About the Project – Water Security in Peri-urban South Asia: Adapting to Climate Change and Urbanization- Dr. Anjal Prakash, SaciWATERs, Hyderabad and Dr. Vishal Narain, MDI, Gurgaon

1. Water security in periurban
South Asia
Adapting to climate change and
urbanization
Inception Workshop
August 16, 2010
Kathmandu

2. What is periurban
• peripheral areas around cities
• urban fringe, urban outgrowth, urban
agglomeration
• as urbanization advances, periurban becomes
more visible
– The categorization of rural and urban becomes less
relevant
• bear the brunt of urban expansion
– Supply land and water to the cities
– Receive urban wastes

3. Features of periurban
• Changing and mixed land use
– Driven by real estate boom
– Multiple claimants over land
• Social transition and heterogeneity
• Periurban livelihoods across rural and
urban resources and assets
• Environmental and natural resource
management issues
• Institutional lacunae

4. Implications for water use and
access
• Land acquisition changes water access
• Land use change alters demand for water
• Water sources filled up and acquired for
urban purposes
• Polluting industries relocated to
peripheries
• CPRs diverted for urban purposes: poor
and landless suffer

5. Implications for water use
• Rural-urban water flows
– Absence of a property rights structure
• Urban-rural water flows
– Sewage irrigation cheap but adverse health
implications
• Urban elite can afford costly water extraction
technologies
– Farm-houses
• Conflicts escalating over scarce water in the
absence of institutions across rural and urban
jurisdictions

6. Water (in) security aggravated by
climate change
• Periurban residents lose water on account
of urbanization and climate change
– Fluctuations in water availability
– Extreme events: drought/floods, glacial
outbursts
• Differ in their capacity to adapt to these
changes
• Vulnerability varies across class, caste
and gender

7. The present project
To understand the
implications of
urbanization processes
for water access and
use in peri-urban
locations in 4 select
research sites in South
Asia and to examine
water related
vulnerability, adaptation
and resilience of
different social groups in
the context of climate
change

8. Objectives
• Examine
– changing water availability/ insecurity as a
result of the interaction of urbanization and
climate change for periurban residents
– the adaptation of periurban residents to these
changes and assess their cost-effectiveness
– Institutional lacunae in addressing these
concerns
– Mobilize and bring together a wide range of
stakeholders as a basis to intervene

9. Approach and methodology
• A diversity of approaches rooted both in
the interpretive and positivist sciences
• Qualitative, participatory methodologies to
involve residents as a basis for designing
interventions for them
• Quantitative techniques and cost-benefit
analyses for relevant interventions
• Stakeholder meetings to catalyse change

10. Water (in)Security in Khulna,
Bangladesh
• Khulna, a southern metropolis of
Bangladesh, is one of the 15
most vulnerable cities under
climate change impact
• It is the third-largest city in
Bangladesh, located on the
banks of the Rupsha and Bhairab
rivers
• Threatened by cyclones like,
SIDR and Aila associated with
storm surges as well as
recurrence of droughts

11. Water (in)Security in Khulna,
Bangladesh
• Sea level rise, reduced upstream
flow and prolonged dry weather
are expected to drive up salinity -
crisis for freshwater
• urban wastewater is getting
diverted to peri-urban areas and
surrounding rivers
• River floods increase salinity in
drinking water sources
• Surface water salinity near Khulna
as recorded in 2007, was the Sea level rise in Khulna
highest in the preceding 32 years
• Drinking water insecurity for peri
urban locations

12. Water (in)Security in
Hyderabad, India
Present urban landscape in
Hyderabad is dominated by:
• New residential colonies due to
newly developing industrial,
educational and research centres,
in high value lands along the lines
of highest accessibility
• Some of the areas which have
experienced massive real estate
development are Madhapur (an
erstwhile peri urban village), is now
merged with the city in continuation
with Jubilee Hills
• Shamshabad, also a peri urban
village has now seen massive
growth of newly developing
residential colonies and financial
and business enclaves

13. Water (in)Security in
Hyderabad, India
• Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply Sewerage Board
(HMWSSB) constituted in 1989 to supply water to an
Water sources are
area of 172.6 sq. km for Hyderabad- supplies water to 9
municipalities adjoining Hyderabad.
shrinking and water
Sources of Water
supply is unreliable
• Osman Sagar on Musi river
• Himayat Sagar on Esi river
in most of the
• Manjira Barrage on Manjira river
• Singur Dam on Manjira river
locations – water
• Krishna Drinking Water Scheme Phase I & II
conflicts have been
• Increasing demand in Greater Hyderabad compelled the
Government in 2009 to undertake a project worth Rs
on a rise
809.62 crore for drawing water from the Godavari

14. Water (in)Security in Hyderabad,
India
• Groundwater as only source
of drinking water – issues of
water quality – salinity and
biological contamination
• variability of rainfall during
monsoons leads to
increased stress on
groundwater levels-
competitive deepening
• No attempt to find out Aliabad village in
sustainable sources of Shameerpet mandal –
drinking water – water groundwater level has
conservation is not on the gone down – hand-pumps
card! are non operational

15. Water (in)Security in Gurgaon,
India
Gurgaon, a district in the North-
West Indian state of Haryana,
has grown significantly over
the last two decades
Growth took place due to
proximity to Delhi and IT
industries
modern high rises co-existing
Land prices have gone up
tremendously – land mafias are with village settlements
operational

16. Water (in)Security in
Gurgaon, India
• Water table has been declining
at a rate of about two meters (six
feet) every year since 2006
• Poor aquifer to recharge due to
erractic rainfall pattern coupled
with the concrete structures
• Large water bodies that have
historically served as traditional
rainwater harvesting structures
are now drying up
• New settlements are replacing
Former village pond
water bodies giving way to real
estate growth

17. Water (in) security in peri-
urban Kathmandu
• Urban fringe around the city
underwent rapid urbanization
and conversion of agricultural
land into residential dwellings
• Urbanization and development
of physical infrastructure in the
city have put pressure on the
natural resources in the peri-
urban areas
• Emergence of water market
due to gap left by combined
services of traditional sources
and piped water supply

18. Water (in) security in peri-
urban Kathmandu
• Sand mining from the river bed
have serious implications for local
hydrology
• Water transported from the peri-
urban areas through water markets
• Financial transaction of Private
Tanker based market is 4.5 times
higher than KUKL’ s annual
expenditure for 2007/08 (Shrestha
and Shukla, 2010)
• Competition of water resources in
urban vs peri-urban areas is a
cause of concern and possibility of
conflict in the future owing to
unequal access

19. Water (in)security in peri-urban
South Asia
• Different levels of development and mis-management of
water throws environmental stress for peri-urban
residence
• Traditional water harvesting sources are engulfed by the
ways cities are expanding or extracting resources of their
neighborhoods
• Unsustainable development brings in water insecurity
which is further aggravated by climate change
• All four locations have unique socio-economic and
political context of development but are bound by the
issue of water security issues for poor women and men

20. Thank you for your attention