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Bharti Patel,
Director, SVARAJ
(Society for Voluntary Action, Revitalization and Justice). |
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Valuing Water
India today witnesses two phenomena simultaneously - water business growing high and water entering into the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda of various companies. Is this business likely to crowd out public sector water distribution? Is this CSR indirectly aimed at muffling the dissent of community?
There are also claims that Indians do not value water, resulting in water pollution and indiscriminate waste of water. Pricing of water is the only solution to inculcate proper usage of water.
To get a non industry view on the issue, Ashutosh Bhardwaj spoke to Bharti Patel, Director SVARAJ (Society for Voluntary Action, Revitalization and Justice). An informed leader of voluntary sector, she refutes the claim that Indians do not value water. She says instead of asking the question - who is polluting the water, we are accepting the spread of bottled and treated water. She proposes true Public Private Partnership can flourish only when the rights of the community assume centre stage.
She also cites the example of England, where water management and distribution is privatized, saying privatization is no solution to water woes.
Rajendra Singh is her most admired water leader. His vision and Gandhian philosophy to ensure water to community appeals to her.
She holds a BSc and a Law degree from London, where she spent a considerable part of her life. She enjoyed The God of Small Things and The White Mogul. Currently she is reading Ramchandra Guha. She frequently travels to explore India.
Lots of companies are now doing business in water. It is claimed since Indian public has contaminated its rivers and water bodies due to sheer ignorance, private business has stepped in to provide water. Do you find water being increasingly contaminated in India? Clearly we did not have home based RO systems earlier. We drank well and river water and never caught up dreadful diseases.
I think this is the crux of the matter as far as water is concerned in this country. We have now started to think and believe that we will have access only to treated water. Therefore, we have accepted the status quo of polluted water.
Yes, it's true that water is increasingly being polluted but we are not asking who the polluters are and what the pollutants are.
There are several layers here. It's not a very straightforward answer. Of course, untreated industrial waste increasingly enters water bodies but daily domestic sewage too, continues to enter our depleting sources of water. The concentration of this domestic sewage in water is much more.
On top of that, agricultural practices of using chemical pesticides are also polluting water bodies.
These polluted water bodies lead to all kinds of diseases. People have come to believe that water treatment is a safe way rather than thinking how we make sure that our water bodies are not contaminated in the first place.
It's important that we look for tackling the root cause of the problem. I believe private sector has a role to play in this because they are part of the group that is responsible for what's happening here. All stakeholders need to come together and ask themselves what their responsibility is in this.
This debate about respective role of polluters is, clearly, not taking place. Is it to tacitly allow private players sell their bottled water at 15/- litre?
There is no doubt that this situation of contaminated water is seen as an opportunity to make money. People treat water; sell it at good prices, making big profit out of it. Opportunities have arisen, they are capitalizing on it. You can't blame them for it.
They have every right to do their business.
Absolutely. They have the right to do business in water but whether bottled water is the only solution for water problems is an issue that we all, particularly the NGO community, must think about. The government can not shy away from their responsibility of providing drinking water.
We need to come together and start a dialogue with corporate sector to tell them that this is not the only opportunity to enter the water market. There are many areas in water itself, where you can have a business model and capitalize upon. There are many areas in water treatment itself. They can develop technologies for treatment of industrial waste and domestic sewage. They need to think beyond the narrow vision they have today.
Do you expect them to respond positively? I get a feeling that it is in their commercial interest to sell bottled water and it is also in their interest not to let this informed debate take place on water.
Absolutely. The whole idea of bringing the community by the Corporates appears to be an effort to placate NGOs and community to claim that their water business is not just a business model; it has social concerns too. We are seriously concerned about providing safe water to community.
However, I do not think they can kid the community. People are much smarter and intelligent than they consider. But community is very vulnerable, particularly the poor ones. Their need to access safe water is of paramount importance. Organisations like ours are very active in raising real issues of vulnerable communities.
We need to engage corporate sector in a dialogue. We need to raise the consciousness of the industry that they cannot fool us. They must realize that if they are going to bring communities into true partnerships, then the community need for affordable drinking water should be fulfilled.
It means that they are not going to make much profit out of treating drinking water. They need to think of other ways to make profits and certainly not drinking water.
Industry is keen on making profit out of drinking water; it does not appear to be concerned about the huge effluents it generates daily, most of which go untreated to water bodies and pollute them.
Right. They have not set their own house in order.
You just used a wonderful phrase-"industry is placating NGOs." Do you find corporates, through their water CSR, try to pacify the community and muffle the dissent? Do you buy their statements on community and water service when they speak in Gandhian tone from various fora and conferences?
