Water And Public Policy In India

This book explores the conceptual and theoretical frameworks of Right to Water and analyzes its values in the context of water policy frameworks of the union governments in India. It uses a qualitative approach and combines critical hermeneutics with critical content analysis to introduce a new water policy framework. The volume maps the complex argumentative narrations which have emerged and evolved in the idea of Right to Water and traces the various contours and the nature of water policy texts in independent India. The book argues that the idea of Right to Water has emerged, evolved and is being argued through theoretical arguments and is shaped with the help of institutional arrangements developed at the international, regional, and national levels. Finally, the book underlines that India’s national water policies drafted respectively in 1987, 2002 and 2012, are ideal but are not embracing the values and elements of Right to Water. The volume will be of critical importance to scholars and researchers of public policy, environment, especially water policy, law, and South Asian studies.

India has been traditionally well-endowed with large freshwater reserves, but increasing population, urbanization and agricultural growth in recent decades are causing overexploitation of surface and groundwater. As consumption of water grows, wastewater increases significantly and in the absence of proper measures for treatment and management, is polluting existing freshwater reserves. As a result, water pollution has emerged as one of the nation’s gravest environmental threats. This book draws a link between water pollution generated by different industries and the various economic activities of the Indian economy using the Input-output framework. It constructs a detailed water pollution coefficient matrix involving different types of water pollutants. The book estimates the total amount of water pollution generated directly and indirectly in different sectors and activities, and also calculates the water pollution content in India’s foreign trade sector. It also accounts for defensive expenditure from water pollution and estimates Green GDP for the extent and scope of environmental challenges. Analysis of the result indicates the variation in the pollution content of different economic activities. Finally, the book offers a portfolio of policies and assesses the implications of such policies on pollution generation in India.

The privatization of water is a keenly contested issue in an economically-liberalizing India. Since the 1990s, large social groups across India's diverse and disparate peoples have been re-negotiating their cultural relationships with each other as to whether they support or oppose pro-privatization water policy reforms. These claims and counter claims are seen as an impending war over water resources, one that includes many different players with many different agendas located across a wide variety of sites whose actions and interactions shape policy production in India. This book is the first to assess the dynamics of water policy processes in India. Using the case study of Delhi’s water situation, this book analyses emergent dynamics of policy process in India in general and, more specifically, in the post-economic reform era. Taking as its starting point a critique of linear version of policy making, the author explains both how and why particular types of knowledge, practices and values get established in policy as well as the complex interplay of knowledge, power and agency in water policy processes. Water Policy Processes in India covers a critical gap in the literature by analyzing how governments in practice make policies that greatly affect the welfare of their people; the process through which policies are developed and implemented; investigating the aims and motives behind policies; and identifying the potential areas of intervention in order to improve the policy process in both its development and implementation stages.

Water: The Looming Crisis in India analyzes the key issues in developing national freshwater policies for the mainland countries of the South Asian sub-continent. Ray suggests that freshwater policy must cover all aspects of physical environment and human life, by noting that food and drought management are parts of freshwater policy and acknowledging that water is a scarce natural resource and has economic value. He calls for the development of basin-wide policies to minimize conflicts within riparian countries, as well as a freshwater policy baseline to minimize internal conflicts on water sharing arrangements. By pointing out the need for full participation of all stakeholders in developing a baseline policy including people displaced by the construction of large dams, Ray suggests a new system in which riparian countries are guaranteed that no water-related project proceeds without a transparently developed environmental impact assessment and evaluation of alternative options.

This book investigates institutional dimensions of urban water supply in India, with a specific focus on institutional capabilities to provide drinking water to urban households in an efficient, equitable and sustainable manner. This book has been developed through empirical research within the context of growing urbanisation and increasing water needs of Indian cities, and the wider developmental goal of achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable water for all – as envisaged in goal 6 of the SDGs. This study revolves around three important aspects of urban water supply and governance. Firstly, it attempts to understand household water service delivery scenarios in urban India, drawing from case studies based on our household survey in four cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad. Secondly, it examines the question of existing socio-economic inequality and access to water in an urban context in India. While dealing with the issue of inequality and access to water, it attempts to explore the question of whether access to water and water scarcity is socially neutral; whilst also analysing the mechanisms employed by the urban poor to manage their daily water needs. Thirdly, this book explores the role of institutions for efficient and effective delivery of water in urban India. The institutional analysis from a comparative perspective provides important insights to guide current reforms in domestic water supply in India, especially in a neo-liberal context. The book is a valuable resource for academicians, policy makers and practitioners involved in water governance in general and domestic (drinking) water supply in particular. Besides, it is of great interest to those working in the area of urban development, urban planning and household water management. The book is an outcome of a collaborative research project by the authors sponsored jointly by University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi and UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).

