In the Findings, the following comment has been included, by David Bailey:
'SAI BABA WHERE'S OUR WATER? YOU'VE CHEATED US AGAIN!'.
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:
- Specify the Newspaper with the alleged report and photographs for verification;
- Provide evidence of the translation, which language it was from, and enable independent verification that the translation he provides was in fact correct;
- Specify which towns have no water and whether or not this is still the case;
- Specify which villages he visited within the "project radius", how many and how representative was his sampling of the 750 villages covered by the water project. One is left with the impression that Bailey visited all the villages and the project is a comprehensive disaster and thousands upon thousands have been hoodwinked by the Sathya Sai Drinking Water Project - an inference Mr Baily makes absolutely clear in The Findings;
- Provide references and evidence of towns with no pipes, pipes and no tanks, as alleged;
- Provide verbatim evidence in regard to the persons he spoke with for independent verification;
- Provide evidence of the "Huge Global Fundraising"; where was this done, who contributed, in which countries, and why this is a matter for concern;
- Provide the context in which "no fund raising activities" applies; (this is clearly a Sai Baba Organisation directive, which Mr Bailey has mistakenly transferred to an activity of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. Bailey has little or no understanding of the guidelines and the code of conduct of the Sai Organisation, and is not and has never been a member of the Sai Baba Organistation);
- provide irrefutable evidence that the Water Project was in fact set up for the Ashram alone under the guise of a larger project as he implies;
Mr 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.
History of Water Project
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.
Free Drinking Water Project - Ryasaleema region of Anantapur
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:
- The Project covers 20,000 kilometers
and includes more than 750 villages hitherto without water.
- 2,500 kilometers of pipelines
were laid (approximately the distance between Maine and Florida in the United
States, or from Bangalore to Delhi in India).
- 268 overhead storage tanks were
constructed.
- 124 ground level storage reservoirs
were built, along with 1,050 storage cisterns.
- 200 pump houses were
constructed.
- The source for the generation
of power for the water supply was 50 generators totaling 10,000 kilowatts
in capacity.
- 25,000 tons of cement were used
in the construction of the Project, together with 5,000 tons of
steel.
- Some of the Summer storage tanks
that were constructed are over 100 acres in area.
- Materials for the Project were
procured from over 10 States in India.
- 10,000 truck loads of materials
were required to move materials to construction sites.
- Overall, 15,000 persons were
employed at the peak point of construction.
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.
Drinking water Project in Medak and Mahaboobnagar Districts of Andhra Pradesh
After alleviating the suffering of the people of Anantapur District, Bhagavan has blessed two more drought-affected districts for 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:
1. No. of villages - 270
2. Length of Pipelines to be Laid - 900 km
3. No. of Treatment Plants to be covered - 9
4. No. of Overhead Reservoirs - 30
5. No. of Ground Level Reservoirs and Sumps - 65
6. Approximate Cost - Rs. 66 crore