Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India 

 

Moving from Understanding Conflicts to Resolving Conflicts 

 

  

Progress Report for Year Two May 2009 to March 2010   

 

 

 

 Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India 

Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management  (SOPPECOM) 

16, Kale Park, Someshwarwadi Road,  Pashan, Pune 411 008 Maharashtra, INDIA 

Tel: +91‐20‐2588 0786/ 2588 6542 Fax: +91‐020‐2588 6542 

Email: waterconflictforum@gmail.com URL: http://conflicts.indiawaterportal.org  

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Table of Contents Section 1: Activities of the central secretariat in line with the outputs...................................... 4 Study teams on 1. Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs and 2. Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution..................................................... 4 1) Thematic subgroups on water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and environment

and Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution..............................................................4 2) Combined meeting of the two thematic subgroups in Delhi on 15-16 November 2009 ..........7 Outreach and Dissemination..................................................................................................... 7 3) Queries on water conflicts on Solution Exchange’s water community e-discussion .................7 4) Coordination of the Chapter on Conflicts related to Drinking Water for Citizens Report on

Domestic Water and Sanitation ..........................................................................................................7 5) 4th IMA Conference on Analysing Conflict Transformation, St Anne’s College, Oxford, UK,

28-30 June 2010.....................................................................................................................................7 6) Panel discussion on Putting Water in the Concurrent List: Will it help resolve water conflicts

in India in the context of the biophysical and social peculiarities of water?, 16 November 2010 .........................................................................................................................................................8

7) Panel Discussion on the book ‘Water and the Laws in India’, 24 February 2010 ......................8 Mapping and documentation of water conflicts ....................................................................... 8 8) Exploratory workshop on water conflicts in the Himalayan region .............................................9 9) Preparatory work for involvement in the area of floods and conflicts.........................................9 Engagement with active water conflicts.................................................................................... 9 10) Meeting on Mullaperiyar Water Conflict: Meeting to understand issues and explore a

common ground....................................................................................................................................9 11) Meeting on Mullaperiyar Conflict at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS),

Bangalore on 5 September 2009 .......................................................................................................11 Concerted efforts at policy dialogue.........................................................................................11 12) One day workshop on Right to Water and Sanitation ..................................................................11 13) One day workshop on Right to Water and Sanitation ..................................................................12 14) National Dialogue on “Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem

needs and the legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution” to be held in Pune on 25-26 February 2010.................................................................................................................................12

15) Workshop on Right to Water............................................................................................................13 Contributions to methodologies and experience in conflict resolution...................................13 16) Proposal by Meta-Culture ..................................................................................................................13 17) Thematic Workshop Understanding and Resolving Water Conflicts, 8 to 12 February 201014 Other .........................................................................................................................................14 18) Meeting with Arghyam, Bangalore, 4 September 2009 .................................................................14 19) Steering Committee Meeting of the Forum in Delhi on 16-17 November 2009......................14 20) Meeting with Rahul Bakare, ARGHYAM at Pune, 1 January 2010............................................14 21) Steering Committee Meeting, 24 February 2010............................................................................14 Efforts for Resource Mobilisation ............................................................................................14 Section 2: Activities of Kerala Resource Centre .......................................................................15 Canal survey .......................................................................................................................................................15 Farmer research .................................................................................................................................................15 Kabini Study.......................................................................................................................................................15 Consultation with experts ................................................................................................................................15 Seminar................................................................................................................................................................16 Reservoir operations Model: Proposed flow regime....................................................................................16 Stakeholder meetings ........................................................................................................................................16 Steering/Advisory committee meeting ..........................................................................................................16 Activities of GP level monitoring committees..............................................................................................17 Section 3: Activities of Orissa State Resource Centre ..............................................................17 Second Regional Workshop.............................................................................................................................17

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Third Regional Workshop................................................................................................................................17 Field Visits ..........................................................................................................................................................17 Conflict Matrix...................................................................................................................................................18 Framework on Agriculture vs. Industry conflict at Hirakud ......................................................................18 Daily updates on Flood Situations..................................................................................................................18 Water Feeder ......................................................................................................................................................18 Fourth Regional Workshop .............................................................................................................................18 Second State Steering Committee Meeting ...................................................................................................18 Meeting with the Editor in Chief of the Samaj.............................................................................................19 Project Review Meeting with K J Joy.............................................................................................................19 Launching of the Website ................................................................................................................................19 Supporting Odisha Water Forum (OWF) activities.....................................................................................19 Signing of ToR by the Resource Persons for conflict documentation .....................................................20 Entering into the MoU with the Partner CSO..............................................................................................20 Formation of Sub-Committee for Hirakud conflict resolution..................................................................21 Third State Steering Committee Meeting ......................................................................................................21 Meeting on World Water Day .........................................................................................................................21 Meeting on the International River Day ........................................................................................................21 Collection of first draft on conflict documentation and editing ................................................................21

Moving from Understanding Conflicts to Resolving Conflicts

Progress Report: May 2009 to March 2010

This narrative report provides a brief description and update on the activities of the Forum in the second year of its work from May 2009 to March 2010. The main purpose of this report is to update the Advisory Committee and Steering Committee members about the work of the Forum and get suggestions from them.

Section 1: Activities of the central secretariat in line with the outputs

Study teams on 1. Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs and 2. Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution

1) Thematic subgroups on water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and environment and Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution

As decided in the National Workshop held on 30-31 March 2009, Forum has set up two subgroups on

1. Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs 2. Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution

These subgroups have begun their work and had first meetings in order to plan the position paper and sharing of the responsibilities amongst the group members.

Thematic subgroup on water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs

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First meeting of the subgroup took place on 13 June 2009 at Ernakulam in Kerala. All the group members, i.e. K. J. Joy, Latha A., M. K. Prasad, Shripad Dharmadhikary, K. P. Soma, Priya Sangameswaran were present for the meeting. S. Vishwanth from Arghyam also participated in the meeting.

In this meeting the group first discussed about the framework of the position paper. Few important points the group has come up with are given below:

1. The purpose of this exercise is to come out with a position paper of the forum on the issue of allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs. This document then could be used to reach out to both the civil society originations (NGOs, social movements and so on) and the policy makers. It should also take into account the larger context of Forum’s work especially in relation to conflict resolution and prevention.

