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Many nations have implemented policies to improve drinking water quality, but challenges arise from overexploited or contaminated groundwater-based sources. This paper aims at examining the aspects of water scarcity, security, and sustainability within an Indian village context. We attempt to compare two rural water supply sources in Nagla Chandi village in Uttar Pradesh, India: (a) untreated groundwater sourced from bore wells and (b) treated water from a reverse osmosis (RO) plant. We observed that subterranean minerals are the primary pollutants of unprocessed water drawn from borewells, which form the main source of drinking water. Even though water from the RO plant meets all the quality parameters of potability, frequent breakdowns of the plant due to improper management force the villagers to drink untreated water from the dug wells fitted with hand pumps, affecting their health. We also found a high incidence of water-borne diseases. The case analysis suggests enhancing village water treatment projects by training local artisans in system repair and increasing Panchayat staff to include trained engineers for technical advice and maintenance. The paper proposes reducing water testing cost in rural areas to make it possible Q4 for local organizations to regularly assess water quality and implement corrective actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper farmers’ resilience index (FRI) was constructed considering the natural disaster using five dimensions including physical, social, economic, human and natural. The scale is administered to the 240 paddy farmers in two coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Principal component analysis was performed in order to fix the weightage for each variable. About (39.58%) of farmers are resilient to natural disasters with the highest resilience score for financial capital (0.641) and natural capital with less resilience score (0.401). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine how well the generated model of the scale fits the data. The structural equation modelling (SEM) path diagram was developed based on the conceptual model, which uses resilience as a latent variable. The SEM analysis revealed that four dimensions of capital positively affect farmers’ resilience except for the human capital which negatively affects resilience. To reduce the effects of natural catastrophes in the upcoming years, the adaptation strategies from the highly resilient places can be examined and put into practice in the less resilient areas. It is imperative that development programmes at all levels incorporate climate awareness and stakeholder capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swachh Bharat Mission-Rural (SBM-R) is a flagship programme aimed at ending open defecation in rural India. In this paper, we study institutions and processes using Amartya Sen's conception of justice. We review the outcomes by assessing agencies, actions and processes involved in the implementation of the SBM-R programme. The findings are analysed using the Sanitation Well-being Framework. Sanitation well-being is achieved when an individual is able to experience the sanitation life cycle stages of acceptance, construction, utilisation and maintenance of safe disposal, which are part of the framework. The capability factors grouped under personal, cultural, structural, environmental and service elements of the framework determine the sanitation environment facilitated by the state. Failure in experiencing one of the life stages leads to slippage in sanitation, where people resume open defecation, despite possessing toilets. The paper presents a review of literature on the political, technological and structural issues in programme implementation, followed by an analysis of 42 interviews and 12 focused group discussions of state and non-state actors conducted in rural Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh, India. We found that slippage is prevalent in the field site and identified 26 capability factors (expansion and constraints) that led to slippage in sanitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to improved drinking water and sanitation has been declared a fundamental right by the UN General Assembly. However, around 25 and 50% of the global population lacked access to safely managed drinking water and improved sanitation in 2020, respectively. India, the second most populous country in the world, has around 3.7 and 31% of its population without access to improved drinking water and sanitation, respectively. This paper explores the factors determining a household’s access to improved drinking water and sanitation in India, using India Human Development Survey (IHDS) II data. The results indicate that urban households with bigger family sizes, with fewer rooms, married but uneducated household heads, belonging to forward castes, were more likely to have access to improved drinking water. Similarly, households with married female heads, belonging to forward castes, small household sizes, older aged heads with primary education, from Non-EAG (Empowered Action Group) states, located in urban areas, earning higher incomes and having more rooms were more likely to have access to improved sanitation. Findings suggest subsidized improved water and sanitation services and an increase in public investment to make these facilities affordable for poor rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a survey of selected Water Users' Associations (WUA) and their members in West Bengal, India, this paper examines the nature and determinants of member participation in irrigation management. WUA meetings were held on a regular basis with higher member participation under Tube Well, Check Dam and River Lift Irrigation schemes. Their physical characteristics (e.g., high sub-surface storage and flowing rivers with large catchment areas) and system features (e.g., centralized pump house and defined distribution infrastructure) contribute to better water availability, incentivizing the members to participate. Our regression analysis suggests that along with these factors, the socioeconomic attributes of members and their perception about the functioning and decision making of the WUA influence participation in the collective management of schemes. The more the members perceive the functioning of WUAs as democratic and transparent, the greater is their incentive to participate. Greater participatory involvement of the members in the form of donating land for irrigation construction and in training programs is also found to be crucial. So, this paper argues for making the decision-making processes within WUAs democratic and transparent, along with greater efforts toward capacity building of the members, including training for skill enhancement, management and provision of agricultural support practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provisioning of water and sanitation services has become one of the key determinants of SDGs. This review focuses on the trends in water and sanitation services and reforms in India and Ghana over the last two decades. The findings reveal that access to water has improved in India and Ghana at 81.5 and 