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.

With a rapidly expanding economy many changes are taking place in India today. The business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, which assumes the continuation of current trends of key water demand drivers, will meet the future food demand. However, it leads to a severe regional water crisis by 2050, where many river basins will reach closure, will be physically water-scarce and will have regions with severely overexploited groundwater resources. While the alternative scenarios of water demand show both optimistic and pessimistic water futures, the scenario with additional productivity growth is the most optimistic, with significant scope for reducing future water demand.

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 is endowed with varied topographical features, such as high mountains, extensive plateaus, and wide plains traversed by mighty rivers. Divided into four sections this book provides a comprehensive overview of water resources of India. A detailed treatment of all major river basins is provided. This is followed by a discussion on major uses of water in India. Finally, the closing chapters discuss views on water management policy for India.

Contributed articles.

This book aims to bring forth and address the major issues confronting the irrigation sector of India and also to suggest policy pointers to sustain it. As the policy and reform canvas is large for a huge and diverse country, this book has particular focus on the most important and immediate issues and future options. The chapters not only focus on new research, in-depth analysis and technical details, but also provide a balanced review of the state of irrigation sector and comprehensive presentation of major issues, challenges and future options. With the presentation of in-depth analysis and synthesis of available knowledge, the work can act as a handbook for major irrigation water issues, actual policy changes, and potential reform that could turnaround the sector. Given the temporal and spatial data analysis of the irrigation sector, this book will be effective and useful as a research and teaching tool to students and researchers both in India and globally. Besides its professional audience within the academic, research and policy community, the non-technical format of the book will appeal to a general audience in the media, policy, and donor circles