Kathmandu Statement
KATHMANDU STATEMENT Adopted at the South Asia Regional Consultation on Water: Options and Challenges 17-19 October, 2003 Kathmandu, Nepal
1. We are representatives of civil society organizations, academic institutions, people's movements and non-government organizations, lawyers, media representatives and activists from the South Asian countries of Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. We are meeting here in Kathmandu to discuss our deep concerns and anxieties around the issues pertaining to water, rivers, livelihoods, human rights, and human survival.
2. Our meeting here is a response to a need at the regional level for people to people dialogue and understanding in order to seek alternatives and appropriate solutions to the issues of water resources in our region, especially the issue of our trans-boundary rivers. We are particularly concerned about the recent proposal from the Government of India that aims to execute major inter-basin transfer of water through its River Linking Project (RLP). This gigantic and ambitious project, which has been initiated without any consultation or consensus within India or with its neighbours, involves more than 30 rivers and a presently projected cost of Indian Rs. 560,000 crores (US $122 billion) and will affect the environment of these four countries and the lives of millions of people in the region.
3. This project, which purports to optimally utilize the unequal distribution of water resources in India, does not consider that many of the rivers in question are cross-border rivers. The RLP proposal is completely insensitive to all those who would be affected, especially those whose lives, cultures, and socio-economic well-being would be devastated. We believe that these projects will contribute to increased poverty, with women being the hardest hit.
4. We condemn the lack of open and transparent scientific inquiry on the components of the RLP. We fail to understand why such a clearly populist venture, which claims to benefit the poorest and most marginalized, is shrouded in such secrecy. We urge the government of India to immediately put a halt to the RLP and work both regionally and nationally on alternatives.
5. We demand a wide-ranging debate on the stated objectives of the project in order to ensure that some of the possible hidden gains do not get clouded in controversy. We are committed to work on feasible alternatives for regionally water resource management that will not only be cost effective but will meet the desired objective of protecting the right to water without adversely impacting the neighbouring countries.
6. We affirm the Sagarmatha Declaration and Program of Action 2002, which asserted the inalienable (absolute) right of all peoples to natural resources and their ecological heritage. There are a number of unresolved issues relating to water resource management in this region, including dams, tensions concerning bilateral treaties, etc which must be addressed by all governments immediately.
7. We are committed to strengthening the South Asian Solidarity for Rivers and Peoples (SARP) as an open and pluralist platform to achieve our goals of a democratic and consensus-based comprehensive regional approach to the management of water resources. Any unilateral attempts to drastically transform the ecology, including the RLP, will not only be a violation of international customary and other treaty laws, democratic practice and human rights, but also are unlikely to achieve the claimed results.
8. We demand a review of all the existing bilateral water-related treaties towards reaching a comprehensive regional treaty on water involving all riparian countries.
9. Any water-related activities in the region must aim at ensuring sustainable development, common social good, efficient water use and the promotion of locally available community alternatives with the full guarantee of the people's right to water.
10. Water is a human right and a collective heritage. It cannot be sold, bottled, manipulated or exploited. There must be a free, prior and informed consent of the people on any water-related activities and any intervention which may damage this life sustaining resource is not acceptable by any means.
1. We are representatives of civil society organizations, academic institutions, people's movements and non-government organizations, lawyers, media representatives and activists from the South Asian countries of Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. We are meeting here in Kathmandu to discuss our deep concerns and anxieties around the issues pertaining to water, rivers, livelihoods, human rights, and human survival.
2. Our meeting here is a response to a need at the regional level for people to people dialogue and understanding in order to seek alternatives and appropriate solutions to the issues of water resources in our region, especially the issue of our trans-boundary rivers. We are particularly concerned about the recent proposal from the Government of India that aims to execute major inter-basin transfer of water through its River Linking Project (RLP). This gigantic and ambitious project, which has been initiated without any consultation or consensus within India or with its neighbours, involves more than 30 rivers and a presently projected cost of Indian Rs. 560,000 crores (US $122 billion) and will affect the environment of these four countries and the lives of millions of people in the region.
3. This project, which purports to optimally utilize the unequal distribution of water resources in India, does not consider that many of the rivers in question are cross-border rivers. The RLP proposal is completely insensitive to all those who would be affected, especially those whose lives, cultures, and socio-economic well-being would be devastated. We believe that these projects will contribute to increased poverty, with women being the hardest hit.
4. We condemn the lack of open and transparent scientific inquiry on the components of the RLP. We fail to understand why such a clearly populist venture, which claims to benefit the poorest and most marginalized, is shrouded in such secrecy. We urge the government of India to immediately put a halt to the RLP and work both regionally and nationally on alternatives.
5. We demand a wide-ranging debate on the stated objectives of the project in order to ensure that some of the possible hidden gains do not get clouded in controversy. We are committed to work on feasible alternatives for regionally water resource management that will not only be cost effective but will meet the desired objective of protecting the right to water without adversely impacting the neighbouring countries.
6. We affirm the Sagarmatha Declaration and Program of Action 2002, which asserted the inalienable (absolute) right of all peoples to natural resources and their ecological heritage. There are a number of unresolved issues relating to water resource management in this region, including dams, tensions concerning bilateral treaties, etc which must be addressed by all governments immediately.
7. We are committed to strengthening the South Asian Solidarity for Rivers and Peoples (SARP) as an open and pluralist platform to achieve our goals of a democratic and consensus-based comprehensive regional approach to the management of water resources. Any unilateral attempts to drastically transform the ecology, including the RLP, will not only be a violation of international customary and other treaty laws, democratic practice and human rights, but also are unlikely to achieve the claimed results.
8. We demand a review of all the existing bilateral water-related treaties towards reaching a comprehensive regional treaty on water involving all riparian countries.
9. Any water-related activities in the region must aim at ensuring sustainable development, common social good, efficient water use and the promotion of locally available community alternatives with the full guarantee of the people's right to water.
10. Water is a human right and a collective heritage. It cannot be sold, bottled, manipulated or exploited. There must be a free, prior and informed consent of the people on any water-related activities and any intervention which may damage this life sustaining resource is not acceptable by any means.
