Indian water policies have adopted the current water management paradigms like Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) as early as 1987 and in 2002 mainly to cope with growing challenges of water sector as a result of economic growth, burgeoning population and limited water resources.
This article examines the ground realities that are acting as hurdles in successful implementation since IWRM and IRBM concepts were adopted about 25 years ago. This article also examines the challenges very fundamental and pre-requisite at river basin level for successful implementation of the principles of IWRM or IRBM. The principles of IWRM are vast, however, a few of the water issues pertaining to IWRM or IRBM have been considered to highlight the existing realities in river basins.