Gujarat Water Governance Model: Lessons For Global South

Gujarat’s Water Governance Model And Lessons For Global South

Source:  Indian Express
GS II: Governance, Government policies and interventions, decentralization and people’s participation, International Relations- India’s development partnership and its role in the Global South, GS III: Environment, water resources, conservation, sustainable development and climate resilience.

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Why in the News?

The India International Water Week highlighted India’s experience in building climate-resilient and community-oriented water governance. A recent case study on Gujarat’s water reforms shows how political leadership, institutional reforms and community participation can offer lessons for other countries in the Global South.

News in Brief

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• India has implemented large-scale programmes for water conservation, river rejuvenation, drinking water access, sanitation and groundwater management.
• Gujarat’s experience from 2001–2014 acted as a laboratory for several reforms later expanded nationally after 2014.
• The case study identifies four lessons: lead with governance, integrate water resources with services, involve communities, and build for scale.
• India’s experience suggests that water security depends not only on infrastructure but also on institutions, financing, political leadership and local participation.

Gujarat as a Water-Governance Model

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• Gujarat’s water reforms between 2001 and 2014 provided a foundation for several initiatives later implemented at the national level.
• These include;
  • Swachh Bharat Mission
  • Jal Jeevan Mission
  • Jal Shakti Abhiyan
  • Namami Gange
  • Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY)
  • Per Drop More Crop (PDMC)
• The case study, From Gujarat to India: Water Lessons for the World, examines water-governance reforms in Gujarat and India from 2001 to 2026.
• Its central argument is that water security is as much a governance and institutional challenge as an engineering challenge.

Four Key Lessons

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Lead with governance

• Political commitment and institutional strengthening are essential; infrastructure alone cannot ensure water security.
• India’s experience demonstrates the importance of sustained political leadership and institutional capacity in translating water priorities into large-scale programmes.

Manage water resources and services together

• Water availability and water delivery must be planned together.
• Building taps, canals and pipelines is insufficient if the underlying water resources are not sustainable.
• This integrated approach is particularly important as urbanisation, industrialisation and irrigation demand increase.

Root action in communities

• Local communities need to participate in water management and decision-making.
• Examples include;
  • Pani Samitis for local water governance.
  • Community-led groundwater management.
  • Village-level water security plans.
  • Community efforts towards open-defecation-free villages.
• Effective local institutions can improve both the quality and sustainability of water services.

Build for scale from the beginning

• Water programmes need to be designed with the capacity to expand across regions.
• India’s experience shows that political commitment, financing, institutional capacity and community participation can help take water-governance reforms from local experiments to national programmes.

The  4 P’s Framework

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The 4 P’s articulated  through the Delhi Declaration of October 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres;

• Political leadership – making water a sustained policy priority.
• Public financing – mobilizing public and private finance for water infrastructure and services.
• Partnerships – cooperation among national, state and local governments, civil society, knowledge organizations and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.
• People’s participation – involving communities in local water decisions and management.

The framework can be adapted to different geographical and institutional contexts.

Water Resource Management and Service Delivery

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• Water governance must address both resource sustainability and service delivery.
• For instance, providing household taps is meaningful only when there is a reliable and sustainable source of water.
• Many African cities are experiencing rapid urbanisation, while industrial and irrigation demand is also expected to rise.
• Therefore, planning water resources and services together can reduce future risks and costs.
• It also stresses importance of water reuse, particularly for non-potable purposes such as planned data centres and semiconductor manufacturing.
• In India, the annual market revenue from the sale of treated used water is projected to reach around ₹73,000 crore by 2047, at current prices.

Community Ownership and Local Institutions

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• Water access gains greater momentum when communities have effective local institutions.
• India’s Pani Samitis illustrate how local governance can combine community participation, reliable infrastructure, local resources, external technical and financial support.
• Gujarat’s experience also includes water conservation, rainwater harvesting and recharge programmes.
• The Chintan Shivir process during 2008–2014 helped bring stakeholders together, prioritise water governance and develop solutions aligned with community needs.
• A similar consultative approach has subsequently been used at the national level, including the Departmental Summit on Water Governance organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2026.

Water Governance and Economic Transformation

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• Water planning must anticipate future economic and demographic changes.
• As cities grow and industrial activity expands, demand for water will increase.
• Integrating resource planning with service delivery from the beginning is therefore cheaper and more effective than retrofitting systems later.
• Water reuse can also reduce pressure on freshwater resources, especially for industries with large non-potable water requirements.

Going Big and Scaling Up

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• The UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) seeks universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation and sustainable management of water resources, ecosystems and used water by 2030.
• Achieving this scale may require an additional $500 billion in annual investment.
• The challenge is therefore not limited to constructing infrastructure. Governments also need investment in:
  • Water-governance reforms
  • Infrastructure
  • Data collection
  • Operation and maintenance
  • Institutional capacity
  • Climate-resilient water systems
• India’s experience demonstrates that large-scale implementation requires political will, financing and strong institutions working together.

Significance for the Global South

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• India’s experience is relevant to developing countries facing similar challenges of:
  • Water scarcity
  • Rapid urbanization
  • Groundwater depletion
  • Climate change
  • Rising industrial demand
  • Inadequate water infrastructure
  • Limited institutional capacity
• The Gujarat model suggests that local experimentation, strong institutions and community participation can be combined with national-level financing and political leadership.

Conclusion

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India’s experience shows that water security requires more than infrastructure. Strong institutions, community participation, efficient resource management and sustainable water-use practices are essential for building resilient and inclusive water systems, offering useful lessons for the wider Global South.

UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice Question

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Consider the following statements regarding India’s water-governance approach:

1. The “4 Ps” framework emphasises political leadership, financing, partnerships and people’s participation.
2. Pani Samitis represent an approach based on local community participation in water governance.
3. SDG 6 is concerned exclusively with access to drinking water and does not cover sanitation or water-resource management.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 and 2 only

B) 2 and 3 only

C) 1 and 3 only

D) 1,2 and 3

Mains Practice Question

Q) Water security is not merely an infrastructure challenge but also a governance challenge. Discuss the lessons from India’s water-governance experience for countries of the  Global South. ( 250 words)

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