privatization of water services

[Sushubh]

While the emphasis is on privatization of water services, Moneylife looks back at the battle fought by Arvind Kejriwal against the Delhi Jal Board and the World Bank to prove the fraud and the conspiracy to privatise water supply and make it expensive for Delhites

The ministry of water resources has been undertaking public consultations across the country for quite sometime to formulate the New Water Policy to be probably implemented in March this year (the last revision was in 2002). While the general feedback it got points to proper water management and augmentation at the grass-root level, the draft policy being circulated recently dangerously lays emphasis on privatization of water services.

According to news reports, the draft National Water Policy encourages privatization of water supply services and gives liberty to private operators (who would look at profits first) to “fully recover” their operational and administrative costs, which could obviously lead to steep hike in water rates for the end consumer. The draft also suggests that the government should shrug of its responsibility of being a service provider for water and has curiously put the onus on private operators.

RTI expose of how World Bank had arm-twisted Delhi Jal Board for water privatisation — www.moneylife.in — Readability

 

[x720]

Reminds me of Bolivia's water war.
2000 Cochabamba protests - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[saarth]

x720, y u steal my comment?

 

[x720]

I'd read it in my civics text book a couple of years back 😛

 

[saarth]

i remember it from the documentary "Ascent Of Money".

 

[saarth]

so, it already exists. since 2000. and its our beloved coke here. yay!

By several reliable estimates, there have been in excess of 25,000 suicides by farmers over the last decade, a majority of these in the western and southern states, no longer able to feed their families because Coca-Cola has destroyed their farms.

Public Utility, Private Profit: Privatization of Water is as Benign as Lucifer | Truthout

 

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[Jaymin]

However for this resource too, i hold the same view like that of Crude.....let the prices rise after privatisation of water supplies. Ppl will not understand its value until it pinches their pockets.Almost daily 2-3 times the Society's tank overflows with gallons and gallons of water. I have to abuse the watchmen daily to cut off the wastage. If private players take over, money will be charged per litre or gallon may b. And every drop wasted will then pinch on every member of the society. Atleast they will take some steps to reduce the wastage.

 

[Bobbyguitarist]

However for this resource too, i hold the same view like that of Crude.....let the prices rise after privatisation of water supplies. Ppl will not understand its value until it pinches their pockets.

Almost daily 2-3 times the Society's tank overflows with gallons and gallons of water. I have to abuse the watchmen daily to cut off the wastage. If private players take over, money will be charged per litre or gallon may b. And every drop wasted will then pinch on every member of the society. Atleast they will take some steps to reduce the wastage.
ok this might work for middleclass people who live in apartments and independent houses but think of all those millions of people living in slums :/ they rarely get tankers two-three times a week but raising the water prices is just too much for them.

 

[Toocool]

Crowd manipulation is the intentional use of techniques based on the principles of crowd psychology to engage, control, or influence the desires of acrowd in order to direct its behavior toward a specific action.[1] This practice is common to politics and business and can facilitate the approval or disapproval or indifference to a person, policy, or product. The ethical use of crowd manipulation is debatable and depends on such factors as the intention of and the means used by the manipulator, as well as the ends achieved.

Crowd manipulation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


can any one please otherwise tell me why the hell world bank need to do all this shit.?

 

[Jaymin]

Bobby.....The ppl in slums dont LEGITIMATE supply of water. But, theres lots of water theft around. They break the pipes and steal water. That is the reason y v have so many pipe burst cases as well.And very recently i read a case where a social activist was roughed up by Police officials for reporting a case of theft in Mumbai.If it gets privatised, automatically the companies will start accounting for all this.

 

[Toocool]

i dont get it ......why world bank stipulates conditions like privatizing this and that . they dont own us.

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thats the questions we should ask ourselves .......it will take some time to grasp but then after sometime we will know the answers.......and answers will not be any where on any papers written. there will be no documents to support this ever.

 

[manu1991]

i dont get it ......why world bank stipulates conditions like privatizing this and that . they dont own us.

When its their money, its their conditions. the government can't beg for money and then decide its own ways.

