Contesting Water Rights

185 Pages·2018·2.47 MB·English

by  Mangala Subramaniam

CONTESTING WATER RIGHTS
Local, State, and Global Struggles
mangala subramaniam
Contesting Water Rights
Mangala Subramaniam
Contesting Water
Rights
Local, State, and Global Struggles
Mangala Subramaniam
Department of Sociology
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-74626-5 ISBN 978-3-319-74627-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74627-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018933053
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P
reface
Water is a basic need for all living beings. Yet access to clean water for
all people across the world has been a challenge. Not having sufficient
and safe water means being susceptible to diseases. It also leads to loss
of time and educational and employment opportunities. Low incomes
and limited access to water also mean choosing between paying for
water, food, school fees, or medicines. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, 748 million people around the
world lack access to an improved (clean, uncontaminated) drinking water
source, while billions more lack drinking water that is really safe.
Water as an issue has been constantly visible in my travels for my field-
based research, especially in rural areas, for more than a decade now. I
carry bottled water as I always worry about safe water in the regions to
which I travel. And then I feel compelled to explain to my interview-
ees why I carry bottled water, especially because it could be construed as
adhering to caste norms. This is ironic, considering that research about
control over and privatization of water resources is the focus of this
book.
This book is an outcome of research I began way back in 2006, when
I became interested in environmental resources and justice issues. Being
fortunate to receive a competitive Asian Initiative Research grant from
Purdue University, I used my one-semester sabbatical in 2007 to travel
through parts of Rajasthan—Udaipur and Alwar districts. Rajasthan,
located in the north-western part of India, is relatively dry and infer-
tile. The area includes some of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great
v
vi PREFACE
Indian Desert. I had learnt of ongoing development work in Udaipur
and with the assistance of Sewa Mandir (a non-governmental organiza-
tion (NGO)), I had the opportunity to visit interior rural areas and see
at close hand the challenges posed by the shortage of water as well as the
indigenous water saving techniques used. People had told me about the
‘pani sansad’ (water parliament) sessions in the Alwar district and I was
curious to attend it. Not knowing anyone at Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS),
an NGO that enabled mobilizing residents for addressing the water cri-
sis and protecting the environment, I faced some difficulties in locating
the village, but was warmly welcomed at the session. As I observed the
vibrant discussions about water-related issues among many of the men
who approached the mike placed at the front of the gathering, I noted
that women, with their heads covered by their saris, sat in silence. The
image starkly brought the gender differences in water-related decision-
making and management to the forefront.
Subsequently in 2008, I was contacted by the Program Officer of
the Ratan Tata Trust to inform me of a project they were interested in
funding in collaboration with the International Water Management
Institute (TATA-IWMI). It was about social movements concerning
water. The core research group included a representative from TATA-
IWMI, the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management
(SOPPECOM), the Madras Institute of Development Studies, India,
and myself. The grant was released by the Trust. This was a tremendous
opportunity to gain insights into the various small- and large-scale efforts
to raise awareness about managing water resources and enable commu-
nity ownership of such resources.
I continued to maintain an interest in the struggles about water and
published two articles about water rights (in 2012 and 2014). My inter-
est in the challenges to the water crisis was revived and sustained through
the discussions among a group of faculty members and graduate students
focused on social movements (at Purdue). Late in 2013, I was involved
in a committee that put together a list of scholars for the international
workshop on Environmental Justice and Equitable Access to Natural
Resources organized by Purdue’s Center for the Environment. A princi-
pal concern of the workshop was to bring together scholars, activists, and
others engaged in interdisciplinary environmental justice work.
And then in 2016, when the water crisis unfolded in Flint, Michigan,
I noticed some similarities between the developed and developing world
PREFACE vii
relating to access to water. I wrote a blog as a member of the editorial
board of the journal Gender & Society. My concerns were with the ways
in which the marginalized—the poor, racial minorities, and women—
are rarely recognized and included in discussions about managing envi-
ronmental resources such as water. That was when I began to seriously
consider a book about water—not only focusing on local struggles, but
spanning the local and global levels, and how such struggles need to be
understood by considering the social, political, and economic context in
which they occur.
As Palgrave Macmillan had contacted me a few years earlier about the
possibility of pursuing a book through them, I approached them with
the idea. Their quick response and interest led to a formal contract for
this book.
West Lafayette, IN, USA Mangala Subramaniam
August 2017
a
cknowledgements
I acknowledge the countless NGOs, groups, activists, and scholars
in India and elsewhere who welcomed me to see their work related to
water and other development activities. It has been an incredible way to
gain knowledge and insights into concerns about water. I am grateful
to Purdue University for the Asian Initiative Research grant and to
TATA-IWMI for the opportunities to meet activists and learn of
water-related projects across India. I also would like to thank Neelima
Khetan, Sanjiv Phansalkar, the employees of Tarun Bharat Sangh, and
the many village residents in the Udaipur and Alwar districts. I thank the
many activists and NGO representatives who shared information about
their projects as part of the TATA-IWMI grant-related research.
I have benefited from the research assistance of students. Jared Wright
downloaded many documents pertaining to the global water forums as
part of the work for the social movements group. I continued to track
the documents and downloaded new ones, which I analyze in the book.
My sincere thanks to Alexis Nelson of Palgrave Macmillan for work-
ing with me as I put together a book proposal. Her close review of my
proposal, and particularly the book content, led to very useful comments
for me to revise and sharpen it. This resulted in relatively good reviews
for the book. After her departure, I worked with Kyra Saniewski and
then later with Mary Al-Sayed, the new editor. I am very grateful to both
Mary and Kyra for being exceptionally patient with me as I completed
the manuscript. I delayed the submission of my manuscript for personal
reasons and especially as I began a new position as the Butler Chair and
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Director of the Butler Center. Thanks are also due to the publisher for
making the watercolor illustration work for the cover possible.
I am thankful for the help and support of family and friends outside
my immediate academic realm. My late father, P. R. Subramanian, and
late mother, Narayani, were very supportive of my research and writing
endeavors. My mother was a feminist in her own way. She celebrated
my accolades and constantly encouraged me to strive for more. I am
indebted to my parents for their tremendous ability to make anything
possible for me. I am very thankful for the support of my siblings and
other family members, Vasanta, Brintha, Shobha, Ravi, and Yogi, who
have all contributed to making this book project possible. Without their
help and boundless energy, this book would not have been completed.
I also appreciate Brintha’s enthusiasm to develop an illustration for the
cover of this book.
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Water Crisis 1
2 Neoliberalism, the Ambivalent State, and Community
Struggles 25
3 Contesting Water Rights from “Below” 59
4 Controlling Water Resources from “Above”:
Global Water Forums 95
5 Conclusion 153
Glossary 169
Index 173
xi