92.7%, respectively. However, access to sanitation continues to be a challenge in both countries, with the currently reported coverage being 59.5% and 18.5%, respectively. The index of sustainable development goal (SDG) performance of Ghana and India stands at 65.4 and 61.9 with global rankings of 100 and 117, respectively. The adverse impacts of poor access to sanitation increasingly reflect on rising numbers of population suffering from water-borne diseases. From the policy perspective, the paper highlights the need for framing pro-poor water and sanitation policies; focusing on women and girls' education; promoting affordable water and sanitation services; promoting collaboration of stakeholders involved in the rural water and sanitation sectors; and increasing budgetary allocations by local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent droughts, growing water demand, and the ease of accessing groundwater, particularly through boreholes, have led to an over-dependence on groundwater to meet notably agricultural demands in India. This has led the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) to motivate and capacitate rural communities for 'water stewardship' in which the village as a whole comes together to learn about its resources to manage them better. However, improving the management of the water resource is challenging as the general perception is that the water found below one's farm belongs to the landowner. Moreover, what is below the surface is not visible, therefore not well understood. Thus, WOTR designed a water stewardship initiative (WSI) with the Community-Driven Visual Integrator (CoDriVE-VI or CDVI) as one of the important tools; it produces an operational 3D map of the local aquifer. WOTR implemented the WSI in villages in Maharashtra, India. This paper evaluates the impacts and potential of the WSI and CDVI. We observed that the visual effect of these 3D models of aquifers helps local communities and farmers better understand and appreciate groundwater as a shared resource. This tool is effective in promoting water stewardship, achieving behavioural change in water users, and helping implement groundwater laws and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based framework for estimating the flood vulnerabilities in river basins. The methodology has been exemplified for the 21 districts of the Narmada river basin in central India. Sensitivity and adaptive capacity indicators have been identified and used for the development of the Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI). DEA-based study was employed to assess the Scale Efficiencies and the Returns to Scale and insights drawn from the analysis have been discussed in the context of policy and planning related to reduction of flood vulnerabilities. Cluster analysis has also been deployed to classify districts in terms of flood vulnerabilities. Results from the flood vulnerability assessment model case study indicate that 76% of the districts in the Narmada river basin remain highly vulnerable to flood-risk, while the socio-economic parameters and physical sizes of districts and their resources play a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes scenarios to achieve more crop per drop and irrigation for all in water-scarce irrigation systems, with a particular reference to India. It uses economic water productivity (EWP) and water cost curve for EWP as tools to reallocate irrigation consumptive water use (CWU) and identify economically viable cropping patterns. Assessed in the water-scarce Sina irrigation system in Maharashtra, India, the method shows that drought-tolerant annual crops such as fruits and/or fodder should be the preferred option in irrigated cropping patterns. Cropping patterns with orchard or fodder as permanent fixtures will provide sustainable income in low rainfall years. Orchards in combination with other crops will increase EWP and value of output in moderate to good rainfall years. Governments should create an enabling environment for conjunctive water use and allocation of CWU to achieve a gradual shift to high-value annual/perennial crops as permanent fixtures in cropping patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As water is a state subject in India, an enormous variation of irrigation water pricing across the states is noticed. Revenue collection under irrigation water charges of the states is not encouraging. The present paper reviews the structures of water pricing mechanism in different states of India and suggests a way to achieve sustainable water resources management in India. Various reports, water policy documents, and major recommendations of the irrigation commission were reviewed and analyzed. It was observed that low revenue collection is mainly due to the low rate of water taxes, no periodic revision, and flaws in the current revenue collection mechanism across the states. The water regulatory authority should be made a statutory body to manage various water uses and their fair pricing. A volumetric pricing system can be implemented in wells and tube-well-irrigated areas and for surface irrigation, and this requires considerable investment in irrigation water supply infrastructure and development of operational plans. Until a well-developed volumetric system comes into practice, the current system of revenue assessment and collection must be rationalized and simplified. An appropriate power tariff policy for rural areas and inclusion of the irrigation sector in a ground water conservation fee is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general perception of canal irrigation systems in India is one of built infrastructure with low service performance. This paper presents an analytical framework, applied to the Sina medium irrigation system in Maharashtra state of India, to study the performance of an expandedwater influence zone (WIZ) including a buffer zone outside the canal command area (CCA) influenced by the irrigation system'swater resources. The framework used satellite-based estimates of land-use and cropping patterns. The results indicate that there is hardly any gap between the irrigation potential created (IPC) and the irrigation potential utilized (IPU) in the CCA. The fraction of consumptive water use (CWU) of irrigation is low in the CCA, but almost one in theWIZ, due to the reuse of return flows in the WIZ. Future investments should focus on increasing economic water productivity ($/m³) in order to enhance the resilience of the farming community in theWIZ, which is frequently affected by water scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drip method of irrigation (DMI) has the potential to save substantial water and electrical energy as well as increase the productivity of crops. Studies conducted on different high value crops have confirmed the various benefits of DMI. However, not many studies have researched the income and resource impact of drip irrigation including its benefit-cost pattern using survey data in crops like groundnut, which is an important oilseed crop in India. In this paper, an attempt has been made to fill this gap by using survey data collected from a waterscarce district from Tamil Nadu State in India. The results show that DMI can save about 34% of cultivation