In the Findings, the following comment has been included, by David Bailey:
The Water Project It has been claimed that all seven hundred and fifty villages in the Sai Baba Water Project are now receiving water. This I believed until I was shown a Telugu newspaper with a front page feature article showing photos of villages with no water, broken pipes, no pipes, pipes and no tanks, and many with nothing at all. The headlines translated, read
'SAI BABA WHERE'S OUR WATER? YOU'VE CHEATED US AGAIN!'
I went to some of these villages within the project radius and found for myself that the report was correct. My questioning local businessmen in the area revealed some interesting information. General opinion concurred that the project had been set up because the ashram had many problems with it's own insufficient well supply; one of which was constantly recurring gastric disturbances, particularly with foreign devotees.
Request for permission to lay a water pipeline to the ashram fell on government's deaf ears, the response being that unless villages along the proposed line could also be supplied, permission would be withheld. Hence the huge global fund raising, which also perplexed me - having been indoctrinated with the 'no fund raising' policies given out by Sai Baba. Within twelve months an effective pipeline to the ashram and a selection of villages was established, and then the work stopped. At my consternation at being of told this scandalous situation, the village elders simply shrugged their shoulders saying "What can we do?"
David Bailey implies that Sathya Sai Baba makes promises and breaks promises. This is a manifest untruth, and may be absolutely proved so. Bailey fails to provide evidence for his assertions.
David Bailey has failed to:
David Bailey has made many unsustainable assertions, implied Sai Baba a cheat and the Sathya Sai Drinking Water Project a failure. Bailey provides NO supporting evidence nor documentation for his disputations.
On November 23, 1994, Sathya Sai Baba announced the inauguration of a Water Supply Project to be undertaken under the auspices of the Sathya Sai Central Trust, for the purpose of bringing desperately needed water to the drought-stricken area of Rayalaseema, in South India. The inadequacy of the water supply in the area was due not to the inadequacy of water as such, but rather to the failure of the National and State governments to agree on the use of water from rivers that could have supplied the much-needed water to the Rayalaseema area. In the meantime, the people living in the affected villages suffered from having no supply of water in their communities, and were required to walk barefooted in the hot sun for miles everyday to secure a bare minimum of water for their needs.
Before announcing the undertaking of the Water Project by the Sathya Sai Central Trust, Sai Baba stated:
"I wish to draw the attention of the Prime Minister to the 45-year-old water problem that is affecting most parts of Rayalaseema, especially in remote villages, where people have to walk several miles to get a pot of drinking water. This needs immediate redressal. Rivers are the gift of God. In rivers like the Krishna, the Godavari, a lot of water is allowed to flow into the sea. There is no point in every State claiming right over the river waters and quarreling with each other over riparian rights. The waters of the Krishna and the Tungabhadra rivers can be harnessed to supply the much-needed water to Rayalaseema. If there is constraint of finance, I am prepared to meet the cost even if it is 100 or 200 crores for fulfilling this dire need of the Rayalaseema people. The devotees are prepared to make any sacrifice but I have not stretched my hands to anyone." (Sanathana Sarathi, 12/94, p. 323.)
In attributing the lack of water to the decline of morality, Sai Baba also stated: "Water is getting scarcer every day. What is the reason? Because of the decline of morality among men, water is getting scarce in the world. For human life morality is the life breath. Morality makes humanness blossom. Because morals have been lost, water is getting scarce." (Sanathana Sarathi, August, 1995, page. 205.)
The Water Project was to have been undertaken by the National Government in cooperation with two area State Governments, but after two years, nothing happened. It was only after the Government failed to initiate the project to relieve the suffering of the affected villagers, that Sai Baba undertook this enormous Project himself. In a commentary on the disputed use of rivers in India, Sai Baba urged that all rivers should be placed under the governance of the Indian National Government to eliminate such disputes and to ensure adequate water supplies for all.
The Water Project ultimately undertaken by Sai Baba is vast. Key statistics may shed some small light on its vastness:
To ensure proper maintenance of the completed "Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Project," the Government of Andhra Pradesh has instituted an autonomous Board for the first time.
After alleviating the suffering of the people of Anantapur District, Sai Baba has taken up supply for two more drought-affected districts in the drinking water projects. They are Medak and Mahaboobnagar, which are some of the worst-affected districts in Telangana region of the State.
Medak: In this District also there is a high concentration of fluorides in the ground water due to frequent failure of monsoons and severe drought conditions. Further, the ground water table is depleting very fast and fluoride level in the ground water is increasing.
Eight comprehensive schemes and about 20 individual projected water supply schemes with borewells as source are taken up under this project to provide drinking water to more than 130 villages.
Mahaboobnagar: There are 3191 habitations in this District. Out of these, 1543 habitations are partially covered by drinking water supply. There are more than 467 habitations having excess fluorides and almost the entire District suffers from drought situation due to erratic rainfall and the fast depletion of ground water table.
Four comprehensive schemes and about 60 individual protected water supply schemes with borewells as source are taken up in this District to provide drinking water to cover about 140 villages. For this comprehensive water supply project, water will be drawn from the Krishna river through pipelines.
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has taken up these projects for execution. These schemes are expected to be completed.
The salient features of this project in Medak and Mahaboobnagar Districts are as under:
Take the water project in Anantapur. Even now there are some areas where there is scarcity of water. I have spent 300 crores of rupees and made water available to the extent possible. Take Mehaboobnagar; it is another water-starved area in Telangana. I asked the Chief Engineer Kondal Rao, what it would cost to arrange for water suppy there. He gave an estimate of about 60 crores of Rupees. I told him not to bother about crores but to go ahead and carry out the project. There is no point in putting up a project from a depleting source like bore wells and pumps and so I arranged for water to be brought from the Krishna river at a cost of about of Rupees 110 crores. Now we have gone to Medak district and the project for water supply there is in progress.
The detailed information given above makes it evident that the "broken promises" of Mr Bailey's claims are not so, patently and manifestly UNTRUE; Sai Baba has proceeded further and has supplied more water to additional drought stricken areas. Mr Bailey would better serve the cause of the drought-stricken villagers by personally rendering assistance. Otherwise, Mr Bailey really has nothing to complain about. He doesn't drink water in that region.
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