Specialists and representatives of water related organizations discussed issues of water exploitation and water reserves at a meeting yesterday organized by the Water Office under the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism. Stressing that access to clean water was a basic human right, they urged law makers to ensure that environmental exploitation and damage did not affect human health in Mongolia.

They noted that Mongolia would not be immune to the global threat of drinking water shortage even though the country had rich reserves of water. Water use has to be regulated, and laws on conservation must be implemented if this is not to happen. Man cannot be profligate with nature’s resources and turn abundance into famine.

Under a UN Human Rights Council declaration on December 30, 2010 every country is obliged to provide clean and potable water to its people, as part of its commitment to social-economic development and human welfare. If necessary, there should be international cooperation so that a region’s water reserves are utilized properly, without disturbing the ecological balance.

The speakers said many present laws are not relevant and are often difficult to implement sensibly. There is also no clear demarcation of administrative responsibility. Officials must be made accountable for their failure to punish offenders against the law, including cancellation of licenses if the holder organization neglects to follow provisions of the law. Also, they said, present laws generally dealt with water use on a large scale only, but all misuse should be punishable as the cumulative effect of many small violations can be considerable.