Q: Will Water Be a Scarce Resource in the Future? ; A: Yes, Because It Is Now a Commodity

Summary

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Hunger deaths and farmer suicides are now becoming a common phenomena in our country. Some years back, when we heard of a hunger- related death in Kalahandi or Baran in Rajasthan, it would prick our conscience. As the country proceeded on the path of globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation, we were made to believe that India was shining, even as reports of more and more people succumbing to poverty and hunger started pouring in. It was not because there was a shortage of foodgrain. The godowns of the Food Corporation of India stocked enough, but the foodgrain did not reach the people who needed it, because of massive siphoning off in the public distribution system. Yet, the worst is probably yet to come.

Water has now become a commodity. Bottling of water is a thriving business in India. Rivers are being sold and MNCs are eyeing water supply in big cities. Mahatma Gandhi had said that there is enough on this earth to take care of everybody's need, but not enough to fulfil anybody's greed. Human beings needed water only for fulfilling their basic needs, before the companies in the water business came into existence. The companies were interested in making money by selling water, though they played no role in its creation or conservation. They were not ashamed of taking a raw material free of cost, packaging it and selling it at prices higher than that of milk.

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Extract

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Q: Will Water Be a Scarce Resource in the Future? ; A: Yes, Because It Is Now a Commodity

For whatever water there is on earth today, we have to give credit to our ancestors for not treating it as a saleable commodity. With our relationship with water undergoing a change, water resources...

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