It has been claimed that water will be the biggest problem of this century. In a large country like India which has a good rainfall, there is a severe crisis of water. The crisis, it is said, has increased because ground water level has gone down in all places. Two third of our earth's surface is covered with water and humans existing on it are facing water shortage! This is only possible when the working of the institutions responsible for supplying water and the needs of society are at cross purpose to each other. In Andhra Pradesh people are fleeing their villages due to the ponds drying up. In the land of five rivers, tubewells in Punjab have become dry. Farmers have water scarcity, urban settlements are thirsty and state governments are at cross roads over water. Side by side, in all the states, giant corporates selling water are doing roaring business. Why has the situation come to this ?

 Indian ruling classes are encouraging trade of water in order to increase the wealth of companies. Their attention has been drawn away from water's role as a saviour of human life. Monopoly of private companies over natural water resources is being encouraged, agricultural fields are parched, people are thirsty and ruling classes' 'modernisation' and 'development' is diverting the attention of middle classes towards entertainment in water parks.

The logic forwarded by technical and government 'experts', the World Bank and the protagonists of privatization for this crisis is that people are using unlimited amounts of water. This logic is being advanced to draw attention away from the government's responsibility to fulfil basic civic amenities for its people. This logic is also being advanced to impose costs on supply of water and to create justification for commercial 'service' of water by companies.

Today only one third of India's arable land is irrigated and only 15% of the irrigated land is under canal irrigation. Tubewells which draw underground water cater to more than 50% of the irrigation. In U.P., Punjab, Haryana and Bihar, tubewells are the overwhelming source, while in Maharashtra, AP, MP, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu open wells and ponds are the main source. Canal irrigation is prevalent mostly in Orissa and J&K. During last 15 years of implementation of New economic policies, AP, Bihar, UP, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, have seen a 11% drop in canal irrigation due to poor maintenance of canals.

Drop in irrigation from ponds and canals is due to poor maintenance and a result of decreased allotment for irrigation by the governments. As a result farmers have been forced to use pumping sets and tubewells. This has led, on the one hand, to drop in ground water level and on the other to a massive increase in the farmers' expenditure on irrigation. With increase in cost of diesel this has become the costliest mode of irrigation. Drying up of ponds and canals has led to the water table not being adequately recharged and this is the main reason for the depression of water table. The impact of this is not only in rural areas, but in cities also. The government's suggestion of water harvesting cannot fulfil this deficiency.

During the 1990s the state expenditure on irrigation and flood control, as a percentage of their total expenditure, decreased. This decrease was sharpest in Maharashtra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. As compared to 1995-96, in the year 1999-2000 in Punjab it fell from 9.44% to 3.53%, in Maharashtra from 13.58% to 5.16% and in UP from 7.57% to 5.26%. Advocates of privatization and the state governments do not view this expenditure as contributing to people's development. They rather see it as a source of their deficit and bemoan that expenses on irrigation constitute one third of their total deficit.

Of the various steps necessary for recharging of water table and flood control, one important traditional step is soil conservation. In this the boundaries of the agricultural plots are elevated and strengthened with sowing of leguminous plants on them so that the top upper fertilized layer of soil does not flow away. State fund allotment for soil conservation too has decreased.

The other problem with respect to water is provision of drinking water and sanitation. That is a big problem both in urban colonies as well as in backward rural areas. Neither have the governments increased allocation for these facilities nor have they maintained earlier levels of expenditure. In fact in order to help the sale of private water suppliers, the state supply is being made dysfunctional. Governments are also making deductions in the programmes to establish hand pumps, existing hand pumps are hardly ever repaired and there are reports that substantial amount of the municipal supply goes to the private companies which sell water. This shift in government's role is a crime against the people and it is being done at the behest of the World Bank, WTO and foreign masters.

During the 1990s the World Bank had made a plan to privatise water trade. While referring to the water crisis in India in 1994, the World Bank held that by privatising its supply atleast it can be provided to those sections who can afford to pay for it. In accordance with this policy the government of India, in its report on irrigation sector, had recommended that irrigation charges should be rationalised and adequately raised. US ambassador to India, David Mulford has recently made the same recommendation and has explained that high costs will appear as a problem only when they were inordinately low earlier. Private investments in this sector will, according to him, improve not only the technology and management but also the states' revenue.

