'Water Futures of South Asia: Essential need for promoting ecological water engineering' by Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay at Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 31st January 2014
Time : 3:00 pm
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi - 110011
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : ‘Water Futures of South Asia: Essential need for promoting ecological water engineering’ by Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, Adviser, Fletcher School of Diplomacy,
Tufts University, USA and formerly at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Abstract:
The large population of South Asia and the overwhelming poverty in the region requires water in large quantities, especially for food production. Growing urbanization in the region is adding to the daily water requirements. Realistic concerns have been expressed on the water future of the region. This lecture addresses the options for water futures in the specific context of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin, which is spread over the whole of Bhutan and Nepal, very large part of Bangladesh, and densely populated parts of North and North-East India, from Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Himachal Pradesh in the west. The GBM basin alone accounts for about 60 percent of the potential flows in all the rivers of India. Further, the availability of snow- and glacier-melt flows strengthen the perennial character of the rivers emerging from the Himalaya. Water from these rivers is particularly important for the mainland South Asia. In India and Pakistan major engineering interventions have been made (or are planned) to support the world’s largest irrigation network, and more recently, hundreds of large hydro-power generation plants. Due to the massive storage of ice in the Himalaya region, the region is now increasingly being seen as The Third Pole of the Earth. If the temporal variation of the water endowments in the Himalayan rivers and the requirements of supplies for domestic needs satisfaction and irrigation had a natural match, water future of South Asia would have been a matter of no serious concern. However, with the monsoon dominating the climate of South Asia, the precipitation and the river run-off patterns are very skewed, temporally. Further, the spatial distribution of this precipitation is also very unequal. For example, in the eastern part of the GBM basin the average annual precipitation of 11,600 mms is not uncommon in the Meghalaya Hills, while in Rajasthan, at the western extremity of the basin, the annual precipitation may go down to a low of 200 mms. This overall picture of spatial and temporal unevenness in water availability in the context of the food needs of a large population has so far provided the driving force for water engineering in S Asia. The monsoon high flows and the following dry periods have been the creator of periods of abundance and scarcity of water. They have been attempted to be solved by engineering interventions of both embankments and storage dams. In the past few decades, a large number of hydro-power projects on the Himalayan rivers has been built or are planned. The conceptual framework of these engineering interventions has been reductionist in nature and lacked information on the ecological peculiarities of the Himalayan rivers. Based on a review of opinions expressed in the past decades on the need for a comprehensive water systems knowledge specific to the Himalaya, in this presentation a few components of a holistic conceptual framework of engineering supported by an innovative and interdisciplinary hydro-diplomacy is seen as the creator for a healthy water future for South Asia. In the background of the rapidly growing water requirements in South Asia, particularly in India, such a new water systems science and the holistic engineering can bring a balance among the multifaceted demands on the Himalayan waters in Asia.
These elements are:
· A hydro-meteorological data base for the Himalayan uplands and mountains with spatial density comparable to that recommended by the WMO for mountain areas
· Perceive Himalayan rivers not merely as a stock of water but as an interlinked flow of water, sediments and energy. The nature of the interaction among the three constitutes an important segment of river ecology all along the rivers, starting from the high mountains to the floodplains, delta, estuaries and the coastal areas of the rivers.
· Identification and assessment of the diverse ecosystem services provided by the Himalayan rivers in all parts of their basins. This may be used for developing ecologically informed and comprehensive process of assessment for water related projects in the respective basins
· Understanding monsoon high flows as an expected natural event and not as an aberration and a natural disaster. The monsoon high flows need to be seen also as sources of water in the off-monsoon periods, with ecologically sustainable storages and amicable arrangements for addressing the downstream impacts of the engineering interventions..
· Strengthen development of regional climate models specific to the orographic conditions existing in the Himalaya
· Generate water systems engineering to optimize and sustain ecosystem services for basinwide economic advancement rather than to maximize water storage and transfer from individual interventions.
· Undertake research on and implementation of technologies and institutional innovations needed to achieve greater end-use efficiency in water, particularly in irrigation.
· Develop an informed hydro-diplomatic approach towards the application of the above engineering knowledge for environmentally safe, guided by ideas of poverty removal and economic advancement in South Asia.
The above steps are needed for the implementation of ecologically informed water engineering for a secure water future in South Asia.
Speaker:
Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay completed his doctorate in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His research in the past 25 years has been guided by the objective of generating trans-disciplinary public interest knowledge on critical issues related to the natural environment, and in particular, the hydrosphere. His research formed the basis of important policy changes and court orders on Eucalyptus in social forestry, limestone mining in the Doon Vallya, limitations of traditional engineering in designing of large water projects on the Himalayan rivers, etc. He was a Coordinating Lead Author in the global report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and an expert reviewer for the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change in the area of climate change and water. In 1997 he joined the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and established the Centre for Development and Environment Policy. He retired from IIMC in 2012. He has been the President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (2006-8) and a Fellow of the India-China Institute in The New School, New York. He is an adviser to the Water Diplomacy Program at Tufts University, Medford, USA. He has published more than 140 papers, books, articles, etc. His recent book published by Bloomsbury entitled Environmental Governancehas created an important impact in South Asia on how we need to look at nature. His current research interest is growing around knowledge gaps in Himalayan water systems in the context of climate change.