2. Integrating livelihood needs and ecosystem needs together and going beyond polarisation (or seeing people and ecosystems together) which has excited many groups. We should see this paper as a means to take the debate beyond polarization. It should centre stage the issue of livelihoods and ecosystem and also has to take equity on board.

3. The position paper has to move beyond an academic discourse and should have clear policy implications. It must have academic rigour, examine the literature, and engage with both academicians /peoples’ struggles to build a social consensus.

4. A brief review of the various State Water Policies and the National Water Policy has to be incorporated in the paper for drawing the positives and negatives into the discourse.

5. There is a clear need to contest the purely engineering view of water and river basins that see ‘rivers/water flowing to the sea is a waste and every drop has to be utilized for human consumption’. Livelihoods need to be located in the river basin planning context taking into account environmental flows.

6. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment more than 20% of the freshwater systems in the world have been already destroyed. The position paper has to deliberate upon the much debated and yet to be properly articulated term – ensuring minimum flows and environmental flows in the ecosystem – or in other words the allocation for the ecosystem. Here again the debate over allocations for the ecosystem versus “right of the river to flow” or alternatively ‘water itself is part of nature and one cannot presume to allocate water to nature’ needs to be delved upon in detail in the position paper.

7. The discourse on entitlements and allocation for livelihoods should not be only related to production but also to transactions with nature especially in the cultural context of water use.

8. The group should be cautious not to move away from the primary concern of strengthening grassroots struggles working for entitlements based on dignity and human rights.

9. While agreeing not to take extreme views on any aspect, the need to take an all inclusive approach and state the non-negotiables in matters of allocation and entitlements to livelihoods and ecosystem has been commonly agreed upon.

10. Also since this type of an effort is comparatively new, probably first we need to lay out or map out all the different possibilities and then come out with a tentative proposition of the group.

The group decided tentative chapter plan and outline of the chapters.

Thematic Subgroup on Legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution The first meeting of this subgroup was held on 2 July 2009 at Delhi. All members of the group, i.e. Philippe Cullet, Himanshu Thakkar, M. K. Ramesh, M. S. Vani, and Suhas Paranjape were present for the meeting. K J Joy and Shruti Vispute also participated in the meeting.

On the content and objectives of the position paper the group discussed that:

• We should brainstorm on what obstructs the realisation of human rights, livelihood rights, and environmental rights? What are the problems with implementation of existing laws?

• The group decided that status paper/reform paper would be like reinventing a wheel, so the final output will be a position paper by the subgroup.

• The subgroup can also think of alternative propositions in the currents legal framework • Cultural perspective about water, social, economic practices should be considered while

thinking about customary laws. It should not be considered as a static body of law. Infact ‘customary law’ is not an appropriate term, ‘legal pluralism’ would be more appropriate.

• Customary laws didn’t allow Dalits to access water – how different sections would interact with customary law will be important to consider.

• Customary laws are different in different contexts; it is also a process of creating norms- why, which institutions are needed? Who should be doing, clarifying these aspects would be important to consider?

• The group should also consider community ownership- state ownership conflicts in the paper.

• It is difficult to summarise water laws in India so the group should briefly review the larger water law and see how the constitution has dealt with water issues?

• Issue of large dams and laws related to that, climate change, governance issues, sustenance of rural water supply will be considered in the paper.

• The subgroup should include issues related to groundwater independently in the paper. • The subgroup should consider rights perspective from all levels – macro, meso and

micro. • There is a need to develop sector-wise legal strategies as it is very difficult to have one set

of laws/information for the whole country. • There is a need to relook at the law sector to have legal framework for conflict

resolution. • Lessons from other cases of conflict resolution can be included in the paper. • What we want as reforms and what we do not want as reforms should be included in the

position paper. • We do have fundamental right to water, but no legislation on that, so we can demand

water security law and present demand on the basis of this paper. • On the basis of the position paper the Forum can push UPA government for Water

Security Law.

The tentative plan for the Chapter was also decided in this meeting. 6

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2) Combined meeting of the two thematic subgroups in Delhi on 15-16 November 2009

A combined meeting of the two thematic subgroups of the Forum took place in Delhi on 15 and 16 November 2009. The meeting was organised to discuss the draft chapters by the two thematic subgroups, i.e., subgroup on water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and environment, and subgroup on constitutional provisions and laws related to water. There was a combined discussion of the two groups. The group also discussed how should we take the process forward till the completion of these position papers? Various ideas were presented in this case. What the Forum would like to do with these papers? What will be the final shape of the product? It was suggested that the Forum should bring in something unique to India, need to prioritise issues and highlight the need for livelihood, ecological and human rights approach, to foreground the human right need and ensuring entitlements to those who have been deprived, the Forum needs to have conceptualisation of these issues. It was suggested in the discussions that the papers should be used to educate the policy makers. The Forum can bring out one combined longer version and one good executive summary of these papers. There was also an opinion that there should be two reports that can be standalone documents, third product can be summary synthesise. Both the groups felt that by end 2010 the Forum needs to bring out policy briefs to campaign with MPs and political leaders.

Outreach and Dissemination

3) Queries on water conflicts on Solution Exchange’s water community e-discussion

Forum is planning to take a review of all the queries related to water conflicts posted on Solution Exchange i.e. flood induced water conflicts, conflicts related to drinking water and sand mining related conflicts. This review will be taken as a base for further discussion.

Also the two thematic subgroups will post queries on the components of the position papers, like dams, rivers, ecological flows, livelihood, pollution etc. at the Solution Exchange Water Community.

4) Coordination of the Chapter on Conflicts related to Drinking Water for Citizens Report on Domestic Water and Sanitation

Forum coordinated a chapter on conflicts related to drinking/domestic water in the country for the Citizens Report on Domestic Water and Sanitation planned by WaterAid India. As part of this effort we compiled few conflict case studies related to drinking water issues under different settings like urban, rural, urban-peri-urban and so on. These case studies are part of the overall chapter on water conflicts. The case studies were contributed by Prof. S. Janakarajan, Dr. Anjal Prakash, Dr. Amita Bhide, M. S.Vani and R. K. Srinivasan. The Forum has sent the chapter to WaterAid and the Report will be published soon.

