Filmed by Kartikeya Saxena
In Part III, the final part of the Jheel Ke Kinaare series, we explore the politics of water management in Udaipur.
With Udaipur constantly growing, in terms of population and its appeal as a tourist destination, the pressure to meet its needs is like never before. This is especially true for the city’s water resources.
To meet its requirements, water is drawn from sources outside the city, which leaves the locals in those areas without access to water, both in quantity and quality.
At the centre of this issue are the fragile and inadequate government policies and action. Whether it is for maintaining water sources within the city, or for ensuring that the population around the villages get access to water, the overarching theme that emerges is that political will (rather, a lack of political will) is the main cause of degrading systems.
“Today, the situation is such that, even after fighting so hard, whether we will be able to save our lakes or not is a big question mark,” says Dr Tej Razdan, Joint Secretary of the Jheel Sarakshan Samiti.
Note: Despite reaching out to Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Ltd. (RSMM) and Udaipur’s public representatives several times to get their views on this issue, we received no response.
This is Part III of the documentary series — Jheel Ke Kinaare: Crisis in the City of Lakes.
It’s brilliant … the visuals are of highest standard , so beautiful. The issue is presented very sharply
Some suggestions : the font size of the text should be slightly higher. The interview should also include the ones from the Government, elected public reps and the mainstream political parties. That would have make it more wholesome
All the best