This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing nature of India's groundwater laws. In the backdrop of the gravity of groundwater crisis that threatens to engulf the country, the book examines the correlation between the imperfections in the law and water crisis and advocates a reform agenda to overhaul the legal framework. It accomplishes this objective by examining how some of the States and Union Territories regulate and manage groundwater through the legal instrumentality against the backdrop of the two conflicting paradigms: the "elitist" and the "egalitarian." The book's fundamental premise is that despite being an extraordinarily critical resource that supports India's burgeoning population's ever-increasing water demands, groundwater is abused and mismanaged. The key argument that it posits is that the elitist paradigm must give way to an egalitarian one where groundwater is treated as a common property resource. To place this message in perspective, the book's introduction explains the dichotomy between the two paradigms in the context of groundwater. This sets the stage, after which the book is divided thematically into three parts. The first part deals with some of the general groundwater management concerns brought to the fore by the operation of the elitist paradigm. Since water is constitutionally a State subject, the second part analyses the groundwater legislations of different States and Union Territories set against their unique circumstances. As these laws do not dismantle the elitist paradigm that interlocks groundwater rights to land rights, the next part articulates the legal reform agenda where a case is made to re-engineer groundwater laws to reflect a more sustainable basis. The findings and arguments resonate with the situation in many developing countries around the world due to which the book is a valuable resource for researchers across disciplines studying this area, and also for policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs.

Autorentext

Dr. Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, LL.M & M.Phil (National University of Juridical Sciences, India), LL.M (Essex, UK), Ph.D. (CityU, Hong Kong) is Professor and Director of the Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad. He has more than two decades of experience as a law teacher and researcher and is presently involved in research that intersects criminal justice administration, human rights and human trafficking. He has authored several books on these subjects. The latest is The Transnational Sex Trafficking: An Integrated Reparation Model (2019). Dr. Khan has authored several research articles in national and international journals and has presented papers in numerous national and international conferences and seminars. He has also developed training manuals and study materials and has imparted training to several key functionaries in India's criminal justice administration system, including the police, prosecutors, and judges. Dr. Khan was conferred with the British Chevening Scholarship to pursue his second Masters in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. He was awarded the Hong Kong UGC Scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. at the City University of Hong Kong. He also received the Michigan Grotius Research Fellowship offered by the Michigan Law School, USA and the International Visitors Leadership Programme Fellowship of the US Department of State, USA, on anti-human trafficking measures.

Dr. **Tony George Puthucherril*, LL.B., LL.M. (University of Kerala), research-based M.Phil in Water Law (National University of Juridical Sciences, India), LL.M. & Ph.D. (Dalhousie University, Canada). A Professor at the Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, India, he teaches International and National Perspectives on Water Resources Law, Comparative Environmental Law, and Global South Perspectives on International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. A Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar, Dr. George is also a Research Associate at the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. He is a Senior Research Fellow with the International Ocean Institute, Canada. Dr. George is also a member of the World Commission on Environment & Development of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Canada). He has more than three dozen international peer-reviewed publications to his credit. The major ones are the two books From Shipbreaking to Sustainable Ship Recycling: Evolution of a Legal Regime (2010), and Towards Sustainable Coastal Development: Institutionalizing Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia (2014). Dr. George is also the founding editor of the Journal of Indian Law and Society (formerly Indian Juridical Review*), one of India's premier law journals.

Dr. Sanu Rani Paul, BA LLB (Hons.) (MG University, Kottayam), LLM (Mangalore Unversity) Ph.D. (Department of Studies in Law, University of Mysore) is an Assistant Professor at the Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad. She is also in charge of the Research and Publications Wing and the Law School's Environmental Law Cell. Dr. Paul is the founding editor of the Symbiosis Law Review, the school's flagship journal. The inaugural issue is devoted to groundwater law. She has authored research papers in several international and national law journals and has presented papers in various international and national conferences. Dr. Paul's areas of interest include environmental law, comparative public law and legal philosophy.

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: An Enlightened Constitution: From an Elitist to an Egalitarian Paradigm.- Chapter 3: Groundwater Rights and Common Law: Fortifying the Elitist Paradigm.- Chapter 4: Decolonising Groundwater Law: Moving from an Elitist to an Egalitarian Paradigm.- Chapter 5: Elite to Egalitarian: The Plachimada Cases.- Chapter 6: Egalitarianism and the Model Groundwater Bill, 2016.- Chapter 7: Structure.- Chapter 8: Discussion.- Chapter 9: Conclusion.