WATER GOVERNANCE –KEY TO LIVELIHOOD

SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL

SSUTAINABILITY IN INDIA: ISSUES
AND RESPONSES

R.B.Singh and Sujeet Kumar

Department of Geography
Delhi School of Economics
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007, INDIA
Email: rbsgeo@hotmail.com
 UNDERSTANDING WATER GOVERNANCE

•“Water Governance refers to the different political,

social and administrative mechanisms that must be in
place to develop and manage water resources and the
diversity of water services at different levels of
society” (CEDRE -& MIO- ECSDE Work shop).

•Water governance as the range of political, social,

economic and administrative systems that are in place
to develop and manage water resources and the
delivery of water services, at different levels of
society-UNDP
 COMPONENTS OF WATER
GOVERNANCE

Planning
Planning and
and
Policies
Policies

Public,
Private &
Communities

Institutions
Institutions Implementing
Implementing
Authorities
Authorities
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL ATTRIBUTES OF
WATER GOVERNANCE

Participation
Participation
Value
ValueSystem
System Transparency
Transparency

Effective
Effective
Integrated
Integrated Water
Water Social
SocialJustice
Justice
Governance
Governance

Stewardship
Stewardship Accountable
Accountable

Consistent
Consistent
 GOALS
On the basis of several studies, following goals may be identified

 To establish the right to water for all people in a binding manner.

 To guarantee the right to water for coming generations.
 To protect water as a public good belonging to mankind.
 To declare as a core task of governments and their authorities responsible for

the respect, protection and fulfillment of the right to water.

 To prevent water from being privatised and comodified.
 To ensure that the human right to water takes precedence over
international trade law (e.g. WTO).
 To place springs groundwater, rivers and lakes under the comprehensive
protection of international law.
 To guarantee women's water-related rights as human rights.
 To protect the local and national water rights of indigenous peoples.
 To enshrine traditional water culture and local water rights (e.g. of
nomads) in national law.
 To ensure that the people have a democratic say in determining and
deciding national and local water strategies.
 To provide all people both internationally and domestically with effective
judicial remedies for demanding fulfillment of the right to water (CEDRE Work
Shop ).
 ISSUES IN WATER GOVERNANCE

• Policy and institutional reform.

• Participatory processes and civil society
empowerment.
• Legal frameworks and law enforcement – Access to
Justice.
• Financial instruments and incentives.
• Monitoring, utilization of data and access to
information.
• Water reallocation - Conflict resolution for
competing uses.
• Capacity building in decision making.
• Multi-faceted approach in education (technical,
economic, social, and environmental).
 FACTORS INFLUENCING WATER
GOVERNANCE

Factors influencing
water governance

Level of
Right to Access Scarcity of water
development
 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN WATER
GOVERNANCE
Public participation helps in-
1. Transparency,
2. Decision-making
3. Accountability.

• Means for seeking redress to understand interrelated

hydrodynamic, socio-economic and ecological systems.
• To involve numerous segments of their societies,
including those most marginalised and most vulnerable
to water limitation and impairment (Jansky & Uitto).
• Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development (UNCED 1992)
emphasises that environmental issues such as water
management ‘‘are best handled with the participation
of all concerned citizens’’.
 WATER GOVERNANCE IN INDIA

• River should link not divide us” -Dr. Manmohan

singh.
• Water related conflicts in India has reached every
level and has divided every segment of our society
i.e. political parties, states, regions, sub-regions
within states, districts, castes, groups and even
individual farmers.
• The victims of the mal-governance resulted
conflicted are likely to be the poorest of the poor
as well as the sources of the water i.e. rivers,
wetlands, acquirers.
• Rural and urban areas are competing end-users.
 India: Per Capita Annual Water Availability
(cu.m / capita / year)

• The Past
1951 – 5177 2001 – 1820
• Future Estimates
2025 : 1341 2050 : 1140

Water Stressed : Less than 1700 (cu.m / capita /

year)

Water Scarce : Less than 1000 (cu.m / capita /

year)

70% of global area including large parts of India will

become water stressed by 2025
 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL

