Water security for all

Md. Firoj Alam

Deprivation is not a consequence of shortage of safe water, rather a consequence of inequitable distribution. While the affluent people, both in rural and urban areas, get water first, it is the poor and the marginalised sections of society who are invariably left out. The urban poor seem destined to fetch spilled-over water from the water reservoir of the rich. Similarly, the rural poor queue up at the deep tubewell of the rich. The pattern of water begging is identical in urban and rural areas.


Worse, source of safe water is on the wane, courtesy of indiscriminate dumping of industrial, human and other wastes into natural water bodies. What's more, injudicious extraction has resulted in arsenic contamination of groundwater in India and Bangladesh. While the rich have triggered the contamination, the poor have suffered the consequences. In Bangladesh, some 55 million people risk exposure to arsenic contamination. Needless to say, most of them are poor.


However, the water security has spelled boon for many. National and multinational companies have made a windfall from sale of drinking water. Global water industry is worth $7 trillion and has assured itself of profit at least for the next 25 years (Dr Sudhirendar Sharma, The Daily Star, April 19, 2002). The third world markets are now flooded with different types of water purification filters, testing kits and accessories. While the water traders are trying to boost their sales with the arsenic-free labels on their bottled water, they are not contributing a penny from their profits to efforts towards sustainable solution to arsenic crisis. On top of this, the World Bank is pursuing governments to privatise the water supply system for cost recovery from supplied water. If it succeeds, water insecurity will only deepen with millions more rendered vulnerable.


The primary objective of any developing country should be to ensure every citizen access to safe drinking water with special attention given to the poor and the disadvantaged. Water rate should within reach of the people in the lower rung of society. For sustainable management of water resources, the government should involve community participation.

Author: Md Firoj Alam, Published in the Daily Star, January 17, 2003
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