The theme for World Water Day 2024, observed on March 22, is ‘Water for Peace’. The question that one should ask is, how does water bring peace? Peace for whom — individuals, nations, continents or our planet? Why are we distressed about it?
Water is not only a ‘vital substance’ for human existence but is also a ‘peace keeper’. Acknowledging the collective action on conserving water, reflecting on community-based practices of water management can help us locate the role of water in bringing peace to individuals, communities and humanity.
Historically speaking, shortage of water has brought distress, migration and violence. Societies that manage their water judiciously have largely been peaceful.
Peace for individuals
At present, the most crucial issue that lies before us is that of global climate change. Increasing number of people are now turning into ‘climate refugees’ i.e. individuals who are forced to leave their country due to short-term or long-term climate crises like drought, flood, deforestation etc. These individuals live a distressed and undignified life, bordered nation-states inflict violence on them, considering them a threat to the domestic population.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 21.5 million people on an average are forcibly displaced each year because of climate-related problems. An internationally acclaimed think tank, Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), predicts that 1.2 billion people could be dislocated globally by 2050 due to environmental change, conflict and civil unrest.
The conservation and management of limited water resources would guarantee peace in the lives of people and ensure that they attain a dignified livelihood in their own country or region. For instance, due to water scarcity in Dholpur and Karauli districts in Rajasthan many local residents led a life of desperation and even migrated to work as labourers which resulted in family fragmentation etc. Moreover, some people in these areas even resorted to illegal occupation like dacoity. As a result of the efforts of NGOs such as Tarun Bharat Sangh spanning over decades, dead perennial rivers — Sairni and Parvati — were rejuvenated in this region. So, when the area started getting water, the gun toting men turned to agriculture. This is how water brought peace to individuals.
Peace for community
Only peaceful individuals can create and sustain peaceful communities. Water is essential to bring peace within and among communities. It is also true that community efforts are more important than individuals to effectively conserve water resources. There is a growing acknowledgement of the importance of community practices of water management.
Recently, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) chair in community-based research and social responsibility in higher education released a book titled, Bridging Knowledge Cultures: Rebalancing power in the co-construction of Knowledge edited by Walter Lepore, Budd L. Hall and Rajesh Tandon. This book talks about ten authentic case studies of community knowledge cultures.
Also read: Caste’s Role in Shaping Water Access Is Missing From Indian Environmental Discourse
Tarun Bharat Sangh has itself published two books Rejuvenation of rivers published in 2022 and Decentralised and equitable climate resilience through community knowledge, rainwater capture published in 2023 highlights how the local community knowledge of rainwater harvesting, constructing and maintaining traditional water bodies like johads, nadas, nadis has been instrumental in reviving dead perennial rivers like Agrani, Maharani, Sherni, etc.
The authors of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis reports might, however, not consider the narratives of communities as authentic sources of information. They rather rely on academically sanctioned ‘peer-reviewed’ articles. The climate/environmental scientists who dominate the domain of global climate policy fail to understand the essence of community knowledge culture as they lack the framework to do so.
Two different UN bodies have completely different outlook towards community knowledge. To bring peace in the community through water, we need an alternative theoretical and methodological framework to understand and respect community knowledge cultures of water conservation.
Peace for humanity
Dr. Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the Waterman of India, highlighted that constructive and collective action to conserve and manage water will only be possible when we challenge the modern science that favours command and control technology and anthropocentric misuse of water commons. He also pointed out that it is ‘science without sense’ that has overdrafted 62% of underground aquifers in India.
People’s science or people’s knowledge is epistemologically contradictory to modern science, it has an outlook of respect and nourishment towards commons unlike the one of control and exploitation held by the latter. Our imagination of development is appropriated by a ‘universal path of modern development backed by western science’, cognitive peace would come if we look at the pluriverse of knowledge(s) to govern commons that are already-existing in different parts of the world, especially in the Global South.
The philosophies of the Global South like Swaraj (Asia), Buen Vivir (South America), Ubuntu (Africa) etc. offer alternative sustainable pathways to manage commons and help us gain cognitive peace, the most essential one for humanity. Any efforts, individual or communal, modern or traditional, global or local would likely fail until we free ourselves ‘cognitively’ of the ‘growth monster’ within ourselves.
We really need ‘Swaraj in ideas’ to think beyond the modern hydraulic approach of water management. We need to focus on alternative pathways for water management especially the the Global South for peaceful co-existence. The frameworks of community knowledge have to be epistemically imbibed to claim that water can bring peace for the entire humanity. Thus, it is important to internalise the theme of this year’s World Water Day.
Puneet Kumar is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. He works on politics of knowledge around urban water bodies in Delhi. He is a member of Yuva Jal Biradari and has also volunteered with Tarun Bharat Sangh to conserve traditional water bodies in Rajasthan and Haryana.
