CWL214 | Water Law and Justice: Development, Conflicts and Governance

Students are introduced to environmental issues and their regulatory aspects from an Indian and International perspective during the Environmental Law course, taught in the law school as a core paper. Environmental Law largely focuses on regulating natural resources, focusing on pollution control laws, forest, wildlife and  biodiversity laws, climate change law, and litigation in India. Various legislations that address issues in these sectors are given significant attention along with judicial contributions to environmental jurisprudence.

This elective course focuses on one core natural resource- Water. Focus on water issues and water regulation and governance is significant as different parts of the world, including the city of Bengaluru, are on the brink of water scarcity.

The current elective moves beyond what is and what would be taught in environmental law, which focuses primarily on water pollution and its regulation. This paper aims to be a foundational course on water governance where it attempts to discuss water governance where issues of equity, fairness and justice are always an issue. It seeks to equip the students with a broader understanding of every day (in) justices in the water sector, ranging from the local tap points for drinking water access to land grabbing by multinationals for water grabbing in some parts of the world.

This course will critically examine the regulatory framework in the water sector from nationaland international perspectives. It shall also focus on different water sectors- surface waterregulation and groundwater regulations- to examine how the current regulatory aspect contributes to widening or mitigating water injustices among water users and water users.

The course will be taught in a mixture of Socratic and seminar-style discussions. Case studies through group work and presentations will be part of class dynamics. Students are expected to come to class having made the necessary readings and ready to contribute to the discussion or raise questions.

The course will have following modules

Module 1- Rights, Justice and Governance

Module 2- Politics and Power in Access and Allocations

Module 3- Transboundary Water Management and Governance

Module 4- Environment, Sustainability and Water Management