Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the multiple water plans that government agencies and civil society groups are now writing to capture and use the waters running through the rivers of India’s Himalayan region. This is a region with eight populous Indian states, high water availability from rivers, and a large hydropower source and potential.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the multiple water plans that government agencies and civil society groups are now writing to capture and use the waters running through the rivers of India's Himalayan region. This is a region with eight populous Indian states, high water availability from rivers, and a large hydropower source and potential. All eyes are on the region as actors usher their plans into play; the accompanying projects will chart out the water budget and water needs for society and industry amidst the global discourse on climate change adaptation. While this global framework will justify and provide the funds to drive the planning and its lofty and ideological designs, this frame will also hide or disguise a number of intensive (and non-"adaptive") water projects underway and projected. The paper tries to outline these multiple plans and the accompanying projects, to decode their relevance for climate change adaptation and resilience.