ABSTRACT
As emphasized at the outset, the GBM faces a tremendous development challenge in which the environment will have to be transformed on a large scale. This applies to all vectors of the environment but particularly to water, which is the focus of the study. Studies of future policies of the GBM basin, of which the largest component is India, have not been made so far. A recent study for the water resources of the entire country, as one unit, has been carried out by the National Commission of Integrated Water Resources Development Plan (NCIWRDP, 1999) to formulate policy decisions. It will be studied briefly, as the GBM constitutes the dominant river basin in India and the policy decisions have particular relevance to the GBM basin. The official studies are essentially technologically-oriented, and they do not bring out the real-life challenges of societal water needs and perspectives. It will therefore be presented first and then undertake the study of the NCIWRDP (1999) in their perspective. The focus is on India, but it will apply to all the riparian countries. The study is confined to the current perspective of technological development. It will be shown in Chapter 12 that an entirely revolutionary technology can be developed, which will transform the water scene.
