| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Water resources planning in India since the First Five-Year Plan (1951-1956) has been a very important part of national development planning. However, records show that the results of such planning in the last three decades have fallen short of expectations because of various complex factors. Most of the limiting factors are administrative, political, legal, and philosophical, involving premature comprehensive planning, arbitrary selection of plan targets, administrative “red-tape,” ineffective coordination among water resources related departments, and water ownership conflicts among various states and with neighboring countries. Other constraints are related to a lack of adequate dependable data, the inadequacy of project feasibility studies, and a lack of social and political discipline necessary for adequate mobilization of financial resources. |
