Description
Access to clean water is one of the defining ethical challenges of the twenty-first century. Around the world, millions of people lack reliable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, while floods, droughts, and water conflicts disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. This lecture compares duty-based approaches to water ethics in South Asian and Western traditions, drawing on concepts such as dharma, kartavya, ahkam al-khamsa, and deontological ethics. It explores how these ethical frameworks can inform more just and sustainable approaches to water governance, from irrigation management to rural drinking water planning.