5) 4th IMA Conference on Analysing Conflict Transformation, St Anne’s College, Oxford, UK, 28-30 June 2010

The Forum received an invitation to propose a thematic session on water conflicts in the coming 4th IMA Conference on Analysing Conflict Transformation to be held at St Anne’s College, Oxford, UK, from 28-30 June 2010. The invitation was sent by Mr. Suman Sensarma who is one of the members of the Scientific Committee of the Conference. The Forum submitted a proposal for a thematic session on ‘Water Conflicts: The role of science and dialogue in conflict resolution and transformation’. The proposal has been accepted and well received by the organizers of the conference. The call for papers for this session was circulated widely. The Forum was also looking for a financial support for this thematic session as the IMA would not be able to support it financially. The Forum could not go ahead with the thematic session as there was a discontinuation in the communication from IMA on the possibility of having this session.

6) Panel discussion on Putting Water in the Concurrent List: Will it help resolve water conflicts in India in the context of the biophysical and social peculiarities of water? , 16 November 2010

Forum organised a panel discussion on ‘Putting Water in the Concurrent List: Will it help resolve water conflicts in India in the context of the biophysical and social peculiarities of water?’ on 16 November at Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi.

The panel discussed the issue that has come up again and again, of shifting water from the state list to concurrent list and whether /how this will help to resolve the water conflicts in India in the context of the biophysical and social peculiarities of water especially in view of climate change and its impact on water cycles.

Prof. Ramaswamy Iyer initiated the panel discussion with a lead presentation and the panelists followed with their own presentations. The panel discussion was followed by an open session in which panelists responded to the questions and comments from the floor. The panelists included Himanshu Thakkar, SANDRP, New Delhi; M. K. Prasad, Executive Chairman and Director, Information Kerala Mission & former president of KSSP, Trivandrum; M. K. Ramesh, National Law School, Bangalore; Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan and National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM), Mumbai; Navroz Dubhash, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi; Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi.

7) Panel Discussion on the book ‘Water and the Laws in India’, 24 February 2010

A book discussion programme was organized on Prof. Iyer’s book ‘Water and the Laws in India’ at ILS law college on 24 February in collaboration with the ILS Law College, Pune. The programme was chaired by Prof. S. Janakarajan. Prof. Iyer introduced the book highlighting its significance in the present water discourse in the country.

Prof. Vijay Paranjapye, Gomukh, Pune and Justice Narendra Chapalgaonkar, ILS Law College, Pune and Dr. C. M. Pandit, Marathi Vidnyan Parishad and SOPPECOM, Pune provided review comments on the book which was then followed by the open discussion.

Mapping and documentation of water conflicts

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8) Exploratory workshop on water conflicts in the Himalayan region

The Himmotthan Society, Dehradun, and Forum had jointly organized a one day workshop on “Water conflicts in the Central Himalayan Regions” on 30 June 2009, at Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun. The inaugural session was chaired by Dr. R. S. Tolia, Chief Information Commissioner, Uttarakhand. Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay of Centre for Development and Environmental Policy, IIM, Calcutta and an eminent scholar on Himalayan water issues delivered the key address. Around 30-40 participants from various sectors like Government, NGO, academia from the region attended this workshop. The Workshop mainly focused on awareness building and knowledge sharing in the field of water conflicts in the Himalayan region.

Few action points were decided towards the end of the meeting.

• The forum can take up documentation of few manageable water conflict cases from the region. Since water privatization in the region has not been adequately discussed in the meeting, the Forum can also take up issues related to water privatization in the Himalayas.

• The forum can bring out a small publication including documentation of 10-15 cases with an overarching article on Himalayan water conflict.

• Some organization from the region can take the responsibility of being a nodal point for the region in this work.

9) Preparatory work for involvement in the area of floods and conflicts

Since in the first phase of Forum’s work we could not do any work on this theme and in the background of the Koshi floods a year back the Forum had felt the need to do some work in this area. We started with posting a query on the UNDP Water Community e-group which elicited quite a few interesting responses. We also had several round of discussions with Eklavya Prasad of Megh Pyne Abhiyan as this group has been working on various issues related to floods especially in Bihar. He has agreed to associate with Forum and initiate some work on this. Forum is in a process of working out details with him.

Engagement with active water conflicts

10) Meeting on Mullaperiyar Water Conflict: Meeting to understand issues

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and explore a common ground

The Forum had organised a meeting on the Mullaperiyar water conflict between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on 4th August 2009 at the Deputy Speaker’s Hall, Constitutional Club, New Delhi.

Dr. Biksham Gujja, Policy Advisor of the Living Water Programme at WWF International, Gland, Switzerland and also Team Leader of WWF-ICRISAT Project on Water Productivity in Agriculture, chaired the meeting. On behalf of Kerala government Mr. M. Sasidharan, Retd Chief Engineer, Technical expert from Kerala on Mullaperiyar issue made a presentation on the issue. Experts like Prof. Subhash Chander, Formerly with The Department of Civil Engineering, IIT, Delhi and international expert on dam safety; Prof. Brij Gopal, formerly with the Department of Environmental Sciences, JNU, New Delhi; Prof. Ramaswamy Iyer, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India and presently with the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and Suhas Paranjape, Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India and SOPPECOM, Pune spoke at the meeting bringing out different dimensions of the case. Mr. N K Premachandran, Minister, Water Resources, Kerala, also spoke at the meeting and also promised all help and cooperation to the efforts of the Forum. About 7-8 MPs from Kerala actively participated in the meeting. One of the lacunae of the meeting was that nobody from Tamil Nadu agreed to speak at the meeting irrespective of making efforts at various levels till the last moment.

The meeting was organized in the background of the increasing tension between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on this issue. The main objective of the meeting was to understand the issues involved, the different viewpoints around the conflict, and then to explore common ground between the two conflicting parties and see whether agreement can be reached on a few action points. It can then pave the way to a solution which can address the concerns of both the parties in a win-win or positive sum framework.

The meeting came up with few suggestions. Some of the important suggestions include:

• To take up three thematic studies: a) storage and water delivery/conveyance to TN – different options for that; b) environmental issues in both upstream and downstream of the dam, c) the ayacut/irrigated command – issues of the extent, cropping pattern, water

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use, water use efficiency, alternatives (less water intensive crops, alternative agronomical practices to reduce water use and so on).

• To set up an independent committee/commission to look into the issues and suggest a way out.

• Initiate interaction at various levels from both the states – farmers, people's science movements, teachers/academics, civil society organizations and so on.

• The Forum could join as a party to the Supreme Court case and put up its view point.  

There was a strong suggestion that the Forum should not see the whole issue as a technical one, but more of a people’s issue and involve people in the efforts.

