The Hindu : Front Page : First salvo fired in Delhi's battle for water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005

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Front Page

First salvo fired in Delhi's battle for water

Staff Reporter

FOR DELHI'S SAKE: Author Arundhati Roy at "Jansunwai" organised by Right to Water Campaign on Monday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: After tasting success in their campaign against mounting power charges, Delhiites are now gearing up for a "long battle" with the Delhi Government to force it to shelve its World Bank-aided water privatisation plan. The "civil disobedience movement" will begin with citizens refusing to pay water bills from November 1 and holding protest rallies "exposing the Government's faulty plans in the name of improving the city's water situation". The first salvo was fired on Monday when several residents' welfare associations and social groups along with eminent personalities gathered under the banner of Right to Water Campaign at a "Public Hearing (Jansunwai) on 24x7 (proposed water project in South Delhi)" pledging that they would not allow the Government to privatise water distribution with its "drastic and lasting implications" for the citizens.

The "jansunwai" participants included distinguished author Arundhati Roy; retired Supreme Court judges S. C. Aggarwal and D. P. Wadhwa.Terming the movement as a big fight towards people's right to water, Arundhati Roy said: "History proves that private companies are only concerned about their profits and least bothered about people's welfare. Privatisation of water will not be a good experience for Delhi, as it has been proved in similar cases in other cities the world over.''

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