Water Reallocation and Grabbing Processes, Mechanisms and Contributory Factors

The paper attempts to develop a project life-cycle approach to gain insights into the complexities of water reallocation. The paper is able to show that water reallocation and the resultant phenomenon of resource grabbing is intricately embedded in the project life-cycle, starting with the project design. The increase in urban-industrial activity which has triggered the process of water grabbing, has deeper roots in several dimensions of project planning and implementation. This has created a variety of adverse impacts on ‘reallocation affected farmers’. The contributing sequence of events and processes around the development of dam projects has resulted in the continued marginalization of these ‘reallocation affected farmers’, resulting in protests and agitations by farmers.