Central India
Rajasthan Moderate rainfall
Rainfall < 100 mm

North-East, Very high

Western Ghats Rainfall > 2,500 mm

High Rainfall Area

Eastern
Coast
Shadow area
High rainfall
Low rainfall
 Flood affected areas and flood damages in India
(1953 to 2002)
Item Unit Flood Maximum Year

Average Damage Damage

(with year)
Average
Area Affected 106 ha. 7.38 17.50 1978
Population Affected 106 32.97 70.45 1978
Human Lives Lost Nos. 1560 11316 1977
Cattle Lost Nos. 91555 618248 1979
Cropped Area Affected 106 ha. 3.48 10.15 1988
Value of Damage to crops 106 Rs. 5969.65 25109.00 1988
Houses Damaged 106 1.19 3.51
1978
Value of Damage to Houses 106 Rs. 1891.02 13078.9 1988
Value of Damage to Public
Utilities 106 Rs. 5662.36 31714.03
Value of Damage to 1998
Houses, Crops and Public 106 Rs. 13760.84 58459.80 1998
Utilities

Source: Central Water Commission

CHALLENGES FOR WATER GOVERNANCE IN
INDIA
• Equity, access and allocation
• Conflicts around water quality
• Sand mining in the river basins
• Dams and displaced peoples
• Trans boundary water conflicts
• Privatization of water
• Biodiversity versus irrigation
• Social undercurrents in a water scarce village
• Discrimination in an irrigation project
• Ground water depletion
• Ecosystem threats due to dams.
• Overlapping of multiple conflicts
• Politics and legislation related with water issues.
 WATER AND INDIA'S CONSTITUTION

• Incorporated in indian constitution to meet the

formidable challenges of wise and equitable water
management

• Water has to be given an important place in

India's Constitution to guide and empower the
legislature, the judiciary, and the executive.
 WATER LAWS IN INDIA

• Listed as entry 17 in state list of seventh

schedule in Indian constitution.
• Subject for legislation by states
• Power of legislation rests with the parliament in
case of integrated river basin.
• Under article 252 parliament has the power to
legislate for two or more states by consent and
adoption of such legislation by any other state
DECENTRALISED WATER GOVERNANCE IN
INDIA
• Guard the ‘right’ over these resources through
public pressure by mobilising masses (Upadhayay,
2002).
• Need for decentralisation in decision making “ to
the lowest appropriate level”,
• Decentralised decision making is essential for the
plans, outlined by the Prime minister of India to
develop new river basin management institution.-
findings of the Brahmputra board under the
central ministry of water resources
• World bank has signed a US $ 120 million credit
to Uttaranchal, to improve the effectiveness of
rural water supply and sanitation services in the
hill state through decentralization , and an
increased role of local government communities
 WATER USERS ASSOCIATION (WUAs) AND
PANCHAYATS
• Several states have transferred some responsibilities
of Irrigation Management from government agencies
to the Water Users Associations (WUAs).
• WUAs is the most effective strategy for ensuring
farmer/users participation in management of water
for irrigated agriculture
• Andhra Pradesh has enacted the AP Farmers
Management of Irrigation Systems Act, 1997 that
provides for constitutions of farmers organisation
and transfers management of irrigation systems to
them.
• Role of panchayats is crucial
• There is a need to explore spaces within PRI, evolve
functional relationship between them and other
village groups
 Culture and Indigenous Initiatives at the Community
Level to Manage the Water
•Haryana (Sukhmajari experience),
•Rajasthan (Tarun Bharat Sangh experience),
•Maharashtra (Pani Panchayats) and
•Gujarat (Irrigation Cooperatives) etc.
•Such projects combining water science and ethics are able to
remove poverty in different parts of the country.
•Considering various successful stories, decentralization in the
management of water should be promoted on urgent basis utilizing

the provisions made under the 73rd and 74th amendments to the
Indian constitution.
 BUILDING JOHADS AS COMMUNITY BASED WATER MANAGEMENT
IN RAJASTHAN

Johads are traditional earthen dams. These structures

have changed the face of arid and semi arid India.

