Presentation@ASC, Water Issues

Summary of Presentation titled “ Issues of Access to, Use of, Control over water resources : A Case study of Chhattisgarh

Everything originated in water and everything is sustained by water.” –Goethe
“Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.”-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

The United Nations has recognized access to water as a basic human right, stating that water is a social and cultural good, not merely an economic commodity. In the present era of rapid industrialization the governments seem to be preoccupied with meeting industrial water needs .At the same time people have started asserting their rights over the access to, use of and control over the water resources to fulfill their daily survival requirements. There is a need to identify a balanced approach to the process of policy formulation on access to, use of and control over water resources that judiciously protects and integrates the needs of different sections of the population without hampering the economic growth. Due to the patriarchal character of the society women have been excluded from the policy formulation process hence public policies seldom represent their needs. The present study has focused on a gender evaluation of water policies and their impacts on access to, use of and control over water resources by rural people in context of rapidly growing industrialization. The author has conducted the study with reference to three cases of one of the most economically and socially challenged state of India: Chhattisgarh, as an illustration to support some of the points made in the study. The findings of the study are expected to provide input for formulation of gender sensitive water policies in Chhattisgarh State of India.
Chhattisgarh is a newly emerged state of India. The state is rich in natural resources but is marked with severe poverty and backwardness. It has opted for an industrialization based model for growth and development. In its efforts to attract the industries the Chhattisgarh government has declared numerous incentives for industries. These includes providing adequate water for the proposed industries. The state’s industrial policy talks about assessing water for industrial use, and a time-bound programme for the construction of anicuts(weirs) and nullahs in rivers .The state has been the first in the country to go to the extent to sell out a river to the private owner to supply water to some of the industries. Two more rivers have been sold out to the owners of large industries. This is just the beginning. The efforts from the side of the government have rendered expected results and industrialists are lining up to pour money into Chhattisgarh. In this newly emerging industry dominated political economy of the state, the access to, use of and control over water resources are becoming issues in Chhattisgarh more because the strategies adopted by the government so far, do not seem to find acceptance among the people and Chhattisgarh is witnessing the emergence of an organized people’s movement against the policies of the government in this regard. The concern of the people can be better understood by the following discussion.
With 35% of state's geographical area under cultivation, agriculture is the main stay of state's economy. 80% of the state's working population is directly and indirectly dependent on agro-based livelihood, hence water is a catalyst for development. The irrigated area in the state is only 16% of the total area. There are evidences collected by independent journalists and others to show that the diversion of existing water resources from Agriculture to Industry is affecting their livelihood negatively.
Chhattisgarh has been a drought prone area (lack of proper water resource management has been one of the reasons as in-spite of continuous demands from the various sections of the society the efforts in this direction has been negligible) and has witnessed one of the most severe droughts of the country. Due to the dependence on agriculture the rural population suffered miserably during the droughts and was forced to migrate to other states for working in very exploitative situations. Migration of rural people has been one of the biggest problems during last 100 years in Chhattisgarh and instances of various types of exploitation have been well known.

There are evidences that to fulfill the water requirements of the big industries the dams have been constructed and the people of submerged villages have been displaced. Sometimes due to the loss of control over traditional water resources and resultant scarcity for water to fulfill the daily needs, the people are forced to move to some other places in search of water. Hence the threat of displacement due to scarcity of water is slowly but steadily emerging.
The experiences and the evidences all over the world show that in any of the above-mentioned situations women are affected more because of their vulnerable situation. There are documented evidences to show that in any such situation where livelihood is affected the women are affected worse, whether they migrate or stay at villages without their male folks. The scarcity of water for household also affects women worse as they are supposed to provide water for the family. In Chhattisgarh where wide gender gaps already exist in all development indicators any decision that does not take into account the needs of the women may have negative effects on them as large number of women depend up on agriculture (The ratio of female: male cultivator in the state is 739:1000 and of female: male agricultural laborers is 1471:1000) for their livelihood. Given their inferior status in the society and consequent inability to influence the process of policy formulation, it is quite possible that their needs and interests are neglected while formulating and implementing the policies on access to, use of and control of water resources.