Related Events : Environment | Talks
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi - 110011
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : ‘Water Futures of South Asia: Essential need for promoting ecological water engineering’ by Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, Adviser, Fletcher School of Diplomacy,
Tufts University, USA and formerly at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Abstract:
The large population of South Asia and the overwhelming poverty in the region requires water in large quantities, especially for food production. Growing urbanization in the region is adding to the daily water requirements. Realistic concerns have been expressed on the water future of the region. This lecture addresses the options for water futures in the specific context of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin, which is spread over the whole of Bhutan and Nepal, very large part of Bangladesh, and densely populated parts of North and North-East India, from Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Himachal Pradesh in the west. The GBM basin alone accounts for about 60 percent of the potential flows in all the rivers of India. Further, the availability of snow- and glacier-melt flows strengthen the perennial character of the rivers emerging from the Himalaya. Water from these rivers is particularly important for the mainland South Asia. In India and Pakistan major engineering interventions have been made (or are planned) to support the world’s largest irrigation network, and more recently, hundreds of large hydro-power generation plants. Due to the massive storage of ice in the Himalaya region, the region is now increasingly being seen as The Third Pole of the Earth. If the temporal variation of the water endowments in the Himalayan rivers and the requirements of supplies for domestic needs satisfaction and irrigation had a natural match, water future of South Asia would have been a matter of no serious concern. However, with the monsoon dominating the climate of South Asia, the precipitation and the river run-off patterns are very skewed, temporally. Further, the spatial distribution of this precipitation is also very unequal. For example, in the eastern part of the GBM basin the average annual precipitation of 11,600 mms is not uncommon in the Meghalaya Hills, while in Rajasthan, at the western extremity of the basin, the annual precipitation may go down to a low of 200 mms. This overall picture of spatial and temporal unevenness in water availability in the context of the food needs of a large population has so far provided the driving force for water engineering in S Asia. The monsoon high flows and the following dry periods have been the creator of periods of abundance and scarcity of water. They have been attempted to be solved by engineering interventions of both embankments and storage dams. In the past few decades, a large number of hydro-power projects on the Himalayan rivers has been built or are planned. The conceptual framework of these engineering interventions has been reductionist in nature and lacked information on the ecological peculiarities of the Himalayan rivers. Based on a review of opinions expressed in the past decades on the need for a comprehensive water systems knowledge specific to the Himalaya, in this presentation a few components of a holistic conceptual framework of engineering supported by an innovative and interdisciplinary hydro-diplomacy is seen as the creator for a healthy water future for South Asia. In the background of the rapidly growing water requirements in South Asia, particularly in India, such a new water systems science and the holistic engineering can bring a balance among the multifaceted demands on the Himalayan waters in Asia.
These elements are:
· A hydro-meteorological data base for the Himalayan uplands and mountains with spatial density comparable to that recommended by the WMO for mountain areas
· Perceive Himalayan rivers not merely as a stock of water but as an interlinked flow of water, sediments and energy. The nature of the interaction among the three constitutes an important segment of river ecology all along the rivers, starting from the high mountains to the floodplains, delta, estuaries and the coastal areas of the rivers.
· Identification and assessment of the diverse ecosystem services provided by the Himalayan rivers in all parts of their basins. This may be used for developing ecologically informed and comprehensive process of assessment for water related projects in the respective basins
· Understanding monsoon high flows as an expected natural event and not as an aberration and a natural disaster. The monsoon high flows need to be seen also as sources of water in the off-monsoon periods, with ecologically sustainable storages and amicable arrangements for addressing the downstream impacts of the engineering interventions..
· Strengthen development of regional climate models specific to the orographic conditions existing in the Himalaya
· Generate water systems engineering to optimize and sustain ecosystem services for basinwide economic advancement rather than to maximize water storage and transfer from individual interventions.
· Undertake research on and implementation of technologies and institutional innovations needed to achieve greater end-use efficiency in water, particularly in irrigation.
· Develop an informed hydro-diplomatic approach towards the application of the above engineering knowledge for environmentally safe, guided by ideas of poverty removal and economic advancement in South Asia.
The above steps are needed for the implementation of ecologically informed water engineering for a secure water future in South Asia.
Speaker:
Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay completed his doctorate in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His research in the past 25 years has been guided by the objective of generating trans-disciplinary public interest knowledge on critical issues related to the natural environment, and in particular, the hydrosphere. His research formed the basis of important policy changes and court orders on Eucalyptus in social forestry, limestone mining in the Doon Vallya, limitations of traditional engineering in designing of large water projects on the Himalayan rivers, etc. He was a Coordinating Lead Author in the global report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and an expert reviewer for the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change in the area of climate change and water. In 1997 he joined the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and established the Centre for Development and Environment Policy. He retired from IIMC in 2012. He has been the President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (2006-8) and a Fellow of the India-China Institute in The New School, New York. He is an adviser to the Water Diplomacy Program at Tufts University, Medford, USA. He has published more than 140 papers, books, articles, etc. His recent book published by Bloomsbury entitled Environmental Governancehas created an important impact in South Asia on how we need to look at nature. His current research interest is growing around knowledge gaps in Himalayan water systems in the context of climate change.
'Water Futures of South Asia: Essential need for promoting ecological water engineering' by Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay at Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 31st January 2014
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Friday, January 31, 2014
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