From India to Global South, a Gujarat water-governance model

Why in the News

New Delhi has hosted the ninth India International Water Week on climate-resilient water management. A new case study says India’s reforms, first tested in Gujarat, offer the Global South (developing countries) four lessons: lead with governance, manage resource and service together, root action in communities, and build for scale.

What does the case study find about water security?

1. What water governance is: Water governance is the leaders, budgets, institutions and communities deciding how water is shared and maintained. Like a school, it needs teachers, not just a building.
2. The study: ‘From Gujarat to India: Water Lessons for the World’ traces water reforms from 2001 to 2026 using official data and practitioner consultations.
3. Central finding: Water security is as much a challenge of governance and institutions as of engineering.
4. Gujarat as laboratory: Gujarat’s initiatives from 2001 to 2014, under then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, piloted later national programmes:
   • Swachh Bharat Mission (sanitation) and Namami Gange (cleaning the Ganga);
   • Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) (household tap water) and Jal Shakti Abhiyan (water conservation);
   • Atal Bhujal Yojana (community groundwater management) and Per Drop More Crop (efficient farm irrigation).
5. The takeaway: India’s shift from suffering climate shocks to preparing for floods and droughts rests on institutions, not hardware.

What are the ‘4 Ps’ of leading with governance?

1. Delhi Declaration: The Prime Minister and the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General set out the ‘4 Ps’ in the Delhi Declaration of October 2018.
2. Political leadership: Leaders keep water a priority. Eg. Universal tap water and a cleaner Ganga.
3. Public financing: Public and private money funds both the capital costs of building systems and the recurring costs of running them.
4. Partnerships: Governments at all levels work with community groups, knowledge bodies and multilateral development banks (lenders owned by many countries) such as the World Bank.
5. People’s participation: Communities take local water decisions. Eg. Villages resolving to become open-defecation free or preparing village water security plans.

Why manage the water resource and the service together?

1. Source and supply linked: Taps and canals fail if water does not flow, so sources and services must be developed together.
2. Plan before demand: Fast-growing African cities will soon need more water, and planning now costs less than retrofitting.
3. Water reuse: Treated used water can meet non-potable (non-drinking) needs of data centres and semiconductor fabrication units.
4. Reuse market: India’s annual sales of treated used water are projected to reach about ₹73,000 crore by 2047, at current prices.

How do communities and scale complete the model?

1. Community ownership: Access improves where Pani Samitis (village water committees) run a reliable service with local funds and outside support.
2. Chintan Shivirs: Gujarat’s deliberation camps tied water policy to community needs. The Ministry of Jal Shakti repeated this through a Departmental Summit on Water in September 2026.
3. Global shortfall: The world is off track on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, safe water and sanitation for all. It needs about $500 billion more investment a year.
4. Scale shown by JJM: JJM’s nationwide rollout shows India can plan and deliver at scale.

Challenges

1. Fragmented institutions: The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for groundwater, the Central Water Commission (CWC) for surface water and local bodies overlap in function.
2. Low recycling: India treats and recycles only about 30% of its wastewater. Eg. Israel recycles about 90%.
3. Transferability: The model leans on top-level political priority, which weaker administrations struggle to replicate.

Way Forward

1. Unified water body: Merge CWC and CGWB functions into a National Water Commission, as the Mihir Shah Committee (2016) recommended.
2. Reuse mandates: States should make new data centres and factories use treated water for non-potable needs.
3. Funded village committees: Give Pani Samitis assured funds and power to levy user charges for upkeep.

Conclusion

India’s water gains came from treating water as a governance priority, not an engineering task alone. Its future depends on keeping taps flowing, recycling far more used water, and being adapted rather than copied abroad.

Water stress in India

1. Freshwater share: India has 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of its freshwater resources.
2. Falling availability: Per capita water availability has fallen to about 1,486 cubic metres a year, below the 1,700 cubic metre threshold of the Falkenmark Water Index.
3. People affected: Around 600 million people face high to extreme water stress.
4. Constitutional position: Water is a State subject under Entry 17 of the State List, subject to Union regulation of inter-State rivers under Entry 56 of the Union List.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026, GS1, 10 marks] “Water resources are both an asset and a source of conflict in South Asia.” Examine this statement giving examples.”