The rural women form the most marginalized section of the population of Chhattisgarh State of India. Their condition is worse in all development indicators. Given their dependency on water resources it is quite possible that any decision related to access to, use of and control over water resources will affect them most. Hence Gender Evaluation of the issue is required to provide input to formulate and implement economically viable and gender sensitive policies on access to, use of and control over water resources. Currently there is an absence of such researches. This study seeks to fill up this gap.
The proposed study attains significance because Chhattisgarh is a newly emerged state of India, all policies are at formulation stage and inputs provided at this stage can have a significant impact.
Chhattisgarh is witnessing a public discourse on water issues to assert access, use and control over water as a human right. But the extent to which the objectives and the outcomes of such public discourses have included the gender issues is yet to be studied. Although the first movement against handing over the control of water resources to the industrials had witnessed a seven days hunger strike by a Tribal Women of the state in 1997 who died after 07 days. The study seeks to fill up this gap.

A gender sensitive research design has been employed. Three Cases have been studied (Sheonath river and Radius Water Limited at Raipur, Kelu River and Jindal Industries at Raigarh and Kurkut River and Jindal Tharmal Power at Rabo) where existing water resources have been handed over to the industrial houses. A Case Study method for the study has been employed. Qualitative and quantitative data have been collected as part of questionnaire supposed to be filled out by respondent. A total of 100 respondents (equal number of men and women) across three Cases have been surveyed. Data have been collected under the following heads: household and individual information, Links with water resources, Actual/Expected Impact of water policies, reactions and responses.
Data and information for the study have been collected through a household survey and focus group discussions. The household survey has covered households randomly selected from the sites, where industrialization is taking place and traditional water resources are given for industrial purposes. Equal numbers of men and women are covered by the survey. The purpose of the household survey has been to investigate impacts of water policies on women, children and other members of the household. The proposed research has involved conducting focus group interviews with the population, especially women. Focus groups are excellent research tools for conducting an in-depth examination of issues and concepts and reveal variation in perspective and attitudes (Knodel 1993). Each focus group consisted of 7 to10 people. Key informants have been interviewed concerning specific issues. In addition, Interviews have also been conducted with key people that included policy formulators, those who implement them, representatives from Industries, Civil Society and academia. The present research also relies on the secondary data sources in particularly the government records and reports prepared by civil society organizations.
The first step after the collection of data was to transcribe the focus group discussions and interview that facilitated analysis of the data. The second step involved looking for patterns and trends within interviews and across focus groups.

Major Findings

1. The decisions of the state government over the issues of access to, uses of control over water resources do not integrate the needs, expectations and demands of the people.
2. Most unfortunate fact is that even the communities that have been living on the banks of the rivers for generations have not been taken into confidence while taking decisions over the control of river waters.
3. The preferential treatment of the state government towards the needs of the industries is very clear.
4. While taking decisions over the ownership issues the communities depending on the water resources have not been given adequate attention. Consequently the communities are facing numerous problems. This has adversely affected their income, daily life and culture.
5. Women are suffering more. The change in the ownership of water resources has changed the agriculture and forest based rural economy to industry based economy. In agriculture and forest based economy women contributed to the family income equally and hence enjoyed better status in society and family. Now they are confined to the boundaries of the house without any scope to contribute to the family income. This is affecting their social status. Old women are facing more problems.
6. People have resisted to the decisions of the government. Women have participated in vast numbers to the movements. In some of the movements women are even at the forefront. But even within the movements at the time of major decisions, negotiations with the government women’s voices are not taken into consideration.
7. Government has reacted aggressively to the people’s movements and so far the rates of success of these movements have been not satisfactory.
8. The decisions of the state government are not in accordance of the spirit of Human Rights over Water.

Suggestions

1. The emphasis over industry driven development needs to be reconsidered from people’s perspectives.
2. There must be strict provisions in policy that the human needs of water should be given first priority in any decisions related to access to, use of and control over water resources.
3. A human rights based approach to water related issues should be adopted immediately.
4. There must be a realistic , need based and participatory policy for providing compensation to those affected due to ownership change in water resources.