cost, 36% of water and electrical energy and increase about 79% of productivity over the same crop cultivated under conventional flood method of irrigation. The drip adopters are also able to generate an additional farm business income of Rs 25,911/acre (1 USD = INR 74.92, 1 acre = 4,047 m²) over the non-drip adopters. The net present worth and benefit-cost ratio estimated using discounted cash flow technique shows that investment in drip irrigation is economically highly viable for groundnut cultivating farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This synthesis paper explores the reasons hindering water cooperation between India and Pakistan on the Indus River Basin. It argues that both domestic and international-level elements narrow the size of the 'win-sets' which make water cooperation between the two states highly challenging. Not only state actors but also the domestic actors in both India and Pakistan have repeatedly played 'water games'. Further, due to long-standing geopolitical and territorial conflicts between India and Pakistan, the strategies pursued so far by these states including 'securitization', 'issue-linkage' and 'alliance strategies' as leverage mechanisms, have also contributed to the lack of cooperation in their water realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to understand how the public perceives river water quality and related risks and behaviour. Using the stratified semi-purposive sampling process, the study explores the perception of people residing along the river Yamuna in India. The method applied involved a structured questionnaire survey of 2706 respondents and four focused group discussions with people residing within two kilometres of the river bank. Nonparametric tests such as Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney U-test and One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test were used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that the majority of the respondents formulate their perceptions using non-scientific methods like sensorial and heuristics. Perception on sources of pollution is shaped by personal experiences and people do not perceive diffused sources of pollution that affect river water quality. Respondents attributed the pollution in the river to anthropogenic activities and their risk perception was found to be linked to their direct dependence on the river for their daily needs. The paper suggests behavioural change strategies to focus on social, governance, and technological drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how progress towards meeting the sustainable development goal of providing universal and equitable access to drinkingwater for all is distributed across the spectrumof urban settlements. The studymeasures how urban local governments (N= 3,547) in a rapidly urbanizing country, India, have increased their coverage of water supply to households between 2001 and 2011. I use theories on multilevel governance of urban services to develop a multilevel linear regression to model the city- and state-level factors associated with growth in water supply coverage. The results show that 68% of cities and towns have recorded water coverage growth, but the extent of this progress is unequally distributed across cities in different states and between cities of different sizes. Small cities and towns, which house over two-thirds of India's urban population, have recorded significantly lowerwater coverage growth rates as have cities in low-income states. These findings suggest that policies for urban water infrastructure development should focus on smaller cities and towns if we are to achieve spatial equity in access to water for all in an increasingly urban world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation behind this paper is to understand the status of water resources management education provided in higher education institutions (HEIs) in India and decipher gaps between what is taught and what is needed in the field. The assessment has been carried out based on the information available on the respective websites of the HEIs using keywords. The authors have also reached out to faculty members and final-year students in universities/HEIs in India. There are a good number of HEIs in India, which offer educational programmes in waterrelated subjects, though their distribution is skewed and there seems to be a clear bias in favour of the technological aspects of water. Relatively fewer HEIs engage themselves in social, economic and gender-related issues. It is imperative to popularise research in the social, economic and regulatory aspects of water management. Not all HEIs have provided information about the areas of research they engage in, on their websites. Further, a limited number of faculty members and students have responded to the questionnaires. The preparedness of any country in addressing its current challenges can be gauged from the incorporation and subsequent entrenchment of these roles into the fabric of HEIs. This article can be looked upon as reference documents which will go a long way to enabling the identification of synergies, interlinkages and collaboration opportunities to find solutions for a plethora of challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many towns in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) are experiencing permanent water crises due to increasing population pressure, urbanization, and poor management of existing water sources. This paper focuses on two towns - Mussoorie and Devprayag in the western IHR - to understand various aspects of the growing water scarcity and urban water management. In the current scenario of a changing climate, natural springs, their main water resource, are drying up. Mussoorie experiences an acute shortage of water in summer, precisely when the town hosts numerous tourists. In Devprayag, religious tourism and in-migration from rural areas contribute to rising demand. The reduced discharge in nearby streams has widened the demand-supply gap. An integrated management of water sources is crucial to solving water problems in Mussoorie and Devprayag. In both towns, little effort has been made towards recharging existing water sources. Detailed planning of the water supply system while being mindful of the floating population, a proper sewage and storm water management system, and rainwater harvesting schemes, are absent. There is an urgent need to adopt a comprehensive approach to solving urban water issues, covering aspects of demand, supply and water resources management in these hill towns for adaptive water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a serious concern in emerging economies, as it impacts human development, livelihoods, environment and economic growth. Policies should be formulated in a way that reflects the problem of water scarcity and is oriented towards providing solutions. The science-policy interface can play a key role in translating scientific knowledge into policy action and in mitigating water scarcity of emerging economies like that of India. Hence, the paper aims to review scientific knowledge on water scarcity in India, and analyze the extent to which this knowledge is reflected in the water policies - to understand the