Pointing out that seven rivers in the northern State had been rejuvenated, Mr. Singh said that when his organisation started the work, it wanted not to revive rivers but to reclaim livelihood. As lack of water was the reason for the loss of livelihood in that part of the State, the Sangh had decided to focus on the water issue. Calling upon the people to negotiate between global policies and local action, Mr. Singh said those rooted in ancient wisdom would be able to tame the forces of consumerism. Saleh Rabi, Director of the Palestinian Water Training Institute, Palestine, regretted that leaders of the West, Israel and Palestine were not paying attention to water issues in his country.
B.K. Sinha, Director-General of the National Institute of Rural Development, said that though powers had not been uniformly distributed among panchayats across the country, those that had been empowered created wonders. He also explained how the technological ban created by organisation was serving as a platform for various institutions. Anil Naidoo, who represented Blue Planet Project, Council of Canadians, lauded Tamil Nadu engineers for willingly giving up powers for the experiment of water democratisation. Mary Ann Manahan of the Focus on Global South, The Philippines, said that after years of work by water rights activists in her country, the government recognised importance of their movement.
