“This is an unusual, intriguing and insightful book…. [Water] sometimes reads like a detective yarn, where wily old Poirot attempts to unravel the complex chains of events, actions (inactions sometimes) that have led to the present failure of hydrological institution building in India…. This is a useful book, and indeed and important one.” - Progress in Development Studies

“This book will be of interest to the general reader as also to students and academics on the fields of water resources, hydrology, environmental studies and public administration. It will also attract the attention of policy makers and the media.” - CAB Abstracts

Water resources are an issue of ever increasing importance worldwide given rising populations and increasing environmental degradation. Water has also become a divisive issue, both within and between countries.

This book discusses and analyzes several interlinked themes related to crucial aspects and many dimensions of water resources in India. The author draws upon his vast administrative experience to present a lucid view of the issues affecting water resources while critically renewing policy and constitutional provisions.

The six sections of the book respectively cover a wealth of topics including:

Water resources in India's federal framework; the adequacy or otherwise of constitutional provisions to resolve inter-State water disputes; and a critique of National Water Policy 2002; The different ways in which water resources are perceived, and whether there is a need to fashion a national water law; The controversies surrounding large-dam projects in India; a critique of the Supreme Court's recent judgement concerning the Sardar Sarovar Project; and an examination of the dysfunctional relationship that has developed between the Government of India and the World Commission on Dams; The recent trend of discussing scarcities and conflicts relating to water resources in the language of security, and the fallacies and dangers implicit in that discourse; Conflict-resolution with reference to the water treaties India has entered into with its neighbors, and the idea of augmenting the flow of the Ganges; Ways to minimize, if not eliminate, the dilemmas that face water resource management in India, and whether or not various river-linkage schemes should be implemented

With its lucid coverage of numerous topics of seminal and topical importance marked by original and unconventional thinking, this book will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of water resources, hydrology, environmental studies, development studies, and public administration, as well as to the general reader, activists, policy makers, and journalists.