Dec 2004

Picture the sleek environsof an IBM or Intel factory making these little chips that life is almost impossible without, for the urban world. Barring drinking water needs, there is hardly any water requirement in such a set-up, right? Wrong.
An IBM plant in France that produces 64 MB microchips needs very pure water, of a kind that is found only in the Neocomian strata deep down, which are ancient reserves of such pure water.

Making fresh water from seawater is engaging the world’s attention, and India’s. Is small still the beautiful way of doing it?

Hopes are sometimespinned on desalination technology to meet the huge needs of water of the planet‘s thirsty millions.
Mr. Chidambaram announced with much fanfare a walloping Rs 4000 crore allocation for the creation of an ambitious desalination project to be put up on the east coast in Tamil Nadu.

The flip side of the water debate appears enticing to the urban world. Reports of this kind need close examining. Lulling oneself into a state of confidence does not signify prudence...
Indian cities may soon flow with the tide, globally speaking. Some of them are flushed with plans of 24x7 water supply, commonplace in several South and South East Asian countries but quite a revolutionary concept even in New Delhi.

... and the poor pay for the water of the rich

What in heaven‘s name brought you to Casablanca?” asks a French police officer of Rick, the cafe-owner that Humphrey Bogart plays in the celebrated film classic named after that Moroccan town.
“My health,” says Rick. “I came to Casablanca for the waters.”
“Waters? What Waters?,” asks the Gendarme. “We‘re in the desert.”
Rick shrugs, “I was perhaps misinformed.”
That immortal hero who, under a crusty cynical shell, concealed at heart a sentimentalist, was not perhaps mistaken at all.

Bottled water booms as safety fears rise . . .
In twenty years there has been a sea change in the ways we have responded to little things around us. Take water. We do not bat an eyelid when picking up a bottle of water, when travelling, at Rs 13–15 a litre. The fear of contamination is latent, but real.
Reports on the quality of distributed water can be very disturbing. Nearly 40 per cent of water tests in Mumbai, says even a recent report, showed the quality to be not safe for drinking. Alarmingly, there were faecal traces, too.