J. Prashant CMI
From Water Literacy to Water Democracy: Reflections on Living Waters as a Question of Justice
As this day falls against the backdrop of the Season of Creation (September 1 to October 4) to stress the stewardship of the Common Home, as observed by several Christian Communities the world over, inviting all people of goodwill to participate, with the theme 'living waters', I feel inclined to train my thoughts on democracy to water democracy. From Sep. 8, international literacy day to 15th September, international day for democracy, with the theme deliberative democratic processes and meaningful participation in decision-making. Over the week, it can be a pilgrimage from water literacy to water democracy and water sovereignty (jal swaraj).
Democracy is about people having a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lives. Water, likewise, is not merely a resource to be supplied to people; it is a condition of life itself. This raises an important question: Can there be meaningful democracy when people have little or no say in the water on which their lives depend?
Water democracy means that people have a meaningful voice in decisions concerning the access, use, allocation, conservation and governance of water—access to which is a basic necessity and, for human beings, a fundamental right. However, the trend appears to be more in the direction of water scarcity and water monopoly.
Experiencing Rural Water Scarcity
In the summer of 1992, as students of Theology, we had a village immersion programme by staying in a village of our choice for a month. We finally ended up choosing Teka Mandwa, Chandrapur district, a Maharashtrian village bordering Andhra Pradesh. We managed to get a fairly large single room house (hut) with a thatched roof. And four of us, lived there. Two unfamiliar, but important tasks for our survival were (i) fetching water and (ii) gathering firewood for cooking. I remembered this in connection with the season of creation with living water as the theme. We had to walk at least half a kilometer down the hill, perhaps the altitude shift of about 150 ft, to reach the Panchayat well. We had to finish our bath somewhere around the well itself, and carry water for our cooking all the way up the hill. Our experience lasted for just about four weeks. What we experienced was, and still is, a reality in many rural communities in India, where fetching household water falls disproportionately on women and girls.
Water, therefore, is not an
abstract environmental issue. It is about time, labour, dignity and life
itself.
Water as a Right - Water as a Resource
In the progressive state of Keralam, the central district Ernakulam with the backwaters of Vempanad on the western side running into the Arabian sea, is distinct for its the geographically distinctive, GI-tagged Pokkali rice, a low input, salt-tolerant ecologically adapted traditional rice variety which grows in the salty wetlands of Vempanad. The genius of the traditional system lies in its seasonal rhythm: rice during the relatively fresh-water monsoon period, followed by fish or prawn as salinity increases. In modern times, such fields are dedicated for shrimp farming which is found to be more profitable. However, the eco-logic would require that after a season of fish, the fields are to be made dry by creating bunds or bringing down the shutters of the bunds already in place, paving way to the next cycle of paddy farming. Over the years, paddy farming has been found labour intensive and unprofitable. There is hardly any young man or woman ready to be in such a field for earning livelihood or as one's profession.
Though government itself promotes “One Paddy One Fish” and “One Paddy One Shrimp” systems as integrated farming models, in practice, however, local economic interests and political influence can weaken the enforcement of such ecological norms, particularly where shrimp cultivation is considerably more lucrative than paddy cultivation.
Prolonged retention of saline water can contribute to salinisation of soils and groundwater and, in coastal environments, can add to the saline exposure that accelerates the deterioration of buildings and infrastructure. More importantly, altering the natural seasonal rhythm of salinity affects the ecological balance of the wetland and threatens its biodiversity.
In Water Wars (2002), Vandana Shiva argues for an ecological understanding of water, emphasizing its intimate relationship with communities, biodiversity and ecological balance, and draws attention to traditional and indigenous systems of water management found to be much more sustainability.
From a Free Gift to a Market Dictated Commodity
In my younger days, even for what was then considered a long trip to Trivandrum or to Mysore or Kozhikode from Kochi, hardly anyone carried water. In a petty kada of Keralam, where you could buy a lemonade, you could ask for a glass of water, and no body charged for it, even if you didn't buy anything. People unhesitatingly drank from the municipal supply of water at home or on the public taps on the roads. The railways provided drinking water, which people generally took to be safe to drink. As a higher secondary student in Meerut, UP in the early 80s, I remember that after a tough session of 30 or 45 minutes of basket ball, we all rushed to the hand pump and drank to our fill from that.
