ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question: How does the evolution and current state of water governance in India address current water problems and pre-empt future water challenges? It identifies the key problems India faces, and presents eight elements that water governance may need to address. It describes the history of India’s water governance focusing on the post-1970 period. It then analyses the history in relation to water challenges before drawing some conclusions. This chapter concludes that instead of incrementally developing the water system, the government could perhaps think of what kind of a water world India would like to live in 2030 or 2050 given the national to global pressures on the system and backcast to the present. The current comprehensive water strategy is far from being comprehensive and is likely to be out-of-date even before it has actually entered into force.
