Sustainable Water and Sustainable Societies
Need for a speedier and integrated response to the challenges
with Dr VR Panchamukhi, Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science
Research, New Delhi, India
13 November 2003
A Synopsis
Water is the most strategic resource required for sustenance of human,
animal and plant life and for maintaining ecological balance on our Planet.
In the recent decades, there is a growing realization that the water
management practices and the development strategies adopted in the world may
soon end up in generating unsustainable water resource systems in most parts
of the world. It is feared that if this trend continues, then by 2025, more
than fifty percent of the world’s population living in more than eighty
countries would be suffering from acute water-stress syndrome, thereby
disturbing social harmony and human welfare. The Climate-Change Scenario may
also reach an irreversible situation in this inter-dependent world. There is
an urgent need for correcting this trend. Responses to these challenges need
to be speedier and more comprehensive than what is being presently observed.
Water is a highly heterogeneous product- contrary to common perceptions-
differentiated by the nature of supply sources and the typology of end uses.
There are also diverse perceptions of the water problems by different
people, such as, economists, environmentalists, hydrologists, politicians
and even philosophers. While drinking water needs to be regarded as a social
merit good in the public domain, water for agricultural and industrial uses
could be considered as commercial goods/services. It is essential that
people’s awareness about the impending water-crisis is strengthened and
their knowledge about the remedial measures, such as water harvesting, water
recycling, water conservation and avoidance of water-intensive technologies,
is improved through proper education and extension services. People’s
participation in the governance of all water related projects is a must for
the success of the strategies aimed at evolving a sustainable water system.
Water shortages have resulted in the ruination of many agricultural
families. The erstwhile green revolution has encouraged the use of
water-intensive technologies and water-polluting practices. There is now a
growing realization that part of the present water problem is due to the
stickiness of these green revolution practices. A new Blue revolution is
called for with water at the center stage of efficiency and welfare.
Induction of the market system and full commercialization of the water
sector may be tempting in so far as it creates a new phenomenon of what one
may call as Hydro-Dollars, as against the erstwhile Petro-Dollars. But
caution should be the wisdom of the market-enthusiasts. Water is a much more
pervasive and sensitive factor of human life than oil or gas and as such its
implications for the evolution of a sustainable society deserve special
attention.
Privatization may not be an optimal approach for all types of water problems
and for all countries in different stages of development. Similarly, the
approach of pricing on market-principles may not be a fair and efficient
solution for all types of water services. There has to be a blend of the
market and the state in dealing with the tasks of water production and
distribution.
Erosion of the quality of water - both underground and surface - is a
serious problem requiring urgent systemic corrections. Appropriate changes
in the nature of technologies and production practices, presently being
adopted in agriculture and industry, need to be identified through
purposeful research and then implemented.
The Australian Experience in water management seems to provide many useful
lessons for the rest of the world - in particular the developing world. The
setting up of a National Water Education Programme, emphasis on providing
greater opportunities to women professionals in water management tasks,
advocating international agreements for discouraging production and sale of
water-inefficient equipment deserve special commendation. The legal
framework for dealing with water disputes and other water related problems
and the water management reforms initiated in Australia, are worthy of
emulation. The Australian principle of encouraging proper maintenance and
utilization practices in regard to the existing water development projects
as against starting of new projects, deserves special attention by the
resource-poor developing countries.
Sustainability needs to be understood in a much wider setting than it is
done to day. In addition to the concerns for environmental impacts and
inter-generational equity, concerns for inter-regional equity and
inter-class fairness as also the impacts on ecological balance and climate
change, deserve to be kept in mind while examining sustainability of a
system or that of a strategy. Proper correctives for the failure of the
market and that of the state need to be introduced in right time, as soon as
the signals of non-sustainability become manifest.
Values and life styles play a significant role in evolving sustainable
societies. The present trend of encouraging unsustainable consumption habits
and lifestyles, through media and demonstration effects in a globalising
world, needs to be urgently halted. There is an urgent need for a proper
synthesis of the materialistic approach, with what one may call a
spiritualistic approach - emphasizing the much cherished values and
normative codes of conduct. This would be in contrast to the mindless
pursuit of purely commercial principles, as is being currently advocated in
the market economy framework. Values such as contentment, caring for others,
self-sacrifice, respect for human life - which are all fast disappearing
from our midst, need to be restored and firmly established.
A multi-faceted approach is required to realize the cherished goals of
evolving sustainable water systems and sustainable societies.