Price of Globalization

suchandra · September 15, 2006

The World Water Crisis Headlines - 2006

raso 'ham apsu kaunteya

prabhâsmi sasi-sûryayoh

pranavah sarva-vedesu

sabdah khe paurusam nrsu

O son of Kunti, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

---------

350 Millionen people in present China have to live with water contaminated by endless dangerous chemicals from their own "important" industries - industries which run on the principle to create a handful super-rich, sick egos and leave 99.99 % of the workers in wrechtedness.

The price of producing practically everything real cheap for the rest of the world?

Taking the risk of poisoning oneself in order to achieve economic wealth?

Again we find such kind of madness exposed in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter: Demoniac Qualities.

Question, since Krishna says He's the taste of pure water, isnt the unnecessary polution of water directly offending the Supreme Lord?

The World Water Crisis Headlines - 2006

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2005 - January to June

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September 11, 2006 - Solving the Entire Chinese Water Crisis (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - "The ambitious proposal to build hundreds of miles of aqueducts, tunnels and reservoirs, called the Big Western Line, is reminiscent of massive engineering projects carried out with little environmental oversight under Mao Tse-tung in the 1950s and 1960s. But unlike in the Mao era, the proposal has drawn a chorus of protest from China's scientific community and created a rare rift between the experts and some of the Communist Party's most prominent elder statesmen. Instead of focusing on moving water north, the government should work to save water already there, by persuading farmers to install water-saving technologies, for example, said Jiang Liping, a World Bank water resources specialist in Beijing. "Moving water north is only a temporary solution if Beijing can't control its use," he said. "In the long term, the only way to solve the problem is to improve water management.""

September 11, 2006 - Expert blames poor rainfall for Lake Victoria woes (Angola Press) NAIROBI, Kenya - "A Kenyan hydrologist is blaming the receding water levels in lake Victoria, Africa`s largest fresh water mass, on declining rainfall patterns in the East Africa region and excessive outflow of water at the Owens dam at the River Nile source."

September 9, 2006 - World water crisis on way (Border Mail) - "OIL and water surely do not mix but there is something they do share, say the experts who point to a future supply squeeze versus an explosion in demand."

September 7, 2006 - 1,6 m children under 5 died last year because of unsafe water, sanitation (AP/ The Namibian) GENEVA - "Contaminated water and bad sanitation were responsible for the deaths of 1,6 million children under the age of 5 last year - or 4 500 every day - the UN health agency said Tuesday. More than 1,1 billion people live without safe drinking water, and 2,6 billion do not have basic sanitation, the World Health Organisation said in a United Nations report on water and sanitation conditions around the globe.

September 6, 2006 - World Likely to Miss Clean Water Goals (ENS) GENEVA, Switzerland - "The world is unlikely to meet its pledge to cut in half the number of people who lack access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF."

September 5, 2006 - Water access progress 'too slow' (BBC News) - "The UN had hoped to halve the number of people without access to clean drinking water and sanitation by 2015. But progress has slowed due to population increases and unexpectedly high migration to urban areas, say the World Health Organisation and Unicef."

September 5, 2006 - Billions still lack clean water and sanitation -UN (Reuters) GENEVA - "More than a billion people still have no clean water to drink as the international community falls far behind in its plan to halve their number by 2015, two U.N. agencies said on Tuesday."

September 5, 2006 - Thirst For Water Will Grow (Oxford Analytica) - "The World Water Week conference in Stockholm from Aug. 21 to 26 focused on water quality and quantity over the coming decades."

September 5, 2006 - China to provide potable water for rural residents (Reuters) BEIJING - "China will invest billions of dollars over the next 10 years to provide drinking water for 300 million rural residents who face shortages or are without access to clean water, local media reported on Tuesday."

September 2, 2006 - Heat and drought take toll on southwest China (Reuters) BEIJING - "Some 18 million people have been short of drinking water and 11 million hectares of crops, mostly rice but including corn and tobacco, have been destroyed or damaged, Xinhua news agency said."

