Theme: Water Rights and Water Rights reform in South asia

Theme: Water Rights and Water Rights reform in South asia

Title: Contours of Water Rights and Water Rights Reform in Indian Context

-Dr. Alok Chantia
Lecturer, Dept. of Anthropology,
Sri Jai Narain Post Graduate College,
(KKC) Lucknow-226001
Uttar Pradesh, India
E-Mail alokchantia@rediffmail.com;
alokchantia@gmail.com
Abstract
India became independent in 1947 from colonial clutches. It formed its Constitution to protect its people from any mal functioning. As a longest Constitution of the world, the Indian Legal Epic protects human being by providing many safeguards in the form of human rights. Amongst all Article 14 which encompasses an idea that ‘every body is equal before law’ shows an indirect accessibility to natural resources without any discrimination on the ground of race, sex, caste, creed, place of birth etc. Whereas Article 21 explains right to life in multi dimensional terms including right to safe drinking water. Without any technical approach or research an individual can observe the whole scenario of water rights in India where more than 6 lakhs villages are reeling under the acute crisis of water what to say of pure drinking water. A mere approach of the Government to install a hand pump in a village cannot be an assurance of right to safe drinking water. Right to water does not mean merely availability of water but of standard quality so as to ensure healthy life of an individual. In India every year 30,000 children die from water borne diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid. Many contaminating materials such as arsenic, chlorine, fluorine also dilute water rights of Indians.
The water supplied in urban and rural areas is also discriminatory and violative of fundamental right in the sense that in urban areas we get water after proper treatment and medication but in rural areas even hand pumps are not grounded as per norms. Discrimination in access to drinking water resources on the basis of caste is another very important and sensitive issue as upper caste dominate over lower caste people for access to drinking water. When we talk of water rights in India even fundamental rights are not equally distributed amongst Indians. Such an inhuman process of deprivation and destitution requires change of attitude amongst government and in its people.
In the present paper a micro level study has been made in urban, peri urban and rural areas to assess the impact and effectiveness of rights provided under Indian Constitution and in other statutory documents. An attempt has also been made to suggest reforms to ensure equal water rights to all Indian nationals irrespective of class, caste, place of birth etc.

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