More than half of India's population does not get clean drinking water. Above recommendations keep these deprived sections outside the purview of provision of clean drinking water. They aim, now to exclude even those who are getting clean water at reasonable rates.

It appears that "Water Users Societies" have been formed with the idea that the rest of the people have no need to use water. With such nomenclature it will be easy to conclude success for the programme because the evaluation can safely state that all consumers (users) were satisfied. Further, those who were not satisfied, who happened to be the majority of the people, were not consumers at all.

New Laws

Under directions from the central government, various state governments have started enacting new laws on use of water. The 'Water Resources Regulation Authority Bill' enacted by the Maharashtra government grants the right to use river water to an authority established under the new law, thus depriving the people living nearby, who held this right so far. Under this law person, committee, company all have been put at par. It is obvious that in cases of dispute the individual stands to lose before the companies.

In order to ensure balanced use of water there is a provision in this law that in certain selected areas irrigation water will be given only if the farmers make arrangement for sprinkler irrigation or drip irrigation. Otherwise they will not be given water. Establishing the infrastructure for this will cost the farmers Rs. 15,000 to 20,000 per acre. It is entirely possible that in the name of helping the farmers the government in some areas may directly spend this money and give it to the companies which will install the equipment and deduct it from the subsidy bill for farmers. But in the rest of areas farmers will have to bear this burden themselves. Even those who get this equipment free of cost will be saddled with the burden of maintaining it. This plan will provide rich dividends to the companies selling such equipment. It is important that there has been no scientific study to prove the utility of this technique in a rain fed area. This technology has been tried in the deserts.

To oversee the programme this law also has a provision for establishment of a 3 member Water Resources Control Authority where the chairman will be the chief secretary of the state and the members will be two 'experts'. One of these experts will be a water resources engineer and the other a water resources economist. This mean that the programme will be dominated by technical and economic accountability and the scope for service to the people will be limited, if at all. It is important for social advance that development of water resources is done in accordance with people's needs, that it is within the peoples reach and that most of its control and management is in the hands of the people. In this new regulation the emphasis is on handing over control of water resources to private profiteers and bureaucrats in the name of technical considerations and economic viability.

This objectives of the new law clearly lay down that the tariff for water supply will cover not only the current running cost but also part of the invested capital. It will include irrigation, managerial, administrative, maintenance and running costs. Supporters of privatization, US Ambassador to India and other "experts" have been advocating that privatisation of water should be profitable for the investors. For the poor they say that subsidy should be limited to the extremely poor sections. In any case where do the extremely poor sections get potable water for free that it should be of sudden concern to the rulers.

The new act has another provision. Those farmers who have more than 2 children will have to pay one and a half times the normal tariff. By putting the 'offenders' into different categories it will be easy to contain the protests !

This anti-people, pro-corporate law was taken up and passed on April 16, 2005 in the Maharashtra assembly without any discussion. The bill was not even read out in the Vidhan Sabha. Only the title was read out. MLAs of both CPM and CPI were present in the house at that time.

UP Government

UP government too has analysed its water problem in similar direction and has drawn out a plan. It has claimed that the water table is receding at a fast pace of 2 to 5 feet per year. Kanpur, Lucknow and Ghaziabad are the most seriously affected cities. Hence a new act has been made for use of ground water. It is entitled UP Ground Water Security, Safety and Development (Management, Contract and Regulation) Act. This proposal was prepared in 2004 on the recommendation of central govt. and now despite pressure from the centre, due to political instability and impending elections, it is lying in the Law Ministry.

Under provisions of this Act the state government proposes that private tube wells should be taxed for drawing ground water and that it be recovered as dues of land revenue. Logic is that the land belongs to the farmer, but the water below it belongs to the govt. Hence in order to manage, control and regulate this water it is necessary that the farmers and other tubewell owners be asked to pay the cost of this water.

