India

This paper by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore adds to the debate on water policy in India, and provides a general overview of the main characteristics of irrigation development post-Independence and a review of its beneficial and adverse impacts. The problems that need to be addressed and measures needed to resolve them are highlighted. It recognizes the vital role of expansion of irrigation in transforming agriculture from one of near stagnation in the pre-independence period to one of sustained growth during the past five decades.

The paper describes the methodology used in the groundwater resource estimation and the results of the latest country-wide assessment. In India, dynamic groundwater resources are estimated jointly by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State governments at periodic intervals. The latest estimates of dynamic resources are based on groundwater resource estimation methodology-1997 (commonly known as GEC-1997). These estimations are widely used in formulating various groundwater development and management plans. The paper also discusses future strategies on groundwater resource estimations.

This report by WaterAid outlines how over one million people in the country continue to scrape an existence through manual scavenging, forced largely by social convention and caste prejudice, and calls for strong action to eradicate this practice.

A violation of human rights, this discriminatory and demeaning practice was outlawed by the Indian Parliament in 1993 but still continues today. India has missed three deadlines to make the country 'manual-scavenger free'. India's booming cities help keep the practice alive, as there is often little infrastructure for sanitary sewerage and waste disposal systems.

The report tries to seek answers to why this practice continues despite:

• Availability of other dignified livelihood sources, for the people in this occupation?
• Other cleaner options for survival existing in cities and towns?
• Feasible and viable technological alternatives being available to dry toilets, one of the drivers of this occupation?

The word Water is  is sufficient to fulfill the thirst as well as enough power to be  drowned away the entire universe.

This paper by ICRISAT discusses the results from on-farm community watersheds through groundwater management as the drivers for sustainable management of watersheds in dry land areas. The issues of sustainable development and management of the groundwater resource through integrated watershed management (IWM) approach are also dealt with, in the context of food production and security.

This manual developed by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) presents a comprehensive approach to drought management and recommends measures that can be implemented for effective drought relief and mitigation. It brings together conceptual issues, institutional framework & operational details, and replaces the colonial famine codes written largely for dealing with hunger and starvation.

It has been prepared with the objective of creating synergy between the various programmes being implemented to provide drought relief and mitigation by several levels of government.

The key issues covered in the manual are:

The report was prepared by the Water Resources Division, Planning Commission in response to a Supreme Court directive to verify whether the funds allocated to Ganga Action Plan (GAP) had been duly utilized by the States. The report is based on data obtained from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and field visits made to plant sites in Uttarakhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The report endeavors to study the Solar Water Heater (SWH) market in India and project a realizable demand till 2022. It looks at the industry structure, supply conditions and value proposition. It relies heavily on interactions with a wide range of stakeholders, such as SWH users, potential SWH users, state level renewable energy development agencies, architects and builders, banks, municipal corporations, electricity distribution companies and pollution control boards. 

The policy brief published by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR),  India addresses the debates around climate change that took place before and after the Copenhagen Climate Conference (2009) that raised a number of questions regarding the architecture of the global climate regime.

This book published by Henry L. Stimson Centre highlights the richly diverse nature of India's views on climate change through its range of essays. These essays demonstrate and challenge the international perception of India as a monolithic actor with a single set of opinions and views in the climate change negotiations.

In this chapter, the author discusses the strengths and the weaknesses of India's climate policy in the context of the increasing threats that have been identified to the water resources in the country. The author states that India's climate policy is still in its emerging state and argues that though the policy does highlight many important areas related to climate change, it does not give adequate attention to a very crucial area of water management.