Taming the Anarchy

Taming the Anarchy PDF Author: Tushaar Shah
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136524029
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
In 1947, British India-the part of South Asia that is today's India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh-emerged from the colonial era with the world's largest centrally managed canal irrigation infrastructure. However, as vividly illustrated by Tushaar Shah, the orderly irrigation economy that saved millions of rural poor from droughts and famines is now a vast atomistic system of widely dispersed tube-wells that are drawing groundwater without permits or hindrances. Taming the Anarchy is about the development of this chaos and the prospects to bring it under control. It is about both the massive benefit that the irrigation economy has created and the ill-fare it threatens through depleted aquifers and pollution. Tushaar Shah brings exceptional insight into a socio-ecological phenomenon that has befuddled scientists and policymakers alike. In systematic fashion, he investigates the forces behind the transformation of South Asian irrigation and considers its social, economic, and ecological impacts. He considers what is unique to South Asia and what is in common with other developing regions. He argues that, without effective governance, the resulting groundwater stress threatens the sustenance of the agrarian system and therefore the well being of the nearly one and a half billion people who live in South Asia. Yet, finding solutions is a formidable challenge. The way forward in the short run, Shah suggests, lies in indirect, adaptive strategies that change the conduct of water users. From antiquity until the 1960‘s, agricultural water management in South Asia was predominantly the affair of village communities and/or the state. Today, the region depends on irrigation from some 25 million individually owned groundwater wells. Tushaar Shah provides a fascinating economic, political, and cultural history of the development and use of technology that is also a history of a society in transition. His book provides powerful ideas and lessons for researchers, historians, and policy

Taming the Anarchy

Taming the Anarchy PDF Author: Tushaar Shah
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136524029
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1947, British India-the part of South Asia that is today's India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh-emerged from the colonial era with the world's largest centrally managed canal irrigation infrastructure. However, as vividly illustrated by Tushaar Shah, the orderly irrigation economy that saved millions of rural poor from droughts and famines is now a vast atomistic system of widely dispersed tube-wells that are drawing groundwater without permits or hindrances. Taming the Anarchy is about the development of this chaos and the prospects to bring it under control. It is about both the massive benefit that the irrigation economy has created and the ill-fare it threatens through depleted aquifers and pollution. Tushaar Shah brings exceptional insight into a socio-ecological phenomenon that has befuddled scientists and policymakers alike. In systematic fashion, he investigates the forces behind the transformation of South Asian irrigation and considers its social, economic, and ecological impacts. He considers what is unique to South Asia and what is in common with other developing regions. He argues that, without effective governance, the resulting groundwater stress threatens the sustenance of the agrarian system and therefore the well being of the nearly one and a half billion people who live in South Asia. Yet, finding solutions is a formidable challenge. The way forward in the short run, Shah suggests, lies in indirect, adaptive strategies that change the conduct of water users. From antiquity until the 1960‘s, agricultural water management in South Asia was predominantly the affair of village communities and/or the state. Today, the region depends on irrigation from some 25 million individually owned groundwater wells. Tushaar Shah provides a fascinating economic, political, and cultural history of the development and use of technology that is also a history of a society in transition. His book provides powerful ideas and lessons for researchers, historians, and policy

Groundwater Development and Management

Groundwater Development and Management PDF Author: Pradip K. Sikdar
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319751158
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
This book deals with the challenges for efficient groundwater management, with a focus on South Asia and India, providing a balanced presentation of theory and field practice using a multidisciplinary approach. Groundwater of South Asia is increasingly confronted with overuse and deteriorating quality and therefore requires urgent attention. Management of the stressed groundwater systems is an extremely complex proposition because of the intricate hydrogeological set-up of the region. Strategies for sustainable management must involve a combination of supply-side and demand-side measures depending on the regional setting and socio-economic situations. As a consequence, the challenges of efficient groundwater management require not only a clear understanding of the aquifer configuration, but also demand for the development of a comprehensive database of the groundwater occurrences and flow systems in each hydrogeological setting. In addition, drilling and well construction methods that are appropriate to different hydrogeological formations need to be implemented as well as real-time monitoring of the status of the groundwater use. Also corrective measures for groundwater that is threatened with depletion and quality deterioration need to be installed. Finally, the legal framework of groundwater needs to be rearticulated according to the common property aspect of groundwater. These challenges should revolve around effective groundwater governance by creating an atmosphere to support and empower community-based systems of decision-making and revisit the existing legal framework and groundwater management institutions by fostering community initiatives. This book is relevant for academics, professionals, administrators, policy makers, and economists concerned with various aspects of groundwater science and management.

