Flows of change: dynamic water rights and water access in peri-urban Kathmandu

Shrestha, Anushiya; Roth, Dik; Joshi, Deepa

doi:10.5751/es-10085-230242

Cited by 21 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Most respondents confirmed that the level of groundwater has been falling continuously in the last ten years. For peri-urban residents, urbanisation is a process that they can see unfolding in terms of expanding city limits, converting rural agriculture land into residential or industrial zones, and increasing demand for water from surrounding villages (Gomes & Hermans, 2018;Shrestha et al, 2018). Respondents mentioned that the flow of water from their village to Hyderabad city has increased manifold in the last two decades, which has put additional pressure on groundwater.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whose water? Whose profits? The role of informal water markets in groundwater depletion in peri-urban Hyderabad

Vij

John²,

Barua

2019

Water Policy

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Urbanising cities of India are engulfing the peri-urban land and water resources. Informal water sellers, who transfer water from peri-urban to urban areas, meet the growing water demand in Hyderabad, one of the fastest growing cities in India. This article qualitatively explores how informal water tankers are changing the flows of water, posing challenges to water access for peri-urban residents. We conclude that apart from the state's infrastructural and capacity challenges to provide piped water, power interplay between actors is responsible for the mushrooming of informal water markets. The transfer of water has contributed to groundwater depletion as well as to the water insecurity of peri-urban residents.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whose water? Whose profits? The role of informal water markets in groundwater depletion in peri-urban Hyderabad

Vij

John²,

Barua

2019

Water Policy

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“…Several studies discuss the dynamics of competing claims on water in contested peri-urban spaces (Mehta et al 2014;Narain 2014Narain , 2016Narain and Singh 2017;Shrestha, Roth, and Joshi 2018), but very few studies pay attention to caste-determined water exclusions in peri-urban contexts in South Asia. 1 The few studies that discuss caste and water in peri-urban context (Prakash and Singh 2016;van der Woude 2016;Vij and Narain 2016) often report on the traditional nature of caste-determined water exclusions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hydro-social dynamics of exclusion and water insecurity of Dalits in peri-urban Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: fluidyetunchanging

Shrestha

Joshi

Roth

2020

Contemporary South Asia

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Processes of urbanisation create peri-urban spaces that are socially and institutionally fluid. In this article, we analyse how contestations and competition over declining water resources in peri-urban Kathmandu Valley in Nepal reshape water use, access and rights as well as user communities themselves, by creating and reproducing new and existing exclusions and solidarities. Traditional caste-based discriminatory practices, prohibiting Dalits from physically accessing water from sources used by higher castes, are said to be no longer practiced in Nepal. However, our findings show that, exclusion persists for Dalits even though the characteristics of exclusion have changed. In situations of competing water claims in the research location, Dalit households, unlike higher-caste groups, are unable to exercise prior-use water rights. Their water insecurity is compounded by their relative inability to mobilise political, social and economic resources to claim and access new water services and institutions. By juxtaposing the hydro-social and social exclusion analytical frameworks, we demonstrate how exclusions as well as interpretations and experiences of water (in)security are reified in post-Maoist, supposedly inclusive Nepal.

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“…29 This also 19 Narain and Prakash 2016;Shrestha, Roth, and Joshi 2018. 20 Shrestha, Roth, and Joshi 2018;Roth et al 2018. 21 MoUD 2016, 3.…”

Section: Resilience and Community Resilience: A Critical Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which community, whose resilience? Critical reflections on community resilience in peri-urban Kathmandu Valley

Shrestha

2019

Critical Asian Studies

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Development policy and practice is replete with assumptions that local "communities" have both the willingness and capability to adapt to socio-environmental changes and become "resilient" to multiple old and new challenges. This paper analyzes socioenvironmental change processes in a dynamic peri-urban context in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, and argues that unequal power relations between diverse actors and their differing interests refute notions of "collective action" and "community resilience." Residents of peri-urban communities are diverse, have varying abilities and interests, and use different strategies and actions in response to complex socio-environmental changes. These differences reduce insecurities for some while reproducing inequalities for others. These interrelations at the local level are driven by wider socioeconomic , political, and institutional processes that transcend community boundaries, interests, and benefits. In the face of these complexities, "community resilience" is an unviable, externally defined, and engineered goal, often at odds with the power discrepancies and heterogeneity found within actual communities. These findings suggest a need to pay attention to the social, economic, and political dynamics of socioenvironmental changes that simultaneously shape local communities and their members' abilities to respond to changes at various scales.

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Flows of change: dynamic water rights and water access in peri-urban Kathmandu

Cited by 21 publications

References 24 publications

Whose water? Whose profits? The role of informal water markets in groundwater depletion in peri-urban Hyderabad

Whose water? Whose profits? The role of informal water markets in groundwater depletion in peri-urban Hyderabad

The hydro-social dynamics of exclusion and water insecurity of Dalits in peri-urban Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: fluidyetunchanging

Which community, whose resilience? Critical reflections on community resilience in peri-urban Kathmandu Valley

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