Vishal Narain

Growing city, shrinking hinterland: land acquisition, transition and conflict in peri-urban Gurgaon, India

This paper describes the implications of the land acquisition process in a village in the Gurgaon district of Haryana state in northwestern India. Gurgaon city, the district capital, is emerging as a major industrial hub, its growth made possible by the large-scale acquisition of agricultural lands by the government. The expansion of the city has altered patterns of rural natural resource use, created social, cultural and economic changes, and bred resentment among many peri-urban residents against urban authorities. The current top-down policies for land acquisition need to be revisited and replaced by more participative processes in which landowners and peri-urban residents themselves are involved. The speedy disbursement of reimbursements for lands acquired, and the spread of livelihood generation activities, can make processes of urbanization more inclusive and participatory. Improving transportation and connectivity to the city will be essential for sustaining new peri-urban livelihoods.

The peri-urban interface in Shahpur Khurd and Karnera, India

This paper describes the peri-urbaninterfacein two villages — Shahpur Khurd and Karnera — located in the state of Haryana in north-west India, and close to Delhi, Indias capital. The paper argues that devising policy interventions for the peri-urban interface requires explicit attention to strengthening rural—urban linkages that materialize through the two-way flow of goods and services between villages and urban centres. Improving transportation and connectivity have a clear role in this, and this requires collaboration across not only rural and urban governments but also across authorities at various levels — village, state and national. As the peri-urban interface emerges, there is a need for protecting common property resources that are diverted to other activities and purposes, or to provide an alternative to those who have conventionally depended on them for their sustenance. Finally, improving the quality of life in peri-urban settlements requires explicit attention to the siting and location of factories, which can adversely impact the quality of life of peri-urban dwellers.

India's water crisis: the challenges of governance

Abstract This paper identifies some critical lacunae in the governance structure of Indias water resources. It makes a case for reforming the bureaucracy for greater accountability, linking performance with rewards and improving coordination. It argues that the institutional reform in Indias water sector needs a three-pronged strategy. The first element of this strategy should aim at securing greater coordination and integration within the organizational structure for water management. The second element should aim at restructuring water bureaucracies as inter-disciplinary, financially autonomous organizations. The third element should aim at strengthening the devolution of powers to user groups with well-defined water rights and securing a dual accountability between them and the bureaucracy.

Urbanization, peri-urban water (in)security and human well-being: a perspective from four South Asian cities

This paper examines the implications of urbanization for water security and human health and well-being in four peri-urban South Asian locations, namely Khulna in Bangladesh, Kathmandu in Nepal, and Gurgaon and Hyderabad in India. It describes the implications of the urbanization process for water access in communities in the peripheral areas of cities. It further discusses the implications of this for the health and well-being of peri-urban residents.

Whose land? Whose water? Water rights, equity and justice in a peri-urban context

Based on research in peri-urban areas, this paper explores questions of water justice in the context of emerging global cities. With the growth of large cities, authorities focus on meeting their water needs through infrastructure expansion and supply augmentation. The changing water needs and priorities of peri-urban locations, which provide land and water for urban expansion, receive scant attention. This paper looks at changing patterns of water use between rural and urban uses, based on research in peri-urban Gurgaon, an emerging outsourcing and recreation hub of North West India. It describes the diversity of ways in which peri-urban residents lose access to water as the city expands. These processes raise important questions about water justice, about the politics of urban expansion, and the implicit biases about whom these cities are meant for.

Reform in Indian canal irrigation: does technology matter?

This paper examines the implications of technology – the design of canal irrigation – for irrigation management reform. With reference to two different design systems in Indian irrigation – shejpali and warabandi – it shows that the potential for reform varies with the design of canal irrigation. Three approaches to canal irrigation reform are discussed – pricing, market creation and irrigation management transfer. The paper argues that academics and policy-makers need to be conscious of the implications of design for irrigation reform proposals. This calls for a move away from conventional approaches to irrigation management reform to a more inter-disciplinary perspective in which discussions on technology have been mainstreamed.

