Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt ()

Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt was trained in Geography from the Lady Brabourne College and Calcutta University in India. From 1982, she taught Geography at Masters level in The University of Burdwan in India from where she did her PhD on urbanization in Lower Damodar Valley. Kuntala joined the Resource Management in Asia Pacific Program as a Gender and Community Specialist in natural Resource Management in 2002. In her academic career, Kuntala has received many honors and awards. Throughout her study, she received National Scholarship and various awards from the Government of India. The latest one was Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Award in 2005. Before, Kuntala had received what is commonly known as the Career Award from the University Grants Commission of India, freeing her from teaching between 1999 and 2002, and had received international fellowships (such as a post-doctoral position from NASA) and has been consultant to international agencies and institutions, including Panos Institute, UK, and the International Atomic Energy. See Kuntala’s URL for general information on her work: http://rspas.anu.edu.au/people/personal/lahik_rmap.php

In 1993-’94, Kuntala began researching the environmental issues related to coal mining in eastern India with funding from Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests. This research led to Environmental Impact Studies (including examining the social causes and consequences of coal fires) from a social perspective, and finally to a range of Social Impact Studies, including gender roles and status of women in mining. This also brought her in close association with various community-based groups struggling for the rights over local natural resources in the Lower Damodar Valley. Around this time, the Narmada Bachao Andolan gained momentum, as the various international initiatives began to rethink existing water management practices, and the World Commission on Dams was set up to enquire on the social impacts of large-scale water control measures. These initiatives, the engagement with local and regional civil society groups, and the association with SAARC Track III efforts on water management opened up a new horizon in water resource management to her. Travelling and living in villages without safe and adequate water, understanding the daily struggles and livelihoods of women in rural poor families, and a heightened awareness of possible alternative worlds through increased interaction with an interdisciplinary group of scholars formed the foundation of her research and activism today.

At the ANU, Kuntala became a member of the board of National Institute for Environment, and the Water Committee. In 2003, the International Year of Freshwater, Kuntala organised a successful conference on gender and water in which participants from Australia and the region shared common experiences and lessons in gender issues in water resource management. Consequently, Kuntala established the Gender Water Network for Australia and the Asia Pacific region based at the ANU, of which she is the main coordinator.

She has edited a book Fluid Bonds: Views on Gender and water, published from Stree, Kolkata, in 2006. Her other books and papers to watch out for are: Water First: Issues and Challenges for Nations and Communities in South Asia (jointly edited with Robert Wasson), forthcoming in September, 2007, from Sage, New Delhi; the March 2008 Water for People issue of Development Journal which she is guest editing; two chapters on women, water and citizenship in India for Ramaswamy Iyer (ed) Water and Law in India book; and large scale water control projects and women's lives in M. Zwarteveen, S Ahmed, and S Gautam (eds) Water and Gender in South Asia, both forthcoming from Sage later in the year.