Manthan Adhyayan Kendra

NTADCL is a Public Authority: Madras High Court

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2010-04-16T10:55:34Z

New Tiruppur Area Development Corporation Limited (NTADCL) is a Public Authority: Madras High Court

This is regarding a recent significant judgement in the case of Manthan against NTADCL (New Tiruppur Area Development Corporation Limited) in the Madras High Court for disclosure of information under RTI Act.

Some of you may recollect that the Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) has privatised the water supply to Tiruppur industrial estate, Tiruppur Municipality (TM) and a number of neighbouring villages and this project - Tiruppur Project, is India's largest privatised water supply project operated by NTADCL under concession with the GoTN and TM. Manthan had requested some information from NTADCL under the RTI Act, which they had refused stating that they are not a "Public Authority". The Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) upheld Manthan's appeal. NTADCL had challenged the TNSIC order in the Madras High Court. The main issue was whether it is a public authority or not and can fall under the ambit of RTI.

The Madras High Court finally passed the order on 6th April 2010, upholding our contention, and the State Information Commission's Order on our RTI application that NTADCL is a Public Authority and has asked the corporation to provide us the information.

It has also upheld two important reasons we had advocated for this. One, that this Public Private Partnership project has support from the Government including funds and guarantees, so it has to be open to RTI Act. Second, that it was delivering a public service - water and sewerage - and therefore has to be accountable under the RTI Act.

This order is important because the principles outlined in the order strengthen the arguments for all public-private-partnership (or privatised) projects especially in water, health, education etc to come under the ambit of RTI.

Manthan was ably represented in the Court by our counsel Mr. PV Ravi Chandran. The case was heard by a single judge bench of Justice K. Chandru. It is likely that the NTADCL will go in appeal, so this not the final word, but it is still a good judgement and important step ahead.

The detailed judgement can be found by clicking on the following PDF icon...


Madras HC Order on NTADCL (English)


Madras HC Order on NTADCL (Hindi)

Public-Private Partnerships in Water Sector: Partnerships or Privatisation?

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2010-01-29T07:55:11Z

Public-Private Partnerships in Water Sector: Partnerships or Privatisation?

New Publication - Booklet, Pages - 144, Contribution - Rs 150.

About the Book –

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are supposed to provide solutions to many of the existing problems related to infrastructure projects – in both execution and operation. Currently, there are PPP projects in almost all the sectors including roads, ports, airports, water, sewerage, solid waste management and transport among others. It is, therefore, important to do a reality check on PPP projects and their efficacy in addressing the problems faced by the public sector water supply services and other infrastructure sectors as well.

The report looks at various aspects of PPPs, beginning from why PPPs have come to be regarded as the major approach for infrastructure development in the country, the circumstances that lead to the change in approach from direct privatisation to public-private partnerships, the current status of the PPP projects that are being executed in India, especially in the water sector, to the current estimates and projections of investment requirements for infrastructure development in India by governments and International Financial Institutions (IFIs).

The report analyses the arguments given in favor of PPPs, the structural issues with PPPs and the larger governance issues associated with PPPs like transparency, people's participation, access to information and regulation. It also looks for evidence and experiences of PPP projects in various parts of the world. It draws lessons that need to be learnt and cautions that need to be taken on board when advocating PPPs in public services like water and sanitation.

The report also studies the impact of the PPPs on some of the social obligation issues like the responsibility of provision, service delivery and equity when the private sector is involved in delivery of public services like water.

For downloading the pdf copy, please click on the following icon...


PPPs in Water Sector: Partnerships or Privatisation?

The print copies of the book are available with Manthan.

For more details, please write to us at -

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Dussera Maidan Road, Badwani (MP) - 451 551

or Email at -

manthan.kendra@gmail.com, manthan.shripad@gmail.com

or call on -

+ 91 7290 222857

Privatisation and Commercialisation of Water Resources and Services in India: An Overview

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2010-01-16T13:05:00Z

Since 1991, large-scale changes have been initiated in India's economy with the liberalization, privatisation and globalisation of almost every aspect of the economy.

