Mahatma Gandhi rightly quoted “The nature has enough to fulfill our needs, but not our greeds”. One of the best strategies to reclaim and sustain one’s control over natural resources is through disciplines and righteous use of the natural resources. The use and availability of land, water and forest is directly related to the disciplined usage of these resources, which Gandhi had been advocating and practicing all his life.
It needs to be understood that natural resources, may by-large seem to be affecting the lives of the poor and marginalized, but this also effects the lives of the people in cities from lower, middle and higher classes also.
Land as a resource needs to be with the people for consumption and production purpose. If the land keeps on shifting to the hands of corporate bodies and land mafia, we will soon be struck with a severe crisis of food , since we will have not enough land to cultivate. Also the livelihood resources will gradually diminish, and people in the villages will be forced to quit the village and live a destitute life in urban slums and poverty pocked.
Water resources are being contaminated by the day. Many areas around the country report water resources as unusable and undrinkable. This needs to be established that contaminated water contributes to water borne chronic diseases also. Epidemics can arise if we do not start to use water in a disciplined manner.
The economic crisis worldwide has been a result of commercialization of basic human needs, whether being water and land. Fortunately the tremors of this crisis were mildly felt in India, as a part of land and water resources are yet to be commercialized, and are free to the community. But in this globalizing world we can imagine these being commercialized and a nationwide unrest that will lead to socio-economic downfall of the Indian societal structure.
Corruption by its definition means surpassing the basic steps for use and implementation of a resource, service or commodity. Corruption is not only limited to bribe, but to unnaturally exploiting the natural resources available to us. Making land and water available to corporate bodies and keeping the communities tempted for the same, is a classical example of societal corruption.
Equal access to land, water and forest are a basic human right of a citizen of India. However deflecting from this notion is causing a serious threat to the lives and health of the millions of Indians, who have traditionally known to be dependent on natural resources for their existence.
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