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Groundwater Socio-ecology
of Asia:
Governing a Colossal Anarchy
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Time, Date
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0930 -
1630 hours, 26th January 2003 |
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Panel
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R Sakthivadivel, M Mainuddin, Niranjan Pant, J C Marechal |
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Coordinators
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Tushaar
Shah and Aditi Mukherji |
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- Rapid growth of groundwater irrigation in South
Asia and North China plains has been at the heart of their
recent agrarian growth; but with growing problems of resource
depletion and/or deterioration, Asia's groundwater socio-ecology
is under siege. Much concern about the problems of groundwater
depletion, pollution and quality deterioration is fueled by
worries about their environmental consequences. These are
indeed serious; however, equally serious are their consequences
for the sustenance of agrarian economies and millions of rural
livelihoods that have come to precariously depend upon groundwater
irrigation, particularly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
China. Here, over the past 50 years, public investments and
donor funds have been showered over surface irrigation but
the bulk of its irrigation and agrarian growth have been delivered
by millions of small pumps and wells financed mostly through
private farmer investments. New analysis for Indian agriculture,
which suggests that in the recent decades, of the agricultural
productivity of a 'representative' (or typical) net sown hectare,
the portion contributed by groundwater irrigation is very
nearly twice contributed by surface irrigation. This analysis
has also shown that groundwater development has been spatially
dispersed and even whereas canal irrigation projects have
created small islands of affluence leaving large catchment
areas poor and deprived. It is not surprising then that while
canal irrigation projects are seldom seen as regional poverty
reduction interventions, providing access to groundwater irrigation
through pump subsidies or public tubewell programs has been
at the centre-stage of poverty reduction programs in South
Asia. The issue is: how long can this good run continue without
any mechanism for governing this colossus? What kind of governing
structures and mechanisms might help bring a modicum of order
in the functioning of this anarchic economy?
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Author(s) / Speaker(s)
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PPT
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Topic
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| Tushaar Shah/Aditi
Mukherji |
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Introduction
and Background |
| KC Roy |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater in Bangladesh |
| M
Mainuddin |
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Groundwater
Irrigation in Bangladesh: Tool for Poverty Alleviation or Cause
of Mass Poisoning? |
| Asad Qureshi
and Mujeeb Akhtar |
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Groundwater
Socio Ecology of Pakistan |
| Dhruba Pant
and Madhav Belbase |
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Socio-Ecological
Implications of Groundwater in Nepal |
| Bancha K Wanyuen |
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Groundwater
Irrigation in Thailand |
| Sachin Mardikar |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Maharashtra and Goa |
| Ranjan Mohapatra |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Orissa |
| Sithapati Rao |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Andhra Pradesh |
| K Someswara
Rao |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Karnataka |
| A V Karuthovian |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Tamil Nadu and Kerela |
| Hasrat Arjjumend |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Chattisgarh |
| Rajen P Rao |
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Socio Ecology
of Groundwater Irrigation in Gujarat |
| Shakeel Ahmed |
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Recent Research
in Weathered-Fractured Aquifers in Hard Rock Regions |
| J C Marechal |
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Groundwater
Budget and Modelling as Help-Decision Tools for Policy Makers |
| Panel Discussion |
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Identification
of Future Research Agenda |
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