Background

Since 1991, large-scale changes have been initiated in India's economy with the liberalization, privatisation and globalisation of almost every aspect of the economy. While this process began in 1991 itself in sectors like power, in the water sector it has started recently. 17 years after the blind and hasty liberalization and privatisation, the power sector is in a mess. The reforms have been a disaster, with severe power shortages and rocketing electricity tariffs, locking the country into expensive contracts for years to come. All this has now been acknowledged even at the official level. Instead of learning from the process, an almost exactly similar process of liberalization, privatisation and globalisation is being undertaken in the water sector.

Modes of Reforms

In India, “reforms” in water sector are taking place through two modes. The first mode is outright privatisation of water services through either BOT projects or management contracts. This mode is being used for industrial water supply and urban water supply projects. The second mode, which is more insidious and will have a far-reaching impact, is through the water sector reforms.

Outright Privatisation

This includes BOT projects, Concessions, Management Contracts, Private Hydropower Projects and so on. There are several such projects ongoing or in pipeline in the country. Some such projects are the Shoenath river in Chhattisgadh, the Tiruppur project in Tamil Nadu, the proposed private management contracts in the K-East ward in Mumbai.

Then there are many private hydropower projects already built or in pipeline like Allain Duhangan in Himachal Pradesh, Vishnu Prayag in Uttarakhand, Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, etc. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is supporting the Allain Duhangan project. In case of private hydro projects the companies have been given control over the rivers this has caused losses to many communities living in the downstream areas of the river. Database Part 1 and 2 lists the private projects in hydropower and water supply and sanitation, respectively.

The Case of Proposed Privatisation of Delhi Jal Board

The privatisation of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the public water utility, was proposed to be taken up under the Delhi Water Supply and Sewerage Project funded by the World Bank (US$ 140 million). In 2002 the Bank gave a loan of US$ 2.5 million for a study to be taken for reform and restructuring of DJB. The Bank's favoured consultant, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), was appointed to conduct the study for the reforms course through a skewed process, which was revealed later by investigations carried out by Parivaratan.

Some of the implications of reforming the DJB are listed as following-

• Water supply management of 21 DJB zones to be handed over to private companies. Tenders for 2 zones were called in February 2005
• DJB employees would be reporting to the private company.

• Huge increase in expenses due to high management fees (Rs.5 crore per company per year) and lack of control of DJB over company's expense accounts.

• To meet the increased expenses water tariffs would have been raised upto 6 times of the prevailing rate. Rs. 1200 per month in middle class localities, Rs. 350 per month in slums

• Even though company would have been managing the supply, the responsibility for water supply to each zone would still remain with DJB.

• Studies also showed that companies would be given bonuses in lieu of achieving targets, like reduction of NRW, which were essentially bogus.

• As per the contract between the DJB and the company, the time duration for grievance redressal was to be 20 days, at present it is 24 hours to 3 days.

• No improvement in quality, since the company would have used similar procedures and equipments to test water quality as DJB.

• No free or subsidized water to poor and vulnerable sections of the city.

• Accountability of the company would have been negligible.

The Proposed Privatisation of Water Distribution in K-East Ward, Mumbai

The process to privatise distribution in K-East ward of Mumbai began in January 2006, the time when the World Bank awarded a contract to Castalia, a French consulting firm to develop a pilot project for privatisation of the water system of the K-East ward of Mumbai. The World Bank, through PPIAF, a multi-donor agency run by the Bank and mandated to promote privatisation of services in developing countries, has given US$ 692,500 for this. The population of the ward is about 1 million and it is one of the profitable wards in terms of collection of water supply charges in Mumbai. If successfully implemented the pilot would be extended to the whole city.

Due to the growing opposition to the privatization, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai claims that it has now asked Castalia to suggest all options and not just privatisation. However, various options presented by the consultants recently at the Second Stakeholders meeting show a clear preference for private involvement in the operations.

Due to huge opposition and protests by the groups based in Mumbai, like “Mumbai-Paani” the privatisation project is stalled.

Swajaldhara (The Rural Water Supply Program)

One of the widely implemented interventions by the World Bank is in the rural water supply sector through the program funded by it called Swajaldhara. This scheme is being implemented across many states in India for improving access to safe and clean drinking water in the villages. Reports and studies suggest that these are following the principles of full recovery of operation and maintenance costs and some contribution in the capital expenses of the scheme from the villagers. People who are not able to pay are just left out of the scheme and have to find there own sources of water. Reports also suggest that quite a few of the schemes have fallen in the hands of the local strongmen or private contractors who charge the people for supplying water.