11) Meeting on Mullaperiyar Conflict at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore on 5 September 2009

Forum has decided to initiate the study and dialogue on Mullaperiyar in collaboration with NIAS, Bangalore, MIDS, Chennai and IIT, Mumbai. The first meeting to discuss this study and action plan for dialogue process was organised at NIAS at Bangalore on 5 September 2009 and was attended by Shantha Mohan (NIAS), S. Janakarajan (MIDS), N. C. Narayanan (IIT, Bombay), Sailen Routray (NIAS), A. Latha (Chalakudi Puzha Samrakshana Samithi and Forum), Suhas Paranjape and K. J. Joy (SOPPECOM, Forum).

The meeting started on the basis of the meeting in Delhi. The meeting discussed the NIAS initiative on water conflicts and also its thinking on Mullaperiyar (basically what emerged from the discussion between Shantha Mohan, N. C. Narayanan and Janakarajan). The meeting decided the action plan on Mullaperiyar. It also discussed the note circulated by Latha which was prepared during the National Workshop in Pune on 30-31 March 2009.This note emerged from a small group discussion during the meeting in Pune in March 2009. The group included Janakarajan, Narayanan, Biksham, Latha, Suhas and Joy. The note contains the following four components:

• Study the feasibility of the alternative to the new dam/ raising the dam height by a team of three well known technical experts.

• Assess the environmental implications of the already existing Mullaperiyar dam for the downstream side.

• Assess the water management aspects including water saving options, ‘more crop per drop’ on the Tamil Nadu side.

• Dialogue and dissemination.

The NIAS initiative has evolved out of the discussions between Shantha Mohan, Janakarajan and N C Narayanan and it is about taking up background studies around the Mullaperiyar conflict. It involves compilation and synthesis of the existing information and data, and also commissioning certain new studies. The idea is to organise them around the themes of present political situation and discourse: socio-economic, ecological, hydro-geological-engineering, media, legal, etc.

The meeting agreed to take up individual studies: collating, compilation; synthesis and new studies – filling gaps; study of alternatives and dialogue.

Concerted efforts at policy dialogue

12) One day workshop on Right to Water and Sanitation

One day visioning and strategy planning meeting on ‘Right to Water and Sanitation: Moving Towards a Constitutional Guarantee’ was held on 5th August, 2009 at Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The workshop was hosted by FAN South Asia (FANSA), Bread for the World, WaterAid India (WAI) and India WASH Forum (IWF) and Forum participated in this workshop as one of the conveners and partner organization.

The objectives of the meeting were:

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• Understanding and learning from practical experience of Rights Approach to a social entitlements: food, education, health and work.

• Feasibility of right to water and sanitation as a constitutional enforceable right in India. • Developing mechanisms of collective and coordinated action among CSOs at national

and sub national levels on right to water and sanitation, and action plans for taking this forward in 2009.

Access to safe drinking water is critical to the right to life. Lack of access to decent sanitation compromises life and dignity. Access to both safe water and sanitation is necessary to ensure human health. Apart from compromising human rights, the economic costs of paying insufficient attention to securing the rights to water and sanitation for all people is staggering. In India alone, 73 million working days, at a cost of USD 600 million are lost due to water borne diseases. At least 21 international covenants explicitly or implicitly acknowledge the importance of the right to water and sanitation. There are gaps between convictions, commitments by the state and actions on the ground to secure these rights. These gaps have brought the organizations together.

K J Joy, Suhas Paranjape, Shruti Vispute and Latha A. participated in this meeting. K. J. Joy made a presentation on Forum’ s understanding and take on right to water and why it is important to make it a fundamental right.

13) One day workshop on Right to Water and Sanitation

A one day workshop on ‘Right to Water and Sanitation: Moving towards a Constitutional Guarantee’ convened by the Forum, Freshwater Action Network – South Asia (FANSA), WaterAid India, India WASH Forum, was held on 5 August 2009 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

14) National Dialogue on “Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs and the legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution” to be held in Pune on 25-26 February 2010

National Dialogue on Water Entitlements and Allocations for Livelihoods and Ecosystem Needs and the Legal-institutional Framework for Conflict Resolution was held on 25-26 February 2010 at Pune. This workshop was in continuation to the earlier workshop that the Forum had organised on the same theme in Pune on 30-31 March 2009. After this workshop the Forum had set up two thematic groups to work on these two themes (Water entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and environment; Legal and institutional issues related to water conflict resolution) and come out with draft position papers.

The main objective of this workshop was to discuss the two draft position papers and finalize them. Also, the workshop provided an opportunity for the Forum to get inputs from a large number of participants with varying backgrounds that would further strengthen the position papers and the work of the Forum. These position papers will feed into the outreach and policy advocacy outputs while partially defining the strategic approach for conflict resolution.

The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. C. R. Neelakandanan, an activist from Kerala. He delivered the key note address to the Dialogue and more than 60 participants were involved in the discussions during the workshop including scholars like Prof. Ramaswamy Iyer, Dr.Biksham Gujja, Himanshu Thakkar, Prof. S. Janakarajan, Prof. M.K. Prasad, Shripad Dharmadhikary, Dr. Bharat Patankar to name a few. The two position papers will be revised in light of the comments received in these discussions.

15) Workshop on Right to Water

WaterAid India, New Delhi and the Forum jointly organised a one day workshop on Right to Water and Sanitation on 27 February 2010. This was the second workshop in the series. The earlier workshop was held on 5th August, 2009 at New Delhi hosted by FAN South Asia (FANSA), Bread for the World, FORUM, WaterAid India (WAI) and India WASH Forum (IWF). It was organised mainly to understand and learn from practical experience of Rights Approach to social entitlements, explore the feasibility of Right to Water and Sanitation as a constitutional enforceable right in India and develop mechanisms of collective and coordinated action among CSOs at national and sub national levels on Right to Water and Sanitation and action plans for taking this forward in 2009. The objective of the workshop was to take the Delhi discussions forward and also evolve a strategy for further action keeping the action agenda evolved in the Delhi meeting. This meeting also discussed the two position papers by the Forum’s thematic subgroups.