The rich tradition of building Johads is a simple traditional technology

that is quite remarkable in terms of recharging ground water of the
region.

Johads are simple mud and rubble concave shaped barriers built
across the slope to arrest rainwater with a high embankment on three
sides while the fourth side left open for the rainwater to enter.

The height of the embankment is such that the capacity of the Johads
is more than volume of run off coming from the catchments based on a
rough estimation of maximum possible run off that could come into it.
The water storage area varies from 2 hectares to a maximum of 100
hectares
People build about 4000 check dams and water harvesting structures
JOHAD NEAR VILLAGE GOPALPURA, RAJASTHAN
 CHANGE IN LAND USE AND ECONOMICS
 In 1985 only 20% of the agricultural land was cultivated,
now it is 100%
Villages started selling surplus grains in market for the first
time
An investment of Rs. 100 per capita on a “johads” raises
the economic production in the village by as much as Rs. 400
per capita/ annum
Participation of the people promoted the community to
become self-reliant
In 1996 Arvari river started flowing even at the peak the
summer
People were building these structures over the years in the
catchment area of this river without realizing that we were in
fact recharging the river through percolation underground
Particularly in down stream areas, recharge ground water
and wells. Since then four more rivers have become perennial
INCREASING FOREST COVER ON THE ARAVALLI MOUNTAINS, ALWAR
IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE: CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO CROP AT LARGE
SCALE
INCREASE IN GROWTH OF TRADITIONALLY USED KHEJRI AND BABOOL
TREES
 Watershed Management

• Enhance public participation in water governance

• Emphasises Integrated Water Resource

Management

• Department of Space, Government of India has

launched programme on Integrated Mission on
Sustainable Development using remote sensing and
GIS based Spatial Information System as decision
support system for watershed management
SUKHOMAJARI EXPERIENCE:COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

 In the 1970s Sukhomajari was like any other village in the Haryana
 Riddled with severe ecological problems
 Sparsely vegetated, could sustain very few crops
 Severely eroded and contributed to enormous runoff and soil loss
 Villagers led a miserable existence in dry area with no crops and
water
 Houses had nothing but poor and famine affected people
 The first step was to stop water in the village itself
 Villagers built two earthen dams to hold back the rain
 The forest department allowed the villagers to manage the
watershed
 IMPACT OF SUKHOMAJARI ON MULTILEVEL VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT
  Water Users’ Society was created in Sukhomajri in 1980

 Carry out equal distribution of water and practice social fencing

 Changed to Hill Resource Management Society (HRMS) with a member from
each household
 Stoppage of grazing initiated a slow but steady process of regeneration in
the hills
 Trees and grass regenerated din the watershed, the villagers began to get
more fodder
 They sold their goats and bought high-yielding buffaloes
 The villagers started selling milk and extra grass from the watershed
 Hunger and destitution disappeared
 The entire catchment is green
 Village is capable of withstanding even severe droughts
 CASE OF WATER CONSERVATION IN HIMALAYA
 
In mountains, traditional springs were drying up.

Working with local villagers projects were identified for improving

water supplies, that could be undertaken through locally available skills
and resources.
Rooftop rainwater harvesting with tanks made by local masons and the
planting of trees around the source areas of springs.
Self Help Group holding their Meeting in a Village
 THE POLICIES OF WATER RELATED ISSUES
SHOULD TAKE CONSIDERATION OF THE
FOLLOWING WATER DEMOCRACY PRINCIPLES:

1. Water is nature's gift

2. Water is essential to life
3. Life is interconnected through water
4. Water must be free for sustenance needs
5. Water is limited and exhaustible
6. Water must be conserved
7. Water is a commons
8. No one holds the right to destroy water
9. Water cannot be substituted
(Shiva,2002).
 CONCLUSION

• Situation of water is of mixed type in Indian

context
• On one hand there are huge potential water
resources found in India, while on the other hand
India is facing the challenges in the form of water
related conflicts, and other related issues.
• Conflict resolution should be given priorities in
planning and management.
• Improving water governance would ensure supply
of water to every field, remove hunger and
poverty from poor areas, provide green cover over
denuded areas.