Unruly Waters

Unruly Waters PDF Author: Sunil Amrith
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465097731
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
From a MacArthur "Genius," a bold new perspective on the history of Asia, highlighting the long quest to tame its waters Asia's history has been shaped by her waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia's history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas -- and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia's past and its future.

Groundwater in the Coastal Zones of Asia-Pacific

Groundwater in the Coastal Zones of Asia-Pacific PDF Author: Christoph Wetzelhuetter
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400756488
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Groundwater management and conservation becomes a more and more important issue in the heavily urbanized coastal zones of the Asia-Pacific region. This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the status of coastal groundwater research in this diverse region. It includes latest methodologies and technologies to assess processes associated with coastal groundwater development. Case studies and local examples from a broad geographical range of continental shoreline and island settings give an understanding of the diversity of coastal aquifers and the groundwater recourses they harbour. Audience: By providing a clearer understanding of the hydrogeological and hydrochemical processes, this volume offers a critical tool to coastal researchers, geoscientists in related fields, water engineers, groundwater managers and decision makers as it illustrates the human and environmental impacts on coastal groundwater resources and the relationship to coastal zone management strategies and the development of sustainable management approaches.

Ground Water Development - Issues and Sustainable Solutions

Ground Water Development - Issues and Sustainable Solutions PDF Author: S. P. Sinha Ray
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811317712
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Ground water resources are receiving global attention, as human population growth and development cause significant changes to the earth system. It plays a major role in ensuring livelihood security in many parts of South Asia and its contribution to poverty alleviation is substantial. The complex nature of ground water problems in the Indian Sub-continent requires a precise delineation of the ground water regimes in different hydro geological settings and socio-economic conditions and is a primary necessity for sustainable and equitable management. Strategies to respond to ground water over-exploitation and deteriorating water quality must be based on a new approach. Practical policies and various solution options urgently need to be formulated and implemented to prevent the development problems. There is pressing need to evolve workable methods and approaches based on modern scientific researches on ground water resources, as well as to build a social framework including community participation at all levels for a ground water development system. The community participation in water pumping policies, incentives of efficient use, affordability of low income users and other vulnerable groups, water awareness are prime factors for success of any ground water based water supply project.

Diverting the Flow

Diverting the Flow PDF Author: Margreet Zwarteveen
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 9383074159
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Across the South Asian region, water determines livelihoods and in some cases even survival. However, water also creates exclusions. Access to water, and its social organisation, are intimately tied up with power relations. This book provides an overview of gender, equity and water issues relevant to South Asia. The essays empirically illustrate and theoretically argue how gender intersects with other axes of social difference such as class, caste, ethnicity, age and religion to shape water access, use and management practices. Divided into six thematic sections, each of which starts with an introduction of relevant concepts, debates and theories, the book looks at laws and rights; policies; technologies and intervention strategies. In all, the book clearly shows how understanding and changing the use, distribution and management of water is conditional upon understanding and accommodating gender relations. Published by Zubaan.

Informing Water Policies in South Asia

Informing Water Policies in South Asia PDF Author: Anjal Prakash
Publisher: Routledge Chapman & Hall
ISBN: 9780367253035
Category : Water resources development
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This book analyzes water policies in South Asia from the perspective of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It seeks to address the problems of water scarcity, conflict and pollution resulting from the gross mismanagement and over-exploitation of this finite resource. Highlighting the need for IWRM in mitigating abuse and ensuring sustainable use, it discusses issues relating to groundwater management; inter-state water conflicts; peri-urban water use; local traditional water management practices; coordination between water users and uses; and water integration at the grassroots level. With case studies from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal, the innovative, painstaking and transnational researches presented in the volume deal with questions of equity, gender, sustainability, and democratic governance in water policy interventions. It will interest researchers and students of development studies, environmental studies, natural resource management, water governance, and public administration, as also water sector professionals, policymakers, civil society activists and governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

The Agricultural Groundwater Revolution

The Agricultural Groundwater Revolution PDF Author: Mark Giordano
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 1845931734
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
While addressing the issues of using groundwater in agriculture for irrigation in the developing world, this book discusses the problems associated with the degradation and overexploitation of using it. It explores the practiced and potential methods for its management in the context of agricultural development.

