and generating knowledge on aquifers, communities and ecosystems is most
important. Such an environment will enable the agencies of governance such as
PRIs to take improved decisions and undertake actions that will lead to sustainable,
efficient and equitable usage of groundwater.
Finally, on a more practical front, enabling reforms in key areas of groundwater
management and governance is the most fundamental step in ensuring sustainable
groundwater management. Participatory processes of management can lead to a
socially normative protocol where community decisions are documented and
accepted through institutional instruments such as resolutions of the village
gram-sabhas (local instruments of governance under the gram panchayats—village
levels elected democratic institutions of governance vested under the Constitution
of India). Such social norms have a significant weight as they evolve through a
continuous dialogue that is the hallmark of democratic decision-making. At the
same time, it is difficult to say whether such norms are safe enough from ‘free
riding’ through an externality such as large-scale drilling and extraction in neighbouring villages. Conventional legislation usually adopts a command-and-control
approach to law making and implementation and may often become
counter-productive to producing social norms. Moreover, states in India develop
their own groundwater legislation. Hence, the tendency of legislation is to be
constituted by a reasonable broad set of legal provisions and rules.
The concept of decentralized governance, given that the actual decision-making
on groundwater will be vested at the village or sub-district levels, becomes quite
relevant to India’s atomistic groundwater problem. Reconciling legislation to the
nuances of a decentralized normative framework will be challenging. Hence, a new
approach to developing legislation on groundwater could actually include protecting the social processes developed under a participatory, decentralized normative frame. Moreover, it could further link up to protecting not just aquifers but also
the larger ecosystem, thereby also demanding a strong overlap with other legislation
such as legislation in agriculture, urban development and even on forests and the
environment.
References
ACWADAM (2014) Participatory groundwater management in Randullabad. Action research
report no. ACWA/Hydro/2013/H28, Pune
Aslekar U, Upamanyu A, Kulkarni H (2013) Participatory groundwater management in
Randullabad. Report on ACWADAM’s action research initiative under the PGWM programme
with support from Arghyam trust, Bengaluru
Bassi N (2018) Solarizing groundwater irrigation in India: a growing debate. Int J Water Resour
Dev 34(1):132–145
Burke JJ, Moench M (2000) Groundwater and society: resources, tensions and opportunities.
Themes in groundwater management for the twenty-first century. Department of International
Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office, United Nations
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) (2017) Annual report—2015–16. CGWB, Ministry of
Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation, Faridabad, India
20
H. Kulkarni et al.
important. Such an environment will enable the agencies of governance such as
PRIs to take improved decisions and undertake actions that will lead to sustainable,
efficient and equitable usage of groundwater.
Finally, on a more practical front, enabling reforms in key areas of groundwater
management and governance is the most fundamental step in ensuring sustainable
groundwater management. Participatory processes of management can lead to a
socially normative protocol where community decisions are documented and
accepted through institutional instruments such as resolutions of the village
gram-sabhas (local instruments of governance under the gram panchayats—village
levels elected democratic institutions of governance vested under the Constitution
of India). Such social norms have a significant weight as they evolve through a
continuous dialogue that is the hallmark of democratic decision-making. At the
same time, it is difficult to say whether such norms are safe enough from ‘free
riding’ through an externality such as large-scale drilling and extraction in neighbouring villages. Conventional legislation usually adopts a command-and-control
approach to law making and implementation and may often become
counter-productive to producing social norms. Moreover, states in India develop
their own groundwater legislation. Hence, the tendency of legislation is to be
constituted by a reasonable broad set of legal provisions and rules.
The concept of decentralized governance, given that the actual decision-making
on groundwater will be vested at the village or sub-district levels, becomes quite
relevant to India’s atomistic groundwater problem. Reconciling legislation to the
nuances of a decentralized normative framework will be challenging. Hence, a new
approach to developing legislation on groundwater could actually include protecting the social processes developed under a participatory, decentralized normative frame. Moreover, it could further link up to protecting not just aquifers but also
the larger ecosystem, thereby also demanding a strong overlap with other legislation
such as legislation in agriculture, urban development and even on forests and the
environment.
References
ACWADAM (2014) Participatory groundwater management in Randullabad. Action research
report no. ACWA/Hydro/2013/H28, Pune
Aslekar U, Upamanyu A, Kulkarni H (2013) Participatory groundwater management in
Randullabad. Report on ACWADAM’s action research initiative under the PGWM programme
with support from Arghyam trust, Bengaluru
Bassi N (2018) Solarizing groundwater irrigation in India: a growing debate. Int J Water Resour
Dev 34(1):132–145
Burke JJ, Moench M (2000) Groundwater and society: resources, tensions and opportunities.
Themes in groundwater management for the twenty-first century. Department of International
Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office, United Nations
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) (2017) Annual report—2015–16. CGWB, Ministry of
Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation, Faridabad, India
20
H. Kulkarni et al.