Reforms and Restructuring

The water sector reforms or restructuring are following the same line as the power sector reforms in the country, and indeed, are similar to the water sector reforms all over the world. These policies, pushed by the World Bank and ADB, have the underlying thrust of converting the whole sector into a market.

While the water sector in the country desperately needs reforms, in the World Bank led prescription they invariably mean only one thing:

• Transformation of the water sector into a commercial operation

• Changing the basis from social responsibility to a commodity to be bought and sold

They invariably include:

• Unbundling (separation of source, transmission and distribution)

• Independent regulator to free the sector from “political interference”

• Steeply increasing tariffs

• Full cost recovery

• Elimination of subsidies

• Cutting off supplies for non-payment

• Retrenchment

• Privatisation Sector Participation (PSP) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

• Allocation of water to highest value use through market mechanism

• Almost invariably pushed by the World Bank, ADB, DFID

• Policy prescriptions, restructuring process, even legislation being drafted by highly expensive international consultants

While reforms are supposed to be a solution to the existing water problems, they are mostly concerned about only the financial side. Moreover, hardly ever are these reforms based on a detailed study of the root causes of the problems. Studies are conducted with recommendations already known. Thus, the same sets of reforms are prescribed not just for different parts of the country but indeed in different parts of the world.

Reforms in various stages are going on in many states in India. Database Part 3 gives a list of the states where reforms are ongoing, the World Bank and ADB loans associated with these reforms, and some features of these reforms. States undergoing the most extensive and comprehensive reforms include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka.

Since water is a state subject, major part of the reforms are going on at the state level. The Central Government has also taken many measures for privatisation and commercialisation in water sector, like:

• 1991 – Power Sector Opened for Privatisation : PSP in Hydropower

• 2002 – New Water Policy Calls for PSP in water

• 2004 – Guidelines for Urban Water & Sanitation Sector Reforms and PPP

• 2005 – Financial Support to Bridge “Viability Gap” of Private Projects

• 2005 – Pushing PSP in urban water supply through schemes like JNNURM and UIDSSMT

• 2006 – Formation of India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited (IIFCL) for providing 20% of funding to infrastructure projects

• 2008 – Formation of India Infrastructure Development Fund (IIPDF) for financing upto 75% of the project development expenses

Madhya Pradesh Water Sector Reforms

The water sector in Madhya Pradesh (MP) is being restructured under the Madhya Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring Project loan given by the World Bank to the Government of MP (US$ 396 million) in 2005.

Highlights & Implications of MPWSRP-

• Commercialization of the Sector. The whole sector turned into a market

• Full Cost Recovery and Increase in Tariffs

• Elimination of Subsidies

• Creation of the State Water Tariff Regulatory Commission (SWaTReC); draft Bill for legislation is ready to be presented in the state assembly

• Constitution of the State Water Resources Agency (SWaRA)

• Large Scale Retrenchment

• Privatisation of irrigation - 25 Minor and 1 Medium irrigation scheme in the first phase

• Forcible New Legislation

Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA)

Interestingly, in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra under the reforms and restructuring project funded by the World Bank, the water regulator (MWRRA) has already been constituted and has also initialized its operations with “a lot of inputs” from the World Bank. The Authority was constituted in June 2005 but started its work from May 2006. Apart from tariff setting, one of the principle functions of the Authority is to determine water entitlements for various categories of use and users, and “to fix the criteria for trading of water Entitlements or Quotas on the annual or seasonal basis by a water Entitlement holder.” In other words, setting up a market for water entitlements. It has taken up 6 pilot projects to work out the ‘entitlements' including 2 major irrigation project.

Impacts

The impacts of these “reforms” are felt by all sections, but the poor families, and vulnerable sectors like agriculture will be worst hit. Even middle class will feel the pinch.

Impacts include:

• Severe increase in price hikes leading to many not being able to afford even water for domestic use

• Non-payment or inability to pay will lead to disconnection

• Disconnection means people will shift to lesser quality supply if available. Else, serious political unrest

• Agriculture sector, already in severe crisis, will be pushed even more into distress as water prices for irrigation zoom

• Dismantling of common public facilities meant for the poor like handpumps, public standposts etc.

• System transformed to cater to only paying customers. Those who can't pay the (steep) charges, will be thrown out or on the periphery

• Ultimately capture of water resources by those who can pay

• Huge profiteering by private companies

• Sale of public infrastructure built over generations with the use of public money for pittance

• Likely private control on community sources of water like groundwater, rivers etc.

