Governance of water: institutional alternatives and political economy

Resources, Energy, and Development 5(2): 105–107 The water crisis in India can no longer be described as ‘potential’ or ‘looming’ or ‘impending.’ It is real, and it is staring us in the face. Water availability has been steadily falling with increasing population, intensifying agriculture, and expanding industry. From 6000 cubic metres per capita in 1947, the availability fell to 2300 cubic metres in 1997 and to 1700 cubic metres in 2007. Future projections indicate that it would drop further to 1500 cubic metres in 2025 when we would enter the ‘water stressed’ category and to 1100 cubic metres in 2050, which is the ‘water scarce’ zone. Parts of the country are already there. Besides the shortage of drinking water in all our cities and towns, there are serious quality problems. Despite huge investments in the rural water supply programme, the number of villages not covered in the programme keeps on increasing every year, and water-borne diseases have become endemic. Notwithstanding its immense contribution in achieving food self-sufficiency, the glaring inefficiencies of the irrigation sector have now rendered it technically and financially unsustainable, and groundwater depletion has reached alarming proportions. Inter-regional and -sectoral conflicts are becoming more frequent. Unfortunately, the existing policy framework and institutional structures are unable to come up with Resources, Energy, and Development 5(2): 105–107