The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal

Since the late 1990s, river basin planning has become a central idea in water resources management and a mainstream approach supported by international donors through their water programs globally. This article presents river basin planning as a function of power and contested arena of power struggl...

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Main Authors: Suhardiman, Diana, Bastakoti, Ram C., Karki, Emma, Bharati, Luna
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97173
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author Suhardiman, Diana
Bastakoti, Ram C.
Karki, Emma
Bharati, Luna
author_browse Bastakoti, Ram C.
Bharati, Luna
Karki, Emma
Suhardiman, Diana
author_facet Suhardiman, Diana
Bastakoti, Ram C.
Karki, Emma
Bharati, Luna
author_sort Suhardiman, Diana
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Since the late 1990s, river basin planning has become a central idea in water resources management and a mainstream approach supported by international donors through their water programs globally. This article presents river basin planning as a function of power and contested arena of power struggles, where state actors create, sustain, and reproduce their bureaucratic power through the overall shaping of (imagined) bureaucratic territory. It argues that river basin planning is not an antidote to current ‘dysfunction’ in water resources management, rooted in overlapping jurisdictions, fragmented decision making, and bureaucratic competitions between various government agencies. On the contrary, it illustrates how river basin planning becomes a new ‘territorial frontier’, created and depicted by different government agencies as their envisioned operational boundary and as a means to sustain and increase their bureaucratic power and sectoral decision-making authority, amidst ongoing processes of federalism in Nepal.
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spelling CGSpace971732025-03-11T09:50:20Z The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal Suhardiman, Diana Bastakoti, Ram C. Karki, Emma Bharati, Luna river basin management political aspects bureaucracy transformation water resources water management water policy water institutions sectoral planning federalism decision making state intervention government agencies Since the late 1990s, river basin planning has become a central idea in water resources management and a mainstream approach supported by international donors through their water programs globally. This article presents river basin planning as a function of power and contested arena of power struggles, where state actors create, sustain, and reproduce their bureaucratic power through the overall shaping of (imagined) bureaucratic territory. It argues that river basin planning is not an antidote to current ‘dysfunction’ in water resources management, rooted in overlapping jurisdictions, fragmented decision making, and bureaucratic competitions between various government agencies. On the contrary, it illustrates how river basin planning becomes a new ‘territorial frontier’, created and depicted by different government agencies as their envisioned operational boundary and as a means to sustain and increase their bureaucratic power and sectoral decision-making authority, amidst ongoing processes of federalism in Nepal. 2018-11 2018-09-13T05:17:58Z 2018-09-13T05:17:58Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97173 en Limited Access Elsevier Suhardiman, Diana; Bastakoti, Ram C.; Karki, Emma; Bharati, Luna. 2018. The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal. Geoforum, 7p. (Online first) doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.07.019
spellingShingle river basin management
political aspects
bureaucracy
transformation
water resources
water management
water policy
water institutions
sectoral planning
federalism
decision making
state intervention
government agencies
Suhardiman, Diana
Bastakoti, Ram C.
Karki, Emma
Bharati, Luna
The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title_full The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title_fullStr The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title_short The politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in Nepal
title_sort politics of river basin planning and state transformation processes in nepal
topic river basin management
political aspects
bureaucracy
transformation
water resources
water management
water policy
water institutions
sectoral planning
federalism
decision making
state intervention
government agencies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97173
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