Mangalore, June 24: Criticising the move of the Mangalore City Corporation to introduce 24X7 water supply scheme in the City Corporation limits, social activist and documentary film maker Natesh Ullal said the privatisation of water supply would lead to several problems as the entire idea has several loopholes in it.
He was speaking at a discussion on the Privatisation of Drinking Water Supply organised by DYFI to commemorate the death anniversary of social activist Srinivas Bajal. Analysing the issue from various perspectives, Natesh said the implementation of 24X7 water supply scheme by the private companies would create a disaster in the future.
“The company which is given the responsibility of supplying the water might one day urge the government to bring out a policy to stop the general public from using water from wells and borewells. These companies which are basically profit driven try their level best to dominate the life of people. With profit motive in mind, there are all possibilities of these companies forcing the people not to use the water sources like wells,” he noted.
Insisting the administrative bodies to avoid the implementation of the proposed scheme, he said the private companies are given the liberty to hike the water bill once in three years which would cost high to the general public. It is only the small portion of population who will be able to pay the heavy water bill issued by the companies, but the poor will be put into trouble, he informed.
The possibilities of the private companies entrusted with the responsibility of 24X7 water supply exporting the water to abroad can't be ignored. The companies might show loss amount incurred to the shareholders and may jump into export business, he said.
He also questioned the delegation from MCC who paid visit to Hubli recently, in order to study the pros cons of 24X7 water supply scheme, if they had visited all the wards in Hubli. “Visiting 4-5 wards where the scheme has been effectively implemented is not sufficient, but one must also study the negative impact of the scheme on the wards where the scheme is not implemented,” said Natesh.
DYFI former President Krishnappa Konchadi criticised the move and said that the capitalistic mentality was working behind the scheme.
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