DOI: 10.4018/IJSEM.2017040103 Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. International Journal of Sustainable Economies Management Volume 6 • Issue 2 • April-June 2017 Willingness to Invest in Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting: Evidence from Urban Areas of Hooghly District in West Bengal Maniklal Adhikary, Burdwan University, Bardhaman, India Samrat Chowdhury, Taki Govt. College, Taki, India ABSTRACT Water is increasingly becoming scarce across not only in India but also in World. This paper aims at bringing out the factors responsible for a household’s decision to invest in rooftop rainwater harvesting. The paper is based on cross sectional sample of 230 houses from Urban Areas of Hooghly District in West Bengal. The study is conducted in an area which has piped municipal water supply. The study finds that a large number of explanatory variables like income of the household, coping cost incurred by the household positively and significantly affect household’s decision to invest in rooftop rainwater harvesting. However, the household demand for water is negatively related to willingness of the household to adopt rooftop rainwater harvesting. Household heads that are educated are more likely to invest in rooftop rainwater harvesting. Houses which are comparatively new or constructed in last five years, as well as households who also undertake gardening are also more likely to invest in rooftop rainwater harvesting as compared to households without the features. KEyWoRDS Coping Cost, Demand for Water, Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting, Water Management INTRoDUCTIoN The scarcity of water resources is one of the most important natural resource allocation problem facing development planners. It has been widely speculated that the world would come under severe water strain by 2050. One of the most popular and widely used indicators to appraise the extent of water scarcity is the Falkenmark index, Falkenmark, Lundquivst and Widstrand (1989). They proposed 1700m 3 (cubic metres) of renewable water resource per capita per year as the threshold based on the estimates of water requirement for household, agricultural, industrial as well as needs of the environment. At levels below 500 m 3 per person per year it is a primary problem of sustenance Seckler (1999). Water availability per capita is fast declining all over the world as well as in India. This calls for a robust Sustainable management of water. Water management should aim at management of both fresh as well as virtual water Chowdhury and Adhikary (2010) for ensuring sustainability in future. Broadly speaking, management of water is basically of two types-supply side management and 30