Paane Paane re

An article to aware us about future of humanity about water which is by no mean less important than global warming.When MNC's are drenching water for commercial resources , voices must be raised and examples must be put forwarded by us for fair utilization of water.I have put small paragraph about this scenario.The reference of the author of the article is put at the end of the post.

"At the Polaris Institute, we propose a three-pronged strategy. First, develop a water-alert network so we can know where companies are operating and where they are going next. How are they going to move? And how can we get ahead of them?

Second, we need water-action teams that bring citizens together to build local water-watch coalitions and develop campaigns to protect their water supplies and services from conglomerates. Then we should link those local campaigns with the national campaigns of groups like Public Citizen or the Council of Canadians.

Third, we need to offer alternatives. It is not enough to say we want to defend our public water systems against private takeovers. There are problems with public water systems, and we must find new ways of revitalizing them in our own communities through citizen participation. Engaged citizens can act as watchdogs for their local water systems.

Our local actions should be informed by three global principles. One is water conservation. We cannot kid ourselves about water scarcity. Water may be abundant in one place, but it's scarce in others. Water conservation must be a top priority.

The second principle is that water is a fundamental human right. People need water to live. Water must be provided equitably to all people and not on the basis of the ability to pay.

The third principle is water democracy. We cannot leave the management of our most precious resource in the hands of bureaucrats in government or the private corporations, whether or not they are well intentioned. We, the people, must preserve this special trust, we must fight for it, and we must take our proper role and demand water democracy."

Maude Barlow, national chair of the Council of Canadians, and Tony Clarke, director of the Polaris Institute, are co-authors of Blue Gold: The Corporate Theft of the World's Water. This article is adapted from presentations made by the authors at the Water for Life conference in New York, September 2003, co-sponsored by Resurgence magazine and the Omega Institute.