science-policy interface. This has been done by extensive review of various scientific approaches used to assess water scarcity at the national and state level. The analysis indicates that Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat in the north-west, and Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south experience high water scarcity. To analyze whether this scientific knowledge has been translated into policy, existing water policies were critically reviewed. The paper, by identifying key policy areas, discusses challenges and opportunities for strengthening the science-policy interface, in the context of water scarcity mitigation. The paper argues that translating scientific knowledge into policy action continues to be a major challenge in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of the Mullaperiyar Dam dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu with specific reference to the two judgments delivered by the Supreme Court of India on the matter. This paper attempts to examine the arguments, facts, and the judgment of the Court on each of the primary issues raised during the course of the dispute. The first case was filed by the Mullaperiyar Environmental Protection Forum in 2001, wherein the Court adjudged the case in favour of the respondents, the State of Tamil Nadu. Consequently, due to certain developments, examined in the course of the second case, the State of Tamil Nadu filed a petition before the Supreme Court against Kerala in 2006 seeking relief for the actions on the part of the latter after the judgment in the first case. A Constitution Bench was constituted to adjudicate this case, which re-examined certain issues raised during the first case and conclusively laid down its decision in favour of Tamil Nadu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the main findings of a study, designed to develop a better understanding of institutional variations in working with the demand responsive approach (DRA) in rural water supply in the state of Odisha in India. Data for the paper were collected from twelve village communities, where water is being supplied either through their community based institution or through the local government institution of the Gram Panchayat. The findings suggest that the two types of institutions performed differently in implementing the DRA. It depicted that the DRA under the broader rubric of institutional reforms in the water sector has failed to address the question of social inequality, and rather had reinforced and extended the already existing inequity of Indian society to access to safe and secure drinking water in rural areas. The study highlights that participation, cost recovery, full operation and management transfer may be an efficient proposition, but not sustainable in the long run without proper investment in institution building and support from the state, especially in provisioning of basic services like drinking water to rural poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to the limited literature on water governance in small towns in India. For assessing water governance, we propose a broad framework encompassing adequacy and affordability, equity, sustainability and responsiveness. Analytically, the concept of 'service modality' is expanded to include not only institutional arrangements but also water resource deployment, and placed within a framework that includes multiple contextual variables as well. We use this framework to carry out an inductive analysis by comparing water service delivery and governance in four small towns across two states (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) in southern India. Apart from differences in size, the towns differ in the institutional arrangements - from fully municipal management to a combination to complete para-statal management - and in the deployment of water resources - only ground water to a mixed supply of ground and surface water (dual sourcing). Data were gathered using a combination of household surveys, metering, records, and interviews. Dual sourcing resulted in adequate supply and optimization vis-à-vis end uses. Inter-household inequity is driven by socio-economic differences amongst households, but can be mitigated to an extent by increasing public tap density. But water resource use is not physically or financially sustainable. The responsiveness to citizen needs was significantly higher when the distribution was done by the local governments. Separation of roles, with para-statals providing bulk supply of surface water, and local governments managing the distribution of this and groundwater, may be an optimal service modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the performance of water users' associations (WUAs) is a complex task. Literature associates a large number of parameters with their success and failure. This paper presents an in-depth study of two WUAs that are considered to be functioning well by the irrigation department in Anand, India. It discusses some new issues and innovations being tried out in Anand, namely: (1) incentives and disincentives for WUA membership; (2) outsourcing of irrigation service fees (ISF) collection by the WUAs; and (3) expansion of the scope of WUA activities beyond irrigation, with a potential impact on financial viability. The paper discusses degrees of success in WUAs in this context and tries to draw out lessons that may be widely replicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal estuaries constrained by embankments in the Sundarbans have failed to respond to a >1 m sea level rise over the past 100 years since their construction. This paper shows that this has led to a disequilibrium morphology leading to channel erosion that has undermined embankments, causing mass failure, breaching and subsequent flooding during surge events. Predicted future sea level rise will exacerbate this trend and managed realignment of embankments will be needed to accommodate it. Management practices have, however, modified this underlying process of erosion. The increasing practice of severing tributary channels from the main channel using flap sluices to create freshwater storage ponds has, in many cases, reduced tidal flow in the main channels so that they are not only accreting rather than eroding, but capable of accommodating future sea level rise without erosion. In contrast, the rapid spread of salt water aquaculture in the Sundarbans, flooding previous paddy land, has led to an increase in tidal discharge and accelerated erosion of the embankments in estuary channels conveying water to the ponds. This paper concludes that existing management practices may have a more significant impact on flooding in the Sundarban than the predicted sea level rise due to global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water supply services in urban India are essential functions of urban local bodies or municipalities. These services are mostly perceived as unsatisfactory across urban centres and the sector is widely perceived to be misgoverned with large number of municipalities making financial losses. However, this common perception of inefficient services has not much scientific basis as the efficiencies of these services are not measured. This