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Struggles against the privatisation of water in Bolivia, India and the US
The biggest threat posed to water in the 21st century is the attempt to turn this natural resource into a tradable commodity. The film Thirst ably documents people’s struggles in Bolivia, India and the United States against the privatisation and marketing of water, which, they argue, belongs to every human being on earth. The documentary, the third to be produced and directed by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, is a wakeup call to action for citizens around the world. The film records clashes between activists and World Bank representatives at the third World Water Forum in 2003, in Kyoto, Japan, when the latter reveal their intention to privatise national water supplies. The World Bank’s senior water adviser, John Briscoe, repudiates the notion that water is a universal right and says that free water can only be an activist’s fantasy. Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians, counters Briscoe’s arguments and calls the attempts at controlling the world’s water supply through large dams and corporate water systems, “a theft of the commons”. She draws parallels between this “theft” and the enclosing of common pastoral lands during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Or the fencing-off of prairie land, heralding the beginnings of trouble in a cowboy western movie. Oscar Olivera, a community leader from Bolivia, dramatically tells a panel of CEOs: “Many of the companies represented here have stained the water with the blood of our compatriots.” The film briefly shifts to Bolivia where Olivera leads a full-scale revolt against his government’s plans to enter into a water privatisation contract with the US-based Bechtel Corporation. Tens of thousands of people are shown battling police and the army to protect their water rights. The government is forced to expel one of the world’s most powerful corporations after 17-year-old Victor Hugo Daza is killed in the skirmish. Thirst’scentral theme is pegged on events in Stockton, California, where Mayor Gary Podesto expresses his intent to hand over control of the city’s water system to a consortium of global water corporations. Much to Podesto’s surprise, Stockton’s residents join forces to create a new grassroots coalition that demands a say in the decision. The anxiety of Stockton’s residents is revealed as the camera films their statements on escalating prices, water quality, and layoffs of public employees who tend to be women or people of colour. A highly emotional African-American water plant supervisor, Michael McDonald, is shown being signed off from his job. He speaks of democracy being the casualty in this battle. The film cuts to India and the parched desert of Rajasthan where Rajendra Singh, an activist and charismatic community leader, tries to find a median between the government-supported water schemes and the strenuous, age-old method of lugging water for miles, from watering-holes, mostly by women. Singh is shown spearheading protests against multinational corporations Pepsi and Coca-Cola for depleting groundwater sources for their bottled water and soda plants. The film documents how Singh’s grassroots water conservation movement has helped rejuvenate rivers, visibly altering the desert landscape. Singh, whom the locals call “a modern-day Gandhi,” is shown travelling across India organising resistance and finding millions of people eager to join his crusade. Thirst also briefly touches upon the outcome of Atlanta’s privatisation. In 2003, without much public explanation, Atlanta is shown breaking its contract with United Water, the US subsidiary of Suez Water, 16 years before the agreed date. There are accusations of “brown water” and “inefficient service”. Thirst was part of the Tri-Continental Human Rights Film Festival held in metros across India. Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman were available for discussions after the film’s screening. In Bangalore, Kaufman spoke about how the movement against water privatisation was gaining ground all over the world. She added that there was a need in India and other countries for the kind of radicalisation that occurred in Bolivia over the privatisation of water. Studies have shown that the world’s most valuable resource, water, may become the single most important reason for wars in the 21st century. Thirst is a chilling documentation of this portent. -- Melanie P Kumar InfoChange News & Features, March 2006
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