Welcoming the debate on the assumptions underpinning water resource monitoring in India triggered by the Mihir Shah Committee report, the authors suggest that the proposed National Water Commission should focus on providing integrated data and science to help water managers and policymakers, avoiding getting directly involved in planning or regulation.

The Noyyal sub-basin, which is 3510 sq km in area, is part of the Cauvery basin that lies in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a rapidly urbanizing sub-basin that includes the Class I cities of Coimbatore and Tiruppur as well as 84 smaller urban settlements.

The Arkavathy sub-basin, which is part of the Cauvery basin, is a highly stressed, rapidly urbanising watershed on the outskirts of the city of Bengaluru. This situation analysis document summarises the current state of knowledge on water management in the Arkavathy sub-basin and identifies critical knowledge gaps.

This dissertation addresses the challenge of supplying water to rapidly growing cities in South Asia, using evidence from the water-scarce city of Chennai. Chennai (formerly Madras) is a rapidly growing metropolis of over 6.5 million people, whose infrastructure has not kept pace with its growing demand for water.