paper, therefore, attempts to evolve a framework for evaluating the relative inefficiencies of water supply services and applies a non-parametric approach, data envelopment analysis (DEA), to 20 urban centres in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, by applying three different models. The results of the analysis indicate that there are significant inefficiencies amongst the various municipalities that supply water. It was found that larger cities exhibit better efficiencies than smaller ones, requiring policy interventions. However, even the larger municipalities need restructuring and downsizing of their operations to be more efficient. DEA results also show that significant savings with respect to operating expenditures, staff and non-revenue water are actually possible if best practices are adopted. The paper discusses the results of the study in the context of policy issues that are relevant from a developing country perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe water pollution is among the top policy priorities in both China and India. This paper undertakes a comparative case analysis to examine efforts in combating river pollution in two major rivers - the Yangtze in China and the Ganga in India. Our analysis suggests that efforts in combating river pollution in the two Asian giants have encountered substantial challenges, such as the lack of comprehensive legal mechanisms to control pollution at the basin level, the lack of coordination among multiple government agencies, and significant gaps in policy implementation. Our analysis also points out considerable differences between China and India in institutional structure, regulatory approaches and policy instruments in dealing with river pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the intricate issues that prompt water pricing reform in China and India. China adopts a comprehensive pricing framework of cost of resources, treatment and distribution, and environmental requirements, which has been gradually developed part by part since 1980 based on the perception and change of water issues in the country. India follows a simple approach of cost recovery, though its recent policy guidelines talk about more systematic pricing. The results present that both countries fail to realize water pricing policy targets regardless of different pricing structures. But China and India are on the same road and direction of water pricing and China goes a little farther. The treatment of water resources and its services, and property rights have a significant impact on pricing, and costs, including service, resources and environment, are difficult to recover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the dynamic interface of state-water users' relationships in large-scale surface irrigation in India and China, to inquire to what extent the issues encountered in large-scale irrigation management and governance are independent of regime characteristics. Though operating in very different overall political regimes, China and India exhibit strong similarities in the way a central state has attempted to relate with local water users, in the types of policy instruments deployed to shape that relationship, and in the problems encountered. Both China and India have a long history of state involvement in irrigation management. Both saw massive expansion after the late 1940s. The state then tried to extend its control in response to 'underutilisation' of the created infrastructure, revenue shortfalls and perceived inefficiencies and yield gaps. In recent decades the policy approaches have, at least rhetorically, emphasised water users' self-management and governance, including financial self-management/cost recovery. In both countries the instrument for this has been Water User Associations. Results have been mixed, to say the least, on all counts. Larger institutional and policy characteristics adhering to the problematic of the state-user interface subvert stated reform objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water rights are widely regarded as a crucial component to enhance efficient water use and for meeting a country's water resource challenges. This article presents a framework for analyzing and comparing the similarities as well as differences of the water rights systems between India and China. The article relies on the method of document research and comparative analysis to compare general characteristics of India and China's water rights systems based on six evaluation indicators and evaluation principles. Using this analytical framework, this paper compares the implementation effects of the water rights systems in terms of the degree of meeting water resources demand, conflict-resolution means and the protection of water resources. Our findings provide insights for the reformation of the water rights systems and bring out lessons that other developing countries can learn from India and China's experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River Yamuna is an important river in India that flows through the national capital--New Delhi. The river water offers a variety of functional uses in its basin area. A progressive deterioration of river water quality had rendered it to become almost a channel of wastewater. However, there is a willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the conservation of river water quality among the citizens of the basin. This paper reports on an application of Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) for estimating the economic value of river water conservation (both for current water quality maintenance and for the restoration of river water quality). The results show that there exists a WTP for the conservation of river water quality, which is about 14.93% higher for water quality restoration than that for maintenance of current water quality. Some of the issues in undertaking the CVM studies in developing countries are also discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large numbers of households in cities around the developing world do not have access to one of the most basic of human needs a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. This paper uses the experience of India as a lens through which to view the problems of access to water in urban areas and the various options available for reform. Using two sets of data from the National Family Health Survey, as well as published and unpublished secondary sources, the paper presents the status of access to drinking water in urban India, the performance of India's urban water sector compared to other Asian metropolitan regions and the reform efforts that are under way in several Indian cities. A review of these ongoing reforms illustrates some of the political economy challenges involved in reforming the water sector. Based on this analysis, we draw out directions for more effective research, data collection and policy reform. While each country faces unique challenges and opportunities, the scope and range of the Indian experience provides insights and caveats for many low-income nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to highlight the various factors relating to the water conflict among the riparian countries in the Ganges basin and to examine