INTERNATIONAL WATER POLICY AND INDIA’S WATER ECONOMY INTRODUCTION
In the words of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), water is ‘the stuff of life and a basic human right’. Its availability, access and quality are crucial factors deciding the quality of life of not only human beings but also all other living beings and as a result is a core concern in law. In popular usage, the term ‘laws’ refers to the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source. Water law is the area of law dealing with ownership, access and control of water. From a legal perspective, the UNDP rightly emphasizes the importance of the human right dimension of water. Yet, in practice, water law is made up of a number of elements comprising a human right dimension, as well as various other social economic perspectives. In particular, historically, one of the central concerns of water law has been the development of principles concerning access to and control over water as economic, environmental or agricultural aspects. Thus water is also unavoidable for overall economic development of the human society. Moreover water is a very basic necessity for food production. Water is also needed for various other industrial and commercial activities. Thus, water also plays a critical role in poverty eradication. Yet, despite the central role that water has always played in sustaining life, human lives and human economies, the development of formal water law has been