None of the bretton woods sisters and other monetary/trade organizations were formed for helping third world countries. Just read up how the WTO blocks tariffs and quotas in developing countries and allows US and EU to provide massive input subsidies to their farmers. (orange and green box)

 

[Bobbyguitarist]

Bobby.....
The ppl in slums dont LEGITIMATE supply of water. But, theres lots of water theft around. They break the pipes and steal water. That is the reason y v have so many pipe burst cases as well.
And very recently i read a case where a social activist was roughed up by Police officials for reporting a case of theft in Mumbai.
If it gets privatised, automatically the companies will start accounting for all this.
Ofcourse they burst pipes.

If you're dying of thirst . .do you just sit around and wait for water to come to you?

Already there's scam even by the water tractors who collect 300rs from slum people to provide tankers illegally.

And if private people come. .they'll just fudge up their books and charge rs500 instead of 300 from slum people.

 

[saarth]

jaymin's concept is rather quite harsh i'd say. u cant force people to be sensible. its what hitler tried to do. he wanted the betterment of mankind, a perfect race. his ways were far too harsh. he did infact help germany rise after a very defeat and terrible economic conditions post- WW-I.
people who waste water now, wont stop wasting just because they'll have to pay 100-200-500 rupees more.

but people who's livelihoods depend on water, farmers etc, will have to pay for all that water with their lives, and they are doing it.


plus, corporations are profit driven, they dont care how many resources they exploit and whether future generations will get it or not . (same as oil companies)

plus, packaged drinking water, and aerated drinks are not needs, and are far overpriced. selling water is absurd, it doesnt even have any significantly more nutrients than normal municipality water.

plus, i dont think putting at stake the lives of farmer, our primary occupation and major water sources as an attempt to conserve urban water wastage is wise.

pus, it water now. air is getting polluted too. it doesnt seem surprising if a company starts selling bottled oxygen. (which can also be used as a drug, pure oxygen is known to stimulate neurological activity).
something similar to Djokovic oxygen chamber - Djokovic using hyperbaric chamber for recovery | Watch Live Tennis

also, we can live without crude oil. i do. i use cycle wherever i can, and public transport for greater distances. but not many can live without water. and everyone has different requirements for water. a dhobi or a farmer or car cleaner will use far more water than a person who works in a office, is it fair the person who's livelihood depends on water, pays more for it?

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i dont get it ......why world bank stipulates conditions like privatizing this and that . they dont own us.

----------

thats the questions we should ask ourselves .......it will take some time to grasp but then after sometime we will know the answers.......and answers will not be any where on any papers written. there will be no documents to support this ever.

what happens is, the world bank gives out loans to governments for new projects and developments. the government, seeking quick money accepts the loans, and money goes wherever it does depending on how corrupt the country is 😛
now if the country fails to repay the loan, the world bank then suggests some austerity measures to help, like helping companies from other countries take profit from there. like in bolivia, the water company was like the bank's money collectors.

the same is the condition of greece, they havent been able to repay their loans, and thus the world bank has "suggested" some austerity measures or they can leave the EU.
inspite of all the public protests, the greek govt. is going for the world bank suggestion which lead to riots last night.

 

[Jaymin]

people who waste water now, wont stop wasting just because they'll have to pay 100-200-500 rupees more.

For this, i have the following arguments:

1) Ur building tank overflows daily with gallons and gallons of water twice to thrice a day....that cost will directly be charged onto the society. And i think the framework of this kind of organisation is such that the burden will directly pass on the members. So every month, if a middle class family is shown an amount of Rs. 200-300 extra in the Society maintenance bill, with the name "Water wastage charges", it will pinch them hard.
2) Next time, they will think twice before running the tap in full flow while brushing the teeth or shaving.
3) They will even think twice before emptying the tanks fitted at home of 500-600 liters, just to "Clean" the tank.

Its a simple logic.....first u put ur point with explanations. If ppl dont understand, then get harsh. If still they dont, then target their weak-point. And for almost each and every Indian, the weak point is common - Money. We have a really really dirty habit of equating everything with just money. If u want to show off, u splurge money. If u want to cause damage to someone, again Money......the other other day while travelling i saw that BMC guys simply bumped off a cart full of vegetables. Y? Coz that cart owner wudnt have given him enuf bribe.

Hell with that bribe damn it! What about the food that was lost?? :x :x

As regards the poor not getting water.....if all this wastage is stopped, poor people too will have easy access to water. They have to break pipes, just coz the middle class & the rich wastes whatever they get.