President’s Address on Bluetimes Launch

Posted by admin on May 23, 2011 in Bluetimes Magazine | 1 comment

Namaskar

As a bystander to recent events, I have often been struck by the strength of conviction that both sides – the accuser and the accused – display when giving their version of an issue. Take for eg. this issue about the NDM-1 gene carrying bacteria. To an average reader, the Lancet journal’s assertion sounds very convincing. On the other hand, the Delhi Jal Board CEO and the Chief Minister, are equally categorical in their assertion that DJB water is safe for drinking and is routinely tested everyday to ensure that quality. Many other such examples of equally passionate offence and defence come to my mind – the large dams vs no dams issue; the Coca-Cola vs People protests, the water privatization vs community management debate; river interlinking vs micro unit water planning …..

Total conviction of this sort – on either side – cannot exist without very strong reasons to support one’s belief. So I looked deeper to try and understand how such an apparent contradiction is possible….and I think I have an answer

It all really boils down to a simple question ‘where does the buck stop??’ The accusers have a common point – they all look at the impact at the consumer end. The responses of the accused are also standard – they look at the end point of their perceived legal responsibility chain. To a common man in Delhi or at Lancet, ensuring water quality at any place from where people take water for drinking, is the Delhi Jal Board’s responsibility. Delhi Jal Board, however, defines it differently – ensuring water quality in the piped water supply network of Delhi Jal board – provided there is no illegal tampering with the distribution system – is their responsibility.  Similarly, a villager living close to a factory reacts to the decline in water table and quality that he experiences after the setting up of the factory. The factory, however, responds with a valid set of legal records showing that they are working as per the law of the land and within the norms. If, however, there is some societal violation for which no written law exists – because it was not envisaged by the law makers – is anyone really answerable for that??

Which view is correct? Depends which side you’re on – but the net result is a hardening of stances on both sides and a focus on saving your own skin rather than addressing the larger issue. Blame-mongering can only lead to a zero sum game – where the losses of one wipeout the gains of the other.

At FORCE, we believe that instead of playing blame games, we must join hands to work together in the spirit of mutual benefit. So making sure that we get uncontaminated water in our taps at home is the DJB’s responsibility – yes- but by not installing motors or illegal tapping or allowing overflows – each Delhite must also be a partner in shouldering that responsibility. It’s the government’s responsibility to prevent the environmental disasters that large dams cause, but all of us must also help make that possible by curbing our demand and reviving our internal sources of fresh water.

So friends, welcome to this first edition of BLUETIMES – our magazine that, will share with you ideas, technologies, views, events, creatives – on water.  Read about our recent ‘Walk for Water’ and the ‘Blue Delhi Declaration’ – which we hope, starts a partnerships based thrust on Water Security.

Please do write back to us or email us your Water News, your views on recent water issues, your achievements in water conservation or your creative expressions on water. BLUETIMES is your magazine – let your thoughts flow and enrich us all.

PS: If you would like to read the Bluetimes at leisure, you can also download it here.