Rather than making governance the sole responsibility of governments, a carefully designed architecture of partnerships should be crafted, where all primary
stakeholders get deeply involved in the collective endeavour of participatory water
governance. In the country, participatory management of water resources has been
attempted, often with resounding success, in small measures.
Framing groundwater governance as the governance of aquifers is also important
so as to instil confidence and belief in managing groundwater resources as common
pool resources. In doing so, groundwater management must become inclusive
of the need to shift the focus of plans and practices from ‘sources’ of groundwater
to the ‘resource’. Creating a proactive policy environment that embraces community participation in developing the understanding on groundwater and generating
knowledge on aquifers, communities and ecosystems is most important. Such an
environment will enable the agencies of governance such as Panchayati Raj
Institutions to take improved decisions and undertake actions that will lead to
sustainable, efficient and equitable usage of groundwater.
In the second chapter, Singh and Mahanta bring out the fact about 30% of
India’s population lives in cities and urban areas that are expected to double in
population by 2050. Currently, five of the world’s 20 largest cities under water
stress are in India, with Delhi being second on the list, they point out, adding that
with a growing economy and fast changing lifestyles, the pressure on already
strained water resources is escalating. Urban hubs are likely to witness severe water
shortages in the future, which could risk urban growth in India and reduce quality of
life for urban citizens.
The authors urge leaders to rethink their institutional approach to water management, building a strong case for adoption of a circular economy model, to begin
with, in wastewater.
The authors state that demand management concepts are very important in view
of increasing stress on available fresh water resources in India. They present several
strategies covering doorstep metering and revenue generation based on consumption, rehabilitating conveyance infrastructure for better and assured delivery and
maintenance measures for maintaining the system like pressure leakage control,
mains replacement, retrofitting the plumbing, legislation promoting the sustainable
revenue models and also reuse/recycle policies. Being an upcoming sector key to
economic growth, the sustainable urban water management has strong implications
to growth of economic activities and improvement in quality of life across the
board.
In the third chapter, Bathla et al. analyse the relative efficiency of public
investment in irrigation across major states in India from 1981–1982 to 2015–2016.
There has been a sizeable increase in public expenditure on irrigation and
improvement in capital intensity in the last one decade even though there is
declining trend vis-à-vis earlier plan periods as a percentage of overall pie, the
authors note.
Also, an upturn in capital and revenue expenditure has not been commensurate
with an increase in irrigation intensity, reflecting considerable inefficiencies. On
average, public canals operated at about 59 per cent technical efficiency in recent
vi
Introduction
stakeholders get deeply involved in the collective endeavour of participatory water
governance. In the country, participatory management of water resources has been
attempted, often with resounding success, in small measures.
Framing groundwater governance as the governance of aquifers is also important
so as to instil confidence and belief in managing groundwater resources as common
pool resources. In doing so, groundwater management must become inclusive
of the need to shift the focus of plans and practices from ‘sources’ of groundwater
to the ‘resource’. Creating a proactive policy environment that embraces community participation in developing the understanding on groundwater and generating
knowledge on aquifers, communities and ecosystems is most important. Such an
environment will enable the agencies of governance such as Panchayati Raj
Institutions to take improved decisions and undertake actions that will lead to
sustainable, efficient and equitable usage of groundwater.
In the second chapter, Singh and Mahanta bring out the fact about 30% of
India’s population lives in cities and urban areas that are expected to double in
population by 2050. Currently, five of the world’s 20 largest cities under water
stress are in India, with Delhi being second on the list, they point out, adding that
with a growing economy and fast changing lifestyles, the pressure on already
strained water resources is escalating. Urban hubs are likely to witness severe water
shortages in the future, which could risk urban growth in India and reduce quality of
life for urban citizens.
The authors urge leaders to rethink their institutional approach to water management, building a strong case for adoption of a circular economy model, to begin
with, in wastewater.
The authors state that demand management concepts are very important in view
of increasing stress on available fresh water resources in India. They present several
strategies covering doorstep metering and revenue generation based on consumption, rehabilitating conveyance infrastructure for better and assured delivery and
maintenance measures for maintaining the system like pressure leakage control,
mains replacement, retrofitting the plumbing, legislation promoting the sustainable
revenue models and also reuse/recycle policies. Being an upcoming sector key to
economic growth, the sustainable urban water management has strong implications
to growth of economic activities and improvement in quality of life across the
board.
In the third chapter, Bathla et al. analyse the relative efficiency of public
investment in irrigation across major states in India from 1981–1982 to 2015–2016.
There has been a sizeable increase in public expenditure on irrigation and
improvement in capital intensity in the last one decade even though there is
declining trend vis-à-vis earlier plan periods as a percentage of overall pie, the
authors note.
Also, an upturn in capital and revenue expenditure has not been commensurate
with an increase in irrigation intensity, reflecting considerable inefficiencies. On
average, public canals operated at about 59 per cent technical efficiency in recent
vi
Introduction