Bangalore: More than 500 people gathered near the Chief Minister's official residence on Saturday to protest against the decision to privatise water supply in the eight urban local bodies (ULBs) around Bangalore.

In the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Project (GBWASP), envisaged to provide round-the-clock water supply to residents of the ULBs, the Government has decided to transfer the operations and maintenance of water supply to private companies.

Representatives of the Campaign Against Water Privatisation-Karnataka (CAWP-KA) submitted a memorandum to Social Welfare Minister Balachandra Jarkiholi who promised to discuss the issue with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Memorandum

The memorandum stated that the impact of water privatisation had been disastrous in societies where it was introduced with water tariffs increasing steeply, making it exorbitant for the urban poor to purchase water.

"A former chairman of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) had written to the Government against privatisation of water supply. He had said that the BWSSB could provide the service at a lesser cost. We have asked the Government to take this into consideration," said Kshitij Urs, director of the Association for Promoting Social Action. The protest march was a culmination of the week-long padayatras that the CAWP-KA had undertaken in the seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council to highlight deficiencies in the GBWASP.

The padayatras seemed to have been effective as the demonstrators, mostly women, were from the areas that the CAWP-KA had toured in the past week.

Campaign

Forty non-governmental organisations and mass organisations are spearheading the campaign. "We have a meeting with the Chief Minister on Monday. This is the first time that the issue is being discussed at the highest level.

The campaign has finally attained a visibility level," Mr. Urs said.

Earlier in the day, representatives of CAWP-KA met with officials of the BWSSB who reportedly told them that the board was also against water privatisation.

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