Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt has been closely associated with local level movements working on water and related environmental issues in West Bengal, India. Trained as a human geographer from Calcutta University, Kuntala has researched water and society in Lower Damodar Valley region. She has been a member of SAARC Track III water initiatives and been a resource person for Panos Institute s flood enquiry. Kuntala has set up a Gender Water Network (see http: //www.rspas.anu.edu.au/gwn), and is a member of the Steering Committee of Gender Water Alliance. She has written widely about water resources, and