Groundwater Environment in Asian Cities

Groundwater Environment in Asian Cities PDF Author: Sangam Shrestha
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 0128031670
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Groundwater contributes to the sustainable development of many Asian cities by providing water for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses and regulating ecosystem flows. However, groundwater has not always been properly managed, which often has resulted in depletion and degradation of the resource. Groundwater Environment in Asian Cities presents the up-to-date scientific knowledge on groundwater environment in fourteen Asian cities using Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework. In detail the book presents the facts and figures of groundwater dependency, problems related to groundwater over exploitation, implementation of various policy instruments and management practices and their results in selected fourteen Asian cities, namely; Bandung (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (China), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Chitwan (Nepal), Delhi (India), Dili (East Timor), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Hyderabad (India), Khulna (Bangladesh), Lahore (Pakistan), Seoul (South Korea), Tokyo (Japan), and Yangon (Myanmar). The book provides the one-step platform to get sufficient details about groundwater aquifers, hydrogeology, groundwater status, impacts on groundwater environment and responses (technology, policy, institutional, etc.) deployed in the case studies cities, and therefore, provides a snap-shot of Asian groundwater environments. The theoretical background of the topics discussed along with the case studies help the readers understand the similarities and differences about the status of groundwater development and use in each city. In addition, the information in the book will serve as a baseline for other research such as mitigation of groundwater related problems (e.g., land subsidence), impact of climate change on groundwater, and importance of groundwater for implementing sustainable development goals in future. - Presents a framework for evaluating groundwater environment in urban environments - Includes case studies and local examples from a broad geographical range of urban environments from virtually every region in Asia, including Bandung, Bangkok, Delhi, Bishkek, Beijing and Tokyo - The book will be a valuable resource for groundwater adversaries in the scientific, decision-making and end-user communities, particularly for understanding and assessing state of groundwater resources in the region as well as learning from the responses practiced so far (Dr. Linda Anne Stevenson, APN) - The contents in this book are very much useful for informed decision-making for protecting groundwater environemntand therefore contributes in making invisible visible (Dr. Neno Kukuric, IGRAC) - With concrete examples and lessons for readers, this book responds to the call for comprehensive research and studies, the implementation of new science-based methodologies and endorsement of principles for groundwater resources management and cities (Dr. Aureli Alice, UNESCO-IHP) - As a "Regional Hub for Groundwater Management in the Asia Pacific Region, IGES finds this book as a very much useful reference for knowledge hub partners, groundwater managers, academic institutions, research scholars, and international organizations working in the areas of groundwater in Asia and beyond (Dr. Hideyuki Mori, IGES)

Natural Arsenic in Groundwaters of Latin America

Natural Arsenic in Groundwaters of Latin America PDF Author: Jochen Bundschuh
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0415407710
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description
Groundwater resources naturally contain high levels of arsenic in many parts of the world. Over the last two decades, the As-containing groundwater in South-East Asia has received much attention, but the situation is just as crucial in Latin America, where the number of studies is still relatively low, and the extent and severity of As-exposure in the populations has yet to be fully evaluated. This book aims to promote knowledge of the occurrence and genesis of As-rich groundwater in Latin America. It deals with constraints on the mobility of As in groundwater, As-uptake from soil and water by plants, As-propagation through the food chain, human health impacts, and As-removal technologies. Case studies are presented from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru, amongst others, and are viewed against the background of experience from other world regions. The book is a state-of-art overview of arsenic research in Latin America. It aims to create interest within the Latin American countries affected by the presence of arseniferous aquifers and to increase awareness among administrators, policy makers and company executives. It will also serve to inform the international scientific community, and improve international cooperation on arsenic in groundwater.