Project Summary

The government of Karnataka wants to build a state level water awareness campaign to democratise water governance. The focus of this campaign is to build citizens’ awareness about their responsibilities in claiming water rights. People, especially from socially and economically marginalised communities, will come forward to understand the status of the water supply and source in their city, mobilizing their opinions and ideas through consultation meetings. City-level water journeys (jathas) will be primarily focus on water literacy and awareness. Each individual city level process will feed into a regional consolidation process and mutual city-to-city exchanges. The campaign will also bring local citizens, peoples’ representatives, and officials together to collectively approach, visualize and generate solutions on issues of water and sanitation. Finally, the state minister will be encouraged to conduct public consultations to review existing state laws and policies in order to redraft them based on progressive principles as envisioned by the people of the state.