WATER AS A NATURAL RESOURCE: RIGHT VERSUS NEED DEBATE

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to understand the complexity inherent inthe ongoing debate on water. It discusses the theoretical premise of thedebate by analysing the concepts of ‘right’, ‘need’ and ‘want’ with referenceto water as a natural resource. The World Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund, under the influence of neo-liberalism and structuraladjustment programme, seem to have accepted the ‘Washington Consensus’that treats water as want to be available in the market. The national waterpolicy in India looks like being guided by the neo-liberal philosophy ofaccepting water as want. However, such a market-driven policy has its ownlimitations. Even if the ‘market’ is considered to be a rational and efficientinstitution, when it comes to management of natural resources like water, it
is grossly inadequate to meet basic human needs. Cases of privatisation ofthe Sheonath river in Chhattisgarh and the anti-coke protest at Plachimadain Kerala illustrate the disastrous consequences of placing water as want under the forces of market