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Action Plan for Water Commons The “Water Commons”: Resurfacing the Issue Water is the most precious gift of nature and indispensable for all living being and vegetation. Water, as one of the important natural endowments, has been customarily being used for the fulfilment of human needs. Indeed, the concept and practice of common property was very much inbuilt into the use of water as such. However, the idea of water as common property and the perspective of human needs in respect of use of water have been overshadowed by the shift in development paradigm followed by neo-liberal globalization. This shift has replaced human needs by capitalist greed and therefore water is now considered as commodity in the most places of the world and treated as the profit making item by the corporations. Given the fact that human needs are protected by human rights shield, the unabated growth of privatization and commercialisation of water and river at large reinforced by the ‘commodity concept’ ignores the human rights and ecological justice. This has already made negative impacts on the ecology, food security and livelihoods of poor and marginalized population particularly throughout the developing world. Therefore, it is high time to rethink the water commons and advance the agenda from the perspective of human rights and social justice. . The connotation of ‘Water Commons’ lies with the ethical understanding that water is no one’s property; it rightfully belongs to all of humanity and to the earth itself. It is our duty to protect the quality and availability of water for everyone around the planet. Water should not be treated as commodity and therefore is not to be sold or squandered or hoarded. This ethical consideration should be the foundation of all decisions made about use of this life-giving resource like water.. A significant number of people’s livelihood depends on fresh water of rivers. River is cheap way of communication and transportation. Some time river shifts courses and people devise their own adaptation mechanism accordingly. However, the commercial interventions led by the corporations has caused violence against the nature, dismantled this indigenous adaptive mechanism disrupting economic options of the poor-people and leaving certain section of poor and marginalized population to vulnerability through displacement. Negative impacts of Dam, river linking projects and commercial interference over Common River in South Asia is a big issue. It is therefore not surprising that water is the single most important issue that mars bilateral relations among the countries of the sub-continent. The issues of cross-border water distribution, utilization, management and mega irrigation/hydro-electric power projects affecting the upper and lower riparian countries are playing catalytic role in influencing bi-lateral and regional relations as water scarcity increases and both drought and floods make life too often miserable. Water conflicts are accentuating also between different states of federal countries like India and Pakistan since they are not being settled amicably within a grand and integrated framework of accommodating upstream and downstream rights. The worst sufferer of inequitable water utilization is often the poorer section of the society who find almost no place in the planning, executing and administration of mega projects of water resources utilizations in the sub-continent. Water conflicts have reached a new dimension over the last years with renewed efforts of south-Asian countries to harness the great Himalayan Rivers mainly for hydro-electricity to meet up their ambition of rapid economic development. Massive plans are underway in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan to build several hundred dams in the region, with over 150,000 Megawatts (MW) of additional capacity proposed in the next 20 years in the four countries. If all the 2nd Draft report Page 2 of 7 planned capacity expansion materializes, it may devastate the landscape, ecology and economy of the region and will have far-reaching impacts all the way down to the river deltas. There are even fears that the “abode of snow” i.e. the Himalayas would no longer be left with any turning “the snow covered mountains into bare, rocky mountains.” Unfortunately, rivers are being taken for granted, leading to serious water crisis across the globe. Much more efforts continue around river sharing and taking benefit from rivers but none around protecting the source of river. Rivers are not only the resource base but life line of socio, economic and cultural activities of communities living on the banks for generations, as civilizations were built on the river valleys. South Asia region has many rivers arising mainly from the Himalayas and shared almost by all countries India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bilateral agreements on water sharing are the norm and most such agreements have come into being only after dams were constructed by the upper riparian. The Helsinki Convention in 1966 (Committee on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers) is followed by countries signing bilateral water usage agreements. Though UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was passed in 1997, it is yet to come into force since several countries have not ratified it. Common Threads: The common concerns of the south Asia region arises; especially when rivers are not seen as life line of civilisations going beyond geo-political boundaries of nation state, treats more as a nation/state property. Efforts to control rivers, water and its commercialisation process deprives communities dependent for generations to have access to the much needed water for their survival. Sources of water, in the form of Himalayan glaciers, dense forest with rich biodiversity or mountains with bauxite are under assault due to climate change, massive deforestation and reckless mining. In addition unrestrained human activities related to sand and stone mining on river bed, release of different types of pollutants are chocking the natural flow of rivers and damaging the natural qualities of water. In many places the small but significant rivers are facing a slow death. Bilateral treaties made between India, Nepal and Bangladesh are criticized as being anti-poor by each country, since they have led to displacement of poor people and loss of livelihood. India and Nepal have several treaties-Gandak treaty, Mahakali treaty and Kosi treaty being the most important ones. India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, but there is only one treaty (Farakka Treaty). This treaty came into being after