August 31, 2006 - Rwanda: 40 Percent in Rulindo Access Clean water (The New Times) - KIGALI - "The Vice Mayor of Rulindo District in charge of Economic Planning and Development, Deo Nzamwita, has disclosed that out of 200,251 people in the district, only 40% have access to clean water. He said another 10% uses dirty water, with the remaining 50% using 'relatively clean water'."

August 30, 2006 - Nigeria: Obasanjo Challenges Politicians On Water Resources (This Day) LAGOS - "President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged politicians to join hands with government to ensure better management of the nation's water resources for development and access to safe and clean water."

August 29, 2006 - Cholera rampant in Sudan, WHO fears for neighbours (Reuters) GENEVA - "Cholera is rampant across Sudan, with nearly 25,000 cases and more than 700 deaths recorded this year, and the epidemic threatens neighbouring Chad, a top expert at the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday."

August 29, 2006 - Cities in peril as Andean glaciers melt (The Guardian) - "Andean glaciers are melting so fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years, denying major cities water supplies and putting populations and food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia."

August 28, 2006 - Empower Women by Providing Access to Water (IRC Source) - Water Affairs Minister Lindiwe Hendricks says women must have access to resources such as water so they can be empowered to fight poverty: “We must reaffirm our commitment not only to the delivery of water, sanitation and forestry services, but to ensuring that we mainstream gender to ensure that women can also benefit from the development opportunities that arise when we provide such services.”"

August 28, 2006 - East Africa Hit By Drought, Floods (PlanetArk) NAIROBI - "A disastrous cycle of drought and flood has hit the Horn of Africa, bringing misery and death to some of the continent's poorest regions."

August 28, 2006 - Sanitation: do’s and don’ts in community-led total sanitation, Nepal (IRC Source) - "A Summary of key Do’s and Don’ts."

August 28, 2006 - China up, India/Africa flat for investors (Stanford Group Co/WaterTech) WASHINGTON - "Investment opportunities in the Chinese water/wastewater market are quite promising, but remain "nebulous" in India and Africa despite those latter countries' significant water problems."

August 25, 2006 - "Water Wars" a Myth, Say Experts (IPS) STOCKHOLM - ""Water wars make good newspaper headlines but cooperation (agreements) don't," says Arunabha Ghosh, co-author of the upcoming Human Development Report 2006 themed on water management. In reality, Ghosh told the meeting in Stockholm, there are plenty of bilateral, multilateral and trans-boundary agreements for water-sharing -- all or most of which do not make good newspaper copy. Asked about water wars, Prof. Asit K. Biswas of the Mexico-based Third World Centre for Water Management, told IPS: "This is absolute nonsense because this is not going to happen -- at least not during the next 100 years." He said the world is not facing a water crisis because of physical water scarcities. "This is baloney," he said. "What it is facing is a crisis of bad water management," argued Biswas."

August 25, 2006 - Global Action Required to Avert Water Crisis, Say Reports (World Watch Institute) - "As World Water Week wraps up in Stockholm, Sweden, two new studies suggest that the world’s deteriorating water situation deserves more attention than ever. A comprehensive report from the global conservation organization WWF, released August 16, details how the looming water crisis is now affecting rich countries as well as poor. Global warming, diminishing wetlands, and inadequate resource management are the main causes of expanding water shortages worldwide, according to the group. The second study, issued by the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on August 21, concludes that one-third of the human population—mostly in the developing world—is now short of water. While the studies offer similar suggestions for reducing water scarcity, WWF’s analysis presents a range of solutions for wealthier countries that require significant upfront costs. The IWMI report, in contrast, encourages developing countries to forego expensive schemes in favor of low-cost solutions."

August 25, 2006 - India: empowering people and accountability needed, says World Bank (IRC Source) - "It is essential for India’s rapidly growing economy to improve the delivery of core public services such as health care, education, power and water supply to all its citizens. This means empowering its people to demand better services through reforms that create more effective systems of public sector accountability, writes the World Bank in: The India Development Policy Review 2006 titled "Inclusive Growth and Service Delivery: Building on India's Success"."

