Former Union Power Minister Suresh Prabhu has called for brining in China also in the discourse of effective water management in South Asia. Pointing out that 30 percent of water sources in the world is Himalayas and many of the important river systems in Asia originate from China, Prabhu said China should be brought into water discourses in South Asia if we want to manage water better from the origin to the sea. Suresh Prabhu, Power Minister in the Vajpayee Government, was speaking after releasing two Reports – “Attitude Towards Water in India” published by Observer Research Foundation, Delhi and “Attitudes to Water in South Asia” published by Chatham House, United Kingdom. Pointing out that three important stake holders, India, Pakistan and China, are nuclear powers in the region, Prabhu said this makes all the more important for these stake-holders to be part of the water discourse in the region which is already water stressed and can lead to tensions over water issues. “So creating water security in the region is very important, especially because the Himalayan eco-system is vulnerable,” Prabhu said. ORF report “Attitude towards Water in India”, authored by Samir Saran, Sonali Mitra and Sarah Hassan, seeks to decode the diverse perspectives around water and rivers. It attempts to tease out the diversity in understanding of water challenges and difference in approaches to managing water across sectors, communities and geographies. “Clearly south Asian countries and peoples are preoccupied with domestic water issues/policies. If we can devolve governance to the level of the community, we could see river communities create optimal water sharing and management arrangements across national borders as well,” said Samir Saran. Stressing the need for devising a strong water management approach in India, the ORF Report points out the need for focussing on better coordination between relevant ministries dealing with water management, such as Ministry of Power, Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Agriculture. It says there is a need for strengthening the decision making capabilities of panchayat bodies in rural areas to address the centre-periphery gap. The report is the result of the Attitudes towards Water Project, undertaken by ORF in association with the Chatham House, UK, which undertook in-depth research based on 165 extensive interviews conducted with key stake-holders. The respondents, who are key decision-makers, government employees or policy experts, displayed a clear awareness of high priority water challenges for the country, and conceded that the gap between knowledge and implementation existed because of a lack of political will. Respondents also identified a lack of coordination and transparency among government organisations. (ANI)
