Changing Behaviour for
Better Water Management
The
South Asian sub-continent has the Brahmaputra river flowing through
Tibet into the Bay of Bengal via Assam. The Ganges flows from Nepal to
India and becomes Meghna downstream before flowing through Bangladesh in
the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges delta thus formed with 400 million people
is the world's largest delta. These are vast and highly-fertile
sediment-laden areas. Both these rivers constitute the GBM basin of an
area of over 1.7 million km2. India is a major stakeholder in the usage
of both these rivers as a major portion of them are present in the
Indian territory with 79% of the Ganges in India and 36% of the
Brahmaputra. But the whole region is facing a common threat. Climate
change does not respect borders. Climate change induced disasters such
as cyclones, floods, sea level rise or drought are trans-border shocks.
This added to the existing geopolitical and environmental pressures
poses a great threat to the water security of this region.
Studies show that water availability
influences behaviours very strongly. Cross-boundary rivers such as the
ones in the basin are a central concern of water security to the
countries they pass through.1 These can make countries engage in
conflict oriented or cooperative behaviour based on the relative water
scarcity that is created due to variability of water flows. It also
affects the water resources sharing in rivers in the future. The
solution for such a threat is a cooperative combined solution. But the
GBM basin is shared between nations that do not have equal power status.
The geopolitics of these nations focus on bilateral solutions rather
than a basin wide management. The GBM basin has been always framed as an
issue of geopolitics, involved with processes of system or power games
rather than a social issue concerned with human needs, values and life.
The river resources should be seen as a
whole taking a basin approach as the GBM ecosystem is inter-country. If
civil societies using a climate lens on water governance and
hydro-diplomacy push for enhancing cooperation for resource efficiency,
they can help meet increasing energy, food and water needs of these
fast-growing economies. Behaviour change communication helps develop and
promote positive behaviours which are appropriate to the context of an
issue that a community faces. It is important to assess to what extent
behaviour based water conservation programmes improve trans-boundary and
community led watershed management. These are new opportunities that can
be tapped into by looking at behaviour based water conservation as a
result of improved information sharing beyond the borders.
It is important that the subnational and
national governments rather than focusing on relief packages, push for
more integrated water management and trans-boundary cooperation. A
complete change of outlook and behaviour is required for addressing
water security in the GBM basin. Our vision for good water governance
should start from looking at the GBM basin and its rivers as a combined
ecosystem rather than just a water resource. Integrated planning and
management of sectors such as water, energy, land, forest, ecosystems
and agriculture would help transcend national boundaries. And further,
in order to effectively improve trans-boundary water dialogue over the
GBM basin, we must improve the way communities perceive river water
management. This has to be followed up by improving capacities of
officials/ diplomats engaging in the issue. Climate challenge would also
be addressed adequately by taking maintenance of trans-boundary
ecosystems as a starting point.
Development Alternative has years of
experience in sustainable integrated watershed management and changing
behaviours to improve community led water management. It is crucial to
push for an effective dialogue over the management of rivers in the GBM
basin for promoting economic and social development through equitable
and reasonable utilisation based on consensus and active people's
cooperation at all levels of the government. ■
Syed A A Farhan
Sishaqi@devalt.org
Endnotes
1http://publish.illinois.edu/shummel/files/2014/08/Waterscarcity16-08-24.pdf.
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