August 25, 2006 - Haiti: water is life in Cité Soleil (IRC Source) - "The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has repaired the system of public water taps in Cité Soleil, a town in Port-au-Prince with about 250,000 inhabitants. Since 2004, Cité Soleil has been the scene of violent clashes between armed gangs and the United Nations stabilization mission. When the project began, women and children sometimes had to walk many kilometres to reach a source of clean water. By June 2006, however, over half of Cité Soleil's public water taps were working again."

August 25, 2006 - Lebanon: rivers form part of conflict with Israel (IRC Source) - "Water has been and will continue to be of great importance in the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, though the truth of this is often overlooked."

August 24, 2006 - Water abuse is costing the Earth (BBC News) - "The world's supply of freshwater is being abused, says Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity. In this week's Green Room, he argues that we must learn to better manage this vital resource or live to regret the consequences."

August 24, 2006 - Landmark Study Reviewing 50 Years' Practices Calls For Radical Changes In Water Management (Medical News Today) - "The Comprehensive Assessment, carried out by 700 experts from around the world over the last five years, indicates that one third of the world's population is currently living in places where water is either over-used - leading to falling groundwater levels and drying rivers - or can not be accessed due to the absence of the appropriate infrastructure."

August 23, 2006 - Middle East conflicts undermine water management: experts (AFP) STOCKHOLM - "Unrest in Iraq and conflicting security interests between Syria and Turkey suffocate the political dialogue necessary for effective management of water resources, the World Water Week conference in Stockholm has heard."

August 23, 2006 - Kenya: The Planet is Sliding Into a Kiln of Thirst And Drought (The East African Standard) NAIROBI - "Human activities, such as irrigation around water catchments areas such as Mt Kenya, have caused wanton shortage of water in areas that would naturally have sufficient flow of water. In fact, some rivers around the Mt Kenya region have dried up, thanks to these activities as well as other climatic incidences. Many Kenyans today can bear witness that some rivers, which they depended on only two decades ago, have dried up."

August 23, 2006 - New Alliance Seeks to Fight Water Sector Corruption (Reuters) STOCKHOLM - "Water experts and businesses teamed up on Tuesday to fight corruption feared to be siphoning off billions of dollars from projects to supply drinking water to the Third World."

August 22, 2006 - Finding Clean Water One of Lebanon's Biggest Problems, UN Says (VOA) GENEVA - "United Nations aid agencies say clean water is the number one challenge facing relief efforts in south Lebanon. They say major destruction was done to water and sanitation systems during the month-long conflict."

August 22, 2006 - India's Banks are Big on MicroFinance (Business Week) - "Lending money to the poor has largely been the province of small operators, but major financial institutions are now starting to focus on it in a serious way."

August 22, 2006 - "Water labels" on food could ease shortages: expert (Reuters) STOCKHOLM - "Labeling foods ranging from spaghetti to meat to show how much water is used in their production could help combat mounting pressure on the world's water supplies, a leading expert said on Tuesday."

August 22, 2006 - China's urban water supplies face severe test (Reuters) BEIJING - "Pollution and poor management have worsened the quality of China's increasingly scarce urban water supplies, but in the next five years the government will spend $125 billion on the problem, an official said on Tuesday."

August 21, 2006 - Map details global water stress (BBC News) - "The alarming extent of water scarcity across the world is detailed in a map compiled by a leading environmental think tank. It shows two key types of scarcity; water is said to be either physically scarce or economically scarce."

August 21, 2006 - Need for Water Could Double In 50 Years, U.N. Study Finds (NY Times) - "More than two billion people already live in regions facing a scarcity of water, and unless the world changes its ways over the next 50 years, the amount of water needed for a rapidly growing population will double, scientists warned in a study released yesterday. At the worst, a deepening water crisis would fuel violent conflicts, dry up rivers and increase groundwater pollution, their report says. It would also force the rural poor to clear ever more grasslands and forests to grow food and leave many more people hungry."

