ABSTRACT
Improving and maintaining water security is widely recognised as a major challenge to India’s continued economic and social development (Wyrwoll 2012). Groundwater, in particular, is a critical resource in India because it accounts for over 65 percent of irrigation water and 85 percent of drinking water supplies (World Bank 2010). However, overexploitation of aquifers, primarily as a source of water for irrigation, is widespread across India even in areas that are well-endowed with water resources. Other major concerns include: lack of effective operation, maintenance and management of water supply infrastructure, and reliance on engineering solutions to water problems of any scale. The net result is that, in many areas and for many users, levels of water security are declining despite heavy public and private investment in water-supply infrastructure. Increasingly, water professionals are of the view that the era of further water development might be over, and from now on, the only way India can improve its water security is by focusing squarely on improving the management of water resources – for which the country has already built the necessary infrastructure (Shah and Lele 2011).