• Large scale retrenchment of public sector workers

• Little likelihood of major problems of the sector being solved, including financial problems, quantity and quality of supply, equitable and affordable supply, protection and enhancement of resources

Why “Reforms”

There has been a shift in the discourse and practise of privatisation of water in the last several years. The initial attempts at classic, direct privatisation resulted in huge political backlash all over the world. Many companies also found making profits not so easy. Making profits needed higher tariffs, which poor people could not afford. Continuing supply meant lesser profits, and disconnection led to social unrest.

The political backlash and difficulty in making profits resulted in the shift in the rhetoric to “pro-poor” privatisation and Public Private Partnership (public takes the risks, private takes the profits). This has not been sufficient and the political backlash and difficulties in making profits did not go away.

Hence, the push for “sector reforms”. In this, the private players are not immediately on the scene. The whole responsibility of taking and implementing unpopular and harsh decisions falls on the Government and public bodies. These include the all the measures outlined above

The idea is to make the sector fully commercial, the blame and the political backlash to be taken by the Government, and then bring in the private sector. This is the route now taken to ensure private profits, to protect private sector from burden and risks of social responsibility.

Also, the water sector reforms must be seen as a direct part and parcel of the larger neo-liberal agenda of globalisation and privatisation.

The World Bank as a “Knowledge Creator”

The World Bank, along with some of the other bi-lateral donors is also playing another very significant role in the sector privatisation and commercialisation. That role is in the creation of the “intellectual” and other support to build up the rationale and justification of privatisation through “research” and “studies”.

The Water Sector Reforms are being forced upon the country as “solutions” to deep rooted and long standing problems. To make these policy prescriptions appear as “solutions”, these should appear as well researched and studied. Towards this end, the World Bank has been carrying out huge amounts of research and studies – either on its own, or through consultants.

For example, the World Bank currently hosts a program called Water and Sanitation Program on behalf of several international donor agencies. In India, this program has come out a series of research studies on how to address the problems in the water sector – urban and rural water supply, irrigation and so on.

It is not surprising that such research consistently throws up the clichéd prescription of privatisation and liberalisation for any sector, notwithstanding the vast evidence to the contrary. This is what we can broadly call creating the “intellectual and theoretical base” for the package of privatisation, corporatisation, globalisation.

How important the World Bank views its role in creating the intellectual base for pushing privatisation and globalisation is clear from its current Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for India for 2005-2008. This CAS determines the strategy and priorities of the Bank's lending to India for these three years. Among the three key “Strategic Principles” which “under pin the Bank Group's work” in India is the that “The Bank will also aim to substantially expand its role as a politically realistic knowledge provider and generator.”

Prepared by

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra,

Dushera Maidan Road,

Badwani (MP) – 451 551 India

Ph. – +91 – 7290 – 222857 (Off.)

Email – manthan.kendra@gmail.com

Web – www.manthan-india.org

Manthan – Monitoring, Research and Analysis of Water and Energy Sector

Databases of Privatisation and Reforms Projects

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-11-21T07:08:47Z

Databases of Private Water Supply, Sanitation and Hydropower Projects and Reforms Projects involving Privatisation and Commercialisation in India

This section consists of databases of Projects and Programs in India involving privatisation and commercialisation of the water sector. It has four parts each in a separate file.

During the three months from August - October 2009, the databases have undergone a restructuring process.

Since quite some time it was felt that the databases in an excel sheet are becoming cumbersome while updating - because of the increasing number of privatisation and reforms projects and the information related to specific projects.

For both the above tasks the excel format had its own limitations. Therefore it was discussed and thought to shift the databases from excel to word format. The word format was selected because of the space, ease of access, compilation and readability of the information in the databases for both the researchers and the other users.

It is also planned to incorporate in the restructured formats the state overview of water sector for various states in the later stages and also to fill in the field information collected during visits to some of the states.

These database files include a tabular summary of the privatisation/ reforms projects in various states in water supply, sanitation, sewerage and solid waste management categories and then these categories are linked to specific sections and projects using a hyperlink; under specific projects the information would be kept in chronological order where available with project name, features, references, project update and related links forming the last part of each update.

