Water Conflicts and Resistance
Issues and Challenges in South Asia
Social Movements and Transformative Dissent Series

This book presents a systematic study of transboundary, regional and local water conflicts and resistance across several river basins in South Asia. Addressing hydro-socio-economic aspects in competing water sharing and transfer agreements, as well as conflicting regimes of legal plurality, property rights and policy implementation, it discusses themes such as rights over land and natural resources; resettlement of dam-displaced people; urban?rural conflicts over water allocation; peri-urbanisation, land use conflicts and water security; tradeoffs and constraints in restoration of ecological flows in rivers; resilience against water conflicts in a river basin; and irrigation projects and sustainability of water resources.

Bringing together experts, professionals, lawyers, government and the civil society, the volume analyses water conflicts at local, regional and transboundary scales; reviews current debates with case studies; and outlines emerging challenges in water policy, law, governance and institutions in South Asia. It also offers alternative tools and frameworks of water sharing mechanisms, conflict resolution, dialogue, and models of cooperation and collaboration for key stakeholders towards possible solutions for effective, equitable and strategic water management.

This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, environment studies, water studies, public policy, political science, international relations, conflict resolution, political economy, economics, sociology and social anthropology, environmental law, governance and South Asian studies. It will also benefit practitioners, water policy thinktanks and associations, policymakers, diplomats and NGOs.

1. Shared Water: Contest, Conflicts and Cooperation PART I: Transboundary Conflicts 2. Negotiated Resolution of Transboundary Disputes: A Function of Facts, Frames and Fairness 3. From Lukewarm to Meaningful: Understanding and Transforming Transboundary Water Cooperation in the Indian Subcontinent 4. ‘Shared’ Waterscapes: The Case of River Ravi in Indian and Pakistan Punjab 5. Transcending Boundaries for Sustainability in the Koshi Basin: Contestations and Cooperation 6. Environmental Justice for the Victims of the Koshi River Project: The Context and Elements of Transboundary Legal Response 7. Benefits and Burden: A Case Study of Gandak River Agreement PART II: Regional and Local Conflicts 8. Peri-urbanisation and Changing Water Flows: Competition, Conflicts and Cooperation 9. Disaster-Induced Water Conflicts and Gender: A Study of Floods in South Asia 10. Examining Inter-linkages between Water Scarcity and Human Security: A Case Study of Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh, India 11. Urban Rivers and Their Riverfronts: When Restoration Becomes Real Estate Projects 12. Conflict and Resistance over Water Reallocation: The Case of Surya Irrigation Project in Maharashtra

Venkatesh Dutta is Professor at School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India, and a natural resource management specialist.