Organized by:
The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Government of India
Central Water Commission (CWC)
Centre for Policy Research (CPR)
Context
Interstate river water governance in India so far is characterized by responding to contingencies posed by interstate river water disputes. The politics and the governance practices are driven and shaped by processes and instruments of disputes and their resolution. As a consequence, the governance ecosystem lacks an explicit and definitive approach towards enabling and nurturing interstate river water cooperation. This is can no longer continue. India’s 20 river basins are now shared by 29 states. The increasingly interdependent hydro-geographies pose new and complex challenges. The ambitious plans of river rejuvenation, inland navigation, interbasin transfer, and even the intended paradigmatic shift to integrated water resource management require reliable robust and resilient mechanisms for interstate collaboration and coordination.
The conception and nurturing of an ecosystem for interstate river water cooperation, however, has to be led by States. Indian Union’s particular history of evolution and its federal organization of water governance accord States a central role as primary stakeholders. The idea of a Roundtable of States stems from this background and context. The States have to set the agenda, and lead the conception of an ecosystem for interstate river water cooperation.
The MoWR, RD & GR, Government of India has recently established a MoWR Research Chair – Water Conflicts and Governance at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. The Research Chair has been mandated with pursuing policy-relevant research in the broader subject of transboundary river water governance, with special focus on interstate river water conflict resolution and cooperation. The proposed roundtable consultation is part of an inception process of the Research Chair. It also serves CWC’s interest to engage States on policy, legal and constitutional matters of interstate river water governance. The roundtable thus has two specific objectives linked to research and practice:
- Brainstorm a research agenda for pursuing India’s interstate river water cooperation ecosystem.
- Discuss the experiences of implementing interstate river development and rejuvenation projects to distil insights for policy directions towards an ecosystem of interstate river water cooperation.
Structure and format
In order to achieve these objectives, the consultation has been structured in two roundtable sessions, one addressing the research agenda, and the other focusing on learning from experiences of participating in interstate projects or programmes. The consultations will be anchored around key presentations at the beginning of the sessions. The roundtable consultation will follow an open-ended conversation format. To make this conversation free and frank, we will follow Chatham House rules: the insights will be captured, but will not be attributed to any particular individual.
The event is restricted to invited participants, targeted at key policy and decisions makers from States involved in interstate matters. The proceedings may be audio-recorded for the purpose of preparing proceedings.
Poster for the talk can be accessed here
