It is what two thirds of our planet is covered with, it is what 65 per cent of our bodies are made up of and it is also what States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are fighting over and very soon a fight on similar lines is likely to follow between Orissa and Chhattisgarh on the same issue. The volume of water available on the earth is 1.4 billion cu. km of which 97 per cent is saline and present in the oceans. The freshwater available on the earth is 36 million cu. km, of which about 77 per cent is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland. The fresh water actually available for use is a mere 0.5 per cent (eight million cu. km) of the total quantity. If all the water on earth were to fit into a one-litre bottle, about one teaspoonful is all the fresh water available to us. Indeed, the United Nations Population Fund predicts that the world will begin to run out of fresh water in 2050.

In India, while the urban and rural masses fight over the availability and distribution of water, two different facets indicate the irony of the issue and the politics that goes into water management.

On one hand, after Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it now seems to be the turn of Orissa and Chhattisgarh to fight over the waters of a major river that flows through both the States. A Cauvery-like dispute has already surfaced with Chhattisgarh accusing Orissa of not releasing adequate water from the Indravati river, violating an agreement signed more than 20 years ago. On the other hand, we also have a controversy raised by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) when it accused several branded water companies of serving to helpless urban consumers of a Rs. 1000-crore packaged water industry, ‘deadly poison’.

The mess is of gigantic proportions. A recent media report for example says that a large upcoming suburb of Delhi—Dwarka—has been allowed to develop with private investment and government infrastructure—without identifying where the necessary water supply will come from. There is glorious silence from the lords and masters of the Delhi Development Authority as well as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Going back to the water issue between Orissa and Chhattisgarh—after a series of heated exchanges between the leadership and officials of both the States—Orissa has recently announced the release of sufficient water from the Indravati for its neighbouring State. However, it may not be an easy task as the villagers in an Orissa district which benefits from the Indravati have already threatened to launch an agitation if their government succumbs to Chhattisgarh’s pressure and accepts its demand to release more water. With summer round the corner, the tussle between both the States is likely to intensify further. Besides for irrigation, Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, especially Jagdalpur town, depends heavily on drinking water from the Indravati during the summer months. Similarly, people of tribal dominated Koraput district of Orissa depend solely on the Indravati for both irrigation and drinking water supply. Orissa’s political leaders have warned that they will have no option but to launch a mass agitation if the State Government succumbs to any plan which affects the people.

Orissa and undivided Madhya Pradesh had signed an agreement in 1979 to share the water of the Indravati river by which Orissa would supply 45 TMC water to Madhya Pradesh, out of which 9 TMC would be supplied between November and June. Both the States have been at loggerheads for long as Madhya Pradesh had always accused Orissa of not keeping to its commitment, especially during the crucial period of June to November.