Smart Water Management and eDemocracy in India

Abstract

Water management has become a key issue in the 21st century, with increasing population, economic growth and climatic variability. Water is a stressed resource in India. Annual per capita water availability is expected to decline to 1140 m3 by 2050, from 1545 m3 in 2011 (Government of India in Water management, [1]). With 45% of population living in urban areas by 2050 (Shukla in How India earns, spends and saves: unmasking the real India. Sage Publications, India, [2]), the availability of water will become a paramount issue. The availability of water is fundamental element to human life, economy and political stability and hence, sustainable water management is critical for existence. Government of India has launched a Smart City Mission for building 100 Smart Cities, in which 24 × 7 availability of water is one of the major emphasis. Traditionally water allocation decisions have been the exclusive domain of technical experts, public officials or political interests, but now there is a shift towards participative involvement of other stakeholders, namely citizens. Adequate water being the essential input in Smart City, calls for an inclusive and participatory management of this resource which extends beyond the city limits. Smart Water management in cities seeks to address challenges in the urban water management through integration of ICT and eDemocracy. Hydro-Informatic approache that is data driven and is technology based can form the basis of analyzing the complexities in water management, particularly in water scarce areas. This chapter looks into inclusive and eDemocratic measures for planning of water smart cities. The need is to develop eDemocracy based collaborative planning efforts to tackle pervading water issues.