Ministry of Jal Shakti Research Chair

In 2018, Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula, Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and lead of the Transboundary Rivers, Ecologies and Development Studies (TREADS) Initiative, was appointed as the Ministry of Jal Sakti (MoJS) Professorial Research Chair – Water Conflicts and Governance.

This unique partnership with the Ministry enables the TREADS Initiative to pursue a research agenda with maximum policy uptake and serves as a conduit between scholarly pursuits and their real-time impact on the policy discourse. Through various consultations and collaborations, the mandate of this distinct partnership has evolved to address the most provoking questions India faces in the sphere of interstate water conflict and cooperation. Drawing on a mix of academic endeavors and practical considerations, the range of activities undertaken as part of this association have proven to be indispensable in steering conversations in the domain of water policy and governance.

Under the ongoing tenure of the Research Chair, the Initiative has been critically engaging with some of the pertinent policy questions in the realm of India’s water resources development through the following strands of research:

  • What does the remarkable track record of interstate river water cooperation in India offer to conceive and design an ecosystem for interstate cooperation? How can we build on the experiential knowledge of existing interstate river water institutions?
  • How does interstate river water governance in India shape transboundary river water relations in South Asia?
  • Why is it that the courts’ jurisdiction, including that of the Supreme Court, barred over interstate river water disputes?
  • What is the nature of India’s water federalism? How do we strengthen federal water governance towards long-term water security, and address evolving challenges such as climate change, floods, dam safety etc.?
  • Is India ready for interstate water trading?
  • What kind of subnational regulatory regimes are required for India?

For a brief snapshot of our activities, download the document below.