However, the Private Hydropower projects database has been kept in its short form as existing earlier, but in word format. The Hydropower database enlists the projects that are coming up with brief project related information. This is because there is time constraint in tracking the information related to the huge number of private Hydropower projects that are coming up quickly in India. It was also realised that compiling information on Hydropower projects would be duplicating the work of organisations like SANDRP and Kalpavriksh which have been doing this on a detailed and regular basis.

Part I: Database of Private Hydropower Projects in India.



Private Hydropower Projects in India, June 2010

Part II: Database of Private Water Supply, Sewerage and Solid Waste Management projects.



Private Water Sector Projects in India, June 2010

Part III: Database of Water Sector Reforms projects in India. These reforms are being undertaken in various states of India, initiated as part of World Bank and / or Asian Development Bank loans, typically involve commercialisation and marketisation of the water sector, along with private sector participation.



Reforms Projects in Water Sector in India, June 2010

Part IV: Failed privatisation projects in water sector from various countries across the world.



Failed Privatisation Projects in WSS June 2010

What's New This Month From July 2009 onwards we have reduced the number of files in the database section, by doing away with the "What's New" file. From now onwards the updates would be incorporated in the main database files itself in the project update sections. We hope that this eases the effort it might have been taking for those who have been following these databases regularly.

We would like to clarify that these databases are not comprehensive, as data and information is not always easily available, though we are trying our best to seek and incorporate information about all such privatisation and reforms projects and programs.

We welcome and would be happy to receive information, feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas to improve these databases.

A Short Note on Private Water Supply Concession for Khandwa town

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-11-14T12:39:00Z

This preliminary note is based on the case study of the private water supply concession in a medium town in Madhya Pradesh, Khandwa, implemented under the central government supported Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme in Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). Under this private concession the water supply project for the town has been handed over to a private corporation, Vishwa Infrastructures and Services Pvt. Ltd., which has provided 10% share of the estimated project cost, the rest has been borne by the central and the state governments. In lieu of the investment of the 10% of the estimated project cost, the private corporation has been given the right to treat, distribute, rehabilitate water distribution lines and collect water bills from the residents. The draft of the first part of the study evaluating the project on technical, financial and governance aspects is ready for dissemination.

The study critically analyses the project on various aspects including the technical parameters, financial arrangement, operational issues, the often overlooked aspect of governance issues and the implications of privatisation on water supply and residents of this medium town.

Manthan has also initiated a process in the town for the discussions on the project, involving groups and people in the form of meetings and spreading awareness to critically question the rationale behind such a project which is executed without any public discussion and debate.

For the note (Hindi) please click on the following PDF link...


Issues in Khandwa WS Scheme

Checklists for Water Sector Reforms in India

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-11-10T07:52:18Z

Background

It has almost been two decade since structural adjustment and sector reform processes are being implemented in our country. Under these sectoral reforms, legal, institutional, financial and regulatory changes are also ongoing in the water sector. These reforms are being largely implemented under the influence of water sector loans provided by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The focus of such reforms is on financial sustainability and technocratic solutions to the existing problems in the water sector leaving out important issues like social obligations, resource conservation and environmental aspects. The idea is to increase profitability from the water sector operations be it from the drinking water or irrigation. It is also argued that to increase the profitability the state would have to move out of the roles and responsibilities of service delivery to the role of the facilitator. The role of the service deliverer is to be handled by the private operators who it is argued would be able to deliver better, efficient and competitive services. Moving towards this under these reforms, many states in India have now passed the Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) Act and have initiated the process to form Water Regulatory Authorities. The concept of full cost recovery is a major step towards moving in the direction of financial sustainability.

Need for A Checklist

Manthan has been studying and monitoring the water sector reforms that are on-going in various states in India since quite some time. We also maintain a database of status of water sector reforms in different states in India, available on our website www.manthan-india.org. The understanding of reforms though, as of now is still very basic and theoretical and to take this further and to evaluate process and progress of water sector reforms at the grass-roots, on the ground and on the people, a checklist of the issues has been drafted. The basic idea behind Water Sector Reforms: A Checklist (Part I) is to bring in experiences, evidence, information and data on the reforms processes from various parts of the country. Primarily, the checklist needs to be comprehensive to cover and include all the issues related to water sector reforms, however minute to build our understanding of the reforms processes as they stand today. In the current draft version of the checklist we have tried to include almost all the issues that we know off through our experience and it is quite possible that we might have missed quite a few here. The expectation from this checklist is that it will help us to learn from the many individuals/ groups working in different parts of the country about the ongoing reforms processes.

