[Reader-list] ownership business

[Pradip Saha]

i see a lot of postings here on ownership, "free"dom, "free" information... 
A lot of these are in the context of virtual world. I just got to hear 
something interesting about ownership in the real world. A water harvesting 
dam (johad), made by the villagers in Alwar in Rajasthan faces demolishion 
by the state govt.'s irrigation department. A water harvesting structure 
made by people has been interpreted by the dept. as an obstruction to the 
irrigation system. According to Sections 55(3) and 58(2) of the Rajasthan 
Irrigation and Drainage Act of 1954, this work is illegal and people can be 
arrested without warrant. The minister has gone a few steps ahead and 
interpreted these sections in his own way: He's gone on record: "every drop 
of water that is received through the rains comes under the irrigation 
department."

Maybe true, but it raises one interesting question.
As privatisation of water is knocking at our doors, the alternative paradigm 
of resource management that talks about people harvesting and managing their 
water does not hold any water.

Raindrops actually belong to the state!

u can check out: http://www.cseindia.org/html/extra/dam/index.htm

pro

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