• ISBN13: 9780761936251
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Earth-Science/Environment
• Publisher: Sage Publications
• Publisher Imprint: SAGE India
• Publication Date: July 15, 2008
• Pages: 488
• Original Price: 1045.0 INR
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 671 grams

This book outlines the contemporary issues and challenges that confront both the nations and the communities of the South Asian region, particularly India, where control over water has always been a symbol of social and political power. It explores the adequacy of the competing and/or complementary explanations for these daunting challenges of envisioning water management in one of the most densely populated parts of the world with a long history of water control.

Water First: Issues and Challenges for Nations and Communities in South Asia brings together cutting edge interdisciplinary perspectives from renowned scholars on the histories, politics, ecologies and cultures of water. Through a rich offering of case studies and local examples, it elaborates on current water management practices, the passions and complexities that these practices have inspired, and the policies that have impacted the patterns of water use. The book shall hold great interest for policy makers, social scientists, students, research bodies and organizations, and national and international development and donor agencies.

Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt has been closely associated with local level movements working on water and related environmental issues in West Bengal, India. Trained as a human geographer from Calcutta University, Kuntala has researched water and society in Lower Damodar Valley region. She has been a member of SAARC Track III water initiatives and been a resource person for Panos Institute’s flood enquiry. Kuntala has set up a Gender Water Network (see http: //www.rspas.anu.edu.au/gwn), and is a member of the Steering Committee of Gender Water Alliance. She has written widely about water resources, and has guest edited ‘Water for People’ special issue (51.1) of the journal Development. Kuntala teaches and conducts research also on community development in mining areas and has authored several papers and books. Her recent publications include the edited volume Fluid Bonds: Views on Gender and Water, Stree, Kolkata, 2006. Kuntala is currently a Fellow at the Resource Management in Asia Pacific Program at The Australian National University.