the potential benefits of integrated water development. Lack of cooperation between the nations involved who promote a nationalistic approach for the management of the basin have made integrated development difficult. This paper examines the issues related to the utilization of the Ganges water resources, regional water-based development potentials and views of riparian countries on integrated Ganges basin management. It identifies four types of prospective benefit from integrated Ganges basin management: benefits to the river; benefits from the river; reducing costs because of the river; and benefits beyond the river. Finally, it recommends guidelines to overcome the constraints to integrated Ganges management and, hence, achieve overall regional development. This paper stresses the need to develop an integrated water management approach intended to foster regional development and overcome the prospect of severe water conflict along the Ganges basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is an attempt to interpret trans-boundary water disputes with the help of scarcity value, which is the value that could have been generated if the limit on water availability could be relaxed by one unit. Scarcity value measures the degree of deprivation and creates the basis for disputes. This hypothesis has been applied in this paper to the disputes over water use for irrigation in the Cauvery basin between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in South India. On the basis of the historical data for the area under paddy cultivation in the two states, the paper shows that such disputes are not clearly based on physical scarcity of water but are a temporal coincidence of demand based on scarcity value. This means that enhanced supply would not be the correct approach to the resolution of disputes. New economic instruments based on scarcity value may provide a more objective picture of the disputes and hence help in their amicable resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite receiving accolades for being the example of cooperation, India and Pakistan's peaceful management of their Indus River system remains largely unexamined. Scholars that do consider this case classify it as passive cooperation. To support their classification, they point to the Indus Waters Treaty's allocation of the river system between India and Pakistan and suggest that it severed the interdependent relationship and need to cooperate. Consequently, this paper seeks to demonstrate that India and Pakistan remain interdependent in managing their Indus River system and for over 40 years, they have sustained active cooperation. To account for the maintenance of this cooperation the paper argues that it is necessary to consider the design of the Permanent Indus Commission, an institution established to manage the Indus River. The ability of Indian and Pakistani commissioners to communicate directly and hold regular meetings permitted them to perform the necessary standard and operating procedures for the functioning of the institution. The commission's ability to monitor development of the river system has enabled it to ease member states' fear of cheating and confirm the accuracy of all exchanged data. Finally, its conflict resolution mechanisms have permitted it to negotiate settlements to disputes as they arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and evaluates the warabandi system of irrigation prevalent in NorthWest India and Pakistan. It argues that warabandi needs to be understood as a composite sociotechnical system comprising a physical infrastructure and a corresponding institutional arrangement for rationing and sharing water. This has implications for efforts at replicating the system in other parts of the region. An understanding of these features is also essential in assessing the prospects and potential for irrigation management reform in the region. The paper concludes by identifying some challenges and opportunities for management reform in the warabandi system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing consensus about the end of cheap oil, the consequences of global warming and the need for rural development are catalyzing the expansion of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. While most nations are promoting the expansion of conventional crops, India's strategy for biofuels is to promote Jatropha curcas, a drought-tolerant, perennial crop with little prior commercial track record. The aim of this paper is three-fold. (1) To compare the characteristics of various crops with their potential as biofuels in order to assess the relative advantages and disadvantages of Jatropha curcas. (2) To analyze the implications of current biofuel policies for food supply, agricultural water demand and the rural poor. (3) To highlight briefly some alternative strategies that can overcome drawbacks in the current strategy. One conclusion is that although Jatropha curcas has a low water requirement, which is an important benefit, it has several other disadvantages. Another recommendation that emerges from this paper is that biofuel policies should also focus on short-duration, multi-purpose and proven drought-tolerant crops like sweet sorghum that can be adopted by small landholders while wasteland rehabilitation policies should focus on broader array of options, which can provide greater direct benefits to the rural poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water resources in Rajasthan State are facing a crucial stage even after average/good rainfall. Temporal distributions as well as the spatial variability of rainfall within the state were investigated by applying an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The effect of change in catchment characteristics and anthropogenic activities on overland flow are also investigated in this paper by applying a regression technique. Inflow to the surface water resources of the state is regularly decreasing. Time series analysis and sequential cluster analysis reveals that 1994 was the critical year, which divides the two consecutive non-overlapping epochs viz. pre-disturbance and post-disturbance. Due to increasing population and the subsequent increase in agriculture (specifically using groundwater sources) having increased catchment interceptions, there is a regular decreasing trend of surface runoff and surface water availability. The study highlights that, in spite of an increasing trend of rainfall witnessed during the last 100 years, inflow to the surface water resources of the state is decreasing at a fast pace owing to a decrease in the percentage area contributing to surface runoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livelihoods of rural poor in developing countries like India are exposed to risks due to natural disasters like floods. Although these risks are covariate, households are affected in varying degrees due to their location and their relative capacity to cope with them. These in turn are household-specific and are decisive in defining the efficacy of coping mechanisms adopted by households to hedge against the impact of floods. The paper attempts to study the nature of risks faced by households in a major flood-prone region of rural India and examine the