Under 'able' guidance of the World Bank, the UP government is running the Water Sector Reconstruction Project. Under this project running, maintenance and collection of water tax of 4 small canals of 1.9 to 4 Kms length in Bahraich district have been handed over to Water Consumers Groups. The rule is that all plots near the canals have to pay water tax and it will be recovered as arears of land revenue. There is no guarantee from the government for supply of water to the farmers as it will only be providing technical support. Under similar arrangement some tubewells too are running in some villages. The experience is that these Water Consumer Groups or Tube Well Operators recover charges in accordance with the power they wield. Normally the poor do not get water on time or as per the settled rates and they are forced to either give up their plots to the powerful sections in the village on rent or they have to leave them uncultivated. Such tubewells and canals have not become sources of relief of farmers, rather they have become instruments for strengthening the stranglehold of feudal goons.

Prior to the enactment of the Zamindari Abolition Act landlords used to collect the revenue. Under pressure from farmers' struggle the government enacted land reforms, withdrew their right to collect revenue and handed over this responsibility to government officials. Now in the garb of collection of water tax from consumers once again this same powerful landlord section is being given the right to collect revenue from common people.

Raising water table

In this manner the governments are enacting laws to collect revenue for water usage. But what has the government done to raise the water level and provide better supply? Nothing at all. It is not planning to construct small canals and small checkdams which benefit small farmers, which help to raise the water table and which are cheaper to maintain. For raising the water table it is necessary to make and maintain a large number of small tanks, ponds and canals. There is neither any plan in this direction nor is the government planning to improve soil conservation.

New seeds and Irrigation

Agriculture based on new variety of seeds is one big reason for this water crises as these new seeds demand 2 to 4 times more water than the traditional seeds. On the sale of these seeds depends the sale of other MNC inputs like fertilizer, insecticides, modern equipment, diesel etc. Hence to fulfil this market need of these companies they are developing huge water resources so that the entire agriculture starts depending on the MNC products and its local self dependent character takes a back seat. For a country like India it is necessary that agriculture be developed in accordance with the local needs and conditions so that people benefit and the ecology is not harmed.

Privatisation of Big Dams and Rivers

There is a plan to build huge water reservoirs through construction of big dams and big lakes. Through construction of big canals there is plan to transport water to far flung areas. This plan is extremely costly and it will benefit only the big companies and the big contractors. These massive changes in nature would adversely affect the environment. Along with this the economy of the area below the dams will also suffer and lift pump canals will become dysfunctional and fishing and sand mining will be destroyed.

By selling Shivnath river in Chhattisgarh and Rishikulya river in Orissa to private companies the government has cleared its intention of snatching the rights of the peoples on water resources and handing them over to big corporations. Water from Shivnath river is being supplied to Borai Industrial area of Durg district. In Rayagadda district Jindal steel was given water from Kelu river which resulted in water crisis in the villages nearby. Similarly water from Kurkut river is to be given to the thermal power project of Jindals. Big companies established in rural areas suck lakhs of litres of water from the ground and render the entire agriculture in nearby area water starved. There are many such examples. In many areas due to construction of dams the irrigation in lower areas has dried up. This year in February, in Amravati District of Maharashtra, 20,000 farmers laid siege on a dam and demanded release of water in the river. The government fired on the people and one farmer died in this firing.

Slowly the water stored in reservoirs of big dams is being released for use in cities and for industrial purposes so that the business of the water companies can benefit. In the cities contracts of water supply are being given to private firms and they are selling water at extremely high costs. 830 billion litres of water per day from Tehri Dam is to be supplied via the Muradnagar canal to a French company for supplying water to Delhi. In Tamil Nadu 5 lakh litres per day of water is being supplied to a Cocacola plant from Tamirvarumi River. This has devastated the agriculture in the area. In Hyderabad the govt. has supplied clean drinking water to a bottling company @ 25 paisa per litre.