the Farakka Barrage was built on Ganga in West Bengal. Rights of rivers as regional or bilateral discussion agenda get unrecognised in general and the small & significant rivers have remained an undialogued agenda in water discourse in particular. To the extent treaties are available; they are used as instruments to exert power by the powerful countries over neighbouring countries with less political leverage. As a matter of fact, the process water rights of citizens of the region get lost and water justice and sovereignty of particular countries are in the face of challenge. Construction of dams at the upper riparian is displacing communities, causing disasters, threatening livelihoods options and adding to factors furthering climate change. Along with human being the entire population of aqua creature suffer the threat. In the post globalised scenario, commercialisation of water by the state and corporate often under influence from IFIs is depriving access to water commons. Thus, deprive them from 2nd Draft report Page 3 of 7 socio-economic, cultural and religious rights. Lack of or non recognition of community governance system over water is another reason for deprivation of people from free access to water as their natural right. Access to safe drinking water is becoming a big challenge because of the conditions through which the water passes, to reach people. In many places a litre of bottle water is more expensive than one litre milk. Offering water generously to guests, neighbours and in public places as a cultural practice may disappears soon with increasing water price and availability. Approaches - HRBA – The basic premise of our approach will be community rights over river/water and the rights of the most marginalized communities like the indigenous/Adibashi, fisher –folk, farmer and women especially cutting cross all such most vulnerable communities. As women play the vital role of getting water to family and part of most activities pertaining to the cultural existence. Water Justice, sustainability- There are two dimension of water justice, one related to ecological flow of water in the river and other related to people’s equal rights over water. It is important to protect our river and its flow. Some policy makers argue for minimum flow of water but it is difficult to define what a minimum is and what a maximum. Hence our position will be on ecological flow of water and ensure people’s rights over river. This leads to sustainable development that we expect for the people. Participatory – ‘Voice of the Last Person be Heard First’ and active participation of such communities be ensured, not mere presence. Any policy formulation will take opinion and inform consent of affected people. This includes active participation of women and other vulnerable communities. People participation should be in place of water course management, now it’s totally ignored by authority. Strategies - Research & Knowledge building & sharing – Some amount of research is available in public domain and some remain out of people’s reach. It is important to collect, compile and disseminate all such information for greater awareness and knowledge building of people. Secondary research: (Action research and legal research) at country level for action and regional level for works. Develop draft position paper for countries, region and globe, including formulation of bills. Community conscientisation around water rights and water politics – Information generated must be used for building larger community understanding around water commons and water politics in different countries. Once people at the ground understand the issues and realize the challenges they will be able to question state decisions and build a conscious citizen forum cross border to address challenges. Strengthening community initiatives – In some places already people are aware and have initiated steps to address challenges related to dams and displacement and those need to be strengthened. 2nd Draft report Page 4 of 7 Legislatives, policy, and media advocacy – It is important to facilitate interface between communities and peoples’ representatives for both formulation and implementation of policy. Any deviation in the policy implementation needs to be questions and media support will be inevitable to generate public opinion. Networking and alliance/ platform building – Effort will be made to be connected with existing networks and build new networks wherever required so that brings in the synergy among movements and civil society groups and works a pressure tactic for the oppressing elements. Critical engagement with corporate, IFIs & non state actors – While understanding the agenda of agencies for commoditization of water, it is important to have critical engagement in order to raise questions about their intentions, also make them accountable to the communities and review our strategies. Action Points Action points are seen at three levels, country, regional (South Asia- to start with 3 country programmes – Nepal, Bangladesh & India) and at global level. Some activities would run parallel at all level. Country Level- Evidence based action research regarding current situation of international rivers /water. Policy analysis - This will be done at 3 stages – compilation of existing information, initiate evidence based research and analyse existing and proposed state policies. Develop leadership at local & national level. Community leadership from most vulnerable communities will be developed to take forward the issues at the regional level. Some leaders are there in place already in different local areas of country programmes. Support grassroots movements on water issues & strengthen at national level. The working group has mapped out existing movements, struggle groups, networks, NGOs and CSOs active on this issue. Those existing groups will be supported and strengthened at local and national level. Regional Level (South Asia)- Bring together all movements, struggles groups, social groups at regional level, solidarity and shared learning for regional connectivity. Movements and struggles will be connected on a platform at the regional level for larger solidarity and raising voice at global level. Collaborate with SAPE, SASF, CSOs, BIC, People’s SAARC and other leading and likeminded agencies on water agenda. Water commons issue will be pushed to the fore front through the people’s formations like SASF, SAPE etc. Review treaties, its impact on people and ecology. All treaties need to be reviewed going beyond the nation state biases and keeping prerequisite of people in mind. Apart the ecology and looming situation of ‘war for water’ needs to be kept in mind. Mapping of