The Truth Behind Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant
It seems Delhi’s days of water
woes are over. Ondeo Degremont, a sister concern of the influential
French Company “Suez-Lyonnaise des Eauz”, has been given the
contract of Delhi’s water supply system on the pretext of flooding
the capital with drinking water.The contract is for 10 years and costs a
whopping 200 crore rupees. On 21st of June, 2002, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, Chief
Minister of Delhi, inaugurated “ Sonia Vihar” water treatment
unit , which will be in operation ifor the next 10 years and is being
built on the basis of “Build Operate and Transfer” (BOT), and
will have a capacity of around 635 crore litre.
The contract has been awarded
on the basis of the bids the DJB received from various multinational
companies. In the past this multinational company was also involved in a
similar project in Mumbai. In Delhi this company is working on two project
simultaneously – Sonia Vihar water treatment plant and Rithala sewage
processing unit. Both these projects are joint ventures of Delhi Jal Board
and Ondeo Degremont Company. But Delhi Government refuses to reveal much
about this project saying that to reveal much about an international contract
is quite unethical. But all this statement does is to strengthen the belief
that somewhere, something is wrong. Now everybody knows that the contract
between DJB and Suez-Degremont is shrouded in controversies. Three different
companies were shortlisted for this project but despite the other
two quoting lower-rates the tender went to ‘Suez Degremont’.
Even the top brass of DJB is unanimous on this issue. It is widely known
that the last two projects handled by this company, i.e. in Surat and Delhi’s
Okhla plants, had their own share of problems and are also running
behind schedule. The second point of dispute is that technology used by
Suez is not as advanced as the technology used by other two companies in
the fray. Also a lot of discrepancies have crept in the work of laying pipe
lines from Sonia Vihar to Trans-Yamuna areas.According to Mr. Yogdhyan Ahiya,
member of DJB, and Ms. Shakuntala Arya, former Mayor of Delhi, the cost
of laying down this 33.948 km. long pipeline is around 85 crore rupees whereas
the amount sanctioned to Suez is quite high, at 111.31 crore .
Height of Corruption:
This situation clearly reveals that
there has been a secret pact between the DJB and the company Ondeo-Degremont
but both the parties are not ready to accept the fact and are trying their
level best to put the matter under carpet. It is a known fact that privatization
leads to corruption. Even World Bank’s document confirms this
fact. It states,-“Privatization is such a process that gives birth
to corrupt players. There is always likelihood that some companies might
try to sneak in through back door or in other word they may bribe
their way in. These companies which bribe the officials always get unfair
advantage and expect that the bidding should not only go in their favour
but the unfair subsidies also should go in their favour alone and try to
acquire more regulatory concessions in future”. To relate with this
World Bank’s report there are quite a few incidents that will tell
the whole story: in Britain most of the cases of corruption that are
reported with British Police are mainly on contractual disputes. This is
to be noted that in Britain public services are in private hands which generally
leads to lots of scams and corruption. Even an ex-minister in the British
Government, Atkon was once imprisoned on charge of corruption. He was accused
of holding a secret meeting with British Multinational Company, GEC, and
demanded 10% of the proposed sale as bribe.
Similarly, the French e Communication
Minister, Carrignon and a senior officer of the company Suez-Lyonnaise ,
Jyan Promparly, were sentenced to imprisonment for 4 and 1 year respectively.
They were accused of accepting and giving bribes for helping a sister concern
of Suez to get the contract for supplying water to Grenoble in France.
A few years ago the then Mayor of Engloo was also imprisoned for 2 years
for the same charges. He was striking a deal with a multinational company
called ‘General Dez Equix’ and this very company was
again bargaining with the Mayor of Denis city but was caught and punished.
In Karnataka, in India, Vivendi and
Degremont, two French Multinational Companies are neck deep into corruption
charges with respect to their joint venture on water projects. This is a
great concern and some ministers are also accused of taking bribes
during the deals. Besides this , many multinational companies of Britain,
France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland were punished many
times for offering bribes to acquire the projects.
Suez-Degremont’s Misdeeds
The multinational companies are playing
this game without any hindrance. In some cases they are caught but
most of the cases remains undetected. Then, how can the Sonia Vihar
Water treatment unit remains untouched by all these malpractices? Already
in this unit also there are malpractices which have not yet been noticed,
but as time passes by they will definitely come to the fore. As we know
the misdeed of Ondeo-Degremont would have gone unnoticed had the Trade
Union leaders not taken the initiative to expose it. Besides the Sonia Vihar
project, this multinational company is also managing another water
sewage processing plant in Rithala in Delhi. In this plant no safety
measures have been ensured for the workers thus putting their lives in continuous
danger. This negligence has so far taken life of 5 people including one
engineer and four workers last year within six months. In protest against
this incident the workers’ union has filed a complaint with the NHRC.
