convey the wastes. The thoughts provided by our authors also grapple with the
same duality of approaches.
All have recognized the adversity in form of temporal and spatial availability of
water resources through the country. The skew makes floods and droughts to exist
simultaneously in the country in different regions and sometimes within the same
region in different seasons or years. Given these complexities, strategies are,
therefore, needed towards sustainable development and management regime for
water security to be achieved.
The Indian water sector is almost exclusively dominated by the government at
the state level or at the Union level. The government is present at every stage of
water development, financing, implementation and distribution and finally even in
revenue generation through service charges. This necessitates a multiple role of an
enterprise with an economic goal out of resource management and a welfare entity,
which would like to provide a resource on an equitable basis without consideration
of economic status or capacities to pay. Governance in this context does not fully
have a techno-economic context but also includes a fair amount of political and
social bearings with ample dose of welfare thrown in. This makes the definition of
various practices for governance difficult.
Due to various socio-political contexts, the national-level view of water governance is subservient to the state or regional level ones even though the
Constitutional arrangement does not build this hierarchy. This leads to difficulties in
dealing with issues like large river rejuvenation, development of hydropower as an
eminent green source of energy and catering to the diverse needs of agriculture as
the views of the Centre and various states do not often converge. At the local level,
the issues of capacities dominate. For water management at the local bodies level,
the lack of capacities and also finances provide a big challenge. We have a strong
growth record of urbanization. However, the systems to manage the new areas
falling under urban context lag the actual developments. How to make the entire
process participative across the social and economic status boundaries is also still a
challenge.
The governance regime in the country is also heavily influenced by ideologies
and advocacy pressures. However, water being a physical resource governed by the
climate, topography, geology and material sciences, and its management is also
influenced by the same factors in all the fields.
In addition, water usage is also influenced by the economy and financial aspirations of the end users. When we think in compartments based on our own area of
expertise or concern, some of the factors land up getting relegated to background or
neglected in the solutions being propagated. This requires adjustments. There is a
struggle between what we would like to have as an ideal versus what can be
achieved in the light of demands of other associated sectors. Therefore, the
approach is to find an optimal situation which is not ideal for any individual sector
but allows all of them to survive at the same time. The key lies in negotiations
between sectors on the basis of an information base, which is capable to indicate the
levels of comfort of various competing demands and where the expansion in any
one field of demands will make others uncomfortable.
x
Introduction
same duality of approaches.
All have recognized the adversity in form of temporal and spatial availability of
water resources through the country. The skew makes floods and droughts to exist
simultaneously in the country in different regions and sometimes within the same
region in different seasons or years. Given these complexities, strategies are,
therefore, needed towards sustainable development and management regime for
water security to be achieved.
The Indian water sector is almost exclusively dominated by the government at
the state level or at the Union level. The government is present at every stage of
water development, financing, implementation and distribution and finally even in
revenue generation through service charges. This necessitates a multiple role of an
enterprise with an economic goal out of resource management and a welfare entity,
which would like to provide a resource on an equitable basis without consideration
of economic status or capacities to pay. Governance in this context does not fully
have a techno-economic context but also includes a fair amount of political and
social bearings with ample dose of welfare thrown in. This makes the definition of
various practices for governance difficult.
Due to various socio-political contexts, the national-level view of water governance is subservient to the state or regional level ones even though the
Constitutional arrangement does not build this hierarchy. This leads to difficulties in
dealing with issues like large river rejuvenation, development of hydropower as an
eminent green source of energy and catering to the diverse needs of agriculture as
the views of the Centre and various states do not often converge. At the local level,
the issues of capacities dominate. For water management at the local bodies level,
the lack of capacities and also finances provide a big challenge. We have a strong
growth record of urbanization. However, the systems to manage the new areas
falling under urban context lag the actual developments. How to make the entire
process participative across the social and economic status boundaries is also still a
challenge.
The governance regime in the country is also heavily influenced by ideologies
and advocacy pressures. However, water being a physical resource governed by the
climate, topography, geology and material sciences, and its management is also
influenced by the same factors in all the fields.
In addition, water usage is also influenced by the economy and financial aspirations of the end users. When we think in compartments based on our own area of
expertise or concern, some of the factors land up getting relegated to background or
neglected in the solutions being propagated. This requires adjustments. There is a
struggle between what we would like to have as an ideal versus what can be
achieved in the light of demands of other associated sectors. Therefore, the
approach is to find an optimal situation which is not ideal for any individual sector
but allows all of them to survive at the same time. The key lies in negotiations
between sectors on the basis of an information base, which is capable to indicate the
levels of comfort of various competing demands and where the expansion in any
one field of demands will make others uncomfortable.
x
Introduction