Foreword - Promod Tandon
Preface
Interdisciplinary Knowledge on Water Systems
Eco-hydrological Perspective on Floods
Valuation of Water and Its Policy Implications
The River-link Project: Where are Equity and Sustainability!
Index
Jayanta Bandyopadhyay is the Head of the Centre for Development and
Environment Policy at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
(IIMC). After completing his doctorate in engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology Kanpur, he turned his professional
attention towards interdisciplinary studies of science and public
policy with special interest in sustainable development policy. He
has worked at reputed institutions such as Indian Institute of
Management Bangalore (1978–87), International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development, Kathmandu (1987–93) and International Academy
of Environment, Geneva (1993–97) where he was appointed Director of
Research.
His work in the past 25 years has been guided by the objective of
generating transdisciplinary public interest knowledge on critical
issues related to sustainable development and equity. He was a
Coordinating Lead Author for the Responses Working Group in the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and an expert reviewer for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the area of
climate change and water. He is currently the President of the
Indian Society for Ecological Economics (Delhi) and the South Asian
Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resource Studies (Hyderabad)
and a member of the Board of the International Society for
Ecological Economics.
Professor Bandyopadhyay has published more than 100 research
papers, books and articles. His latest publications include
Integrated Water Systems Management in South Asia: A Framework for
Research CDEP Occasional Paper 09 (Kolkata: Indian Institute of
Management Calcutta, 2006); Biodiversity and Quality of Life (New
Delhi: Macmillan, 2005); Moving the Mountains Up in the Global
Environmental Agenda CDEP Occasional Paper 03 (Kolkata: Indian
Institute of Management Calcutta, 2004); and a chapter on
‘Freshwater Ecosystems Services’ in the Report of the Millennium
Ecosystems Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Policy
Responses (New York: Island Press, 2005).
One must begin by declaring one′s total agreement with the central
theme of this book, namely, the need for a shift from the
reductionist approach to water policy, planning and management
prevailing in the Indian water establishment to a new, radically
different, holistic and interdisciplinary one…The marshalling of
relevant information and scholarship and the rigour of the argument
are powerful and persuasive…it is one of the best piece of
writing…. This review must return to the high praise with which it
started. The transformation that the author urges is necessary and
urgent…the book is a very important contribution towards that end
and must be warmly welcomed.
*Economic and Political Weekly*
A must read for water activists, sarkari engineers and politicians.
The author tackles crucial issues which have become contested
terrain between people’s movement, the states and the
industry—economics and water management, floods in Bihar, the
controversial river link project, and more. The author takes us
through these mind-field issues and presents a rational, well
researched argument in favour of an ecological, integrated approach
to water.
*Civil Society*
The book by Bandyopadhyay is an apt text for researchers and
practitioners interested in a holistic approach to water
management. Books such as these should also find a place in the
curriculum in institution of higher learning so that students get
exposure to dimensions of water management other than what they are
traditionally exposed to.
*Current Science*
[The book] stresses the need for an inter-disciplinary approach to
water management. For those interested in pursuing the topic
in-depth, Bandyopadhyay‘s book is a rich source of information, as
it provides plenty of leads for further reading. The author brings
out his rich and diverse experience to lay sown a roadmap for
companies to follow.
*Businessworld*
In this book, [the author] highlights management strategy for the
much-needed conceptual shift among water professionals.
*Business India*
The book is meant essentially for academicians working in the
fields of geography and environmental science development
economies, environmental sociology, ecology and integrated water
management.
*The Organiser*
One of the most impressive things about Prof Jayanta
Bandyopadhyay′s book Water, Ecosystems and Society is its timing ….
With extensive research experience of integrating economics,
ecology and social concerns in water management, Prof Bandyopadhyay
is perhaps one of the most eligible persons to write on the need of
an interdisciplinary approach to water in India…. [The author] has
contributed interesting and innovative thoughts about institutional
structures for equitable water management.
*Dams, Rivers and People*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
