Financing Water Crises: World Bank, International Aid Agencies And
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Navdanya/ Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology A-60, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110016, India Tel.: 0091-11-26561868, 26853772 Fax: 0091-11-26562093, 26856795 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.vshiva.net FINANCING WATER CRISES WORLD BANK, INTERNATIONAL AID AGENCIES & WATER PRIVATISATION Navdanya / Research Foundation For Science, Technology & Ecology, This report is dedicated to the farmers who sacrified their lives on 26th August, 2005 in Tonk (Rajasthan), while demanding the release of water. Shri Prakash Mali Smt. Gujar Shri Madan Lal Jat Shri Krishan Lal Chaudhry Shri Ram Narayan Chaudhry Financing Water Crises: World Bank, International AID Agencies & Water Privatisation © RFSTE First Published : 2005 Published by Research Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology A-60, Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016, India Tel. : 0091-11-26853772, 26532460 Fax : 0091-11-2685 6795 Email : [email protected] Printed by Systems Vision A-199 Okhla Phase- I, New Delhi - 110 020 Contents 1. Introduction : Aiding Water Privatisation................................................................................... 1 2. The Privatisation Process .......................................................................................................... 10 3. World Bank Funded Major Projects in Water Sector .............................................................. 19 (i) Projects During 1953-1990 ............................................................................................. 19 (ii) Projects During 1991-2005 ............................................................................................. 35 (iii) Projects at the Approval Stage ......................................................................................... 47 (iv) World Bank Redefines National Policies ......................................................................... 53 4. ADB Funded Major Projects in Water Sector.......................................................................... 54 5. Water Crisis in Delhi ............................................................................................................... 60 (i) Sonia Vihar Treatment Plant ........................................................................................... 62 (ii) World Bank Dictates Privatisation of DJB ..................................................................... 65 (iii) Some Plans in Hot Water ............................................................................................... 68 (iv) An Alternative to Privatisation; Public-Public ................................................................. 69 Partnership : A Dialogue Between Citizen & Government 6. Privatisation of Water Sector in Madhya Pradesh .................................................................... 73 (a) (i) Conditionalties of the World Bank for Ken-Betwa Link Project ........................................................................................ 75 (ii) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Ken-Betwa Link ........................... 78 (iii) Summary of Ken-Betwa River Link...................................................................... 79 (b) Water Crisis in Bhopal .................................................................................................... 84 (i) ADB Loan to Bhopal and Other Cities ............................................................... 84 (ii) Water Sources in Bhopal....................................................................................... 85 (iii) Narmada Not Needed for Bhopal Water Woes .................................................... 86 (iv) Areas Facing Water Crisis in Bhopal .................................................................... 87 (c) Water Crisis in Indore ..................................................................................................... 92 (i) ADB Loan to Indore Municipal Corporation ...................................................... 95 (ii) Water Sources in Indore ....................................................................................... 95 (iii) Present Water Tariff and Charges proposed.......................................................... 96 under Narmada Phase III (iv) Areas Facing Water Crisis in Indore ..................................................................... 98 (d) First BOT-Water Supply Project for Dewas .................................................................. 102 (e) Water Crisis in Some Other Towns of M.P.................................................................. 102 7. Water Crisis in Chennai : ...................................................................................................... 103 (i) World Bank Loan to Chennai Water Supply and TWAD ............................................. 103 (ii) Drinking Water Supply in Chennai ................................................................................ 104 (iii) Distribution of Household by Source ............................................................................. 106 (iv) Water Availability in Slums and Poor Colonies .............................................................. 107 (v) Sources of Water in Chennai .......................................................................................... 108 (vi) Telugu Ganga Waters Don’t Reach Chennai ................................................................... 111 (vii) New Veeranam Project .................................................................................................... 112 (viii)Abandonment of New Veeranam Extension Project ....................................................... 113 (ix) Private Tankers................................................................................................................. 113 (x) Desalination Plants .......................................................................................................... 119 (xi) Intrusion of Sea Water into Wells................................................................................... 119 (xii) Water Bodies for Eco-Restoration ................................................................................... 119 8. Privatisation of Water Sector in Rajasthan ............................................................................. 121 Water Crisis in Jaipur ............................................................................................................. 126 9. References................................................................................................................................ 131 1 Introduction Aiding Water Privatisation access system of public utilities to a privileged access India is a land of major rivers and abundant monsoon to industry and 24x7 supply for rich urban areas. rain in most regions is today facing a serious water Thirdly, it is diverting limited and scarce ground crisis. Rivers are dying as their waters are dammed water from rural areas to urban areas, thus undermin- and diverted. Groundwater is disappearing as it is ing the Millennium Development Goal(s) to reduce mined. And World Bank loans have had a major role by half the proportion of people without sustainable in creating India’s water crisis. The Bank has driven access to safe drinking water”. Fourthly, the World intensive, irrigation projects, which have wasted Bank is forcing governments and public utilities to water, and created water logged and saline deserts. increase water tariffs, and to commodify water, The Bank has promoted ground water mining with undermining people’s fundamental right to water as its tube well irrigation loans. During the 1950’s – part of the right to life. Fifthly, since its projects are 1980’s the World Bank financed the creation of a based on non-sustainable water use, World Bank water crisis in India by financing dams and diversion projects are failing as is clear in the case of the Sonia of river waters. From the 1990’s the Bank is using the Vihar plant in Delhi and the Veeranam project in financial and hydrological crisis it created to force Tamil Nadu. Indian states and public utilities to privatize water World Bank loans are failing to bring water to services and assets. people. They are successful only in guaranteeing Water privatization projects are a major World contracts and profits for water corporations like Suez, Bank mediated political and financial scam, locking Vivendi, Bechtel. public utilities and citizens into a system where the World Bank loan conditionalities have many public pays a global corporation super high tariffs for paradigm shifts built into them – the shift from water that belongs to us and has been provided “water for life” to “water for profits”, the shift from through the services to our public utilities. “water democracy” to “water apartheid”, from “some We are bringing out this report “AIDing Water for all” to “all for some”. Privatization” to expose the World Bank aided water As the debate on privatisation has intensified, the privatization scam. semantics of privatization has changed, but the The report is in two parts. The first part lists the processes of privatization unfold unheeded. World Bank projects in three categories – loans given “Privatization” was launched as a core of the from 1950-1990, water restructuring projects from globalization and trade liberalisation paradigm, based 1990-2005, and projects at approval stage. The on the crude ideology that public is bad, private is second part of the report includes case studies of good, domestic is