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We have witnessed several disasters in recent times—some natural, others man-made. The frequency of such calamities has inured us and deadened our collective sensitivity, but that does not reduce the enormity of the personal tragedy of each victim's family and community. The economic loss is only secondary to the human suffering, but is also substantial. The Government, whether State or Central, has standardised its response. This consists of reacting late, blaming others, visits by VIPs announcing a relief package including compensation for those affected, and then forgetting all about it.

There seems to be little attempt at drawing lessons from each disaster, storing the knowledge for future use, and long-term planning for possible pre-emptive action. Preparedness for disasters thus falls short of what is possible using today's technologies. Floods in many parts of India like the states of Bihar and Assam are a yearly phenomenon. Yet the government seems to be caught by surprise year after year. It is obvious that tarpaulins, vaccines and other medicines, clothes, satellite phones, large numbers of doctors and paramedical staff, etc will be needed as will boats and buses for evacuation. This is known to all those who have combated emergencies, yet the non-availability of these essential services and commodities occurs. Worse, the organisational structure and mechanisms for dealing with disasters are lethargic and ill-defined.

The National Disaster Management Agency set up a short time ago, being a Central Government agency, has its limitations relating to infringing the jurisdiction of states. It could have aggregated and disseminated experiences and knowledge, stocked many of the essential items required in an emergency or worked with agencies to ensure sufficient stocks, but hasn't. While the reaction to major disasters is dismal, the response to emergencies like accident is equally sad. Victims lie unattended since passers-by are wary of getting caught in a labyrinthine of police and legal systems. The resulting delay in treatment converts injuries into deaths. Of late, unique and free service to provide assistance in emergency cases is operational.

Emergency Management and Research institute (EMRI) is a professionally managed operation—initiated by the vision and grant from Ramalinga Raju. The service, which is a successful example of public-private partnership, is likely to become operational in a few states in the near future. Given the sad failure of conventional government organisations in handling disasters, it is time we looked at the PPP model as an alternative without the government seeking in any way to abdicate its responsibility. While the state provides the funding, private organisations will provide the drive, professionalism, competent management and output-linked efficiency of a good corporate organisation. Combining the sensitivity and purpose of an NGO with private entrepreneurial drive to handle disasters together is thus a worthwhile challenge for both corporates and the government?

We have witnessed several disasters in recent times—some natural, others man-made. The frequency of such calamities has inured us and deadened our collective sensitivity, but that does not reduce the enormity of the personal tragedy of each victim's family and community. The economic loss is only secondary to the human suffering, but is also substantial. The Government, whether State or Central, has standardised its response. This consists of reacting late, blaming others, visits by VIPs announcing a relief package including compensation for those affected, and then forgetting all about it.

There seems to be little attempt at drawing lessons from each disaster, storing the knowledge for future use, and long-term planning for possible pre-emptive action. Preparedness for disasters thus falls short of what is possible using today's technologies. Floods in many parts of India like the states of Bihar and Assam are a yearly phenomenon. Yet the government seems to be caught by surprise year after year. It is obvious that tarpaulins, vaccines and other medicines, clothes, satellite phones, large numbers of doctors and paramedical staff, etc will be needed as will boats and buses for evacuation. This is known to all those who have combated emergencies, yet the non-availability of these essential services and commodities occurs. Worse, the organisational structure and mechanisms for dealing with disasters are lethargic and ill-defined.

The National Disaster Management Agency set up a short time ago, being a Central Government agency, has its limitations relating to infringing the jurisdiction of states. It could have aggregated and disseminated experiences and knowledge, stocked many of the essential items required in an emergency or worked with agencies to ensure sufficient stocks, but hasn't. While the reaction to major disasters is dismal, the response to emergencies like accident is equally sad. Victims lie unattended since passers-by are wary of getting caught in a labyrinthine of police and legal systems. The resulting delay in treatment converts injuries into deaths. Of late, unique and free service to provide assistance in emergency cases is operational.

Emergency Management and Research institute (EMRI) is a professionally managed operation—initiated by the vision and grant from Ramalinga Raju. The service, which is a successful example of public-private partnership, is likely to become operational in a few states in the near future. Given the sad failure of conventional government organisations in handling disasters, it is time we looked at the PPP model as an alternative without the government seeking in any way to abdicate its responsibility. While the state provides the funding, private organisations will provide the drive, professionalism, competent management and output-linked efficiency of a good corporate organisation. Combining the sensitivity and purpose of an NGO with private entrepreneurial drive to handle disasters together is thus a worthwhile challenge for both corporates and the government?

“Rivers should link, not divide us,” said the Indian Prime Minister expressing concern over interstate disputes and urged state governments to show “understanding and consideration, statesmanship and an appreciation of the other point of view.”

Water conflicts in India now reach every level; divide every segment of our society, political parties, states, regions and subregions within states, districts, castes and groups and individual farmers. Water conflicts within and between many developing countries are also taking a serious turn. Fortunately, the “water wars”, forecast by so many, have not yet materialized. War has taken place, but over oil, not water. Water is radically altering and affecting political boundaries all over the world, between as well as within countries. In India, water conflicts are likely to worsen before they begin to be resolved. Till then they pose a significant threat to economic growth, security and health of the ecosystem and the victims are likely to be the poorest of the poor as well as the very sources of water - rivers, wetlands and aquifers. Conflicts might sound bad or negative, but they are logical developments in the absence of proper democratic, legal and administrative mechanisms to handle issues at the root of water conflicts.

Part of the problem stems from the specific nature of water, namely that water is divisible and amenable to sharing; one unit of water used by one is a unit denied to others; it has multiple uses and users and involves resultant trade-offs. Excludability is an inherent problem and very often exclusion costs involved are very high: it involves the issue of graded scales and boundaries and need for evolving a corresponding understanding around them. Finally, the way water is planned, used and managed causes externalities, both positive and negative, and many of them are unidirectional and asymmetric. There is a relatively greater visibility as well as a greater body of experience in evolving policies, frameworks, legal setups and administrative mechanisms dealing with immobile natural resources, however contested the space may be.

Reformists as well as revolutionary movements are rooted in issues related to land. Several political and legal interventions addressing the issue of equity and societal justice have been attempted. Most countries have gone through land reforms of one type or another. Issues related to forests have also generated a body of comprehensive literature on forest resources and rights. Though conflicts over them have not necessarily been effectively or adequately resolved, they have received much more serious attention, have been studied in their own right and practical as well as theoretical means of dealing with them have been sought. In contrast, water conflicts have not received the same kind of attention.