The Nepal-India Water Relationship: Challenges

This book examines the important relationship that exists between Nepal and India in terms of water resources on many levels, from official to personal, technical to historical.

Since its establishment as a policy research institute in 1990, the Institute for In- grated Development Studies (IIDS) has been engaged in promoting public awa- ness and understanding of issues of national importance by undertaking studies and research on contemporary themes. It has been disseminating findings of its studies to policymakers in the public and private sectors and ultimately to the public at large. Water resources is one of the areas of strong public interest in Nepal. It is cons- ered a potent engine of economic growth. Its optimal use is dependent on, among other things, the cooperation among the riparian countries, especially India and Bangladesh. Water resources development is one of the subjects in which the Ins- tute has been engaged since its beginning by undertaking studies through national professionals and joint studies on the water resources of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river basins with policy research institutes from India and Bangladesh. In order to help policymakers to develop long-term perspectives of the need for cooperation for optimal use of water available in the tributaries of the Ganges, the Institute was involved in a major track-two exercise for over five years during the 1990s. The Institute has been undertaking a series of exercises in the form of p- lication and dissemination of study findings in the field since the early 1990's. In that series, this book is the latest one and is published in collaboration with Springer Science + Business Media BV, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Nepalese professional perspective on Nepal-India water relationship Historical perspective and evaluation of relationship Exhaustive coverage from inundation to hydropower to India river linking Personal reflection of those involved in development of Nepal-India water relationship Non-governmental policy input on Nepal-India water relationship

Klappentext

Unless they are torn apart by tectonic action, Nepal and India have to live and engage with each other in many spheres: social, economic and political. Of all the engagements the two countries have to deal with, the issue of water resources is the most important and at the same time a very sensitive issue, because water is the most important natural resource that Nepal possesses, although most of it has yet to be exploited. The size and topography of Nepal are such that the three countries of the Indian sub-continent, Nepal, India and Bangladesh, could benefit immensly, if Nepal's 6,000 rivers are harnessed optimally.

There are both people-to-people and official aspects to the water resources relationship between Nepal and India, the former existing from time immemorial and the latter since at least the time of British India, as set down in a number of treaties.

The 11 chapters that make up this monograph provide a masterly guide to the entire spectrum of water resources relationship between Nepal and India: historical perspective, economic and development issues, flooding, hydropower and energy trading, seaport access via canals and waterways and personal reflections of the power interplay between the countries and an epilogue.

Audience: This book will be of interest to researchers and scientists, professionals and policymakers in water resources management and environmental science, conservation policy and development research.

Inhalt
Historical Eye View.- Multi-purpose Projects.- Water Resources Utilisation: Irrigation.- Hydropower Development.- Power Trading.- Access to Sea: Kosi Canal Waterway.- River-Linking Concept of India Viewed from the Nepalese Perspective.- Personal Reflections: Nepal-India Water Relations.- Inundation at the Southern Border.- Epilogue (Re-imagining Nepal's Water: Institutional Blind Spots, Developmental Blind Alleys and the Lessons of the Century Past).