Context: The 9th India International Water Week, held in New Delhi under the theme of climate-resilient water management, highlighted India's growing experience in water governance.
- India has moved from being primarily exposed to floods, droughts and water-access challenges to implementing some of the world's largest programmes for drinking water, sanitation, river rejuvenation, groundwater management and community-led conservation.
- Many national water and sanitation reforms after 2014 drew lessons from Gujarat's water-governance initiatives during 2001–14, making the State's experience potentially relevant to other Global South countries.
Gujarat as a Water-Governance Laboratory
- Gujarat's initiatives during 2001–14 provided lessons subsequently reflected in programmes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Namami Gange, Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) and Per Drop More Crop (PDMC).
- A 25-year study, “From Gujarat to India: Water Lessons for the World”, examines water-governance reforms in Gujarat and India between 2001 and 2026.
- Its central finding is that water insecurity is as much a governance and institutional challenge as an engineering challenge.
- The experience is distilled into four principles (“4 Ps”) relevant to water governance in other Global South countries.
1. Lead with Governance, Not Only Infrastructure
- Water security requires political commitment, institutional strengthening and governance reforms, rather than merely building physical infrastructure.
- India's framework for water-sector action was articulated through the “4 Ps” approach, associated with the Delhi Declaration of 2018.
- Political leadership can help prioritise water across programmes ranging from universal tap-water access and river cleaning to groundwater management and water conservation.
- Governance reform should therefore accompany investment in dams, pipelines, treatment facilities and other infrastructure.
2. Enable Public and Private Financing
- Sustainable water governance requires predictable financing for both capital expenditure and recurring operation and maintenance costs.
- Governments should mobilise public resources while creating conditions for appropriate private-sector participation and financing.
- Partnerships should extend across Union, State and local governments, community organisations, national and international knowledge institutions and multilateral development banks such as the World Bank.
- Financing water systems must therefore cover not merely their construction but also their long-term functionality and maintenance.
3. Ensure People's Participation
- Community participation should extend beyond consultation to local decision-making and management of water resources.
- Examples include communities resolving water-management disputes and preparing village-level water-security plans.
- Programmes such as Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain illustrate the role of public mobilisation and behavioural communication in water conservation.
- Local institutions such as Pani Samitis can strengthen community ownership and improve the sustainability of rural water systems.
4. Plan for Scale from the Beginning
- Water programmes should be designed so that successful interventions can be expanded across regions and populations, rather than remaining isolated pilots.
- Gujarat's water-governance experience during 2001–14 demonstrated how stakeholder coordination and actionable policy design could subsequently inform larger national initiatives.
- Scaling requires institutional capacity, financing, implementation mechanisms and coordination across different levels of government.
Managing Water Resources and Services Together
- Expanding taps and canals is insufficient if the underlying water sources themselves become depleted or unreliable.
- Water-resource development and water-service delivery must therefore be planned simultaneously.
- This is particularly important because rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and irrigation demand are increasing pressure on available water.
- Forward planning for water reuse, especially for non-potable purposes such as data centres and semiconductor manufacturing, can reduce freshwater stress.
- India already has a developing market for treated wastewater; annual revenue from its sale was estimated at around ₹73,000 crore in 2047 at current prices.
Community Ownership and Pani Samitis
- Sustainable water access improves when communities possess effective local institutions capable of managing infrastructure and services.
- Pani Samitis/Village Water and Sanitation Committees provide a mechanism for community participation in planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of local water systems.
- Such institutions can complement government financing and technical support by creating local accountability and ownership.
- Community-based water conservation, harvesting and groundwater-recharge programmes demonstrate the importance of connecting governance across national, State and local levels.
Why India's Model Matters for the Global South
- Many Global South countries face a combination of rapid urbanisation, climate vulnerability, growing industrial demand and limited institutional and financial capacity.
- India's experience suggests that large-scale water reforms require an integrated combination of political leadership, financing, institutions and community participation.
- The model emphasises adaptation rather than mechanical replication, since water governance must reflect each country's ecological, institutional and social context.
Global Water Challenge and SDG 6
- The world is off track to achieve SDG 6, which seeks availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
- Sustainable management of water resources, wastewater and ecosystems remains a major challenge towards 2030.
- Estimates cited in the article suggest an additional $500 billion in annual investment may be required globally.
- Governments therefore need to accelerate governance reforms, infrastructure investment, data collection and maintenance of water systems.
Major Indian Water Initiatives
- Jal Jeevan Mission: Seeks functional household tap-water connections and strengthened community management of rural drinking-water systems.
- Atal Bhujal Yojana: Focuses on improving groundwater management through community participation in water-stressed areas.
- Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain: Promotes rainwater harvesting and conservation with the idea of capturing rain “where it falls, when it falls.”
- Namami Gange: Integrated programme for pollution abatement, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga.
- Per Drop More Crop: Promotes improved water-use efficiency in agriculture, particularly through micro-irrigation.
- Swachh Bharat Mission: Links sanitation and behavioural change with broader objectives of public health and water security.
