Kala Dera, India: The Coca-Cola company has continued to operate its bottling plant in Kala Dera in Jaipur, India even as the area has been declared a drought area last summer and the groundwater levels are falling sharply – leaving the largely agrarian community with severely restricted access to water.
Data obtained this week by the India Resource Center from the Central Groundwater Board, a government agency, confirm that groundwater levels in Kala Dera fell precipitously again – a drop of 4.29 meters (14 feet) in just one year between August 2008 and August 2009, from 30.83 meters below ground level to 35.12 meters respectively. (more…)
Mazibuko right to water case reaches Constitutional Court of South Africa
The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), with the cooperation of the South Africa-based Legal Resource Centre, has intervened as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) in a historic human rights battle in South Africa. After a five year legal battle, the landmark case of Mazibuko and others vs. the City of Johannesburg and others will finally be heard on the 2nd and 3rd of September by the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
The 5th World Water Forum (WWF) takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16 to 22 March 2009. Organized by the World Water Council, the Forum defines itself as “the main water-related event in the world, aimed at putting water firmly on the international agenda”. However, NGOs and other social movements claim the WWF is dominated by state administrations and private companies that have previously pushed for privatization of water.
To counter privatization policies and claim water as a human right, civil society movements have organized a series of parallel events: the Alternative Water Forum and the Water Tribunal in Istanbul.
You may also want to check out the documentary F.L.O.W, an award-winning documentary investigation into the World Water Crisis. Director Irena Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with a focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Watch the trailer:
Source: India Resource Center
