various activities of CWC & CGWB can be
I
Only 40% treatable land in India has been
distributed and internalized.
covered by various Government irrigation
Veteran journalist P Sainath recently said in
programmes. It calls for better planning.
the monthly lecture series planned by Delhi
With two consecutive weak monsoon,
assembly that "The increasing water crisis is
around 330 million people across 10 states
not simply related to monsoon. Even if you
are affected by the drought. Most of these
get a good monsoon for three consecutive
areas are ecologically & economically
years, the water crisis will continue.
disadvantaged. Lands are degraded, rainfed
A drought cannot be attributed to a change
farming is the norm and livestock graze is
of water use pattern and climatic failure; it is
common in open areas, putting stress on the
also about how we use water and plan
already strained natural resources. The
development. People think drought is a
resource rich areas are also turning into
meteorological failure that would end if
wastelands due to exploitative agricultural
monsoon comes. The water crisis in India is
practices and industrialization.
also a hydrological drought, a serious
With increasing concern over water security,
groundwater crisis".
water governance worldwide is undergoing
He also cited examples of the condition of
a
‘New
Godavari and Krishna basin in Maharashtra
Institutional Structure for water securities in
to point out how the sources were drying up
India’, published in the Economic &
due
political weekly informs that inspite of
unplanned tourism, construction of resorts
increasing water security concerns, there has
and hotels resulting in serious deforestation.
not been any change in the knowledge base
In this context West Bengal Govt.’s effort
or the institutional structure for managing
to rejuvenate Gandhswari river through
water systems in India
panchyat is
gradual
change.
The
paper
since the end of
to
poor
planing,
concretisation,
remarkanble. Gandheswari a
British rule in 1947. For this, the older way
tributary of river Darakeswar in Bankura
of looking at surface water and groundwater
dist. West Bengal. The main objective of
separately needs to give way to a holistic
the rejuvenation of the river is to increase its
vision
as
base flow through village level water
economically connected. Water governance
conservation measures all along the basin.
needs
broad
Without such measures the forest land of the
interdisciplinary framework within which
upper ridge of the catchment area is getting
where
to
be
the
two
based
are
on
seen
a
5
Integrated River Basin Management Society