Ahmed Shah, Sikander --- "The provision and violation of water rights (the case of Pakistan) – a human rights based approach" [2017] ELECD 329; in Chaisse, Julien (ed), "Charting the Water Regulatory Future" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 167

Book Title: Charting the Water Regulatory Future

Editor(s): Chaisse, Julien

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785366710

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: The provision and violation of water rights (the case of Pakistan) – a human rights based approach

Author(s): Ahmed Shah, Sikander

Number of pages: 28

Abstract/Description:

Water is a basic necessity of life. However, its value is determined differently in different parts of the world. The scarcity of water causes its value to increase incrementally, a phenomenon witnessed in the developing world where in some localities its value is comparable to gold. Furthermore, with the process of industrialization accelerating in the developing world, need for water will increase incrementally and its main use will not be limited to agriculture and domestic consumption. Over one billion people globally do not have access to basic water supplies and half of the developing world’s population suffers from disease due to the contaminated supply of water. The international governance regimes are therefore faced with a difficult task; they have to categorize water in a manner that promotes the standard of living of the global citizenry most effectively. The quintessential question presented is why should water be classified as a human right and not viewed as an economic good or as an object of environmental protection. Those in favor of classifying water emancipation as a human right, either in the form of a civil-political or socio-economic right, argue that the human rights framework is the most effective way to provide access to adequate and healthy water. Because of the presence of an established legal framework through which emancipation is most pragmatically realizable, violations of the right are adequately ascertainable and hence state conduct can be most effectively monitored for implementation.