Rubbishing the river-linking project of the Central government as a route to privatisation, various social activists have labelled the project and the water policy as "a hijack of the natural rights" of local communities dependent on these rivers for survival. Gearing up for a nation-wide public campaign to safeguard the water rights of the people, several NGOs like the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology and the Paani Morcha have already started harnessign mass support by holding "public hearings" across the country.