Southern States - Kerala   

Caution against privatisation of water resources

By K. S. Sudhi

KOCHI DEC. 30. Even as the State Government continues its double speak on the privatisation of water resources, limnologists and scientists have sounded caution against the lurking danger in these schemes and advised adequate Governmental control over them.

According to Dr. Sunny George, founder secretary of Limnological Association of Kerala, the privatisation of water resources would have disastrous results as it would curtail the rights of the people to the life-giving resource and the national protection of environmental resources.

``Water should be viewed as a human right. Water and sanitation are not just basic needs but also fundamental human rights as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 and the 1986 Convention of the Rights of the Child,' pointed out Dr. George, who was a delegate to the recent World Water Conference in Austria.

Water is increasingly emerging as the "last infrastructure'' or "blue gold'' for private investors round the world. This is relevant in Kerala where water is also the most important resource limitation as the per capita freshwater availability here is even lower than that of Rajasthan, he pointed out.

The freshwater resource base of the State is alarmingly depleting due to the destruction of river systems, wrong land use and massive reclamation of wetlands like paddy fields resulting in the lowering of water table in wells and ponds. If the Government wants to introduce schemes like the industrial water supply scheme, it should be done only after detailed impact assessment study and public hearing. Moreover, the civic bodies in the river basin should have a say in the matters concerning the water body as the people in that area will be heavily dependent on them, he said.

Provisions for the review of any such award at regular intervals by people's forum and revoking the award if the deal goes against the interest of the State need to be incorporated in the contract, Dr. George suggested.

While advocating that the State should make good use of its water resources, the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management executive director, James said any schemes for the utilisation of water resources should only be implemented with proper Government control.

He cautioned against handing over the absolute right of any water body to private individuals and `package deals' as it may culminate in the State Government losing control over its valuable natural resources.

Dr. James also feared that any package deal would lead to environmental disasters as the private individuals may overdraw water ignoring the environmental and developmental needs of making sufficient volumes of water available in the rivers. The absence of sufficient water in the rivers may lead to increased salinity and pollution as the rivers are regularly flushing out the pollutants and reducing the salinity, he said.

The industrial units drawing water from rivers should be made to pay and the right to decide on the water allocation should rest with the Government, said Dr. James who had conducted extensive studies on rivers of Kerala.

The Government should fix separate water quota for drought and rainy seasons taking into account the environmental and developmental needs of the State failing which the private entrepreneurs may over-exploit the water resources in drought seasons. There also exists the possibility of private entrepreneurs taxing the people dependent on these water bodies for drinking water during drought seasons, he cautioned.

K. D. Namboodirippad, who had served as the Head of Environment Studies division of the CWRDM, also advocated proper Government control over the water resources of the State.

While decrying the outright sale of any water resources and dams to private entrepreneurs, Mr. Namboodirippad argued that the water allocation for industrial units must be made without affecting the drinking water supply and irrigation schemes.

Studies have revealed that nearly two-third of the utilisable water of the available water resources in the State was for irrigation whereas the water requirement for the domestic and industrial use was around 14-15 per cent. While allotting water resources, priority should be given to drinking needs of the people and the industrial units should be charged for the water allotted to them, said Mr. Namboodirippad who had also served as a consultant in water resources and environmental planning in the U.S. He also wanted the Government to fix separate water supply quota for industrial units for drought and rainy seasons.

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