August 21, 2006 - Fixing leaks can avert world water woes - expert (Reuters) STOCKHOLM - "Fixing leaky pipes in conurbations from Mexico City to New Delhi is a better way to avert water shortages as the world population grows than costly schemes such as dams, a leading expert said on Monday. "There is no shortage of water in the world, but there is a crisis of management of water supplies," Asit Bitwas, head of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico City, told Reuters during a meeting of 1,000 experts on water in Stockholm."

August 21, 2006 - Water crisis happening now (Nature) - "Severe water scarcity arrives decades earlier than predicted. One-third of the world's population is living in water-scarce areas, say scientists behind a 5-year analysis of global water resources. The finding is a worrying update to an older study by the same team, who had previously predicted that such a situation would not arrive until 2025."

August 21, 2006 - Scientists Call for Radical Action to Ease Water Scarcity (Reuters) STOCKHOLM - "Scientists on Monday called for radical action to improve global water management, saying one-third of the world's population faces water scarcity."

August 21, 2006 - Water issues need answers (AFP) STOCKHOLM - "With the world’s population forecast to grow by 2-3bn by 2050 and water already a scarce resource for some, there has to be a radical transformation in the management of the planet’s resources of the life-giving liquid, experts warned at the start of World Water Week here."

August 21, 2006 - Study cites flood of solutions for water scarcity (SciDev.Net) - "Water shortages affect a third of the global population but solutions to the problem abound, says a major report published today (21 August). The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture was launched at the World Water Week meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. It urges policymakers to take radical action to make water supplies sustainable."

August 21, 2006 - Food, Biofuels Could Worsen Water Shortages, Report Says (Reuters) STOCKHOLM - ""One in three people is enduring one form or another of water scarcity," the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) said in a report compiled by 700 experts and backed by the United Nations and farm research groups. The scarcity figures were higher than previous estimates."

August 21, 2006 - China Drought Causes Water Shortages for 18 Million (Reuters) SHANGHAI- "Hot weather and a severe drought have left over 18 million people short of drinking water, damaged millions of hectares of cropland and reduced water supplies for millions of livestock, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday."

August 19, 2006 - Water crisis deepens India's rural-urban rift (Scripps Howard News Service) India - "The last time Jamku Mali saw her husband alive was the day of the demonstration. Early on the morning of June 13, 2005, he left their dusty village in Rajasthan, a desert state in western India, to join thousands of other farmers in a desperate protest for water."

August 17, 2006 - Cost of water shortage: civil unrest, mass migration and economic collapse (Guardian Unlimited) - "Cholera may return to London, the mass migration of Africans could cause civil unrest in Europe and China's economy could crash by 2015 as the supply of fresh water becomes critical to the global economy. That was the bleak assessment yesterday by forecasters from some of the world's leading corporate users of fresh water, 200 of the largest food, oil, water and chemical companies."

August 16, 2006 - Water shortage 'a global problem' (BBC News) - "A combination of climate change and poor resource management is leading to water shortages in even the most developed countries, it says. It urges water conservation on a global scale and asks rich states to set an example by repairing ageing water infrastructure and tackling pollution. The report was released in Geneva just ahead of World Water Week."

August 16, 2006 - Water problems affect all nations (Press Association) - " Lack of water is increasingly affecting some of the world's wealthiest nations. A WWF report claims that climate change, drought and loss of wetlands, poorly thought out water infrastructure and resource mismanagement are creating a global crisis."

August 16, 2006 - Rich Countries Like Poor Face Water Crisis (Reuters) GENEVA - "Rich countries have to make drastic changes to policies if they are to avoid the water crisis that is facing poorer nations, the WWF environmental organisation said on Wednesday

August 16, 2006 - Expert: World water use will double by 2050 (Reuters) - "A recent assessment of the world's current and future water needs says that the global demand for water will double by 2050. According to Rijsberman, there is plenty of water in the world — but a lack of water infrastructures and resource mismanagement is creating a global water crisis, the release said. "

August 13, 2006 - China Surveys Rural Drinking Water and Hygiene (China.org) - "China has launched a survey of drinking water and hygiene in the rural areas this month, aiming to improve rural environment and living quality of farmers. The survey aims to investigate the current quality of drinking water, renovation of toilets, processing of excrement and wastes and waste water in the rural areas."

