Informing Water Policies in South Asia

This book analyzes water policies in South Asia from the perspective of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It seeks to address the problems of water scarcity, conflict and pollution resulting from the gross mismanagement and over-exploitation of this finite resource. Highlighting the need for IWRM in mitigating abuse and ensuring sustainable use, it discusses issues relating to groundwater management; inter-state water conflicts; peri-urban water use; local traditional water management practices; coordination between water users and uses; and water integration at the grassroots level.

With case studies from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal, the innovative, painstaking and transnational researches presented in the volume deal with questions of equity, gender, sustainability, and democratic governance in water policy interventions. It will interest researchers and students of development studies, environmental studies, natural resource management, water governance, and public administration, as also water sector professionals, policymakers, civil society activists and governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

Foreword E.R.N. Gunawardena. Acknowledgements. Part I: Understanding of Need of Integrated Water Management in South Asia Informing Water Policies for Integrated Water Resources Management in South AsiaAnjal Prakash, Chanda Gurung Goodrich and Sreoshi Singh 1. Towards Integrated Water Policies in South Asia: From Critique to Constructive Engagement Amita Shah and Anjal PrakashPart II:Gender and Water2. Challenging the Flow: Gendered Participation, Equity and Sustainability in Decentralized Water Governance in Gujarat Sara Ahmed3. Rethinking Gender Inclusion and Equity in Irrigation Policy: Insights from Nepal Pranita Bhushan Udas 4. Entering Male Domain and Challenging Stereotypes: A Case Study on Gender and Irrigation in Sindh, Pakistan Shaheen Ashraf Shah and Nazeer Ahmed Memon5. An Attempt at Quantification of Women’s Empowerment in Small-Scale Water Resources Project Sayeda Asifa Ashrafi and Rezaur RahmanPart III: Managing Groundwater6. Impact of Electricity Tariff Policy on Groundwater Use: The Case of West Bengal, India Aditi Mukherji, B. Das, N.Majumdar, B. R. Sharma and P. S. Banerjee 7. Are Wells a Potential Threat to Farmers’ Well-being? The Case of Deteriorating Groundwater Irrigation in Tamil Nadu, India S.Janakarajan and M. Moench Part IV: Water Conflicts and Cooperation in South Asia8.Water Conflicts, Contending Water Uses and Agenda for a New Policy, Legal and Institutional Framework K. J. Joy and Suhas Paranjape 9. Inter-sector Allocation of Hirakud Dam Water: An Economic Analysis Sanjukta Das10.Sustainable Management and Regional Cooperation for Himalayan Waters Ramesh Ananda Vaidya and Madhav Bahadur KarkiPart V: Water in Changing Contexts11. Growing City, Diminishing Water Access: Urbanization and Peri-urban Water Use in Gurgaon and Faridabad, India Vishal Narain12. Filtering Dirty Water and Finding Fresh One: Engaging with Tradition in Dug-Well Intervention in North Bihar Luisa Cortesi.

Anjal Prakash is Executive Director, South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies (SaciWATERs), Hyderabad, India.

Chanda Gurung Goodrich is Principal Scientist, Empower Women, International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India.

Sreoshi Singh is Research Fellow, SaciWATERs, and a doctoral candidate at the Center for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, India.