However, those days, when people had access to safe drinking water for free in that manner are gone. Now we are dependent on our own resources to ensure safe drinking water - purificators/filters. We have surrendered our freedom to drink freely from the sources around us to the corporates who sell water by imprisoning it in a bottle, and forcing us to drink what is labelled as safe water, with concerns also about the possible migration of chemicals from plastic packaging, besides adding to atmospheric, soil and water pollution through the production, transportation and disposal of waste bottles. We are now forced to add to our luggage by having to carry safe water, though, in turn, water bottles have become a good business.
At our Kochi campus, where I had spent over a dozen years of my ministry in Social Work education, there was a traditional, large, well-like open water source which provided ample water for the 200-odd campus residents and for a day-time student population of over 3000. However, on the same slope of the hill, adjacent to our campus, and below our source, an enterprising neighbour began commercially extracting groundwater for supply elsewhere; and we began to feel the pinch, and the campus turning water insecure and some times, even scarce. The water beneath the ground was physically local, but its ownership and benefits were effectively being transferred away from the community.
Extraction, Exhaustion and Stewardship
Some of my enthusiastic missionary friends who went to Gujarat to proclaim the good news of liberation, were gladdened finding underground water source in the dry region of Nani Katechi. They had plenty of water, and perhaps taking it for granted planted orchards, even shared some water with the needy neighbours in the village. However, such abundance didn't last - after about 12 happy water years, the ground water sources began to be exhausted, and unreplenished, the region had become water-scarce, unsustainable. That points to the need for water literacy as the foundation of water sovereignty.
Water Comes Back - Alwar Experience
In the Alwar region of Rajasthan, Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the ‘Waterman of India’, and the Tarun Bharat Sangh mobilised local communities to revive traditional johads, helping to restore the Arvari River and regenerate agriculture. I was fortunate to visit the area and witness the transformation. I did not have the privilege of seeing the river flowing, but I sensed something perhaps even more important: people had regained a measure of ownership and agency over their water.
Jal Swaraj
In Keralam, in the past two decades (2005 to 2025), there had been several projects to democratise the water rights of people, surprisingly through World Bank, which is often looked upon as an agent of the modern imperialism by the 'democratic' west. I had the good fortune to associate with 'Jalanidhi' and contribute to documenting a few success stories, where people's processes made some unique success stories - people having decision making power regarding water rights. The programme was not without political reservations and debate in the generally left-leaning (read, Socialist) Kearlam, but successive governments facilitated its implementation, helped by the funding available. According to Jalanidhi, 5,884 rural water-supply schemes have been constructed and are operated and managed by communities. I hope those success stories sustain. Jalanidhi demonstrated that water democracy need not mean free water. It can mean that communities participate meaningfully in deciding the source, design, management, maintenance and even the cost of their water supply.
I also read about Pani Panchayats of Odisha, where irrigation water users make decisions regarding the access and use of water.
When Development Decision Displaces Communities and Destroys Water
Residing now on the banks of the picturesque Chitrapuzha, I recall the destruction of its waters through the imposition of urban projects upon rural communities, often with little meaningful participation from those directly affected. The neighbouring municipal corporation managed to procure land along the riverbank, effectively displacing a small local community of about 60 families who had lived a relatively contented life through farming and fishing. The land was subsequently converted into a waste dump, with decaying municipal waste leaching into the river, degrading its water quality and damaging its biodiversity.
Democratising Institutions for Just Water Governance
The experience also raises an uncomfortable question about public institutions. Large water agencies, by their very structure, can sometimes become supply-driven, centralised and distant from the people they are meant to serve. Kerala Water Authority, as the state's principal public water agency, provides an interesting case for examining this tension between centralised provisions and community participation. The challenge, therefore, is not simply to replace public institutions with private ones, but to make public water governance more transparent, accountable, participatory and responsive to the communities whose lives depend on it. .
Image - navadanyainternational.org
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