The unit processes about 8 crore gallon sewage daily.
In the absence of adequate safety
measures the poisonous harmful gases and chemicals like hydrogen sulphide
and carbon monoxide emitting during the processing of the sewage can take
the life of a worker instantly. Besides these, highly explosive methane
gas and carcinogens like arsenic, nickel and chromium are being constantly
emitted in the plant. The masks provided by the company to the workers and
engineers hardly protect them from these poisonous gases as the filter of
these masks become ineffective after 20 minutes of use. But what is
more shocking is the fact that the same company follows all the safety measures
in their own home land whereas in other countries in order to make more
profit this company cuts down the expenses on safety measures. Due
to this negligence in this unit the Indian workers and engineers meet untimely
death.
Voices of Protest
Today the truth is that the Sonia
Vihar Unit is trapped inside the four walls of concrete. The voice of resentment
among the people of the neighbouring villages surrounding this plant including
Pushta, Rajiv Vihar, and Sonia Vihar can be heard against this plant.
Besides these villages, people of western UP are also staging a strong
non-violent protest against this project. The protest is being led by former
vice-president of ‘Rural Front’, Mr. Satpal Chaudhary.
According to him the completion of Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant
will ruin the fields of western UP. After the completion of the project
only 30% of water will be available for the irrigation purpose. The protesters
say , “ we will not allow this to happen to us. Now we will fight
against it politically.” A leader of the farmers’ association
, Lorik Chand, Says,--“it is very unfair that Delhi gets the
water at our cost and we die of thirst and hunger. Whose justice is this?”.
Actually the opposition to the Privatization of Ganga water has religious
connotation as well. According to Mr. Anshul Shreekunj of Jagriti Missiom
Trust in Haridwar, “ the Ganga at Har-Ki-Pori is drying up due to
this project. This is an unprecedented event”.
According to contract concluded between
Delhi Government and Ondeo-Degremont the Ganga water from Tehri Dam in Uttaranchal
will reach Murad Nagar in UP through upper Ganga canal. From Murad Nagar
the water will be brought to Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Unit through huge
pipelines. It is to be noticed that water from upper Ganga canal reaches
Kanpur via Murad Nagar and the districts like Haridwar, Rurki, Saharanpur,
Muzzafarnagar, Bulandshahar, Mathura, Hathras, Mainpuri, Ghaziabad, GautamNagar
and Etawa being in this area can avail this water for irrigation of
around 9.24 lakh hectars land. Initially 6750 cu.c water was available
from this canal and later on the amount of water received from this canal
was 10,500 cu.c. The length of the canal is around 304 km. and the crops
that are being produced here are mainly wheat, basmati and coarse rice,
potato, grams, maize and sugarcane.
The major issue is that water privatization
is affecting the right of the local people to their natural resource and
their access to it. On one hand,, the authorities are diverting the sparse
and limited water from the poor to rich, from villages to cities, and from
agricultural fields to industrial areas, causing terrible crisis of water
among the poor. People of these areas are not in a position to buy water
for their usage. On the other hand, water is made easily available to those
people who have been either wasting the water or polluting it. Instead of
spending lakhs of rupees on cleansing Yamuna river the water
of this river still remains so polluted that it is not at all drinkable.
Today, the Delhi Government demands that the people of Uttaranchal and Uttar
Pradesh must forfeit their right to use Ganga water so that it can be treated
and sold to the elite classes of Delhi.
In order to implement the designs
the Government keeps on changing its stands ( colors). On one hand, DJB
states that it is not in favour of privatization of water, on the other
hand, the Government itself flooded the market with its brand of bottled
water. It is completely a different question where does this brand
of DJB stands in the cut-throat competition of global market. But
there is a need to take into account the fact that the way the population
of Delhi is growing and the availability of water is also decreasing in
the same rate which is in near future going to create real miserable
conditions for the people to survive. In the box given below is given the
data indicating the amount of water Delhi will require in future.
