top of page

By:

Rajeev Kejriwal

26 April 2026 at 1:28:42 pm

Water Can't Wait !

Nations are often judged by the monuments they build, the highways they inaugurate or the skylines they proudly showcase. Yet history has a quieter benchmark. It asks a far simpler question: Could every citizen drink clean water without anxiety? Everything else is secondary. Civilizations have risen beside rivers and disappeared because they failed to manage them. Water has never been merely a resource. It is the first condition of life, health, productivity and dignity. A nation may postpone...

Water Can't Wait !

Nations are often judged by the monuments they build, the highways they inaugurate or the skylines they proudly showcase. Yet history has a quieter benchmark. It asks a far simpler question: Could every citizen drink clean water without anxiety? Everything else is secondary. Civilizations have risen beside rivers and disappeared because they failed to manage them. Water has never been merely a resource. It is the first condition of life, health, productivity and dignity. A nation may postpone many ambitions, but it cannot postpone water. Bharat has made meaningful progress, but the uncomfortable truth remains, that we are still building the very arteries that should have been in place decades ago. Our potable water network is still at a nascent stage, demanding not celebration, but sustained resolve. The Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT brought unprecedented attention to drinking water infrastructure and transformed the national conversation around water security. They infused urgency into a challenge that had long been accepted as routine. Pipes were laid, treatment plants expanded and millions gained access to tap connections. These initiatives proved that when political will aligns with administrative execution, transformative change is possible. Yet infrastructure does not mature through isolated bursts of activity. It demands continuity. Momentum, once lost, is painfully slow to regain. The recent slowdown is more than administrative; it risks pausing a national purpose. Factories reduce output, contractors hesitate, investments stall and skilled manpower disperses. Every interruption today raises the cost of catching up tomorrow. Infrastructure thrives on continuity, not episodic enthusiasm. Development cannot be switched on and off like a tap. An unfinished pipeline is not simply an engineering gap. It is a reminder that development delayed is development denied. Perhaps the larger concern lies elsewhere. Water infrastructure rarely dominates political discourse because its success is almost invisible. It quietly prevents disease, reduces healthcare costs, frees women from the burden of collecting water, improves school attendance and strengthens economic productivity. Its failures, however, are unmistakable. They appear as dry taps, contaminated supplies, tanker queues and rapidly declining groundwater reserves. The finest public infrastructure is often the one people barely notice because it never fails. We celebrate airports, bridges and expressways because they are visible symbols of progress. But clean drinking water is a deeper achievement. It is the infrastructure that protects every other investment in society. Hospitals become less burdened, schools become more effective, industries become more productive and families become more secure when safe water is available consistently. The image is simple. A pipeline resembles an artery. When it carries clean water, communities thrive. When its construction slows, development itself loses rhythm. Bharat cannot afford that pause. Climate uncertainty is increasing. Urbanisation is accelerating. Groundwater is under growing stress. Population growth, industrial demand and changing rainfall patterns will only intensify the challenge. The question is no longer whether Bharat should invest more in water infrastructure. The real question is whether it can afford not to. This is precisely the moment to intensify effort—not dilute it. What the nation needs is substantial sustained investment, concentrated administrative thrust and unequivocal political attention towards universal access to potable water. Water infrastructure should not be viewed as a periodic government programme but as a permanent national mission that transcends political cycles. The destination is visible, but the journey is unfinished. Because history will not remember how many pipelines were sanctioned, tenders awarded or projects announced. It will remember whether every citizen finally received the dignity and security of clean drinking water.
Water is not expenditure. It is one of the highest-return investments a nation can make. Every rupee invested in clean drinking water returns many times over through better health, higher productivity, stronger economic growth and greater human dignity. When Bharat secures water, it secures its future. A nation that waits for a crisis before investing in water has already waited too long. (The writer is a bilingual author with five published titles to his credit.)

Knives out in legislature

Updated: Mar 21, 2025

Disha Salian

Mumbai: Death of celebrity manager Disha Salian in 2020 once again rocked the Maharashtra legislature on Thursday. While cabinet ministers Nitesh Rane and Shambhuraj Desai demanded that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray be arrested in the case, BJP MLA Amit Satam in the assembly and another BJP member Chitra Wagh in the council demanded that the report of SIT to probe Salian’s death be made public.


Incidentally, amidst repeated disruptions in both the houses, some members from the treasury benches were seen speaking in favour of Aditya Thackeray, while Shiv Sena (UBT) members like Adv Anil Parab were seen supporting the BJP members’ demand that the report of the SIT probe be made public. In addition, there were allegations and counter allegations and personal accusations among members from the treasury and opposition benches which led to heated debate on occasions.


The opposition termed the attempts from the treasury benches to link Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray’s name in the case, as a ‘conspiracy’.


“I think this matter has gone to the court. We have no idea what he (Disha’s father) has said, but Aaditya Thackeray is a mature leader, a young leader. The Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring to defame him by putting pressure on him. We don’t need to answer to this conspiracy. The court will answer,” Ambadas Danve said.


Earlier in the day, when the house gathered for the business, Minister of State for Home appraised the assembly of the status in this case. “SIT has been formed to probe in the case. Their report has not been received as yet. However, the government shall act according to directives from the court,” the minister told the house.


Another BJP minister Nitesh Rane, however, said that since Satish Salian has levelled allegations against an MVA minister, that leader be treated like a common person and that everybody should be treated equally before the law. Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai too supported the demand. “Since the allegations are grave, the person in question should be immediately arrested and the case be investigated,” he said.


Later, while speaking to media in the legislature premises, Rane asked Uddhav Thackeray to come clean on the issue. “If they say that we are politicizing the issue, Uddhav Thackeray should also tell the people why he had called, not just once but twice, to the then union minister Narayan Rane urging him to save his son?” Rane said.


He also accused the opposition of shying away from coming clean on the issue. “If they feel that we are not telling the truth, they should say so in the house. But they are shying away from doing so. Bhaskar Jadhav, who is always aggressive, was nowhere to be seen when this issue came up in the house. Sunil Prabhu too escaped the house under the pretext of a phone call. I challenge them to say that whatever I said on the issue is wrong,” Rane said.


He also said that Aditya Thackeray should resign on moral grounds till his name is cleared in the case.


BJP MLA Amit Satam demanded that the details of the SIT probe be made public so that the people would know if the probe is headed in right direction.


Interestingly, while the ruling parties were targeting the opposition in the case, senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar surprised all with his unexpected support to Thackerays. “I do not have any evidences in the case. But if her father has made any fresh allegations that needs to be investigated thoroughly. The assembly can discuss the issue at length tomorrow. In the meanwhile, members like Rane, who seem to have some evidences in the case should hand them over to the investigating agencies and help the probe,” he told the house.


Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Gaikwad and Sheetal Mhatre too toed the line and demanded that more and more evidences should come forth.


Similarly, when members of treasury benches were pushing for revealing the details of the probe till date to the public, Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab supported the demand. “Doing that shall conclusively prove the innocence of Aditya Thackeray,” he said.

Comments

bottom of page