"Water policy must not be driven by corporations and global finance"
The new draft National Water Policy (NWP) suggests that the government is poised to withdraw from its responsibilities of water service delivery, and that MNC and financial institutions might have too big a say in water allocation and policy. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Turning off the tap on water as a human right
There are certain important points of concern. Water is not articulated strongly enough as a fundamental human right in this draft. Full cost recovery needs to be accompanied by protection of the right to water for basic needs, including that for basic livelihood strategies. While reclaiming wastewater is necessary to bridge the water deficit, in the absence of strong regulations to limit polluting activities, such incentives to polluters (to treat effluents), might work as a perverse incentive to pollute more.
If these policies are unlikely to protect the basic right to water, it begs the question: who are the advocates and beneficiaries of these policies?
A recent report by 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG), a high profile public-private partnership and financed by multilateral banks among others, has striking convergences between sections of this report and parts of the draft water policy. Multinationals, who are no longer content with profiteering from their traditional areas of businesses: they want to play a larger role in the allocation of the world's natural resources, which have so far been in the public realm, are a part of WRG.
Rules governing the use of water must be the result of careful consultation with all stakeholders, especially the least powerful, and should not be driven by corporations and international finance. This is important not only in India, but for what it could mean for the future of water governance globally!
There are certain important points of concern. Water is not articulated strongly enough as a fundamental human right in this draft. Full cost recovery needs to be accompanied by protection of the right to water for basic needs, including that for basic livelihood strategies. While reclaiming wastewater is necessary to bridge the water deficit, in the absence of strong regulations to limit polluting activities, such incentives to polluters (to treat effluents), might work as a perverse incentive to pollute more.
If these policies are unlikely to protect the basic right to water, it begs the question: who are the advocates and beneficiaries of these policies?
A recent report by 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG), a high profile public-private partnership and financed by multilateral banks among others, has striking convergences between sections of this report and parts of the draft water policy. Multinationals, who are no longer content with profiteering from their traditional areas of businesses: they want to play a larger role in the allocation of the world's natural resources, which have so far been in the public realm, are a part of WRG.
Rules governing the use of water must be the result of careful consultation with all stakeholders, especially the least powerful, and should not be driven by corporations and international finance. This is important not only in India, but for what it could mean for the future of water governance globally!
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