August 11, 2006 - Sri Lanka operation 'to go on' (BBC News) - "The army and rebels have resumed heavy fighting in the area of the disputed Maavilaru waterway in the north-east. Both sides say they are in control of the waterway in Trincomalee, which supplies water to 15,000 families."

August 11, 2006 - Jay-Z to Dramatize World Water Crisis in MTV Video Diary (ENS) NEW YORK - "Most young people are unaware" of the world's water crisis, but if they knew about the "staggering numbers" of people affected by lack of clean water, they would be moved to act, Def Jam President and CEO Jay-Z said at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday."

August 10, 2006 - The cost of Sri Lanka's water war (BBC News) - "After two weeks of intense fighting, water finally began flowing again this week in the Maavilaru waterway in eastern Sri Lanka. The fighting has forced thousands to flee their homes For the time being, farmers in the government-held areas in Trincomalee district may heave a sigh of relief as the Tamil Tiger rebels have finally relented to lift the water blockade that has been at the root of their bitter fight with government forces in the region."

August 10, 2006 - Old Feud Over Lebanese River Takes New Turn (LA Times) QASMIYA, Lebanon - "Israeli bombing has knocked out irrigation canals supplying Litani River water to more than 10,000 acres of farmland and 23 villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, prompting accusations here that Israel is using its war against Hezbollah to lay claim to Lebanon's prime watersheds."

August 10, 2006 - Jay-Z to help U.N. tackle water crisis (AP) UNITED NATIONS - "Jay-Z, president of Def Jam Records, teamed up with the United Nations and MTV on Wednesday to get children involved in the fight against the worldwide water crisis. He cited statistics that 1.1 billion live without clean drinking water. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, said he had been looking for a way to help people, and when he visited Africa on tour he was struck by how many lacked such a basic necessity. "As I started looking around and looking at ways that I could become helpful, it started at the first thing -- water, something as simple as water," the 36-year-old rapper said at U.N."

August 10, 2006 - Kenya: Flash Flood Hits Drought-Stricken District (IRIN) - "Four people were confirmed dead on Thursday after flash floods hit Kenya's drought-stricken northern Marsabit district, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said."

August 8, 2006 - Sri Lanka rebels 'open waterway' (BBC News) - "Tamil Tiger rebels say they have reopened a waterway that has been at the centre of fighting with the Sri Lankan military for nearly two weeks."

August 7, 2006 - Water Stress in Sub-Saharan Africa (Council on Foreign Relations) - "Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from chronically overburdened water systems under increasing stress from fast-growing urban areas. Weak governments, corruption, mismanagement of resources, poor long-term investment, and a lack of environmental research and urban infrastructure only exacerbate the problem. In some cases, the disruption or contamination of water supply in urban infrastructures and rural area has incited domestic and cross-border violence. Experts say incorporating water improvements into economic development is necessary to end the severe problems caused by water stress and to improve public health and advance the economic stability of the region."

August 7, 2006 - Uganda warned of water crisis in major towns (Angola Press) KAMPALA - "A looming water crisis is likely to hit Uganda`s major towns following the receding water level in Lake Victoria, the state-owned New Vision daily reported on Monday. Muhairwe who was appearing before the parliamentary committee on natural resources explained that due to the receding water levels in Lake Victoria, most of the water pipes were exposed."

August 7, 2006 - Uganda: Water Crisis in Lira Villages (The Monitor) KAMPALA - "THE internally displaced persons returning back home nearly after two decades of living in squalid camps are experiencing an acute shortage of water. The District Water Officer, Mr Francis Ariong, said most of the swamps and wetlands in Lira district have dried up due to siltation. "Villagers in some areas are now walking over 10 kilometres to the nearest water source." Ariong said' "Others are sharing dirty water from ponds with cows."

August 7, 2006 - Pakistan: community radio tackles water and gender (IRC Source) Pakistan - "Pakistan's water supply coverage is among the best in South Asia. However, gender roles relating to water use remain unchanged. Uks Director Tasneem Ahmar says that community radio draws large audiences and is the perfect medium to pierce social taboos. "Water is very important to women but they do not have a voice to influence water policies.""

