drinking be accorded the highest priority followed by irrigation, hydro-power, ecology, industrial requirement, and navigation and other uses.

Public good, private concerns

As water gets scarce, the lendings in the sector by international financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are being looked into more critically. Most critics believe that with small investments, the banks have been able to dictate water policies in developing countries. These institutions have successfully infused the idea of privatising water resources in the name of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

Equitable water for all

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) on November 17 announced its decision to invest US $20 million in a private equity fund for water related infrastructure. While the bank is not new to such deals, it is the first time it has invested in an equity fund like this.

Ears have been picked, where is the info?

information is critical to democracy, which holds the citizen as the sovereign. But In India, the citizen had no effective power to question, let alone get redressal for legitimate rights. For a long time the government could withhold information from people by using the draconian Official Secrets Act. The Right to Information Act, passed in 2005, empowers citizens to ask for information from their government, and has the potential of enforcing the majesty of the Indian citizen. In the last four years, citizens have used the right for innovative purposes.

Tap cards for Hubli

Residents who do not pay water bills may have supply cut off people living in Hubli have one more identity card now in addition to voter cards, pan cards and other cards. The water supply board is issuing tap cards to residents of the Karnataka city to ensure they pay water bills on time. The cards were introduced in the first week of March to improve revenue collections.

Water for profit

Mysore prepares to receive 24x7 water supply GIRIJAMMA A R lives with her family of five in a middle class locality in Mysore. Last month she paid the municipality Rs 240 for 82,000 litres water consumed over a period of two months. This amount may rise to Rs 350 per month in four years when the 900,000 residents of the city including Girijamma start getting 24x7 water supply.

Inordinate delay

An excuse to privatize irrigation project STARTED in 1984, the yet to be completed Nira Deoghar irrigation project in Maharashtra has run into rough weather. A recent judgement by the three-member water regulatory authority has put on hold the privatization of the project in Bhor taluka, Pune district.