Last Man, A Woman

Women are the last ones to give up the struggle for water. They are also the last ones in the long queue for water that begins with the most powerful and muscular. So we invited women from varied fields to ponder over humankind’s diverse relationships with water; how it figures in our lives, struggles and cultures. Our reporters explore the tough life in a desert, traditional occupations around water and that baffling question: where on earth did water come from?

- Richard Mahapatra and Archana Yadav

ACCESS DENIED

Narmada crusader MEDHA PATKAR says the space for mass movements on water is shrinking

The right to water is a basic human right that is part of the right to life. It has become a political agenda not only of those who resort to electoral politics but also of the common people in the country. Every basti of the urban poor and every rural community seems to be raising questions related to water, be it about shortage or pollution of water or destruction of water bodies. However, to challenge the wrongs of the powerful and to establish an alternative to the dominant ways of managing water, we have to rely upon the mass strength of the people and support mass action, even mass movements.