August 7, 2006 - Colombia: government backing departmental water supply plans (IRC Source) Colombia - "The departmental water plans for Colombia are aimed at ensuring potable water supplies in all municipalities, 24 hours a day. The plans will be funded with oil royalties, municipal contributions and money from the national government."

August 7, 2006 - Senegal: teaching sustainable water management to raise responsible citizens (IRC Source) Senegal - "President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal announced that schools would soon teach environmental awareness, especially in the area of sustainable water management."

August 6, 2006 - More than two million people face shortage of drinking water in China (AFP) BEIJING - "Southwest China is experiencing a serious drought, with 2.39 million people facing a shortage of drinking water, state media have said."

August 4, 2006 - Jay-Z Teaming With UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan To Address World Water Crisis (AllHipHop.com) - "Def Jam Records president and CEO Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter will take part in an effort to educate the public on the world's water crisis."

August 3, 2006 - KARACHI: Cases of waterborne diseases on the rise (Dawn.com) KARACHI - "Fearing an outbreak of waterborne and food borne diseases in the wake of the ongoing spell of monsoon rains in the city, experts have called for keeping an eye on the quality of water and edibles citizens consume nowadays."

August 3, 2006 - Water scarce in tsunami-hit Aceh (The Jakarta Post) BANDA ACEH - "Water shortages have hit a number of tsunami-stricken areas in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh after non-governmental organizations that had been providing water pulled out of the country."

August 3, 2006 - Water and war in Sri Lanka (BBC) - "The latest fighting in north-eastern Sri Lanka began as a dispute over water supplies in the district of Trincomalee."

August 2, 2006 - Where Are the World's Looming Water Conflicts? (Reuters) - "Sri Lankan jets pounded Tamil Tiger positions on Tuesday in a battle to regain control of a rebel-held water source for about 50,000 people. Here are five flashpoints for potential "water wars" some experts say are looming:"

India and Pakistan
India and Bangladesh
Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestinian Territories
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia
Turkey, Syria and Iraq

August 2, 2006 - Battle for waterway threatens to reignite Sri Lankan civil war (the Guardian) - "The battle between Sri Lankan forces and Tamil separatists for control of a waterway near the country's north-eastern coast threatened to escalate into a full-scale war as jets hit rebel positions and a fierce naval battle saw shells traded in the port of Trincomalee. Tamil Tigers accuse the Colombo authorities of reneging on a pledge to build a water tower for people living in rebel-held areas and have shut a key sluice gate that supplies water to government-held areas."

July 31, 2006 - Glacier's retreat signals water crisis in Peru (Washington Post) QUELCCAYA GLACIER, Peru - "Across the globe, millions of people who rely on meltwater from shrinking glaciers may soon go thirsty. "The repercussions of this are very scary," agreed Tim Barnett, a climate scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. "When the glaciers are gone, they are gone. What does a place like Lima do? Or, in northwest China, there are 300 million people relying on snowmelt for water supply. There's no way to replace it until the next ice age.""

July 28, 2006 - Lebanon water shortage will threaten lives-U.N. (Reuters) BEIRUT, Lebanon - "Lack of clean water will soon threaten lives in south Lebanon, where Israel's bombardment of roads and bridges has also cut off water supplies, a senior U.N. emergency relief official said."

July 27, 2006 - Melting glaciers threaten world's water supplies (PeopleandPlanet.Net) - "Climate change and falling water tables are having a dramatic effect on the world’s water resources. And the rapid melting of the planet's glaciers is making the problem even more serious, writes Satu Hassi, a Member of the European Parliament."

July 26, 2006 - Liberia switches on street lights (BBC News) MONROVIA, Liberia - "In another landmark event, parts of the capital got access to pumped water for the first time in 15 years on Wednesday. Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf led an array of officials to the densely populated Fiamah community of Monrovia for the launch late on Tuesday. She was told that 30% of the city's water needs had been addressed so far. For a low fee residents and businesses in coverage areas can now apply to be connected to mains water. Those who cannot afford this can rely on 23 strategically placed stand pipes, eight of which have already been installed."

