A few days ago, several women from Chandkheda, Ahmedabad, staged a protest at the Municipal Corporation office, raising concerns about the lack of water availability in their neighbourhood. These women were labelled "anti-national." This characterisation follows remarks by Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, who recently described those who speak about India's water crisis as "anti-national." While Gadkari made this statement in reference to his ethanol project, the term has increasingly become governmental language for citizens who raise questions and objections.
At the "Nagpur Jal Samvad 2026" national conference on water conservation held on May 17‑18, 2026, the event page proclaimed that water conservation should become a mass movement, an appeal from Gadkari himself. Yet during his keynote address, project‑affected families and farmers raised concerns about pending rehabilitation, compensation, and issues regarding the E20 ethanol‑blended petrol policy. Gadkari reportedly lost his temper and summoned police to remove the attendees.
In a subsequent podcast interview, when questioned about water usage in large‑scale ethanol production and India's water stress, Gadkari mocked those raising concerns, labelling them "anti‑national" with confidence based on his past experience heading the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
This is not the first time government ministers have employed demeaning language toward citizens who voice concerns. From "anti‑national" to "tukde‑tukde gang," "urban naxal," and more recently "cockroaches," such rhetoric has been used repeatedly to shame citizens who question government policies. The question that demands urgent clarification from C.R. Paatil, Minister of Jal Shakti, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is whether there is a water crisis in India or not.
Are the data from trusted sources wrong? Are citizens' sufferings untrue? Are water conservation efforts scams? Are campaigns and media reports fake? According to Gadkari's own criteria, a remarkable roster of the nation's highest institutions and leaders would qualify as "anti‑national."
President Murmu has called for making water conservation part of daily lives at the Jal Mahotsav 2026 and advocates traditional water wisdom. Prime Minister Modi himself has repeatedly emphasised that water conservation is a must, urging citizens to save every single drop of rainwater and not let the momentum of the "Catch the Rain" campaign slacken.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti, implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Atal Bhujal Yojana, MAHA Water Mission, and the Namami Gange Programme, has admitted in its own 2026 data that over 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress. The Central Water Commission has warned of sharp drops in reservoir levels and stressed the need for large‑scale infrastructure and decentralised conservation.
NITI Aayog, India's apex public policy think tank, highlighted through its Composite Water Management Index that India faces its worst water crisis in history, and its roadmap for ethanol blending raised alarms about using highly water‑intensive crops like sugarcane, rice, and maize—studies show that one litre of ethanol production requires roughly 2,600 litres of water, while rice‑based ethanol can consume up to 10,000‑11,000 litres per litre of fuel. Even Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, despite being widely ridiculed for attributing the capital's water shortage partly to evaporation during transport, nevertheless acknowledged the severe crisis in the national capital.
Beyond these official quarters, countless citizen protests across the country would also fall under Gadkari's "anti‑national" umbrella. Delhi residents have organised "Matka Phod" protests against water unavailability, with reports of black water flowing from taps and police routinely using water cannons against demonstrators.
In Indore, residents protesting water shortages also faced water cannons, and last year several children died from contaminated tap water at the state's largest government hospital. In Devprayag, Uttarakhand, residents at the very confluence where the Ganga originates took to the streets with burning torches after the failure of the "Har Ghar Jal" scheme. In Bundelkhand, one of India's most water‑stressed regions, tribal farmers have launched the "Chita Satyagraha"—lying on funeral pyres to demand recognition of their land and water rights against the Ken‑Betwa River Interlinking Project. In Visakhapatnam, residents, farmers, and human rights groups are protesting AI data centre construction over concerns about groundwater depletion and ecological damage.
The long‑standing protests in the Narmada basin over the Sardar Sarovar Dam continue to be vilified by successive governments. And farmers across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Kanpur are protesting against ethanol policies to safeguard their land and water rights. If we pull out any mainstream or alternative media outlet, they too would qualify as "anti‑national," as no news source is sanitised from reporting on the water crisis.
If government establishments themselves acknowledge the water crisis and spend vast sums—₹99,503 crore allocated to the Ministry of Jal Shakti in the 2025‑26 Union Budget, including ₹26,824.86 crore for the Namami Gange Programme—then by Gadkari's logic, they are also "anti‑national." The presence or absence of a water crisis must be clarified by the Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office, backed by science, data, and policy, not by rhetoric.
The government's own data reveals that nearly 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress; India ranks 120th out of 122 countries in the global water quality index, with roughly 70% of its water resources contaminated; inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation contributes to roughly 200,000 deaths every year; water scarcity could lead to a significant GDP contraction by 2050; more than 87% of annual groundwater extraction is used for agriculture; major cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai are severely depleting groundwater; and a large portion of Indian bank portfolios are exposed to water‑stressed sectors like agriculture and power, creating operational and financial risks.
The ethanol imposition cannot hide these facts; in fact, it may expose the water crisis even more in the years ahead.
Silencing people's voices by labelling them "anti‑national" is the least constructive response. The way forward is to move beyond tokenism in public participation and instead engage citizens meaningfully in water conversations, arriving at collective solutions. We require many more water conversations than ever if we aim to achieve genuine water conservation. The government must warn its ministers to avoid mocking people's distress over access to water, which is a fundamental right of every citizen.
A gentle reminder to Gadkari, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and the Prime Minister's Office: your own data speaks louder than any epithet. India's National Water Policy advocates for an integrated water management approach in which interactive governance is fundamental; labelling citizens as "anti‑national" is the antithesis of that principle. It is time for the government to lead with clarity, humility, and action.
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Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava is an entrepreneur, researcher, educator, speaker, and mentor. She has dedicated more than three decades to understanding India's water matters. www.wforw.in
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