The politics of water.

Krishnamurthy, Chandra Kiran B.

The Politics of Water Resource Development in India: The Narmada Dams Controversy

John R. Wood

(New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2007), 284 pages.

This wide-ranging, detailed and analytical book attempts to embed an analysis of the controversy over the systems of dams on the Narmada River into a narrative of the politics of water infrastructure development in India. In doing so, the book views the Narmada Dams controversy through the lens of the politics of water resources development. The book manages to successfully address these two overlapping and involved topics through the use of the narrative style. The outcome--however tedious at times due to excessive detail--is ultimately compelling. However, the work lacks analytical depth, as the analytical portions are neither coherent nor comprehensive. While the necessary analytical framework is developed early on, it is never elaborated upon and is not utilized to answer the book's central questions.

The book's central questions revolve around the context and genesis of the dispute over the projects on the Narmada River, the politicization of the dispute and the principal actors involved in the dispute. The role of institutions governing federal-state interactions pertaining to water issues are also analyzed in detail.

The first three chapters, which are organized thematically, provide the necessary background and context for the issue at hand. In contrast, events in later chapters are recounted chronologically, with discussions of the causes and contexts provided for each significant event.

An understanding of the nature and evolution of the Narmada dispute requires some background on three distinct and interrelated political issues: water development policy in newly independent India and its historical context, the evolution of center-state relations and seemingly extraneous government policies. For instance, the Department of Environment and the Forest Conservation Act in 1980 both had significant impacts on water issues in India.

With the aim of elucidating the roles of the three political issues mentioned above, the early chapters investigate the political-legal background and the evolution of the dispute. Chapter Three provides an overview of the various policy and political elements involved in decisionmaking on water policy, including the level at which water-related infrastructure decisions are made and implemented. Case studies of specific projects on various interstate rivers are used to buttress the argument that such projects have either begun by being political or have become political as the result of water scarcity or with changes in the political landscape.

Chapter Four then goes into detail on the genesis of the Narmada projects, focusing specifically on the height of the terminal dam of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), the source of much of the controversy. (1) This discussion includes details on the causes for an increase in the scope and size of the various dams proposed, the increasing ambition of the planners and the historical context for these--recurring drought and famine in the 1960s and war on the western border in 1965. The objectives of the Narmada projects--to supply irrigation and drinking water to the drier and drought-prone parts of Gujarat (later extended to equally dry Rajasthan) and to supply hydroelectric power to all three riparian states (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra)--were themselves never disputed. Disagreements arose between the riparian states about the height of the terminal dam--which would determine the reach of the water as well as the submergence of land upstream--and on the apportioning of the costs of relocation of the oustees. (2)

The exceptional nature of the Narmada dispute is emphasized. In particular, the lack of economic and political power of the upstream state, Madhya Pradesh, as well as the capacity to use water meant that the needs of the downstream state, Gujarat, were always favored. Gujarat was allotted a share of water disproportionate to the basin drainage in that state and a dam of larger height than other states desired. Further, while the dam would have been built in Gujarat, submergence of land and displacement of people would be greatest in Madhya Pradesh. Thus, alternative projects more favorable to Madhva Pradesh would not have been feasible.

The book's detailed analysis of the legal framework of interstate river water disputes, and the analysis of the work of the tribunal set up for the purpose of addressing the Narmada dispute, brings out two important points; namely, the need to balance the rights of the states and the total absence of any consideration of environmental or human impacts of the project, apart from issues related to oustee compensation. (3) Thus, the central issue in the Narmada projects revolves around a balancing of the costs and benefits to each of the states involved. The crux of the tribunal's judgment and its implications for each participant are clearly analyzed. (4) The end result that the largest beneficiary, Gujarat, also bore the largest part of the cost was seen, on the whole, as equitable by all the states involved. Further, it also revealed the fact that the tribunal's judgment categorically stated that the progress of the construction would be conditional on the satisfactory relocation of the oustees. The narrative here is rather tedious as there is much overlap in the material. Instead of providing a succinct summary of the politics and the policies, there is a confusion of details interspersed with occasional analysis.

The next and most international phase of nonviolent, nongovernmental organization-driven (NGO) opposition to the dams, especially the SSP, was based on humanitarian and environmental considerations. The book approaches such opposition from various perspectives, including the context of the evolution of the NGOs involved, the haphazard and arbitrary nature of identification and compensation of oustees, and the lack of serious analyses of the environmental impacts. The narrative stresses that this phase of the dispute was entirely based on a concern for the rights of the oustees and the environmental costs of large-scale projects, with the disputants being the NGO-backed oustees and the state of Gujarat. Other riparian states maintained varied positions and policies.

Finally, this part of the narrative indicates that the reason the issues raised by the NGOs--namely, the right to consultation and a full cost-benefit accounting of large projects--resonated with the public is that these issues touched upon fundamental development policy matters in India. While this section includes much material pertinent to an understanding of this phase of the Narmada dispute, it suffers from the same overabundance of detail afflicting previous parts of the book. In this case, the author obscures his main point by providing more information on the political background of NGOs than is necessary for an understanding of the Narmada dispute or even the politics of water policy, in India.

The implications of the internationalization of the dispute, through the pressure of international NGOs on the World Bank, are dealt with at length. The unprecedented appointment of an independent review panel by the World Bank results in recommendations of an almost dismissive tone regarding ameliorative measures undertaken by the states. The causes for the rejection of this report by all levels of Indian government--state and central--along with the implications of the rejection are analyzed. The resultant withdrawal of World Bank funding is also seen to have significantly weakened the NGOs' position.

