Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security
In recent years, growing water insecurity in the Himalayan region has attracted new scientific research and fresh attention on policy. In this paper, we synthesize field research evidence from a sample of five Himalayan cities—three in Nepal and two in the western Indian Himalayas̵...
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doaj-5550872856ba4411a7ca996fd0471c792020-11-25T01:40:01ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-02-0112256710.3390/w12020567w12020567Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water SecurityHemant Ojha0Kaustuv Raj Neupane1Chandra Lal Pandey2Vishal Singh3Roshan Bajracharya4Ngamindra Dahal5Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2610, AustraliaSouthasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu 44600, NepalSouthasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu 44600, NepalCentre for Ecology Development and Research, Dehradun 248001, IndiaSouthasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu 44600, NepalSouthasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu 44600, NepalIn recent years, growing water insecurity in the Himalayan region has attracted new scientific research and fresh attention on policy. In this paper, we synthesize field research evidence from a sample of five Himalayan cities—three in Nepal and two in the western Indian Himalayas—on various forms of water insecurity and cities’ responses to such challenges. We gathered evidence from a field research conducted in these cities between 2014 and 2018. We show how different types of Himalayan towns (mainly hilltop, foot hill, river side, touristic, and regional trading hub) are struggling to secure water for their residents and tourists, as well as for the wider urban economy. We found that even though the region receives significant amounts of precipitation in the form of snow and rainfall, it is facing increasing levels of water insecurity. Four of the five towns we studied are struggling to develop well-performing local institutions to manage water supply. Worse still, none of the cities have a robust system of water planning and governance to tackle the water challenges emerging from rapid urbanization and climate change. In the absence of a coordinated water planning agency, a complex mix of government, community, and private systems of water supply has emerged in the Himalayan towns across both Nepal and India. There is clearly a need for strengthening local governance capacity as well as down-scaling climate science to inform water planning at the city level.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/2/567water securityurban waterclimate changehimalayaswater planningwater access and equity |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hemant Ojha Kaustuv Raj Neupane Chandra Lal Pandey Vishal Singh Roshan Bajracharya Ngamindra Dahal |
spellingShingle |
Hemant Ojha Kaustuv Raj Neupane Chandra Lal Pandey Vishal Singh Roshan Bajracharya Ngamindra Dahal Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security Water water security urban water climate change himalayas water planning water access and equity |
author_facet |
Hemant Ojha Kaustuv Raj Neupane Chandra Lal Pandey Vishal Singh Roshan Bajracharya Ngamindra Dahal |
author_sort |
Hemant Ojha |
title |
Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security |
title_short |
Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security |
title_full |
Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security |
title_fullStr |
Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security |
title_full_unstemmed |
Scarcity Amidst Plenty: Lower Himalayan Cities Struggling for Water Security |
title_sort |
scarcity amidst plenty: lower himalayan cities struggling for water security |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Water |
issn |
2073-4441 |
publishDate |
2020-02-01 |
description |
In recent years, growing water insecurity in the Himalayan region has attracted new scientific research and fresh attention on policy. In this paper, we synthesize field research evidence from a sample of five Himalayan cities—three in Nepal and two in the western Indian Himalayas—on various forms of water insecurity and cities’ responses to such challenges. We gathered evidence from a field research conducted in these cities between 2014 and 2018. We show how different types of Himalayan towns (mainly hilltop, foot hill, river side, touristic, and regional trading hub) are struggling to secure water for their residents and tourists, as well as for the wider urban economy. We found that even though the region receives significant amounts of precipitation in the form of snow and rainfall, it is facing increasing levels of water insecurity. Four of the five towns we studied are struggling to develop well-performing local institutions to manage water supply. Worse still, none of the cities have a robust system of water planning and governance to tackle the water challenges emerging from rapid urbanization and climate change. In the absence of a coordinated water planning agency, a complex mix of government, community, and private systems of water supply has emerged in the Himalayan towns across both Nepal and India. There is clearly a need for strengthening local governance capacity as well as down-scaling climate science to inform water planning at the city level. |
topic |
water security urban water climate change himalayas water planning water access and equity |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/2/567 |
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