Today privatization of ‘Gangajal
‘ and the process of converting the ‘Gangajal’ into saleable
commodity are causing tremendous public wrath. People have come out
into the streets, holding demonstrations in protest against privatization
of water. People of 12 villages falling between Haridwar and
Murad Nagar have always been resisting the process of laying out of
pipelines through these areas. Besides this, on 9th August, 2003, many
farmers’ organizations gathered in front of the ‘Sonia Vihar
Water Treatment Plant’ and filled the air with slogan “ Ondeo-Degremint
--- Quit India”. The farmers are totally against the scheme
of water privatization. They say “water of river Ganga must
not be put up for sale because the Ganga is just not a river to us but
is like a mother not only to us but to most of the Indians.The
river Ganga represents Indian civilization and culture. No matter
what happens , we will not allow the multinational companies to destroy
our civilization, our culture.” They are committed, determined and
ready to fight against the Government and the company ‘Ondeo-Degremont’
in order to get the contract nullified. Taking this agitation forward and
celebrating the 60th anniversary of ‘ Quit India’ movement,
the agitating farmers, local residents, and the Ganga worshippers issued
a Haridwar declaration which is as follows:
“ We will never allow our Government
to sell The Ganga river to any multinational company . We worship
the Ganga river as our mother, and on it’s banks we perform
all our rites and rituals associated with our life since our birth till
death. The sacred water of the Ganga can never be a private property of
any individual or any company. Our mother Ganga is not for sale. We boycott
the scheme of converting our Ganga or any other water
resource into commodity and of privatizing the resources. We take a vow
that we will protect our own water resources and will use water in such
a way that will help us protect our environment and ecology and protect
the rights of our future generations so that they can live in good environment
.We therefore take a vow and declare that local people will have complete
right on their local water resources. Any outsider, be it an organization
or corporation , will be allowed to use the water body only after
availing permission from the local Gram Sabha . Today the Ganga is not only
our cultural heritage but also our civilization. If any multinational company
dares to snatch right from us by privatizing Ganga water, we will always
fight against it.
Endangered: Water, Livelihood and Life
The elites of Delhi are delighted
with the new achievement of the Government. They are waiting to have a new
taste of water, i.e. ‘Ganga Water’ flowing right from
their taps.. This water will be brought to ‘Sonia Vihar Water
Treatment Unit’ from Tehri Dam in Uttaranchal and will be sold at
high price under the supervision of ‘Suez Ondeo-Degremont’
and Delhi Jal Board. Although the residents of Delhi are eagerly waiting
this Ganga water but they are not aware of that in the states
like Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi itself the water,
livelihood and lives of the local people are in great danger. They don’t
even know that in the name of development the lives of residents of these
states are in great danger of massive devastation in future..
It is to be noticed that according
to the contract concluded between the company ‘Suez-Degremont’
and Delhi Government the water from upper region of Tehi Dam will be brought
to Murad Nagar through upper Ganga canal of western Uttar Pradesh and from
Murad Nagar this water will reach Delhi’s Sonia Vihar Water
treatment Plant flowing through pipeline of 3.25 m. diameter covering
the distance of 30 km. The work of laying down of pipelines has already
been completed.
People are very angry about privatization
of ‘Ganga’ water. They just do not want that sacred ‘Ganga
Jal’ becomes a saleable commodity. People are aware that earlier
the multinational companies had tried to destroy the civilization
and culture of Egypt, Greece and Rome through commercial exploitation of
natural resources. Today, they are trying to do the same in India.
The people also have other reasons
to protest against the project of Sonia Vihar. After completion of this
project the conditions of farmers and villagers of Western Uttar Pradesh
will go worse while they will face acute water crisis, the ‘Suez-Degremont’
will supply this water to cater to the needs of the residents of Delhi .It
is well known that Upper Ganga Canal starts from Haridwar and reaches Kanpur
passing through Murad Nagar . This canal is the only source of water for
the local people to irrigate their lands. After completion of this project
daily 630 million litres of water will be extracted from this canal resulting
in drying up of the source of water, resulting water crisis in this area.
This water crisis will land the farmers and local people into miserable
conditions threatening their survival.
At present, while this project is
in progress, already the inhabitants of Tehri region have reached to miserable
conditions. In order to comply with the conditions of Suez Company the Government
has forced more than one lakh people of Tehri region to leave their place
and lead a life of refugee. The Dam in Tehri will be the fifth highest
dam in the world with a height of 160.5 metres. The dam will also cover
45sq.km of Bhagirathi and Milangana valleys due to which 4200 hectares fertile
land will be submerged in water and along with this the culture and civilization
of capital Tehri of ancient Garhwal will be destroyed.
This project was sanctioned way back
in 1972 and since then against this project not only the local people but
also many eminent scientists, environmentalists have been continuously agitating
and holding demonstrations. In spite of warning the Government about the
danger the dam is going to pose to the lives of hundreds of people living
in that area the government is just not paying any heed. Instead it has
been calling them anti-development elements. Now when the dam is gaining
its height, the multinational companies are determined to block the flow
of the Ganga. The situation is getting volatile day by day.