July 25, 2006 - Gaza: taps run dry after power station bombed (IRC Source) - "The taps are running dry for 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza after an international boycott left the Hamas government unable to provide basic services, and Israeli air strikes destroyed the only power station, preventing rooftop tanks from being refilled."

July 25, 2006 - Iraq, Baghdad: poor sanitation poses cholera risks (IRC Source) - "Poor sanitation and high levels of insecurity pose serious health risks to people in Baghdad, say health workers. Dr Abdul Jalil, director of the Infectious Diseases Control Centre, said, “A cholera outbreak could happen anytime.”"

July 25, 2006 - The Dow Chemical Company Announces Commitment to Clean Water Solutions at the United Nations - R&D, Market Development and Blue Planet Run Foundation Partnership Anchor Sustainability Goal to DriveNew Technologies, More Widespread Global Awareness (Dow Chemical) UNITED NATIONS - "Liveris also outlined a new partnership between Dow and the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit organization committed to sustainable water solutions. The foundation will raise awareness of and funds for clean water projects worldwide through the inauguration of the Blue Planet Run®, the first-ever global endurance run around the world, sponsored by Dow. Over the course of 100 days, beginning in June 2007, a team of Blue Planet Run athletes will circumnavigate the globe, running 24 hours a day."

July 25, 2006 - Contamination of drinking water getting worse (Xinhua) China - "Health threats to China's drinking water are increasing because of the serious contamination of many of the country's water sources."

July 22, 2006 - Lack of water, energy 'could cause war' (AAP) - "A worldwide lack of water and energy supplies could spark wars, warns former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Delivering the opening address at the Earth Dialogues forum in Brisbane, Mr Gorbachev said resources such as water had become so scarce that basins of major rivers shared by several countries could one day become sites of military conflict. "In 2001, secretary general of the UN (United Nations), Kofi Annan, said that in the new century we may see wars over water, rather than over oil, and that is not an exaggeration.""

July 20, 2006 - Waiting for the rains, poorest struggle to survive (IRIN) KEIDI, Mauritania - "Water is as precious as gold in Mauritania’s baking hot villages, and probably seems just as heavy for the women and children who trek 15 kilometres or more every day to pump barrels of it out of the ground, hauling it home on their heads and on donkeys."

July 20, 2006 - Parliamentary water inquiry welcomed (World Development Movement) - "WDM Head of Campaigns Murray Benham said: "It is good to see that the issue of access to clean water and sanitation is being taken seriously. Time and time again water privatisation projects have ended in disaster in the developing world. This inquiry represents the ideal opportunity for MPs to look at the evidence on the most effective way of getting water to people."

July 19, 2006 - Yemen has the poorest water resources, says official (Yemen Times) SANA’A, Yemen - "The Chairman of the Technical Secretariat for Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Eng. Anwer Saholy confirmed that water quantity in Yemen is only 10 percent of the per capita share in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and less than 2 percent of the international average and that makes Yemen one of the poorest countries in the world regarding water."

July 19, 2006 - Home water treatment 'is best for fighting disease' (SciDev.Net) BEIJING, China - "Treating water in homes is a more effective way of controlling diarrhoea in poor countries than interventions at wells. So concludes a review published today (19 July) by The Cochrane Collaboration."

July 18, 2006 - Darfur Peace Must Address Water Crisis, Economist Says (Reuters) ESPOO, Finland - "There is no chance of peace in Darfur unless the region's dire water shortages are tackled as part of a settlement between rebels and the Sudanese government, a top international economist said on Monday."

July 14, 2006 - Cameroon: Buea Faces Water Problems in Rainy Season (The Post) BUEA, Cameroon - "Water has become a very scarce commodity in Buea, the Southwest Provincial capital. Even in July, in the heart of the rainy season, it is hard to find a tap flowing uninterruptedly in the average home for up to six hours at any given time. Long cues of children and housewives are seen on most mornings at public stand taps waiting to fetch water in jerry cans, basins or buckets before the supply is suddenly cut."

