GUWAHATI, Dec 6 – The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (Forum) and the environment group Aaranyak are jointly organising a two-day national workshop on “Water Conflicts in the North East: Issues, Cases and Way Forward” in the city with a two-day programme from December 10 at the Kharghuli Don Bosco Institute.
The workshop will be attended by experts, practitioners, civil society researchers from the water sector and journalists who will discuss and deliberate on various aspects of the conflicts related to water, its management, utilisation and rights, said a press release.
The Forum and Aaranyak are compiling a compendium of case studies on water conflicts of NE India in which about twenty authors from different parts of the region are participating. The authors will present their case studies in the workshop on conflicts covering areas like impact of hydro power projects, rehabilitation of the flood-affected people, flood- management infrastructure, proposed seismic survey, ground water contamination, transboundary water management, water policy, river bank erosion, among others.
The authors are also highlighting the issue of developing a framework for resolution of water conflicts.
Renowned geo-morphologist Prof DC Goswami, a former Head, Department of Environmental Science, Gauhati University, renowned water management expert Prof Jayanta Bandyopadhyay of the Centre for Development and Environmental Policy, IIM-Kolkata, and eminent expert on environment policy and conflict management Prof Matthew McKinney, the Director of Centre for Natural Resources and Environment Policy, the University of Montana, will deliver three invited lectures at the workshop.
Former Water Resources Secretary, Government of India Prof Ramaswamy R Iyer will deliver a lecture on ‘Transboundary Water Conflicts: Issues and Way Forward’ at 4.30 pm on December 9 at the Uzanbazar Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture as part of the workshop. The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion on water resources of North East India: science, management, people, conflict and politics.
Prof DC Goswami, Prof Ramaswamy R Iyer, Prof J Bandyopadhyay, Shripad Dharmadhikary, of Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Madhya Pradesh and KJ Joy of the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management, Pune are taking part in the panel discussion as the panelists. They will offer their views on the theme and answer questions from the audience and the media, said the press release.