Contributions to methodologies and experience in conflict resolution

16) Proposal by Meta-Culture

Since the two state resource centers would be involved in the actual conflict resolution process, the Forum felt it important to have capacity building of the state resource centers in conflict resolution methodologies and skills. Meta-Culture, based in Bangalore, with whom the Forum had some interactions earlier, also wanted to involve itself in conflict resolution. This mutual need led to an interaction between the Forum and Meta-Culture (especially Beth Fascitelli) and the Forum suggested to Meta-Culture to prepare a concept note detailing in what way can the capacity building of the state resource centers be done so that same can be placed before the forthcoming Steering Committee meeting.

Based on this conversation Meta-Culture submitted a revised concept note to the Forum. This note was presented in the Steering Committee meeting of the Forum held on 16-17 November in Delhi.

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17) Thematic Workshop Understanding and Resolving Water Conflicts, 8 to 12 February 2010

Forum in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, University of Pune, organized a thematic workshop including a series of lectures and discussions on Understanding and Resolving Water Conflicts from 8 to 12 February 2010 at the Department of Sociology, University of Pune.

This series was aimed at introducing students to the basic concepts, debates, theoretical and analytical approaches and emerging issues related to water conflicts and their resolution in India. The components of the workshop were: Understanding water, Normative concerns around water, Understanding water conflicts in India, Resolution of conflicts around water.

Other

18) Meeting with Arghyam, Bangalore, 4 September 2009

K J Joy, Suhas Paranjape and A. Latha from the Forum had an informal discussion with the Arghyam staff on the Forum’s work and also provided the updates on the project. The presentation was followed by an enriching discussion and the Forum got quite a few interesting suggestions especially with regard to the process of negotiation and conflict resolution.

19) Steering Committee Meeting of the Forum in Delhi on 16-17 November 2009

The first Steering Committee Meeting in the second year of the project was held at Delhi on 16 and 17 November 2009. The main objective of this SC meeting was to review the activities of the Forum as committed in the Project proposal and also plan certain activities in the coming year.

There was also discussion on the initiative on Mullaperiyar water conflict and what role the Forum can play in this. The meeting also discussed on planning for other important committed activities like all India atlas of conflicts, awareness raising kit, methodology for conflict documentation, capacity building for conflict resolution methodologies, North-East centre by Forum, mid-term evaluation of the project by ARGHYAM, additional resource mobilization.

Review of the working and composition of SC took place in this meeting as some SC members have shown their willingness to step down from the SC due to their other engagements, i.e., Malavika Chouhan, R. Parthasarathy and Sara Ahmed. Though SC accepted the request from these members to relieve them from the SC, there was a suggestion that these members can continue giving their inputs in the work of the Forum and stay connected.

20) Meeting with Rahul Bakare, ARGHYAM at Pune, 1 January 2010

Rahul Bakre from ARGHYAM visited SOPPECOM on 1 January 2010 and a brief review meeting discussing the project activities and financial review was held in SOPPECOM office in Pune.

21) Steering Committee Meeting, 24 February 2010

Forum’s steering committee meeting was held on 24 February to discuss the possible revisions in the MoU, initiatives in the North-east of India and documentation of flood related conflicts. Amrtha and Rahul from Arghyam and Dr. Biksham Gujja of WWF international also attended this meeting and Prof. Ramaswamy Iyer was also part of the meeting. He mainly presented his views on the need for comprehensive water law in India to prevent water conflicts.

The new members of the SC, Partha J. Das and Eklavya Prasad also participated in the meeting.

Efforts for Resource Mobilisation

Arghyan has provided one-third of the required financial resources and Forum is supposed to raise the remaining two-third. We have made some attempts to raise the remaining part of the

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required resources.

Section 2: Activities of Kerala Resource Centre Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi (CPSS) is the partner organisation of the Forum in Kerala and a coordinator of the Kerala State Resource Centre (KSRC) of the Forum. The work of the Centre is focused on ‘Towards Resolving Upstream Downstream Conflicts in Chalakudy River Basin, Kerala’.

Canal survey

The survey of the Main Canals both RBC and LBC of the Chalakudy River Diversion Schemes (CRDS) has been completed. The main objective behind this was to document the issues related to CRDS operation. It was decided to take up 6 Grama Panchayaths (through which the canals pass) for detailed assessment of the water management, selection of best practice farmers and for the identification of the lift irrigation projects to work. Detailed Grama Panchayath level canal surveys were completed at two GPs, namely Kodassery and Mattathur Grama Panchayaths and two more surveys are in progress.

Farmer research

Ten farmers have been selected for on-field farmer research from four GPs and Chalakudy municipality. The farmers were suggested by agriculture officers based on which the team visited their plots and enquired about their willingness to participate in the study. Care has been taken to include different stretches of the canal system on both banks, different types of farming activities, different land holding sizes and different irrigation methods. A detailed interview schedule also has been finalized for gathering information on their irrigation and water management pattern, cropping patterns, crop management etc. The documentation of their daily farming operations has also started. Recording of farm operations including water management of the selected ten farmers is progressing. Two more farmers have been identified in Mattathur and Parakkadavu Grama Panchayaths.

Kabini Study

The Kabini catchment study is in progress at a slower pace since there is just one person to gather information from various sources in a huge area. However the field research assistant was able to gather considerable data and documents from the Forest Department, the Irrigation Department and from the Grama Panchayaths. Five Grama Panchayaths in the Kabini catchment namely Edavaka, Thavinjaal, Pulppally, Sulthans Battery, Mananthawady were visited and development reports have been collected. It has been decided to assess the water use from the river stretch of each Grama Panchayath in the basin over the next six months. The team is planning to acquire reports pertaining to the Kabini basin from various research institutions like CWRDM, KFRI, Mysore and Bangalore University etc. Collection and compilation of basic details on the present water utilization in Kabani Catchment in Wayanad district is in progress. A field visit was carried out by the Forum team to the proposed and existing projects in Kabani basin during 2- 4 September 2009. The visit to Karapuzha Irrigation Project site proved to be very interesting and enriching.

Consultation with experts

An expert team consisting of Shripad Dharmadhikari from Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Badwani, S. Vishwanath from Arghyam and Rain Water Club, Soma Parthasarathy visited various locations in the upper reaches of the river on 14th of June 2009. The field visit started from Thumboormuzhi, the head works of Chalakudy River Diversion Scheme. Details of the irrigation project and the present water availability were discussed. Then the team went on to Aanakayam where the tailrace waters from Sholayar HEP flows into the Poringalkuthu reservoir. The team visited Vachumaram where diversion to Idamalayar reservoir takes place (Idamalayar Augmentation Scheme). The team visited the Poringalkuthu dam and reservoir as well. After the field visit, the team held detailed discussions on the project at Vazhachal. Discussions regarding

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the institutional arrangements to implement the reservoir operations model were not conclusive; however it was decided that the institutional arrangements can wait until the model is prepared. If the river basin level initiatives that are being attempted are to bear fruits, it will need RBO type of institutional mechanisms and these are likely to look after the implementation part of reservoir operation model(s) too. Many valuable suggestions were provided by the experts.