Peri-urbanization, Land Use Change and Water security: A New Trigger for Water Conflicts?

Urbanization processes involve the appropriation of land and water resources from the peripheral regions. Thus some individuals and groups lose access to these resources to support urban expansion. Since water access is often tied to land ownership, the acquisition of land for urban expansion compromises periurban water security. This process creates a potential for water conflicts; these conflicts may take place between urban and periurban water users, between periurban water users and the state or among periurban water users. Understanding potential causes of conflict and devising institutions to reconcile divergent interests could be instrumental in promoting periurban water security.

Climates of urbanization: local experiences of water security, conflict and cooperation in peri-urban South-Asia

ABSTRACT This article explores changing water (in)securities in a context of urbanization and climate change in the peri-urban spaces of four South-Asian cities: Khulna (Bangladesh), Gurugram and Hyderabad (India), and Kathmandu (Nepal). As awareness of water challenges like intensifying use, deteriorating quality and climate change is growing, water security gets more scientific and policy attention. However, in peri-urban areas, the dynamic zones between the urban and the rural, it remains under-researched, despite the specific characteristics of these spaces: intensifying flows of goods, resources, people, and technologies; diversifying uses of, and growing pressures on land and water; and complex and often contradictory governance and jurisdictional institutions. This article analyses local experiences of water (in-)security, conflict and cooperation in relation to existing policies. It uses insights from the analysis of the case studies as a point of departure for a critical reflection on whether a ‘community resilience’ discourse contributes to better understanding these cases of water insecurity and conflict, and to better policy solutions. The authors argue that a community resilience focus risks neglecting important insights about how peri-urban water insecurity problems are experienced by peri-urban populations and produced or reproduced in specific socio-economic, political and policy contexts. Unless supported by in-depth hydro-social research, such a focus may depoliticize basically political questions of water (re) allocation, prioritization, and access for marginalized groups. Therefore, the authors plead for more critical awareness among researchers and policy-makers of the consequences of using a ‘community resilience’ discourse for making sense of peri-urban water (in-)security. Key policy insights There is an urgent need for more (critical) policy and scientific attention to peri-urban water insecurity, conflict, and climate change. Although a changing climate will likely play a role, more attention is needed to how water insecurities and vulnerabilities in South Asia are socially produced. Researchers and policy-makers should avoid using depoliticized (community) resilience approaches for basically socio-political problems.

Water Governance Futures in South Asia and Southern Africa: Déjà Vu All Over Again?

This chapter explores the likely trends and outcomes in water governance by about 2030 in two regions: South Asia and Southern Africa. It addresses the question: What are the prospects for developing governance arrangements in the two regions that will lead to more positive outcomes in terms of sustainably improving people’s livelihoods while conserving natural resources? It examines this question through three “lenses”: (1) “beyond disciplines”, (2) “beyond scales” and (3) “beyond ‘institutional’ hardware to ‘human’ software”. The two regions are currently on different trajectories: the Southern African trajectory seems to be moving in a positive direction, in contrast with South Asia. The chapter discusses four factors that go far to explaining this divergence: (1) the contrasting roles of the hegemonic countries, (2) the level of intercountry “trust” that has emerged in the two regions, (3) the roles of civil society and NGOs and (4) the roles of external facilitators. The chapter emphasises the importance of developing the human software – the “soft skills” of communication and shared values complementing technical competence – as the most critical driver of successful water resource governance.

Introduction: Towards a Discursive Analysis of Indian Water Policy

This chapter presents an overview of the chief contributions of the chapters presented in this book. Over the years, Indian water policy has evolved to take cognisance of new and emerging pressures on water resources. Both local and global actors have had a role to play in this. International discourses of integrated water resource management, gender, neo-liberalism and decentralization have had a bearing on how water resource policies have been framed and water issues problematized. While emerging research has been able to throw some light on the nature of policy processes, the paper makes a more deliberate case for a discursive analysis of public policy to pave the way to understanding the nature and direction of water reforms in the country.