Rewriting India's Relationship with Rivers: Risk, Resilience, and Governance of Large Dams in a Changing Climate

Large dams have played a central role in India’s development strategy, shaping irrigation, energy production, flood control, and regional planning for over seven decades. However, the cumulative pressures of ageing infrastructure, climate-induced hydrological uncertainty, sedimentation, ecological degradation, and social contestation have exposed fundamental limitations in existing dam governance frameworks. This research undertakes a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of Indian dams as socio-ecological systems rather than isolated engineering structures. Drawing upon historical analysis, risk and resilience theory, empirical case studies, international comparison, and normative inquiry, the study demonstrates that many contemporary dam-related failures and conflicts arise not from technical inadequacy alone, but from fragmented governance, outdated planning assumptions, and the marginalization of social and ecological considerations. Climate change is shown to function as a systemic risk multiplier, destabilizing design assumptions rooted in hydrological stationarity and intensifying both flood and scarcity-related challenges. The research advances a conceptual shift from construction-centric and control-oriented paradigms toward lifecycle-based, risk-informed, and ethically grounded dam governance. It argues that the legitimacy and future utility of dams depend on adaptive management, basin-scale coordination, transparency, and social justice. Beyond policy reform, the study proposes a deeper rethinking of India’s relationship with rivers, emphasizing coexistence, stewardship, and intergenerational responsibility. By integrating engineering analysis with governance theory and ethical reasoning, this work contributes to contemporary debates on sustainable infrastructure, climate adaptation, and water governance in large riverine states. It offers a framework for re-evaluating dams not as symbols of unqualified progress, but as conditional instruments whose value is inseparable from ecological limits and institutional accountability.