This book reviews and analyzes emerging challenges in water policy, governance and institutions in India. Recent times have seen the contours of water policy shaped by new discourses and narratives; there has been a pluralization of the state and a changing balance of power among the actors who influence the formulation of water policy. Discourses on gender mainstreaming and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) are influential, though they have often remained rhetorical and difficult to put into practice. Debate over property rights reform and inter-linking of rivers has been polarized. At the same time, there has been a rising disenchantment with policy initiatives in participatory irrigation management, cleaning up of water bodies and pollution control. Fast depletion of groundwater resources and the importance of adopting new irrigation methods are getting increased focus in the recent policy dialogue. The contributors review current debate on these and other subjects shaping the governance of water resources, and take stock of new policy developments. The book examines the experience of policy implementation, and shows where important weaknesses still lie. The authors present a roadmap for the future, and discuss the potential of alternative approaches for tackling emerging challenges. A case is made for greater emphasis on a discursive analysis of water policy, to examine underlying policy processes. The contributors observe that the ongoing democratization of water governance, coupled with the multiplication of stresses on water, will create a more visible demand for platforms for negotiation, conflict resolution and dialogue across different categories of users and uses. Finally, the authors propose that future research should challenge implicit biases in water resources planning and address imbalances in the allocation of water from the perspectives of both equity and sustainability.

When it comes to water, we flush and forget. We use, abuse and almost never recycle. Water sector in India, since the 1990s, has seen some new ideas formalised legally and institutionally, while others are still emerging and evolving. Confronting the reality of current water management strategies, this volume discusses the state of the Indian water sector to uncover solutions that can address the imminent water crises. This book: Analyses the growing water insecurity, increase in demand, inefficiency in water use, and growing inequalities in accessing clean water; Sheds light on water footprint in agricultural, industrial and urban use, pressures on river basin management, depleting groundwater resources, patterns of droughts and floods, watershed based development and waste water and sanitation management; Examines water conflicts, lack of participatory governance mechanisms, and suggests an alternative framework for water regulation and conflict transformation; Highlights the relationship between gender discourse and water governance; Presents an alternative agenda for water sector reforms. This volume, with hopes for a more water secure future, will interest scholars and researchers of development studies, environment studies, public policy, political studies, political sociology, and, NGOs, media and think tanks working in this area.

Water is a prime natural resource and a basic necessity for sustaining life on earth. Supplying adequate amount of potable water to the global population is a gigantic task in the wake of growing industrial and domestic needs. The threat of climate change and global warming which has aggravated the problem of water shortage is of particular concern to India as we are largely dependent on glaciers and rainfall for water supply. The United Nations World Water Development Report, Water: A Shared Responsibility emphasizes the need for good governance to meet the ever-increasing demand for water. The report asserts that mismanagement, corruption, lack of appropriate institutions, bureaucratic inertia and paucity of investment in human and physical sources mar water management today. The situation calls for right policy decisions and adoption of sustainable practices. The problem is acute in India because of its high population density, space and time variability of rainfall and increasing depletion and contamination of its surface and groundwater resources. Most water resources in India are contaminated by sewage and agricultural run-off. Besides, overuse of pesticides and chemicals in agriculture is the primary cause of groundwater pollution in India. Further, uneven water distribution across the country is another aspect of water problem. A large area of the country is water deficit whereas a small part is bestowed with abundance of water. This has led to inter-state conflicts. The present anthology contains well researched articles by eminent scholars who have deeply analysed the problem and its various implications. Major factors responsible for the problem have been studied in detail and some measures have been suggested to retrieve the situation. The book will serve as a reference source for students, researchers and policymakers and all those concerned with an ensured supply of water across the country.