Thinking about Water in Uncertain Times: State, People and Conflicts

Thinking About Water in Uncertain Times is a collection of six essays on water and conflicts, produced through the work conducted by the authors at the Water Programme at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore. Research at this programme has included inter-state transboundary water sharing and conflict resolution, the foundation of zonal water partnerships and the development of interdisciplinary knowledge in relation to transboundary water sharing. The aim of this work has been to develop context-specific, multidisciplinary knowledge including social, economic, cultural, legal and political aspects of water sharing and conflicts. The essays in this volume discuss important issues involved in water sector in India. These include various sectoral usages of water; the deepening crisis of groundwater; the river interlinking project; integrated water resource management (IWRM); conflict resolution mechanisms and institutional reforms for resolving conflicts over transboundary rivers; watershed development work in the mission mode; and emerging livelihood-related concerns in watershed development. Going beyond dichotomous approaches in thinking about water and conflcits, the essays foreground the need to think about related concerns in a holistic manner. Sailen Routary is a researcher, writer and translator. His interests lie in the areas of anthropology of deparment and governance, contemporary history of Odisha and sociology of literature. He currently works with Centre for Human Sciences Bhubaneswar (CHSB), India. He is also an affiliated researcher at French Institute of Pondicherry. N Shantha Mohan is a social scientist with gender issues and water conflicts as areas of expertise. Among other appointments, she has worked as a professor at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and as an assistant professor at Institute for Social Economic (ISEC), both in Bangalore