The final act in the Narmada dispute--an appeal by the leading NGO, Narmada Bachao Andolan, to the Supreme Court for justice for the oustees and the environment--raises issues tangential to the issue of water resource development, such as the iudicial perspective on the status of public interest litigation. (5) An analysis of the decision, five years in the making, indicates the crux to be a reiteration that the judiciary is not responsible for making or managing policy, a conditional approval for proceeding with the work on all the dams or a refusal to nullify or even to alter the award of the Narmada Water Disputes Tibunal. The judgment is credited with having settled the Narmada project's contentious elements and with the rejection of all pleas for the project to be dismantled.

The Narmada project, even if fully successful, would by no means solve all of the water-related problems of the drier parts in Gujarat. The book, therefore, investigates various ways of managing existing water supplies, increasing the participation of farmers and recharging aquifers. Case studies of specific projects in Guiarat illustrate the complexity of the issue, both in terms of politics and technical matters.

Finally, the author presents concluding comments on the evolution of water resource policy and of the impact of further politicization. The conclusions are surprisingly general. After such a comprehensive overview of the issues involved, one would have anticipated a concluding chapter that collected the various analytical strands from the earlier narrative to produce a prognostication. However, it is merely pointed out that "...[India's] water politics is a highly diverse and continually changing challenge. Meeting the challenge will require strong institutions, a will to cooperate and a determination to be just." (6) This follows after generalities on the necessity of tribunals to be politically sensitive of top-down approaches being complemented by bottom-up ones and cooperation between NGOs and government. Unexceptionable as general principles and widely known, these theories do not provide any insight into the future. The book is conspicuously silent on the issue of the evolution of the political structure at the state level.

On the whole, the book suffers from three distinct flaws: omission of important topics, overabundance of incidental details and lack of breadth of analysis. Vital facts are either omitted or mentioned in passing, while tangential specifics are treated in depth. For instance, while the book focuses on the trade-off between costs and benefits, there is no mention of the overall cost of the project for the three states involved. In fact, it is only in the epilogue that the fact that the "Gujarat government had thus far spent Rs 21,411.81 crore ($ 4.8 billion)" on Narmada-related projects is revealed. (7) Except for a very brief and vague mention, specifics on actual or potential environmental impacts are never provided, but much is made of recommendations of the independent review report on the inadequacy of assessment of the environmental impact. (8) In contrast, parts of the book dealing with the award of the Narmada Water Disputes Tibunal or the Supreme Court judgment provide an overabundance of incidental detail.

It is also curious that, while asserting a link between water scarcity and its politicization, there is no mention of the altering political landscape at the state level. For instance, the rise of chauvinism, populist politics and a fragmented polity are not mentioned, despite the fact that they directly impact the possibility of quick settlements regarding the sharing of interstate river waters. This context of increased politicization, in the absence of independent institutions, could very well lead to more conflicts. Indeed, it is pointed out that while the Narmada dispute was resolved for the most part, most of the interstate river water disputes, many of which are of an earlier date, have not been resolved, mainly due to the political and legal issues involved in ensuring implementation of the tribunal awards by the states involved. (9)

Surprisingly, the future of the politics of water is left unanswered, despite scattered references to its centrality: "But my central argument, that the result of conflicts like Narmada depends on the configuration, weight and determination of the political forces ... still holds." (10) Thus, the lack of analysis of the evolution of politics at the state level and its implications for future water crises is a major analytical lacuna. Such omission is inexplicable in a book dealing explicitly with the politics of water resource development.

In sum, the book presents a wide-ranging and broad analysis of the evolution of the Narmada dispute, overlaying national and state-level politics and drawing together literature from disparate disciplines. Further, the book not only presents a very dispassionate analysis of the diverse and, in many cases, polar opinions of different political actors, but also provides motivations for such opinions.

While the book's context is India, the conclusion that the politicization of water resource disputes is invariable is likely applicable in many other contexts of development of scarce water resources and across multiple intranational political jurisdictions and disparate stakeholders in other developing nations. The book's narrative on the invariable politicization of such disputes points to the necessity of recognizing the centrality of political issues and of creatively addressing them in a consistent political-legal framework.

NOTES

(1) Narmada is the largest of the rivers flowing through the arid parts of West-Central India; the river originates in Madhya Pradesh, in Central India, and flows through Maharashtra and Gujarat before reaching the Arabian Sea. The height of the dam was finally decided to be 455 feet, or 138.7 meters.

(2) People subject to involuntary displacement due to the project are termed oustees.

(3) A dispute settlement tribunal is a quasi-judicial body, composed of sitting or former judges, to go into a detailed analysis of the case and pronounce a judgment which has the same force as a judicial pronouncement; in general, it also has wide latitude in defining the issue. The particular one here was called the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT).

(4) The judgments of such tribunals are also called awards.

(5) Narmada Bachao Andolan ("Save Narmada Campaign") is an NGO synonymous with anti-dam activity today. In many senses similar to the concept of a class-action suit, and used mostly to challenge the omissions and commissions of governmental entities or even governments itself, the judiciary has wide latitude in deciding upon the admissibility of any such plea.

(6) John R. Wood, The Politics of Water Resource Development in India: The Narmada Dams Controversy (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2007), 242.

(7) Ibid., 250.

(8) Ibid., 47-48, 155, 181.

(9) Ibid., 248-249.

(10) Ibid., 240.