A four part symposium on very large scale water management through the linking of rivers began today at Hall D 133 of the WSF.

Session I Capturing the National Perspective
Session II Getting the Picture Right
Session III Listening to thy Neighbour
Sesion IV Window to the World

Activists and students of water management issues met for two days starting this afternoon to discuss the massive river linking project proposed to be taken up in India. Proponents of the scheme claim that it will feed the water starved rivers of southern India from the large rivers of North India, thus ensuring better water availability across the country.

"This is the biggest river linking project in the world," says Peter Bosshard of the International Rivers Network, "yet the process of development of this project has been completely undemocratic and non-transparent. Neither the Planning Commission nor any other normal approach has been used to get this project to the starting point."

Nirmal Sengupta of the Madras Institute of Development Studies agrees. "I am very disturbed by the process, and concerned about the possible impact on climate change. This does not seem to have been examined." He is however, not completely downcast by the obviously very powerful forces at work behind this project. "I believe that it can be stopped. I am not against the concept of linking rivers per se, but am committed to a bottoms-up approach for any such project that clearly impacts so many."

The symposium is organised by South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy. Centre for Study of Developing Societies, The Ecolgical Foundation, Swadeshi Trust, Toxics Link, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, National Alliance of People's Movements and the International Rivers Network, with the active help of Sudhirendra Sharma, Gopal Krishna, Peter Bosshard, Medha Patkar and Uma Shankari.