HEARD of Plachimada? Over the last two-and-a-half years, people in this Kerala village have been agitating to get a neighbouring Coke plant shut down. According to them, Coke's water mining has parched the lands of over 2,000 people. Welcome to the water wars. This is why it was heartening to hear the water resources minister Priya Ran-jan Dasmunshi declare last month that his ministry is working on a policy for the preservation of groundwater and rainwater harvesting. It, he promised, would stipulate how much groundwater an industrial unit could extract, and that it would have to replenish the same amount by harvesting rainwater. A couple of points need to be made here. One, there is a growing tendency to see rainwater harvesting as a fix-all solution. It isnt. There are, says Sumita Dasgupta, a coordinator at Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment, two aspects to solving the crisis. One, recharging the groundwater. This is where rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling come in. The second has to do with controlling what we consume. And that is where the pricing of water comes in. So far, water has been regarded as an infinite resource. And so, it has been made available at no cost, resulting in irresponsible use. Right now, India follows a Pigouvian model wherein a (nominal) cess goes to the government. Trouble is: this doesn