effectiveness of coping mechanisms adopted. Findings suggest that (i) floods significantly reduce the consumption of households, (ii) traditional coping mechanisms used to manage the impacts are ineffective in safeguarding the risks to their livelihood and (iii) designing comprehensive coping measures, targeting vulnerable groups and combining informal insurance with safety nets will be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the issue of non-revenue water (NRW) in urban India, taking the city of Bangalore as a case study. Using empirical evidence from a survey conducted among 601 low-income households in Bangalore, we investigate the major sources of NRW for water utilities and propose policy recommendations based on the analysis. Our key finding is that public stand posts and public wells, which supply free water, are a non-trivial source of NRW. In addition, we find that revenue generation from metered tap connections is sub-optimal. Further, we observe potential revenue being shifted away from the public water utilities toward private providers, as several households pay for water obtained from neighbours, tankers, or other private sources. Drawing upon our findings, we propose a new tariff structure for urban water utilities to consider. We also review the implementation of prepayment metering for public stand posts in other developing countries and its feasibility in Bangalore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving access to water and sanitation for vulnerable groups has been a significant development priority in recent decades and this has been coupled with calls for water and sanitation to be recognised as fundamental human rights. However, to date there has been very limited attention on the right to water and sanitation for homeless people, despite their high vulnerability to a range of water and sanitation insecurities. Drawing on empirical data from the Indian cities of Delhi and Bangalore, this paper examines homelessness and the right to water and sanitation. It highlights the everyday practices and experiences of homeless people in their efforts to access water and sanitation, and sheds light on some of the factors that contribute to their water and sanitation insecurity. It concludes that addressing the human right to water and sanitation for homeless people will require going beyond a technical and sector approach, to the more challenging task of tackling the complex factors that create and sustain their vulnerability and marginality in urban spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater emerged as a major source of irrigation in India during the mid-1970s. However, a large expansion in well irrigation due to a massive rural electrification programme, government policies of promoting private tube well construction and large subsidies on electricity for agricultural use resulted in groundwater over-abstraction in many semi-arid and arid regions of India. In addition, most of the direct and indirect measures to regulate groundwater use have met with little success and have been largely ineffective in arresting groundwater over-exploitation. This paper reviews the institutional and market-based instruments that are now being advocated by scholars and practitioners as potential instruments for sustainable groundwater use. The review mainly focuses on research that examined the viability and impacts of establishing private and tradable water rights in groundwater and pro rata pricing of electricity for irrigation use as instruments to arrest the problems of groundwater over-exploitation in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the dynamics of irrigation management, in terms of the analysis of interlinked agrarian relations, is very limited. This paper attempts to get a detailed grassroots view of farmers' knowledge of various issues pertaining to the relationship between agrarian structure, land and water. Data from 200 sample cultivators of different farm sizes and 20 landless labour households were collected from eight sample villages situated in head-reach and tail-end distributaries of branch canals in selected Hirakud irrigation commands in Odisha, India. An analysis of the nature of the interlinking of various agrarian markets in the studied distributaries showed that interlinked credit transactions are mostly prevalent among landless labour and small farm households. To some extent, they are higher in head-reach distributaries compared to tail-end distributaries. Research showed that the incidence of tenancy in the head-reach areas is also higher than the tail-end. There is a need for the adequacy, timeliness and reliability of water supply, and for equality in water distribution between head- and tail-reaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service levels remain stubbornly low in rural India despite high levels of public expenditure recently. In many areas, this is because service levels have slipped back for reasons including inadequate protection of water sources (quantity and quality) and more attention given to capital expenditure than expenditure on operational and capital maintenance. This paper argues that adoption of a life-cycle cost approach (LCCA) could play a significant role in rectifying this by providing a framework for identifying and plugging gaps in the present pattern of expenditure. It is argued that LCCA will provide a sound basis for implementing the WASH Guidelines released by the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission in 2010. These guidelines signal a shift away from viewing the provision of WASH services as primarily an engineering challenge to one that requires activities that include source protection, institution building and long-term support and pro-poor planning, all of which need to be budgeted for by WASH service providers and/or users. Preliminary findings indicate that LCCA can be used to assess actual life-cycle costs of sustainable, equitable and efficient WASH service delivery. The challenge now is to investigate how best LCCA can be mainstreamed into WASH planning and other governance processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of the replacement of traditional communal irrigation systems called tanks by modern irrigation systems, that is, private wells with pumps, using a village and household data set collected in Tamil Nadu, India. Our statistical analyses find that, once the tanks deteriorate, the rice yield of farmers who have no access to wells and thus rely solely on traditional irrigation systems will decrease, whereas those of farmers with well access will not be affected. Since compensation for yield loss by income diversification is difficult, the reduction of income is so large that poverty among farmers without well access increases. Our analyses also find that, even among farmers with well access, the dissemination of private wells results in no significant increase in net return or profit of rice cultivation, presumably because the overexploitation of groundwater increases the cost of irrigation and cancels out the well users' high revenue from high yield. In this way, the replacement process creates a double tragedy: increased poverty among farmers without well access and overexploitation and profit