July 13, 2006 - Community management: women take the lead in drinking water projects, Kerala, India (IRC Source/ The Hindu Magazine) KERALA - "Participation of women from decision-making to post-implementation is the common element in successful drinking water projects in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Women are the main beneficiaries of any water scheme because they are the ones who suffer most when water is scarce."

July 12, 2006 - Water problems remain in rural areas (Mail & Guardian) DURBAN, South Africa - "Distribution of water, reliability of water supply, water storage and vandalism were problems still facing communities hit by a cholera outbreak at the end of 2000, scientists said on Wednesday. A report released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Durban reveals that proper water supply in South Africa's poorest communities has improved. However, there are still grave risks that could see further outbreaks of water-related diseases such as cholera and typhoid."

July 12, 2006 - WaterAid yellow cards the European Union (WaterAid) - "On 10 July WaterAid was in Brussels to hand in more than 21,000 Empty glass campaign postcards signed by British campaigners to the EU. The postcards call for an immediate and radical reform of the European Union Water Initiative (EUWI) which has failed to deliver access to water and sanitation to a single person since its inception four years ago."

July 10, 2006 - Govt asked to declare clean water basic human right (Dawn) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - "Speakers at a seminar here on Monday expressed grave concerns over the thousands of deaths caused by contaminated water every year in Pakistan and demanded of the government to declare clean potable water as the basic human rights of every individual. Speaking on the occasion, water experts asked the government to ensure effective supply of clean drinking water to masses across the board by eliminating rural and urban divide. They said it was a matter of great shame for the country that almost half of the beds in the country’s hospitals were being occupied by waterborne disease patients in the 21st century."

July 8, 2006 - Baghdad faces ‘water crisis’ despite new plant (AP) BAGHDAD, Iraq - "After nearly three years and $45 million, a treatment plant in northern Baghdad is pumping enough drinking water for a quarter of Baghdad’s people. But the trick is getting it to them because of losses to broken pipes and scavengers."

July 7, 2006 - Parched Beijing May Divert Yellow River for Olympics (PlanetArk) BEIJING - Beijing may divert water from the Yellow River to guarantee water supply during the 2008 Olympics, a Chinese newspaper said on Thursday, as the world's driest major city ponders how to slake the thirst of 2.5 million extra people.

July 5, 2006 - Sierra Leone: Water Crisis - Where Is The Government, Opposition (Standard Times) FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - "Another crisis is currently hitting the city of Freetown. This time around it is not the discouraging electricity problems. It is an issue of a commodity that virtually everyone can't go without. It is the lack of drinking water, a situation that is affecting almost every resident of the city."

July 2, 2006 - Nigeria: Only 39 Percent of Nigerians Have Access to Potable Drinking Water (Vanguard) LAGOS - "The increasing incidences of water related diseases in Nigeria, such as amoebic dysentery, diarrheas, cholera, typhoid and paratyphoid have been blamed on the accessibility of only 39 percent of the country's population to potable drinking water."

Sridas · September 15, 2006

Small offering huge return.

It's such a basic thing that we dissmiss it as unimportant yet it sustains all life on this planet.

It's not that we need water for the soul can go on without water.

But the soul can't go on without Krsna. And all he requests is to offer a little water with love and devotion, and not only will that be acceptable but He will reciprocate. Forget the rajasurya sacrifice, Sri Adwaita drew Him down to this dimention simply offering a little water and tulasi leaves, but it is the prayer in the heart of the devotee that is in the water that attracts the Lord and it is the Lord in the water that gives us all life which is mercy.... prasadam.

So the world needs prasadam to manage it's water crisis, it's that simple but we are overlooking it.

If we wish to satisfy everyone from the ants up to the Demigods let us get back to the simple sacrifice of Harinam Sankirtan and the whole world will get relief from the impending meltdown of pralaya.

Why can't we find that little moment each day to offer a cup of water with some heart felt prayers.

I'm sure there was someone praying somewhere for Srila Prabhupad and friends to come into our lives. So let us try to imbibe that spirit,

Water the seed and the root and the world will be nourished.