| Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) comprises headwaters of some of the biggest trans-boundary river basins of
earth. Water discharge that builds-up in Himalayan-headwaters sustains nearly 1.65 million people dependent on subsistence
food-system in South Asia. During recent
years, variety of changes have emerged in traditional resource use structure in
response to population growth, increased demand of natural resources, rapid
urbanization and economic globalization which is exerting sharply accentuated
pressure on HKH-headwaters through land-use intensification, deforestation, soil-erosion
and groundwater disruption. Moreover, climate change has
put stress on the hydrological system of Himalayan-headwaters, and consequently,
regime of water resources is likely to change rapidly, with respect to
discharge, volume, availability and access exacerbating region’s limited
capacity to cope with likely decrease in water-availability. This may increase
the proportion of water and food insecure population in South Asia which
includes the most marginalized people with access to less
than 5% of earth’s freshwater (ICIMOD 2009). This will have serious
implications for fundamental welfare-programmes ranging from
poverty-alleviation to climate change adaptation, and even to security and
peace in South Asia. A regional headwater cooperation framework is therefore
highly imperative not only for adaptation to long-term impacts of climate
change, but also water security in the region.
The paper advances a
regional cooperation framework for integrated trans-boundary headwaters
governance in HKH based on detailed study of relevant literature, media
reports, interpretation of people’s responses obtained through interviews, and
interaction with political leadership, government officials and regional
institutions. It was observed that increasing power of some countries and
political instability in other states, internal and external security threats,
weak leadership, and long standing inter-state conflicts are important reasons
for weak regional water cooperation.
However, there is growing realization by the scientific community,
intellectuals, NGOs/civil society organizations and regional institutions of
building geo-political resilience for trans-boundary river-basin governance in
HKH. Climate change has provided
opportunity to foster regional cooperation, and therefore demands building of
geopolitical integration. An effective regional water co-operation framework
would facilitate: (a) sharing of hydro-meteorological information for early
warning; (b) mitigating and moderating risks of climate change induced
disasters both in uplands and lowlands; and (c) integrated watershed management
in upland river basins to increase availability of water for drinking and food
production both upstream and downstream. A
number of regional institutions working in South Asia could play effective
roles in initiating trans-boundary headwater governance. Furthermore,
perspective of regional economic cooperation may help in evolving strong
institutional mechanisms for regional headwater cooperation.
Reference
ICIMOD 2009, ‘The Changing Himalayas: Impact of
Climate Change on Water Resources and Livelihoods in the Greater Himalayas’,
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
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