River Rejuvenation and River Rights Evolving Debates in India

Foreword

Introduction

Philippe Cullet and Ruchi Shree

PART I – FRAMING THE DEBATES

1. River Rights – Framing, Recognition and Beyond

Philippe Cullet

2. River Rejuvenation of Small Rivers: Multi-Level Lessons from River Champa (Bhagalpur, Bihar)

Ruchi Shree

PART II – REGULATORY DIMENSIONS

3. River Rejuvenation and Law

Sujith Koonan

4. A More-Than-Human Health Approach to Ensure the Rights of Rivers: The Case of Antibiotics in Household Waste

Lovleen Bhullar

5. From The Chipko Movement to an Emphasis on Hydropower Projects in Uttarakhand: Need to Recognise People’s Rights to Ensure the Protection of Rivers

Shruti Jain

PART III – TRANSBOUNDARY RIVERS AND FLOOD MANAGEMENT

6. Understanding a Small and Unknown River of North Bihar: Perspective of Riparian Communities and Their Interpretation of River Rejuvenation

Eklavya Prasad, Nirmalya Choudhury, Kumod Kumar Das, Aparna Dutta, and Aparna Shubhra

7. Reimagining The Koshi’s Flood Management from a River Rights Perspective

Rahul Yaduka

PART IV – RIVER REJUVENATION AND RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS

8. From Free-Flowing Rivers to Walled Urban Riverfronts – How River Rejuvenation Projects Are Changing the River’s Identity

Venkatesh Dutta

9. Riding On River Rejuvenation: Religious Organisations and Stakeholders of Development

Sachin Tiwale and Srirupa Bhattacharya

10. Environmental Flows as Integral Part of River Rejuvenation: The Case of the Hasdeo Sub Basin, Chhattisgarh

Neha Bhadbhade and K. J. Joy

11. Rejuvenation Of Small Rivers in Bihar and Up – Perspectives from the Field

Seetu Tewari, Manoj Singh and Shwetha Ramachandran

Biography

Philippe Cullet is Professor of international and environmental law at SOAS University of London, Visiting Professor at the National Law University Delhi and Professor in residence at the National Law University Meghalaya, Shillong. His work focuses on law and policy related to water and sanitation, as well as law and policy related to the environment, natural resources, climate change, development, justice and socio-economic rights. He was a member of the Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation’s Committee drafting the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016. He is the recipient of an ERC Advanced Grant (2025-2003) focusing on multi-scalar dimensions of sectoral water conflicts in South Asia (WATCON). He is the chair of the IUCN/World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) task force on rights of nature.

Ruchi Shree pursued her MA, MPhil and PhD from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. From 2012 to 2019, she taught at Janki Devi Memorial College (University of Delhi). She currently teaches at the University Department of Political Science, Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur (Bihar). Her research addresses the interplay of perspectives on water (commons, entitlement and commodity) and its ramifications on social movements, policies and everyday life. Her publications include chapters on sanitation and state planning and on mapping water disputes in India. As a research fellow at SOAS University of London, she worked on ‘Fostering Ecocentric Community-led River Restoration and Conservation in the Ganga Basin (India)’ supported by the British Academy (2021-2023). Her research focused on the significance of small rivers and the role of community participation in river rejuvenation of Champa River in Bihar, a small tributary of Ganga.