I am not saying that the entire corporate sector is devilish. I do not think we can afford to be anti-corporate. Economic vibrancy, which is very important for India, is driven by the corporate sector. They have a big role to play. But, I do not buy their line that they are entering the water sector to benefit the poor. I do believe that they are entering because there is money to be made here. They have seen the money Bisleris, Coca Colas and Pepsis have made here.
But, I do believe there will be challenges to them at each stage. The community is much smarter. If they try to outsmart the community, that wouldn't be in their interest. If they are seriously concerned with water, they must do it in true spirit of partnership.
How can we evolve to a situation, where corporates enter into the water sector with a genuine interest to benefit the poor, though not in a philanthropic way? They can have genuine commercial interests too.
The ideal situation would be where corporate sector does not expect return on investment they make with the communities in rural areas. They need not ensure treated water but plain, safe drinking water. They can help upliftment of marginalized, especially dalit communities. For instance, they can engage with government and panchayats to ensure that the village water bodies - river or ponds - they are getting cleaned, and are accessed by all, irrespective of caste and religion.
Your proposition is not about being just water sensitive, it's about being socially equitable. Water can be a tool to usher in a social revolution.
That's a very good point you have made. Through water you can uplift communities. Right now we are debating the pricing of water. They claim Indians do not value water. I think Indians by nature give a lot of importance to water.
You are right. It's not plain water or pani for Indians. Most of the Indians respect it and term it Jal.
Absolutely. We have always valued water. Just because someone is going to be charged some amount for water does not mean one starts valuing it more. We mustn't accept the argument which says that only pricing adds value to water. We have to talk about the fact that Indians have always valued water. Recently the way economy has moved forward, water has devalued.
I do not agree that Indians do not value water.
The PPP (Public Private Partnership) model which has evolved so far does not take care of the common man. How can we bring a model which benefits him?
The community and their water needs must be in the centre right from the conception of PPP. It must not be planned in ivory tower buildings. Community must be invited to the table from the outset and their contribution ought to be valued. They must be involved throughout the conception, design and implementation stage.
We always forget that India has huge indigenous knowledge. That is only because it is not written in English language; we dismiss it saying it is not relevant. Corporate sector, if they are serious about it, need to bring in indigenous knowledge and acknowledge the actual sources.
You have spent considerable period of your life in London, studied there. Margret Thatcher privatized a lot of industries, invited private players to provide water. How has the situation improved there? Is privatization of water a solution?
We have a huge problem of water in England. Of course, the government has decided that it no longer wants to take responsibility of managing and distributing water. Water is privatized. Conservative government of Thatcher decided it; Labor government did not change it. However, privatization projects have failed despite promises that prices will not go up.
Nevertheless, regulations are much better in London than in India. Therefore, you can hold the private sector a little more accountable. But the prices are going up because it is a monopoly. You have no choice, you need water, can't switch to anything else.
Monopoly? Is there only one company operating in water?
No..no…no- there are plenty. By monopoly I meant in terms of source itself. There are many companies in distribution but prices have gone up. A large amount of water is being lost through leakages. It refutes the claim of private companies of being absolutely efficient.
In fact, the private sector is not investing not because it costs to check the leaks and plugs. They know the water is available in plenty, therefore leakage is not their concern. But that's not a good approach. They have abused their business model at the cost of this precious resource - water.
The other day, I spoke to an expert from Singapore. He spoke about the enormous R & D companies in Singapore undertake to check leakages. And that's because water is precious there. What lesson India can learn from these international experiences?
First, how do we make sure that there is a true PPP - not just in the name- where deliveries, leakages, voices of consumers, all such aspects are taken care of.
Perhaps the biggest lesson is that private sector is no panacea for all water problems.
Definitely, not a panacea. Many private projects which the World Bank actually promoted have not worked.
Give us some examples of projects that did not click.
I heard the Manila one was successful. But, I do know that Manila has failed. It failed to provide water to the poorest community. Delhi too rejected private sector coming in. There are lots of arguments against private sector; however, I do believe you just can't rely totally on public sector to provide water. There is time for us to have true PPP.
What's your water philosophy?
I believe water is a Fundamental Right for life in all forms and therefore it needs to be preserved in its purest form. Everyone amongst us needs to take responsibility and ask a question - is my action, directly or indirectly going to affect the water availability in my surroundings.
It's the Gandhian way too. He had a similar view. Thank you so much Bharti for sharing your vision.
Ashutosh Bhardwaj
28 Nov 2007
Hyderabad
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