The compensation awarded to the affected
people of Tehri by the Government is quite small. Besides, before reaching
the needy people a part of the amount is filling the pockets of middle
men. In the name of implementing the scheme of helping the affected people
the agents are making houses and demolishing them and
this way they are making money for themselves . It has become difficult
for the poor and simple inhabitants of hills to survive. When these people
are busy in demonstration , the contractors come and demolish their houses.
Moreover, the local water projects have also been closed down by the
Government due to lack of funds. Every drop of water is being saved for
‘Suez’ company. But the Company does not consider itself responsible
for the harm being caused to the society, ecology and the economy. Their
understanding is clear: they have total right on ‘Gangajal’
which will bring them high profit on selling it in Delhi
at high price.
The Ganga is not the only river being
targeted by the multinational companies. The Bhavani river in Tamilnadu
and Sheonath river in Chhattisgarh have been secretly sold to the
multinational companies by the Government. Bhavani river, a tributary of
Kaveri river, was sold to Kinley company , an Indian associate of Coca-Cola,
by Poonam Beverages Company. The Company will give 5 lakh rupees annually
to the Government and in lieu of that it will draw 1,00,000 litre water
daily from Bhavani river and will sell it in the market in the form of bottled
water at high price. Similarly, the Sheonath river of Chhattisgarh
was sold to Radius Water Limited Company. Mr.Kailash Soni, who is the owner
of this company, claims that water has not been privatized butit is being
purified to serve the people. He claims that in a way they are doing social
work. This Company will have to pay to the Government 1.15 lakh rupees daily,
i.e. 4 crore rupees annually to use this water . The company is almost on
verge of completing the construction of a water purifying plant near Durg
and is having its monopoly over an area of 23.6 km. for storing
water. Firstly, the crops in this area are being destroyed due lack of water
as the local people are not allowed to use the water of this river, they
are also not allowed to dig wells as well. The company also warns them if
they secretly use the water of the river. The police is also in favour of
the company. The local people are prohibited from fishing in the river.
It has become very difficult for the local people to use the river
water for washing their clothes, bathing their domestic animals and for
other multiple purposes.
The people of Western UP and Uttaranchal
will also face similar conditions due to the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment
Project. But here the people are protesting so strongly against this
project that the Suez company is operating very cautiously. The farmers
and the local people of this area do not want that they also experience
the same difficulties as the Chhattisgarh’s people are passing through.
The say that their Mother Ganga is not for sale so the Suez company must
immediately leave India. Many farmer organizations, many leaders of farmer
community, environmentalists, and worshippers of the Ganga are
unitedly protesting against this project through continuous
demonstrations.
It seems that this agitation will
go on for long. They will not allow the Government to mortgage the sacred
Ganga to the multinational companies They feel that commercialization of
Ganga is inhuman . It should be kept in mind that the Tehri Dam is
being constructed in a place which has been earlier devastated
17-18 times by earthquakes occurring between 1861 and 1991. One should
also not forget how Uttarkashi and Chamoli were completely devastated
by earthquakes in 1991 and 1998 respectively. If the dam is damaged by earthquake
or any other incident in future the scenario will be really devastating
. Since, with the height of 260m the dam is one of the fifth highest dams
in the world, it will take just 22 minutes for the water to flow out. Within
60 minutes Rishikesh will be submerged under 160cu. metres of water
and in another 23 minutes Haridwar will be under 232cu.metres of water .And
the neighbouring cities like Bijnour, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandshahar will
be submerged within just 12 hours bringing havoc to the lives of the people
.Surely, ‘Ondeo-Degremont’ alone will be responsible for all
these destructions .
It is to be noted that International
Commission on Big Dams has declared that the site of the dam is very dangerous
, and it will not last for more than 30 years due to the rapid erosion of
soil of this area. This will endanger the lives of the residents of
this area in future. The officials associated with this project also claim
that no such measures have been taken in relation to Tehri Dam which can
protect the life and livelihood of the inhabitants of this area from flood.
The authorities of this project do not have any humanitarian concerns. They
think that every thing is justified in profit making project. They are just
interested in making profit for themselves at the cost of the life and livelihood
of common people.