The project team visited Dr. Indira Devi, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kerala Agricultural University at her office on the 25 July 2009 and had extensive discussions on farmer research and water use assessment of the canal systems. Her suggestions have been incorporated into the activities. Detailed interview schedule for gathering farming related information from the selected farmer plots has been prepared and verified by Dr. Indira Devi.

Seminar

A half day seminar was organized at Sacred Heart Collage, Chalakudy on 25 June 2009 on the Potentials and Challenges for Integrated River and River Basin Revival and Management. Thrissur MP Sri. P.C.Chacko inaugurated the seminar. Sri. K. P. Dhanapalan, Chalakudy MP gave the key note address. Presidents of Chalakudy and Mala block Panchayaths spoke in the inaugural session. Dr. A. Latha and S. P. Ravi made presentations during the seminar. Politicians, NGO representatives and students from various schools and colleges participated in the discussions.

Reservoir operations Model: Proposed flow regime

The resource centre has been able to develop an interim reservoir operations model mainly on the basis of analysis of water availability. There is also a need to assess the rainfall correlation as well. The interim model takes into account the existing projects in the river, present water discharge (Kerala Sholayar, Poringalkuthu HEP, the present scenario in non-monsoon months, CRDS head works – Thumboormuzhi, and so on), the suggested discharge pattern for Kerala Sholayar and suggested discharge for Poringalkuthu.

Stakeholder meetings

The new year celebrations for the study team was in the form of first GP level meeting of canal beneficiary farmers, the GP representatives, the agriculture officer and the concerned assistant engineer from irrigation department at Aloor GP along the right bank canal system. The meeting was held on 1 January at the agriculture office. GP members including its standing committee chairman and farmers participated along with the AO and concerned AE. From CPSS, seven members attended. Discussions were held on various aspects regarding the operations of CRDS. There were lots of complaints about lack of water availability. At the same time people reported wastage of water at some places. Technical issues of the canal system were pointed out. Lack of proper maintenance, non- functioning of spouts, issues regarding the turn system etc was also discussed. The issue regarding the changed operation pattern of Poringalkuthu HEP and its impact on canal irrigation was also discussed. The Assistant Engineer of Irrigation department responded to the issues raised by the GP members and farmers.

A committee under the chairmanship of the GP president, with the concerned official of irrigation department as convener was formed. GP members, agricultural officer and farmer representatives from each branch canal are members of the committee. It was decided that the committee will evaluate the functioning of the canal system within the GP area immediately. Special focus will be given to identify the areas of water scarcity, areas of water misuse / wastage, technical aspects of canal system including need for maintenance and the issue of dumping of waste to the canals.

Meetings were also held at Koratty, Mookkannur, Kodakara and Mattathur grama Panchayaths. The discussions were along similar lines as at Aloor. Committees were formed at all GPs

Steering/Advisory committee meeting

The joint steering/advisory committee meeting was held at BTH, Eranakulam on 16 January.

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Four advisory committee members had offered to participate, but due to some constraints, only Dr. V. S. Vijayan could come for the meeting. Three steering committee members, Dr. Indiradevi, Dr. George Chakkachery and Sri. Madhavan Namboothiri participated. K.J. Joy from SOPPECOM also participated in this meeting.

Activities of GP level monitoring committees

The GP level stakeholder meetings had resulted in formation of the GP level monitoring committees, “Panchayath Thala Jala Vibhava Paripalana Samithi” (GP level water resource management committee). The committee constituting the GP president and other members, concerned AE of irrigation department, the Agriculture officer and representatives of farmers from all areas. Their immediate role is to assess the canals for its system and functional efficiency. The monitoring started at two GPs, i.e. Mattathur and Aloor GPs. At Mattathur, farmers and GP officials participated in the meeting.

Section 3: Activities of Orissa State Resource Centre On behalf of the Orissa Water Forum (a network of many civil society organisations), Shristi, NGO working in Baitarni river basin, is anchoring the work in Orissa since January 2009.

Second Regional Workshop

As part of the objective of mapping of water conflicts in Odisha, one of the activities was to have regional workshops at different parts of the state for identification and documentation of water conflicts. The first regional workshop was held at Sambalpur on 19 April 2009. The Second Regional Workshop was organized at Jajpur in collaboration with Odisha Water Forum. The primary aim of the workshop was to draw a map of various problems and conflicts around water in the Costal Odisha. Some issues have been identified through inputs from the participants from coastal districts like Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Jajpur etc. Water logging problem around Jajpur due to inadequate drainage system, water pollution due to Chromites mining at Sukinda area, Brahmani River pollution, bank erosion and salinity in Kendarapada district, loss of livelihood at Bhadrak district, etc. were identified as the main causes for water conflicts in the region.

Third Regional Workshop

In association with Odisha Water Forum and Prakalp, Keonjhar, Third Regional Workshop on Water Conflicts in Northern Odisha was organized at Keonjhar with an objective to identify the local water conflicts and initiate a process of conflict documentation. Problems like monsoonal aberrations, groundwater depletion, rampant soil erosion due to the loss of forest cover and increasing mining were informed as the main causes of water problem and conflicts around water in the region. Through this workshop some major conflicts have been identified for documentation, like conflicts around construction of dam/barrages in Kanupur and Anandpur irrigation project, pipeline is being laid by Essar Steel unit to transport iron ore slurry to Paradeep port, urban vs. rural water conflict around water distribution in Mayurbhanj district, mining and industrialization induced conflicts around water allocation and pollution etc.

Field Visits

The team has visited a conflict area at Sambalpur and Jharsuguda. To comprehend the real picture of Hirakud Reservoir and the genesis of the conflict on agriculture vs. industries, they interacted with activists, civil society, academicians and engineers at Sambalpur working on these issues. In order to develop a case-specific approach, a pilot field visit was done to map the dynamics and dimensions of the conflicts around river degradation and pollution of Bheden River at Jharsuguda, which also contributes to Hirakud reservoir. The team members have also visited some conflict areas at Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj where Jindal is constructing a nine-kilometer pipeline to draw water from the Baitarani River.

