Speaking at a public forum on the need for such an alliance in New Delhi on Tuesday, Ajaya Dixit, a noted engineer and a water expert from Nepal said, “We are mooting the possibility of an alliance that would help recreate the entire paradigm of water management and climate change.”[break]
“We have a common voice now at least on the need for the states to listen to the voice of the people. It is the government and the private sector which have monopolized all water issues so we are now demanding a greater voice of those people whose livelihoods are directly affected by water systems.”
Taking the major flooding in South Asia like the 2008 Koshi breach and 2010 Indus flooding in Pakistan as a basis of the proposed manifesto, the civil society members have said that the entire global paradigm has shifted and that we need to think about new pathways.
Talking to Republica, Vijay Pratap from South Asian Initiative on Ecological Swaraj said, “This new coalition was formed firstly to exchange notes on social movements across South Asia and for knowledge sharing in creating and discovering development paradigms,” adding, “It is also to address climate crisis basically to link local problems with global perspective.”
The civil society members from the two neighboring countries met in Kathmandu three months back.
Assistant professor at the Center for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Rohan Dsouza said, “Since the old paradigm has completely broken, we need new creation, imagination and management but obviously those people responsible for breaking the older model cannot build it,” adding, “That is why people´s participation is urgent.”
The civil society in South Asian countries have opined that the people have been excluded from key negotiations between and among states. But have also said that there is a consensus on addressing water and climate change issues among the political parties.
“The good thing is that there is consensus in Nepal and in India on issues pertaining to ecology, environment and climate change,” said Dixit, adding, “We need to capture on this and build an alliance which reflects the people´s opinion from grassroots.”
He explained, “Climate change is a multi-faceted matter and has posed challenges. We need policies to respond to these challenges. We need efficiency, creativity and management. But we also need the egalitarian social perspective which presses for justice and equality.”
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