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International Journal of WaterResources DevelopmentPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cijw20

PrefaceAsit K. Biswas , Cecilia Tortajada & Seetharam KallidaikurichiPublished online: 22 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: Asit K. Biswas , Cecilia Tortajada & Seetharam Kallidaikurichi (2010) Preface,International Journal of Water Resources Development, 26:1, 1-1, DOI: 10.1080/07900620903541267

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07900620903541267

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Preface

Asia is a vast continent, containing more than half of the world’s population. The Asian

countries are economically very diverse, ranging from a developed country and the second

largest economy of the world, Japan, to many of the least developed countries. Cultural,

religious and social practices are also often radically dissimilar, as also their institutions,

legal frameworks and governance practices. The Asian countries also have very different

physical and climatic conditions, ranging from some of the rainiest places of the world to

absolute deserts. Thus, it is impossible to define and discuss a common Asian water

management landscape.

Even in one single country such as China or India, it is impossible to define a common

ground for water management. Cities such as Beijing and Shanghai can now compete, and

often exceed, important cities of the Western world in terms of infrastructure and facilities.

Yet, outside the main urban centres, the hinterlands present totally different landscapes.

Thus, it is impossible to define a common water problem for Asia as a whole, let alone

suggest a common solution that will be applicable for the entire continent. As the late

Prime Minister Nehru once said, if one said something about India, it is likely to be

correct. Equally, if exactly the reverse is said, it is also likely to be correct, but at a

different location.

In this special issue, several Asian professionals from the Institute of Water Policy, Lee

Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, review, assess and analyse different water-

related problems from their own perspectives in their own countries. They come from

different professional backgrounds, ranging from animal husbandry to law, from countries

of different sizes and level of economic development, ranging from China to Singapore, and

Fiji to Tajikistan. The authors were educated, trained and worked at different institutions.

The only thing that binds them together is that they are very bright, and happen to be in the

Institute of Water Policy at the same time. They are all at their mid-careers, aged between 35

and 40. The task that was assigned to them is to look at a specific water issue from their own

countries and from their own disciplinary and sectoral perspectives.

The papers discuss a wide variety of water issues: legal aspects of water management in

China, terrorism and water, water management experiences from Singapore and Fiji,

transboundary water issues facing Tajikistan, and water as a human right from a Nepali

perspective. These diverse papers are important and interesting because they show how

water issues vary from one Asian country to another, and also how different water issues

and their potential solutions appear from the perspectives of different disciplines. We are

confident that readers will find these papers stimulating.

Asit K. Biswas

Cecilia Tortajada

Seetharam Kallidaikurichi

0790-0627 Print/1360-0648 Online/10/010001-1 q 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/07900620903541267

Water Resources Development,Vol. 26, No. 1, 1, March 2010

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