Water Demand Management and its linkage to Economically Weaker Social Group (EWSG): An analysis of Basic Issues and Perspectives

Abstract

Water Demand Management (WDM) offers an alternative to conventional thinking about water resource management, by influencing changes in behaviors, policies and practices of water users and promoting more efficient, equitable and sustainable use of existing water resources from a multi-disciplinary and multi stakeholder perspective. In order to justify the above issues, we have set our analysis in the framework of Economically Weaker Social Group (EWSG). Our objective is to show how WDM can contribute to improve the economic condition of the EWSG by improving the economic condition by reducing poverty defined in terms of strengthening opportunity, equity, security and empowerment. These will require restructuring of water sector operations and proper management reforms in the Water demand. Since our objective of contrasting WDM with Economically Weaker Socially Group will call for introducing qualitative as well quantitative variables, for example when we shall talk about opportunity, equity, security, empowerment etc, we need to construct qualitative variable and for this we shall use logit model, Findings: 1. Water Demand Management may be an alternative to exogenously augmenting supply without considering effective demand. 2. Economically Weaker group use water more economically efficient way. 3. Water Demand Management reduces water wastages and thereby increase the economic viability of water supply system itself. 4. Providing water supply through better water demand management leads to cost effective way to provide water supply to a large number of people with more sustainable manner.