‘More people today own or use a mobile phone than have a regular access to toilet. Unclean water is the greatest killer on the globe, claiming thousands of children’s life everyday…’ strategic thinker and scholar, Brahma Chellaney claims in his essay, ‘The Battle for Water’. His statement is a resounding truth which needs little evidence. Almost everyone in a family use a mobile phone except for the kids. Does the family have access to clean drinking water? Cursory glance of the Economic Survey report published annually by the Ministry of Finance gives an insinuation. There has been little progress in alleviating water problem. On top of that the process has remain painfully slow. Among the Northeast states, Manipur is way behind Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim as far as household access to safe drinking water is concern. Most of the households in urban area buy water from private vendors. They buy it at high cost. For those who are lucky to have their houses situated near the water pipeline they have a peculiar exercise. They draw water with electric pumps. But they too are not lucky all the time, as the pipelines run empty for little known reasons. Not so long time back community ponds were also a primary source of water. Now most of the ponds are in a state of decay. Rapid construction of concrete retaining walls by contractors as election manifestos has brought this change. The two Thangapats at Wagkhei and Sagolband in Imphal have appealing retaining walls yet the water is dark and reeking with foul smell. Our hydro social configuration is being hijacked by unplanned and mismanaged actions. Having said that community ponds are still an asset to the rural households, nevertheless rural womenfolk have to take out time to fetch water from their productive hours. The worst is in the hill areas where women have to walk miles to collect water for all purpose.
Water accessibility, water rights and water control are three important part of hydro – engineering systems. There are sets of engineering principles to be followed. Accessibility is one important area that has to be addressed seriously. The PHE minister in the floor of the ongoing Assembly has shared his optimism that there will be enough drinking water in two years. The following day engineering department comes out with a public notice that due to scarcity of water there will be cut down in supply. Water level at the Singda Dam has gone down. This kind of notice from the department is a routine workout for them every year. An inevitable notice that is kept preserved for next year’s use with slight changes of date and year. One cannot squarely blame the geo-climatic condition that has unpredictably shaped up. Water control and proper management can still solve the problem. Brahma Chellaney in his essay have clearly mentioned about the United Nations recognising that access to safe and affordable water as a human right. Effective water management can help transform economies. We hope the PHE minister will keep in mind of the propositions taking into account of the dryness which are typically artificial. Let the water flow in all its richness.