The Role of Water Governance in Ensuring Water Security: A Case of Indian Cities

Abstract

Scholars have repeatedly advocated that “water crisis is a crisis of governance” ( GWP. (2000). Towards Water Security: A Framework for Action. Stockholm: GWP.; Zwarteveen, M., Kemerink-Seyoum, J. S., Kooy, M., Evers, J., Guerrero, T. A., Batubara, B.,... Wesselink, A. (2017). Engaging with the politics of water goverance. WIREs Water, 1–9.;). Today, urban water resources are under serious threat with the rapid growing urbanization, climate change, and declining freshwater reserves. Cities worldwide either strained due to severe water crises or motivated by societal reform have fostered sustainable water sector changes. The water in cities has always been a subject of social and political control to enable infrastructure financing and governance. Since the past few decades, water governance advocacy has been promising to promote sustainable water uses and management. It was considered one of the top three priority action areas at the Boon Freshwater conference of 2001. Since then, various advocacy and academic documents have propagated the concept of water governance. Despite such attention given to water governance, little implementation of it is seen on the ground. One reason for this could be the lack of a clear and consistent definition of the term. Another reason for this could be attributed to the lack of regulatory or policy framework towards implementing such newer concepts. These limitations are further grave for developing countries as these concepts have been developed in the global north with little consideration of replicability. This paper would, thus, aim at defining a working definition of water governance, context-specific to the Indian Context. The later sections of the paper would critically analyse the legal and regulatory framework existing in such a context and suggest a way forward, taking India as a case. Such research provides an empirical foundation for further engagement on a fit-to-purpose implication of such terms and concepts amongst water professionals, academicians, urban planners, and researchers interested in urban water and systems