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Conflict Matrix

A matrix of conflicts to be documented has been developed to screen and monitor the documentation of selected conflicts. Around 34 conflicts have been identified for documentation. With the last regional workshop at Koraput the centre has finalized the list. Some of the resource persons have sent the concept notes for the case studies. Following finalization of the concept notes, it is decided to hold a writing workshop with resource persons for initiation of process of documentation.

Framework on Agriculture vs. Industry conflict at Hirakud

A broad framework to understand and analyze the agriculture-industry conflict at Hirakud in a holistic perspective has been developed. The conceptual framework has been developed with the data available from secondary sources and collected through field visits. The framework was shared with the Steering Committee Members and with some experts like Er. Sudhakar Patri, Er. Karunakar Supakar etc. The inputs given by them are subsequently incorporated. As suggested by K J Joy, the centre is planning to constitute an Expert Committee on Hirakud comprising of some experts like Er. Karunakar Supakar, Prof. D.P. Nayak, Prof, Artabandhu Mishra, farmer leader Ashok Pradhan and Lingaraj Pradhan. The preliminary discussion in this context has been initiated. Developing a TOR to work on this objective with one CSO partner is in progress.

Daily updates on Flood Situations

Initiative has been taken to provide daily updates on flood situations and related events/news with respect to floods in Odisha towards the third objective of influencing policy for pro-active conflict prevention. For this purpose the centre is compiling the news from regional Odia newspapers, internet editions of local English newspapers and web site of Department of Water Resources, Government of Odisha. The centre puts together these different news to provide an overview of floods in Odisha on a daily basis. It is also disseminated though e-groups like waterrightsorissa, focusorissa and climatechangeorissa. The centre has so far issued 14 Flood Alerts. All editions of the Flood Alerts are also uploaded on the web at SCRIBD.

Water Feeder

This is an initiative to collect, tag and analyze the news around water issues and conflicts in Odisha from different Odia as well as English dailies and put them into a searchable database. These news items are also disseminated through monthly news feed called ‘Water Feeder’. Water Feeder is a compilation and analysis of water-related news published in Odia and local English dailies with an objective to help water professionals and researchers to capture and comprehend issues and conflicts around water (through eyes of media). It also provides geographical, seasonal and media perspectives of water issues and conflicts with respect to Odisha. This monthly feed of water news is an attempt to stimulate interest, thoughts and actions on water issues in the state apart from feeding research and academic pursuits. The centre has so far issued three issues of Water Feeder. They are also uploaded on the Web (India Water Portal) and SCRIBD

Fourth Regional Workshop

Aimed at identification of water conflicts and its mapping and documentation in Southern region of Odisha, the fourth regional workshop was organized at Koraput on 12 Septemeber 2009 as a joint collaboration of Odisha State Center, FPWCI, Odisha Water Forum and two regional NGOs named CDRT, Koraput and Jana Samiti, Koraput. It was attended by different NGOs, CSOs, academicians, researchers, activists and farmers. K J Joy from SOPPECOM also attended the workshop along with Achyut Das, Chairman, State Steering Committee and the District Collector, Koraput.

Second State Steering Committee Meeting

The second Steering Committee meeting of Odisha State Center of Forum was held at State Red Cross Bhawan Odisha, Bhubaneswar on 23rd August 2009. Prof. R.M. Mallik was added to the

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State Steering Committee and he chaired the meeting. The progress and the work in hand were presented and discussed with the SSC members and suggestions are taken from them. For the conflict documentation the SSC suggested four new case studies. They also advised to consider the intra- village and inter-village conflict. It was also discussed to consider case studies around larger issues like water use by the industries in Kalinga Nagar area and its impact on groundwater, water pollution and water use by the Sponge Iron industries of Sundergarh (Specially at Banai area) under the conflict documentation. SCC advised to constitute an Editorial Review Committee from the beginning to review the concept notes and to guide the documentation and review the draft. The members suggested for this purpose are Prof R M Mallik, Prof Shambu Prasad, Mr Tapan Padhi, Mr Abhaya Singh and Ms S M Panda etc. To identify some issues on water conflict it was also proposed to organize a media competition with help of The Samaj, a première Odia daily. In this aspect Mr Abhaya Singh will help the Center. The conceptual framework on Hirakud conflict documentation was discussed and suggestions were provided for a better action research. The expansion of the SSC and the formation of Advisory Committee were also dwelt upon and potential names were recorded.

Meeting with the Editor in Chief of the Samaj

For the documentation of conflicts the Centre team is planning to invite articles on water conflict through media competition and to take this objective further, Pranab and Priyabrat met with Mr. Sharat Mishra the Editor in Chief of The Samaj with facilitation from Mr. Abhaya Singh. After discussing about the objective of the project Mr. Mishra has given his consent to get involved in the process.

Project Review Meeting with K J Joy

Mr. K J Joy of SOPPECOM visited Odisha State Centre during September 10-13, 2009. On 10 September there was a team meeting with him at the Office of the Centre to assess the work progress as per the objectives and the time line prescribed in the project proposal. The progress of work, documentation of conflicts, conflict resolution (study on agriculture vs. industries at Hirakud) was discussed during this meeting. On 10 September 09, Joy had a meeting with some Steering Committee members and media personnel and discussed about the progress and future action plan of the project. Apart from the team meeting he also visited Chilika Lake to look at the conflicts and attended the ‘Regional Workshop on Water Conflicts in Southern Odisha’ at Koraput on 12 September 2009.

Launching of the Website

For reaching larger number of stakeholders and wider dissemination of the information, the State Centre has hosted a website on another action research of Baitarani Initiative. The website gives information of the project profile, project framework, publication, activities of the State Centre etc. The website was lunched on 10 September 2009 by K J Joy in presence of the State Steering Committee Members and some media personnel. The URL of the site is at http://www.baitarani.org/waterconflict.html.

Supporting Odisha Water Forum (OWF) activities

Meeting of OWF A meeting of members of Odisha Water Forum was organized at Red Cross Bhawan Odisha, Bhubaneswar on 23 Aug 2009 with joint initiative of OWF and Odisha State Center. The meeting was attended by members from different corners of Odisha. Besides the basic tenets of the Forum, the stand of Forum on different water related issues, institutional structure, membership of the Forum, tasks in hand, formed part of the discussion. To promote forum’s activities in the coming year, instead of continuing with present ‘conveners’ it was decided to form a working group. This group was formed to look into the progress of the forum. The new working group is consisting of seven members with Mr. Abhay Singh as the Coordinator. The participants discussed on the formation of District Water Forum and the annual agenda of the Forum for this year.

