ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the newly formulated Draft State Water Policy (DSWP) of 2007, with its pro-commercialisation thrust, has become a point of contestation in Assam. The DSWP was prepared by the Assam Science Technology and Environmental Council (ASTEC) on behalf of the Water Resources Department of the Government of Assam. The civil society in Assam participated in the debates and discussions on the DSWP with considerable amount of interest and vigour. The civil society organisations from the urban areas representing mainly the poor and lower middle class also strongly articulated their concerns regarding introduction of water meter, the provision of progressive tariffs on the use of water and so on. In March 2012, the Assam government got the Assam Ground Water Control and Regulation Act 2012 enacted in the State Assembly with the objective of regulating and controlling the use of groundwater in the State, which is depleting in many parts of Assam, mainly because of over exploitation.
