Shalini Singh

large_dscn2005_(2).jpg

medium_dscn2005_(2).jpg

small_dscn2005_(2).jpg

thumbnail_dscn2005_(2).jpg

dscn2005_(2).jpg

While conflicts over land continue, experts warn that the next big struggle in India will be for water. As our population moves from rural to urban areas, industrialisation and urbanisation are leading to increasing pressure on the country’s natural resources.
 
 “Besides land, water is needed for new growth and the transition to a modern economy. So now we are looking at allocation of water from agriculture to industry and urban areas,” says Sunita Narain, director-general of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. But this shift she says is neither being considered nor addressed leading to conflict.
 
 Many recent examples illustrate this simmering unrest: two died in police firing earlier this year over the Kakarapalli power project in Andhra Pradesh; in Gujarat, a common waterbody was handed over to a cement factory; three people were killed in a police firing over a water-supply issue in Maval, near Pune, last week.
 
 Ranjan Panda, convenor of Water Initiatives Orissa, who has been working in this field for nearly 25 years says India’s growth models don’t seem to be in consonance with ecology. “The Orissa government is planning 58,000 megawatts of power from coal power plants in the coming years. At its peak, Orissa does not need more than 4,000 megawatts for use. The rest will be produced to sell to urban areas, while these plants will be located in rural areas,” he says.
 
 Water disputes (inter-sector, inter-use, inter-area) are dealt with in some countries through market forces and pricing says Ramaswamy R Iyer, the principal draftsman of India’s first national water policy in 1987. South Africa follows a system of allocations and ‘general authorisation,’ he says. “Some have River Boards or River Basin institutions. In India, Maharashtra has set up a state-level Water Resources Regulatory Authority under the influence of the World Bank. A few other states have followed suit. All this is currently under discussion,” he adds. Experts such as Panda say a national water law is needed, given that the current water policy in India has no judicial standing. “The basic issue is that right over water must be the basic right of every citizen,” he says.
 
 This article was done for and published in the Hindustan Times in August 2011. Link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/and-the-next-fight-water/article1-735566.aspx

... And the next fight: water

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

IN TELUGU - Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

... And the next fight: water

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit