includes index and biblioraphy

Droguths have formed an iseparable part of South Asian history and culture, with tragic consequnces for a region that houses the greatest number of the world`s poor. However, this volume challenges the popular conception of drought, which is presented as an absolute shortage-scarcity with respect to an implicit understanding of the sufficiecy of water. It highlights the fact that while available water supplies may be a given quantum, droughts are differntially experienced, politically inspired and socially constituted. It emphasises that the relative water scarcity needs to be appreciated, and argues that water scarcity means different things for diverse constituencies of water users. Policy prescriptions based on definitional premises will be flawed, as a misrepresentations of drought as merely water scarcity serves a political agenda. The editors and contributors of this volume critically evaluate the concept of drought, the way it is defined, its origin/derivation, and the purposes/interests it serves. This book is braodly divided into three major sections: the thematic section, country overviews and case studies.