Water has been a subject of favoured discourse for many years now. We have heard doomsday prophesies about how exacerbated conflicts related to rising scarcity of water can lead to wars much worse that the world has ever seen. India is a water-endowed country - and the monsoon in the last few decades has been ‘normal’ to a great extent. So how close are we to such prophesies?

In a sense, very close – especially if one considers the level of pollution in surface and groundwater – the latter still considered ‘pure’ in many instances. However, with awareness about the various water pollutants gaining widespread attention, a need to gain access to clean water is also showing sharp upward trend. Whether it is the State’s responsibility to ensure free access to clean water or should it be priced, particularly when one considers that the poor are compelled to pay more?

We have visited the domain of water rights in this issue to understand whether water should indeed be a free resource. Should the farming sector be allowed to get away with inefficient water usage systems? The answer would necessitate the political and social contest of wills of common good and productivity goals. Nevertheless such questions and more are increasingly pertinent and seek urgent interventions at a policy level.