allies. All organisations, civil society forums working at country, regional and global level will be identified and listed for continuing work. 2nd Draft report Page 5 of 7 Global Level- Influence International conventions, treaties, policies through both national and regional initiative we will influence the political actions to form policies and existing treaties Initiate/join International campaigns on river rights – We may initiate or join any existing campaigns on water at Global level. This may be called as International Alliance on Himalayan Rivers as source of all major rivers is Himalayan Mountain. Linking local struggles to global campaigns Road Map Preparatory meeting Dec 2012 (19th and 20th Dec) CD meeting and plan approval Dec 2012 Evidence base research and local action start from Jan 2013 1. Jan to March compilation and consolidation of existing research and evidence 2. April – Regional workshop on consolidation and develop framework of action research plan to start from May to August at each country level Development of position paper- Country level, Regional and Global level –April 2013 Development of campaign proposal by September 2013. Regional workshop on setting of campaign strategy based on action research and secondary research findings in Oct/Nov. 2013 Bangladesh Team VARD (LRP-43) Shachetan (LRP-31) BUP (LRP-31) Sharp (LRP-33) BDO (LRP-47) USS (LRP-37) Mukti-Nari (LRP-38) SKS (LRP-29) PSAARC Water Forum, Bangladesh Riverine People Other alliances; i.e. Movement against Tipaimukh Dam, HUNO, BAPA, etc. Regional Team ActionAid International Bangladesh ActionAid International India ActionAid Nepal ActionAid Pakistan

The haor basin is a low-lying bowl-shaped basin located mainly in the North-eastern part (covering 2,417 Sq. Km of Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulavi Bazar, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Kishorganj and Netrokona) of Bangladesh. The total land area is 15, 47,133 acors. Virtually all of these lands is below 8 meters and is flooded to depths of 5 meters or more during the monsoon. Total number of haor 38 in Habiganj, 4 in Moulavibazar, 43 in Sylhet, 80 in Netrokona, 3 in Brahmanbaria, 122 in Kishorganj and 133 are situated in Sunamganj. The total population is 200 million approximately. Fisheries & Agricultural resources The haor basin is a unique echo system of national and international importance that supports nearly 200 species of wetland flora, 141 species of fishes (which is half of Bangladesh’s total fish species and 55 of them are listed in threatened categories by IUCN), 11 amphibians, 34 reptiles (including 6 turtles, 7 lizards 21 snake species) and also many mammals. Their fisheries resource is well known in terms of species richness, diversity and production. Tangua is known as one of the important mother fisheries of the entire haor basin. The fresh water swamp forest is type of vegetation consists of evergreen trees forming a closed canopy. The trees of the swamp forests including Hizal (Barringtonia acutangula) and Karach (Pongamia pinnata) and occur in varying proportions.Barun (Craetava nurvela) and bhui-dumur (Ficus heterophylle) also frequently form these vegetation type. These forests occur in the elevated ridges between levees of the streams or the beels. The swamp forest can be seen on the raised flat plains sheltering the village homesteads sloping towards haor proper. Like other wetlands of the country, over the years, due to various anthropogenic and natural causes the haor resources are on the declining trend. Over fishing, destructive fishing, encroachment, increased siltation, water control dykes etc are the major causes of degradation of haor resources. The other dimension of the problems include inadequate enforcement of government rules and acts, faulty leasing system, absence of enabling/adequate institutional and policy environment and weak capacity to assess, plan and manage accelerated the degradation process. Along with the natural environment, national policy also made the people of this area more vulnerable and it is difficult to sustain people’s right to common property. Socio-Economic Status The people of most of the haor are living in a very poor and distressed condition. The overall livelihood situation is much below compared to the national standard (CEGIS 2006). The health, water and sanitation situation of the haor area is in alarming situation. The use of unsafe drinking water at 18% and unsafe sanitation at 63% and this is a major reason for prevalent diseases in the area. The people of haor are mostly farmers followed by the traditional fisherman and other resource users. There are also other traditional groups such as traders, carpenters, blacksmiths, potters, barbers, boatmen etc. Population of Hindu community is higher in the wetlands. The fisher folk are mainly from Hindu community. Muslims are mainly cultivators. Haor Resources: Mismanagement & Enormous Prospects Page 4 of 13 However, now a day, there are some Muslim fisher folk as well and they are called “Maimol” (). Communication, protection of crops from natural disaster, flash flood is the problems in broader head which may be common with other parts of the country but in reality they are not common but different and acute. Considering the issue, a haor development board was formed though it could not achieve its goal to ensure haor people’s right. Major economic resources in the haor basin area are: fisheries which is a primary source of income for local people, production of rice on its agricultural land (that is harvested before the rainwater comes in the basin in April), swamp forests that supplies the fuel wood requirements for the local people and the reed beds supply housing materials for the local people. Their fisheries resource is well known in terms of species richness, diversity and production. One of the important resources is open water fishing. Flooding in the monsoon season removes the rigid boundaries of private lands, and the fisheries resources of the flood plain become common property. Traditionally people had customary rights and free access to the water bodies, their rights to livelihood and common property are being denied by the power structure and state. According to government policy, poor people can access the water through fisherman cooperative societies, but in practice these are controlled by powerful political leaders and business. Through corruption, many political leaders, musclemen and landlords are getting access to water bodies and land while the poor are being deprived. Now numerous social organizations are working in the region and poor people have awakened. They are now demanding their rights to water and land.