Karnataka - Bangalore   

Water supply privatisation opposed

Staff Reporter

Six-day jatha to be launched at Marathahalli on Monday

BANGALORE: To protest against the Government's proposed move to privatise operation and maintenance of the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project (GBWSSP), several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social activists in the city will launch a six-day jatha on Monday.

The jatha, being organised by the Campaign Against Water Privatisation (CAWP), will take off at Marathahalli in Mahadevapura and move on to Krishnarajapuram, Yelahanka, Byatarayanapura, Dasarahalli, Kengeri, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Bommanahalli. It will end at Bommanahalli on July 15.

Giving details of the campaign, Arun Selva, campaign coordinator, told The Hindu on Sunday that residents and activists, who would participate in the jatha, would hold demonstrations, public meetings and street plays in front of the city municipal council offices on each day. "We will wind up the jatha at Bommanahalli on July 15 after which we will march from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) office at Cauvery Bhavan to the Chief Minister's official residence and submit a memorandum to H.D. Kumaraswamy," he said. Pointing out that the campaign was aimed at informing people about the plans to privatise water and its disadvantages, Mr. Selva said that water supply was an obligatory duty of the Government.

"The Government is not manufacturing water as it is derived from natural resources. We agree the Government spends money on supplying water to all. But the consumers pay for it. When the BWSSB is there to handle the job, why should an international agency be allowed to make profit?" he asked.

Mr. Selva said the CAWP had obtained documents from the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) that revealed the Government's water privatisation plans.

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