Water

Pilot and Demonstration Activities
Advocacy for Change:
Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP) for Reforms of Dehradun Water Corporation

Dehradun Water Corporation, which handles the water supply of Dehradun City, faces political pressures from various stakeholders. At the heart of the issue is the corporation’s use of reservoirs in rural areas to service a growing city population and its accompanying industries. The reservoirs, fed by river flows, catchment areas and groundwater, are also the main source of water of rural communities.

The politically-driven processes of decision-making regarding water use in the city have prevented systematic and long-term planning for managing its scarce water resources. The water governance problem in Dehradun is further complicated by lack of transparency between and among agencies and the lack of regulation in water use. Some soft measures have been undertaken to overcome severe water shortages and in response to political pressures. This has led to the classic “low equilibrium” situation of poor delivery at low cost.

A multistakeholder dialogue process is necessary to come up with least contentious solutions for the intensive use of water by both rural and urban constituencies. A suitable policy framework and instituting measures that account for the needs of the poor need to be formulated.

The mobilization of institutional representatives of diverse categories of stakeholders will make the establishment of a Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP) possible.

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• Identify and organize the various categories of stakeholders of Dehradun Water Corporation into a federated structure to prepare for their participation in the MSP
• Establish MSP by mobilizing the various stakeholders of Dehradun Water Corporation, especially the urban poor

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Outputs

Outcomes

Indicators

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• Proposal (September 2005) [PDF]