ABSTRACT
Water is many things in one: a basic life-need and right; an amenity; a cleaning agent; a social good (e.g. for firefighting, hospital use, use in schools and public institutions, etc.); a requirement for economic activity (agriculture, industry, commerce); a means of transportation; an occasional manifestation as floods; a part of our social, political and cultural life; and a substance that plays a role in rituals (Iyer, 2003, Iyer, 2007, pp. 12-14, 224-227; Iyer, 2009. pp. 568-569; Iyer, 2010, Iyer, 2011, and Bandyopadhyay 2009). It is therefore not surprising that there are many different perceptions of water, and correspondingly, there are multiple perspectives on water.
