JAL SWARAJ ABHIYAN

RASHTRIYA JAL BIRADARI

ACTION PLAN
16th March 2003

1. Following the inspiration of community-based water conservation and harvesting initiatives across the country, both ancient and contemporary, we commit ourselves to promote water harvesting in every household and in every urban and rural human settlement.
2. We commit ourselves to reducing water wastage in domestic use and agricultural activities and to act as the social conscience to ensure that industry uses water on the basis of the “Polluter Pays” principle.
3. We commit ourselves to the “SAVE THE PUBLIC TAP SAVE THE COMMUNITY WELL” (Tooti Bachao, Kunwa Bachao) Campaign to prevent privatisation, which begins by dismantling public supply and public taps, thus denying the public the right to water as a public service and a common good.
4. We commit ourselves to boycott bottled and packaged water which is being promoted as a source of “pure water” to destroy public supply and access. Instead of privatising local water supply, the government must ensure that local authorities have adequate resources to perform their mandatory pubic service funtions of providing clean water under the democratic control of society.
5. We will launch a campaign to stop the Railways from supplying packaged water, and to ensure that every tap at every station supplies clean potable water.
6. We will rejuvenate the culture of piaos (water temples) to provide safe drinking water.
7. We commit ourselves to taking The Campaign for the Right to Water to future generations in schools and colleges.
8. We will assess the impat of the River Linking Project and release reports to the public.
9. We are launching a Campaign on transparency and Right to Information to demand all documents related to water projects are put in the public domain.
10. The National JAL YATRA will lead to the formation of JAL JAN AAYOG, and the release of White Papers on the status of India’s rivers and India’s water systems. The next meeting will be held on April 1 and 2 at Sewagram (Wardha).
11. We will support the relevant local groups in Chattisgarh to fight on the issue of the privatisation of the River Shivnath and will support the Public Interest Litigation for the cancellation of the contract.