Get to Interact With Dr Ramaswamy R Iyer on Nov 21st

Dear Friends,

Arghyam cordially invites you for an interaction session with Dr. Ramaswamy R Iyer where he will talk about his new book "Towards Water Wisdom - Limits, Justice, Harmony" on November 21st, 2007.


The Event Schedule and Venue are as follows:

Time: 4:30pm – 6:30pm

Tea : 4:30 - 5:00pm

Talk : 5:00 – 5:30pm

Interaction: 5:30 - 6:30pm

Venue: The Aeronautical Society of India, Suranjandas Road, Opp: HAL Engine Division,
New Tippasandra Post, Off Old Madras Road,
Behind Fuscos School, Bangalore: 560075
Ph: 080 25297159

RSVP is mandatory. Kindly RSVP to Nirmala at (080) 41698941-42 or nirmala@arghyam.org.

Regards,

Sunita Nadhamuni
CEO, Arghyam
Bangalore

Enough water, safe water....always and for all

Mobile: 09343718064 / Office: (080) 41698941/42
Email: sunita@arghyam.org, info@arghyam.org
Websites: www.arghyam.org, www.indiawaterportal.org


Here are some details about the book:


Towards Water Wisdom - Limits, Justice, Harmony
Authored by: Ramaswamy R Iyer
Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
________________________________________
Description:
There is a widespread view that a water crisis is looming. Towards Water Wisdom: Limits, Justice, Harmony stresses the need for an urgent and radical transformation of our thinking on water management. The first section evaluates the water scene in India, redefining the projected crisis as one of mismanagement more than scarcity. It calls for a shift from supply-side engineering to restraining the increase in demand, for conservation and more equitable management.

The second and third sections deal with water-related conflict, including detailed discussions of the Indus Treaty, Baglihar, the Cauvery disputes and rehabilitation problems in the Narmada Valley. Conflicting rights are juxtaposed: the fundamental right to water, contractual rights of corporations, economic use rights of irrigators and industries, the advocacy of property rights by the World Bank, and neoliberal economists. The analysis points to the emergence of water markets.

The fourth section examines the inadequacies of water laws and policies and the changes that are necessary. The fifth section presents national water concerns in other South Asian countries. At the international/global level, it deconstructs several notions and prescriptions currently in vogue, and takes note of significant new thinking. Finally, the author widens the perspective beyond water to the total system of which it is a part, and draws attention to a dynamic world scenario that makes a change in our thinking imperative.


Reviews:• This authoritative and timely book will help to replace heat with light in dealing with water issues…this extraordinarily valuable contribution will make a significant impact on contemporary discussions on water conflicts. - M.S. Swaminathan
• The author must be congratulated for integrating the various issues under the important phrase in the title, [Towards] Water Wisdom, based on fundamental ethical principles of human dignity and equality, of water being a common good and participation by all concerned in its management. - M.G.K. Menon

• This book stresses the need for an urgent and radical transformation of our thinking on water management.
(e Social Science www.esocialsciences.com/booksinfo/bookdetails.asp?bookid=32 )

• Towards Water Wisdom makes a fervent plea for an urgent and radical transformation of our thinking on water. The author redefines the projected water crisis as one of mismanagement rather than scarcity, and calls for a more equitable, harmonious and sustainable management of the resource - Water Digest, Aug 15, 2007

• This is not a book therefore that has neat solutions to a massive global challenge of which the water crisis is only a part. Indeed its purpose is to convey a complexity that eludes easy solutions. According to the author, development can theoretically at least be informed by sanity, balance and wisdom; technology too could be benign. But can this transformation take place in a world where the challenge of environmental protection is global, but where any plan of action must tie together initiatives from the community upwards? - The Hindu, Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007