Generally it has been noticed that implementation of water sector reforms is moving at such a pace that it is difficult for the people to realise and understand the kind of reforms processes that have been initiated in their regions and which would have long-term impacts on various aspects related to a vital, natural and common resource like water.

The Checklist (Part I) is attached with this note for your valuable comments/ suggestions on the issues included, questions based on these issues, quality of the content, the issues that we might have missed out, the framing of the questions, any other information that we need to include in this, etc to make it simpler and more comprehensive. With this checklist, the effort is to pinpoint issues in simple form and to frame questions based on a Yes/No format to reach the larger communities.

Further Plan

We also believe that from this checklist (Part I) with the better understanding of the IFIs driven reforms processes, we would be able to take it further to the real issues that need to be addressed to overcome the problems in the water sector. It would be of immense significance to explore that besides understanding the current happenings in the water sector, what are the other significant issues that need attention but have been neglected or are not done in the entire process of so-called reforms? For example under current reforms in the water sector emphasis is given on full cost recovery but not on the real needs like service delivery, demand side management, resource conservation, improving access, equity, right to water, etc. The idea is to expand this checklist in the next part (Part II) to bring out the real reforms that are required in the water sector to improve access, availability and affordability of water for drinking and irrigation.

Please also provide your comments/ suggestions/ ideas regarding issues that should be included in the both Checklists (Part I) and (Part II) so that we can incorporate them in these checklists in future.

For the English and Hindi versions of the checklists please click on the following PDF icons....


Checklist Part I English


Checklist Part I Hindi

India Country Brief for Water Sector, 2009

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-11-09T11:05:21Z

India Country Brief for Water Sector – Prepared to be distributed as conference material during the JS-APMDD conference in Bangkok on Climate Justice and Alternatives to Water and Power sector privatisation, September – October 2009

Manthan has been partnering with Jubilee South – Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD) on water privatisation and reforms issues regularly in Asia. This includes writing and updating India Country Brief for water sector privatisation and reforms briefing to be used and distributed during their annual conferences on debt, development, climate justice and alternatives.

Manthan team members have been regularly involved in participating, as resource persons for presentations and also in preparing country briefs for the JS-APMDD conferences.

The country brief provides a bird's eye view of the privatisation and reforms processes in the country. This brief includes various stages and aspects related to privatisation efforts in the country including status of privatisation and reforms projects in the country, role of the governments and international financial institutions, changes in laws and policies that have been brought about to facilitate private participation, involvement of private corporations, impacts of privatisation and the campaigns, movements and alternatives against the privatisation efforts.


India Country Brief Water Sector 2009

Madhya Pradesh State Water Policy

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-08-28T07:55:15Z

To download the State Water Policy of the state of Madhya Pradesh, please click on the following PDF link...


Madhya Pradesh State Water Policy

Uttar Pradesh Water Management and Regulatory Commission Act, 2008

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-05-02T07:35:51Z

The Uttar Pradesh Water Management and Regulatory Commission Act was passed by the UP State assembly on August 28, 2008 "to provide the establishment of the Uttar Pradesh Water Management and Regulatory Commission to regulate water resources within the State, facilitate and ensure judicious, equitable and sustainable management, allocation and optimal utilization of water resources for environmentally, economically sustainable development of the State , fix the rates for water use for agriculture, industrial, drinking, power and other purposes and cess on lands benefited by flood protection and drainage works from the owners of lands benefited through appropriate regulatory instruments according to State Water Policy and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto". For a copy of the Act in English or Hindi, please click on the following PDF files...


UPWMRC Act, 2008 English


UPWMRC Act, 2008 Hindi

Mountains of Concrete: Dam Building in the Himalayas

Manthan Adhyayan Kendra — 2009-02-07T07:36:12Z

Mountains of Concrete is the first report which analyzes dam building in the Himalayas in an integrated manner. Published by International Rivers, the report was written by Shripad Dharmadhikary, one of South Asia's foremost water and energy experts.

For more details, please click on the following link...http://internationalrivers.org/en/node/3606

For downloading the full report, please click on the following link...http://internationalrivers.org/files/IR_Himalayas_rev.pdf