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Another meeting of members of Odisha Water Forum was organized at Bhubaneswar on 2

February 2010 to observe the World Wetland Day. The meeting was attended by members from different corners of Odisha. Coordinator of the working committee Mr. Abhay Singh has presided the meeting. In this meeting it was decided to work towards the conservation of wetlands in Odisha. Some activities like mapping of wetlands, research on policy, taking the views of the affected people and advocacy are planned.

Formation of District Water Forums To reach every corner of the State and to include the people who are concerned with the water problems it was decided to form the District Water Forums. Accordingly many district level meetings were organized by different NGOs of the related districts and several District Level Forums (DWF) have been formed. The District Water Forum Meeting for Sundergarh District was held on 4 September 2009. A district level meeting of the Water Forum was organized on 9 September 2009 at Sonepur District which was organized by AYESA, Sonepur. A meeting of Odisha Water Forum towards formation of district water forums in Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Malakangiri districts was held at Koraput Town, Koraput on 12 September 2009. This meeting was organized as a joint initiative of Odisha State Center-FPWCI, OWF and Jana Samiti, Koraput. The meeting was attended by members from different corners of Southern Odisha. On 12 October 2009 the district level water forum meeting was organized at Rayagada District. On 15 October the District Water Forum (DWF) meeting was organized in Manmunda town of Boudh District by AHWAN a leading NGO of the district. On 10 November 2009 the District Water Forum Meeting for Bolangir District was held at Bolangir. Mr.Umesh Purohit from Youth Service Center has presided over the meeting. The District Water Forum for the District of Kalahandi has also been formed and the meeting was held in the month of November and many issues around water conflict were discussed. These DWFs will also provide platform for launching of stakeholder dialogues towards engagement with active conflicts.

Meeting of the Working Committee of the Odisha Water Forum (OWF) In order to accelerate activities, the Odisha Water Forum had formulated a State Working Committee in its second state level meeting on 23 August 2009. The first meeting of this State Working Committee of Odisha Water Forum was held on 09 October 2009 at Agragamee, Bhubaneswar. The meeting was convened by Mr. Achyut Das and presided over by Mr. Abhaya Singh, Coordinator of the working group. The working group briefly discussed different water issues and set some action plans to deal with the problems. It was also decided to term the people as ‘Jalla Yodha’ who are working in the field of water and a directory of all these people will be prepared.

To discuss the ‘Future of Rivers in Odisha’, the Odisha Water Forum had organized a meeting of its Core Committee Members and State Working Committee Members at the Conference Hall of Agragamee, Bhubaneswar on 08 February 2010. Mr. Manoj Kumar Mishra the coordinator of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, New Delhi attended the meeting as the chief speaker and shared his experience on the River Yamuna.

Signing of ToR by the Resource Persons for conflict documentation

Four regional workshops and peer references helped the centre to identify over 30 conflicts for documentation. The resource persons identified for conflict documentation were requested to submit concept notes and research plans. As a follow up to that, 16 contracts have been signed and the resource persons have started their research work on conflict documentation. Three resource persons have been able to submit the draft write ups for further comments. The draft reports have been placed before the Peer Reviewer Panel and the response is awaited, their comments will be communicated to the resource person for further development. Meanwhile, the center is in touch with other resource persons to expedite the process.

Entering into the MoU with the Partner CSO

To work on industry vs. agriculture conflict and its resolution, a broad framework has been

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developed. MASS, an organisation from Sambalpur was identified to work as the partner CSO. And MASS has shown interest to associate with the project. Now the MoU, activity chart and the work plan finalization is in process.

Formation of Sub-Committee for Hirakud conflict resolution

To work towards the conflict resolution around Hirakud, Forum had suggested to constitute an Expert Committee on Hirakud, which would act as a Sub-committee under the Steering Committee to provide direction to the action research. Experts like Mr. Dillip Padhi, Prof. D.P. Nayak, Prof, Artabandhu Mishra, Farmer Leaders Ashok Pradhan and Lingaraj Pradhan have been identified as members of the committee. Preliminary discussion in this context has been completed. These members have given their consent to be a part of the committee.

Third State Steering Committee Meeting

The third steering committee meeting of Odisha State Center of the Forum was held on the International River Day at the Conference Hall of Agragamee, Bhubaneswar on 14 March 2010. Pranab as the project coordinator and member secretary of the state steering committee of the project conveyed the meeting and Mr. Achyut Das, The Chairperson of the State Steering Committee chaired the meeting. The members of the State Steering Committee had given their valuable suggestions on the objectives of the project. The discussion on expansion of the Steering Committee and formation of Advisory Committee also took place.

Meeting on World Water Day

A meeting on “World Water Day” was organized by Odisha Water Forum and Odisha State Centre of FPDWCI at Bhubaneswar on 22 March 2010 for the celebration of World Water Day. The meeting was attended by members from different corners of Odisha. Mr.Abhaya Singh the coordinator of Odisha Water Forum gave the inaugural speech and told that 22 March is also celebrated as the World Mother’s Day. The guests of honor of this meeting were Padma Bhusan Prof. Trilochana Pradhan, Mr. Abakash Behera, Mr. Surya Narayana Patra, and Mr. Rabi Das. There were around 40 participants in the workshop from various CSOs, Government Departments, academicians and media houses.

Meeting on the International River Day

International River Day, 14 March was observed by the members of Odisha Water Forum at the conference hall of Agragamee. Pranab gave a brief presentation on the Major River Basins of Odisha. Discussing about the interstate river disputes Priyabrata gave a brief presentation on the dispute over sharing of river water. It was decided by the members of the Forum to make extensive research on these issues and disseminate such information among people for awareness. Now it was planned to translate the existing information into Odia and circulate it among the participants on the eve of the World Water Day meeting which was later held on 22 March 2010.

Collection of first draft on conflict documentation and editing

A continuous follow up is in progress with the resource persons and the Centre will be able to collect the write-ups from them by the first week of June and following the receipt of the first drafts of the studies, they will be placed before the editorial board for review, and with their inputs the final draft would be modified.