Response of the Govt - NGOs activated

Some Governmental and Non-Government Organisations are conducting Jal Yatras in Villages in order to rejuvenate water resources. They are visiting drought affected villages and are trying to make people aware of the solution to this problem. They are also identifying the ponds which can be dug up to allow rain water to get stored so that water table is recharged. Their emphasis is on "Shram Dan' (voluntary labour without payment) by the  villagers. This campaign has also seen participation of the city based intellectuals who worry about people remaining thirsty. In Rajasthan the ruling BJP government has organised such Yatras and in other states the revisionist parties have taken the lead. But in this entire campaign the water travellers (Jal Yatris) are neither identifying those ponds which are under the control of powerful landlords, nor are they blaming the government and midllemen who are responsible for this non-maintenance. Obviously to achieve such a big task it is necessary that either the government itself gets this work done or it hands over these ponds to the people and stops interfering on behalf of the landlords.

Initiative of the Courts

The Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court too have taken initiative on this problem and have recommended that ponds should be restored rather than distributed. The courts have stressed the importance of water in protecting human life, but have ignored the point that its value is there only till human beings survive. Under the cover of compliance of court orders the government is displacing those settled on such lands without giving them any alternative settlement.

It is obvious that these policies, judgements and projects will increase the crisis of agriculture, create a food grain crisis and lead to displacement of common people. It will also embolden the criminal feudal gangs. It will lead to big companies controlling water resources and using it to make hefty profits. This is what imperialism wants. Compradors ruling the country also want this. It will help them to further exploit the Indian economy and to subjugate Indian people. Peoples' 'independence' will be further weakened. Their right over their natural resources will decrease.

Some Examples of Water Supply Privatisation in India

In Durg district of Chhattisgarh the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Centre Development Corporation gave the contract for supplying water to Bosai Industrial area to a private firm, Radius Water and sold 23.6 Km of Shivnath river to the company. This increased the problems of local people. It constructed a barrage on the river and the Chhattisgarh Govt. gave land to the company free of cost for this and for other works. Radius water will sell water to the Industrial corporation and the latter is obliged to pay for 40 Lakh litres per day even if it does not need that much water. The corporation will sell this water to the industries in Borai where daily requirement is only 10 - 15 lakh litres. All the losses will accrue to the corporation and profits to Radius Water.

The Delhi Jal Board is being divided into separate parts and the work of water supply is being given to an 'experienced' private company. As per the agreement this company will ensure 24 hour supply in its area and will settle the cost as per its total expenses. According to the agreement the responsibility of purifying water and supplying pure water to the company will lie with the Jal Board and it will be liable to pay a fine to the company in case of default.

Chandrapur city of Maharashtra is probably the first victim city of water supply privatisation. By giving the contract for supplying water to Gurukripa Associates the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation recovered its losses, but water supply to both VIP Colonies and the labour colonies has gone down. As a result private tubewells have stated coming up and Chandrapur Municipal Corporation is trying to stop this trend. Gurukripa claims that it has established a network of pipelines to supply water, but the fact is that more than 60% areas do not have any piped supply. The company claims that taps are thieved and hence the people should take common connections. It claims that by giving water free of cost people do not take care and recovering costs for supplying water is part of the govt's policy.

Privatisation of water supply to Tirupur township in Tamil Nadu has been praised by the none other than the US Ambassador to India, David Mulford. People of Tirupur according to him are very happy. They are now paying one and a half times for water supply from Nagar Nigam, which is much more than the rate in nearby towns. 6 Lakh people of the town have been divided between rich and poor. The initial agreement was that industrial users will have to pay Rs. 45 per 1000 litres, Nagar Nigam Rs. 5 and Gram Panchayats Rs. 3.50. These rates were to increased by 6.5 to 8% per annum. The industries refused to pay this tariff and hence the cost has been reduced for them. A ban has been imposed on private tubewells. Tariff for domestic and commercial users has been increased. Part of the losses accruing to the company are being compensated by the Nagar Nigam. The three villages covered under the programme get water supply once in 15 days.

In Kerala Coca Cola, Pepsi and alcoholic drink manufacturers are drawing massive amounts of water from the subsoil, rivers and reservoirs. As a result large areas have become arid. Mass movements against this are continuing since some time and the issue also remains pending before the courts.