reduction among farmers with well access. Policy options to avoid the tragedy are discussed in the concluding section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fight to water has been recently recognized as a fundamental human right by the United Nations, thereby clarifying its status as 'legally binding', making it 'justiciable' and enforceable. This development has been heralded as a key that holds great potential to change the lives of the billions who still lack access to clean water. Many of those deprived of enjoyment of the right are children, who constitute up to a third of the population in the developing world. What is the value added of the fights-based approach for access to water, especially for children? Would recognition of the fight to water as legally binding deliver real benefits to children in improving their access to water? Does it really offer anything new that can help them realize their fight to water more effectively? These questions will be explored in this paper using empirical evidence from India, where water has been legally interpreted as a fundamental fight, and as a welfare state, where there has been consistent effort on part of the state to improve children's access to water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the drivers of change in the Ganges River Basin, together with population growth, economic development and water management practices. These changing circumstances have a significant impact on key social and economic sectors of the basin, largely through changes in water quantity, quality and timing of availability. This paper evaluates the impact of water on changing circumstances in three sectors of the Ganges Basin - agriculture, ecosystems and energy. Given the inherent interconnectedness of these core sectors and the cross-cutting impact of changing circumstances on water resources, we argue that adaptation should not be viewed as a separate initiative, but rather as a goal and perspective incorporated into every level of planning and decision making. Adaptation to changing circumstances will need to be closely linked to water resource management and will require significant collaboration across the sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making sense of policy processes in India requires an understanding of how particular ways of thinking about water have gained ascendancy in national and state discourses, and how they have determined the frame through which water is perceived, defined and handled. The way in which the concept of water is framed has important implications for the ways in which water reform policies come to be shaped. Shifting narratives of the causes and solutions to water issues in a neoliberal India both drive and produce policy processes, making available or constraining policy choices in which different forms of water knowledge can be available and mobilized. Using methods of critical discourse analysis, this paper uses the Delhi Water Reform Project as a basis for understanding how power and knowledge define spaces of engagement among a range of positioned actors like the World Bank, the Government of Delhi, and civil society. It argues that their strategies are constructed in a way that permits intervention in a manner so as to promote a particular kind of technical and managerial approach that lends persuasiveness to policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on field investigations of initiatives to increase stakeholder participation in water management in Brazil and India, this paper provides insights into the practice of water sector reforms. Looking at the pace of reforms across both countries, we find that the process of creating institutions to facilitate stakeholder participation is proceeding rapidly but greater attention is required on administrative reforms and capacity building. We find that the supply and demand of participation opportunities is often mismatched, and that participation reforms in the water sector may follow two very different paths: the bureaucratic and the entrepreneurial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is increasingly becoming a scarcer commodity, particularly in large cities of developing countries. Drinking water is an important use of water which has been catered for by most of the local governments. However, it is provided with a varying degree of reliability and the cost of this is not known. Consumers would like to pay for a reliable water supply besides what they pay for the normal water supply (both quantity and quality of water supplied). This paper presents an application of the contingent valuation method (CVM) for estimating the value of reliable water supply in National Capital Territory (NCT) -- Delhi. The study implications and the lessons accruing from it are also summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the value of an improved domestic water supply was investigated for economic development and gender relations in rural households in a drought-prone area. A comparative study executed with participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods with groups of women from 11 micro-enterprises in ten villages and five control villages showed that,when an improved domestic water supply does not function, the entrepreneurs groups have a statistically higher loss of the economic use of water and time than the control groups. The extra income that women gain when the supply works and is used economically helps poor families to bridge the dry season. It could further be quantitatively proven that male female gender relations were significantly better in the entrepreneurs group. This was not so for mother-daughter relationships, which gave new insights into the need to address gender equality issues with the women themselves and with SEWA, the supporting agency. These findings support the view that rural poverty and the status of women would receive a significant boost if policy makers focused on providing employment opportunities for women along with improved water supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The already complex interrelationships between water, food, energy and the environment are facing both challenges and opportunities. Rising fuel costs and increasing concerns over the effects of climate change are reinvigorating policymakers' interest in renewable energy sources such as hydropower and bio-energy--both from biofuels as well as biomass. Development of any of these sources has the potential to generate positive economic and environmental benefits, yet, at the same time, they can cause negative food and equity impacts. This obviously entails major tradeoffs between the food, energy and environmental goals of water and energy development, allocation and management. Using both a brief global overview as well as a closer review of four case studies from India, Ethiopia, Jordon and the USA, this paper tries to (i) a present the nature of the tradeoffs under different hydrological, energy, agricultural and environmental contexts and (ii) provide some anecdotal evidence and illustrative cases for the available policy options for minimizing conflicts but maximizing synergies between water, energy, food and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]