Corporate Monopoly over Indian Water Sector
The multinational companies which
have made maximum profit by selling water in the international markets are
Vivendi Environment (France), Suez-Lyonnaise Des Eaux (France), RWE (Germany),
Thames Water (Great Britain), Saur (Great Britain), and Seven Trent (Great
Britain). Besides these companies, names of some more companies like
Englian (England), Baygeez (France), Enron (America), Bechtel and Monsento
are required to be mentioned in this context. The authorities of all these
companies think that there is no other commodity apart from water
which can bring them maximum profit. The higher authority of
the company ‘Suez-Lyonnaise’ , Mr. Gerard Mestrolet says ,--
“ Water is such an essential need without which people can not survive
and is available in abundance free of cost, and they can earn huge
profits by commercializing this product”.
Mr. Gerard is right in expressing
the economic philosophy underlying the water. Previously as they used to
earn huge profit by artificially hiking the price of crude oilin the market
, similarly they are now using the essential resource like water by commercializing
it in the global market at high price. No doubt , water is a basic need
without which it is impossible to survive but the multinational
companies considering it a commodity are engaged in the practice of
buying and trading this resource in the global market on large scale
in order to earn maximum profit. It is to be noted that in the convention
held in the capital of Germany, Bonn, on water-issue , the view emerged
was that the way oil is being traded through pipelines and tankers in the
international market, now trading of water in the global market also
needs the same method to be followed. There is very likelihood of
a world war taking place on the issue of water in the 21st century. The
then Vice-President of World Bank , Ismail Seragoldine , and the General
Secretary of United Nation, Kofee Annan, have expressed the same view.
All these statements are not
sponsored. The fact is that water has become a global issue now. Today
more than 1.3 billion people are deprived of clean water and around 2.4
billion people can not avail of the arrangement for purifying the dirty
water. It is well known that seas and oceans cover 97% of the world’s
water , 2.5% of water is available in the form of ice, and the rest, only
0.5% is available to the people of the world. In India a person
gets only 2500 cu.m of clean water annually. In the year to come this quota
will be reduced further to 1000 cu.m. It seems that by 2025, 56 countries
including India will face acute water crisis.
Today, India’s water
market is worth 2000 million dollar which is monopolized by three
big multinational companies like Vivendi Environment (France), Suez-Lyonnaise
Des Eaux (France), and RWE of Germany. These three companies have control
over 70% of water management in Europe and North America. Out of these companies,
Vivendi in and Suez-Lyonnaise are engaged in operating the water projects
in 90 and 120 countries respectively. These companies are operating in four
different fields of water including water waste management, water purification,
water related construction work, and accessing new technologies. Besides
this, all these companies have started investing in the field of media,
advertisement, and in gas-industry. Among these, Vivendi appears
to be the biggest leader in the field of media, whereas Suez-Lyonnaise appears
to be the most influential company in water sector. Delhi’s Sonia
Vihar Water Treatment Plant and the Rithala’s Sewage Treatment Plant
are controlled by Suez-Lyonnaise.
This company was known as Suez Lyonnaise
Des Eaux before April 2001. This company, at first, started
its operation in France by the name of ‘Lyonnaise Des Eaux’,
and constructed Suez canal. Later on this company mainly started
dealing with power, water, water purification , and communication sectors
at the Municipal level. This is a leading company in support of privatization
of the above mentioned sectors. That’s why the company has entered
into several contracts in these fields with the support of World Bank and
many other multilateral lending agencies.
Suez company has many important branches,
one of them is ‘Ondeo-Degremont’. It is engaged in the operations
of water purification and turn-key engineering. It has been operating in
India for the last 30 years. Firstly it started its operation in Mumbai
by installing a filtration unit having the capacity of 1.9 million
cu. m. Today this company is engaged in 30 more projects in India. It also
has a sub-branch called ‘Ondeo Industrial Solution’ which deals
with the problems created due to sewages extracting from the factories.
This sub-branch by the name of Hydro Plus is modernizing 8 dams in Gujarat.
The company ‘Ondeo Nalco’ is dealing with water purification
for the factories and with chemicals required regarding water purification.
This company is operating in India by the name of Ondeo Nalco India Limited.
After taking over the Nalco Company of America the Suez had acquired control
over Ondeo Nalco India. It has 80% share in Nalco. Besides this, the Suez
Company has another sub-branch on environmental issues which is also operating
at the municipal and local levels. The sub-branch which deals with water
sector is known as Ondeo and – garbage services section is known as
SITA. In power sector it is operating by the name of Suez Tractwell. At
present it’s focus is more on water. The way it is operating in India
shows that days are not far away when water will be costlier than
the blood.
Source of references
Poonjee ke nishane pe pani: INSAF
Pani ke kuber: INSAF
Thoughts and comments of Vandan Shiva
“Navdhanya” Booklet
IMF website
Delhi Jal Board website