Unregulated Urbanization: Impact on Water Rights

Amit Tandon

M2013WPG002

M.SC Water Policy and Governance

Tata Institute of Social Sciencs,

Mumbai

Table of Contents

Introduction

Water rights

Urbanization and Changing Urban agglomeration:

Urbanization and Intersectoral Competition for water

Domestic sector

Gendered approach

Patterns of urbanisation

Elite “Environmental” concerns

Peri Urban Problems

Disparities within the core

Industrial sector

Impact on surface water

Impact on wetlands

Impact on groundwater

Industrial agglomeration

Agricultural sector:

Changing land-use

Urban food

Interlink of Other factors

The debate continues

Unregulated Urbanization: Impact On Water Rights

Amit Tandon1

Abstract: Urbanisation has been perceived as an engine to economic growth, however the core of development process

is dependent upon availability of natural resources and development is achieved by exploitation of available resources.

In current scenario where rapid urbanisation is happening in an unregulated pattern there is a rise in various conflicts

around the same. The idea of Rights to water has been understood from a bundle of human rights , that could be

`associated with water as a resource. The paper tries to understand the impact of various patterns of urbanisation ,

transition of economic , social and cultural parameters and its effect on available water resources , through various

perspectives that could be associated with water resources, and put forwards the debate

Introduction :Urbanization and rapid change in urban

agglomeration are few of the recent subjects of

discussion, research and concern among various policy

makers. While urbanization is considered to be one of the

most important transformations the world has witnessed

in recent decades, counter argument to urbanization have

various perspective. One of the perspectives that can be

looked upon is the concern of availability of water.

The Ministry of Water Resources, GOI intends to

discuss this issue in its Report of the Committee for

drafting of National Water Framework Law, It introduces

the report by mentioning. “The growing demand of water

is a result of population growth, urbanization and

economic growth has resulted in tremendous pressure on

water resources making India water stressed country by

international standards.”2 Similar issues have been raised

in National Water Policy (2012) where rapid population

growth, urbanization and changing lifestyle impose

serious challenges to water security.3 Owing to lack of

availability of water larger concerns have been made to

adapt a regulatory framework to manage water resource

and water usage. “Water being a shared resource, its

sharing and distribution requires a regulatory framework

which is brought about through not only written laws but

also traditional and customary practices.4

But the concern that is observed is that majority of the

regulatory measures adopted are supply side

management measures, which deals with managing the

resource by regulating allocations of water , tariff setting

etc. The regulatory mechanism have not been able to

address the issues related to the social construct and

institutional framework of the society at large.

However , while urbanisation is considered to be based

on exploitation of available resources , regulating

urbanisation is need of the hour. Impacts of process of

urbanisation is seen on quality, quantity and access of

water, and these impacts effects water rights of a person ,

community and even of society as a whole

The paper aims to understand relations of urbanisation

and economy centric development through multiple

cases that relates to urbanisation , sectoral use of water ,

intersectoral dependencies and its relation with society ,

culture at large with other human rights required for

existence.

Water rights: Scarcity of water resource, biases in

distribution of water, non-availability of clean drinking

water, over extraction of groundwater, and various other

conflicts has resulted Indian judiciary to think over

existing water rights. The existing legal framework

regarding water law in India comprises of various

principals, acts and rules that has been adopted by the

society over many decades. These principles are related

to irrigation laws, riparian rights, access to water and

quality of water being provided. Lack of clear framework

has resulted into legal ambiguity and contradictions

within the judiciary and has resulted into gaps between

concepts and practicality.

In current scenario Right to water is largely observed

in India under Article 21 of constitution that talks about

Right to Life , Thus in Subhash Kumar V. State of Bihar ,

the supreme court has mentioned that the “ right to life is

a fundamental right under Article 21 of the constitution

and it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution free

water and air for full enjoyment of life .”5 Availability

and access to clean and safe drinking water have been

acknowledged as a fundamental right and it can‟t be

denied even on grounds of paucity of funds. 6 by the high

court in Wasim Ahmad Khan Vs Govt of AP. This

ensures that government is liable to ensure provision of

safe drinking water for its entire citizen. It tries to clears

the dichotomy within the legal regime whether water has

to be treated as economic good or a public good.

The Constitution of India clearly talks about issues

relating to access and quality of water within its

framework. Article 15(2) of the constitution, states that

„on ground only of religion , race, caste ,sex , place of

birth or any of them . And article 51- A(g) casts a

fundamental duty on every citizen of India‟ to protect and

improve natural environment including lakes, rivers,

wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.

These articles clearly acknowledge that there are artificial

water bodies such as wells , ghats etc to which access

cannot be denied , and quality of water in nature should

not be damaged by human interventions. High court

ruled a judgement to prohibit discharge of effluents in

river in order to avoid contamination of river water by

industrial concern 7 in Deshi Sugar MIlls vs Tupsi Kahar

, 1925.

The case of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (p) Ltd vs

Perumatty Grama Panchayat, 2005 case where company

was accused of over-extraction of groundwater for

industrial purposes under 73rd and 74th amendment in

1992 where the panchayat derives power from Article

243 read with 11th Schedule of the constitution of India

and Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. the legal framework casts

duty on the Panchyat to manage and regulate the minor

irrigation , water management and water development for

the welfare of residents of the Panchayat8. these power

granted by the constitution were overruled by the high

court . The court rejected scope of the Public Trust

Doctrine as a theoretical basis to uphold the power of the

panchayat and upheld the right of the landowner to

extract groundwater from his land as a basic right that

could be restricted only through express statutes 9 . The

case is an example that in order to avoid conflicts over

water issues there is a need to formulate a framework that

should talk about ownership of water , judicious usage of

water and also assess the implication of intersectoral

usage of water on existing water resources in terms its

effect on quality as well as quantity of the existing water

resource. It is interesting to know that largely all the

conflicts and cases discussed above are intrinsically

related to urbanisation.

The regime of water rights extent its limits from

quality , quantity and access of water throughout the

typologies of hydrological as well as hydraulic systems .

It is also related with other fundamental rights and is

embedded in other human rights associated with water.

There is two way link between water rights and other

rights such as right to livelihood, right to life, it is closely

linked with environmental flows and is covered under

environment protection act. Thus, it could be perceived

that the impact on water resources through various direct

as well as indirect activities may come under regime of

water rights, and it may have impact on various rights

associated with it .

Urbanization and Changing Urban agglomeration:

Urbanization is associated with transformation of

economy from an agrarian livelihood towards an

industrialised scenario. Along with the change in

economic practices there is a transformation of spatial as

well as socio-cultural aspects of the society, If we then

we notice that growth of the urban centres come from an

unorganized settlement at the core and it gradually moves

towards a planned settlement.

However in due process of transformation , fringe

areas of the urban cities undergoes an unregulated

transformation , similar kind of unregulated settlement

are even seen within the urban core as well as suburbs.

Concept of urbanisation is amalgamation of other similar

concepts such as subaltern urbanism, peri-urban,

suburbanisation, exclusionary urbanisation and

rurbanisation .These patterns of urbanisation have their

evident spatial – economic – socio- cultural expressions,

and have an impact in natural resources primarily water.

These patterns of transformation are evident in all

components of Urbanisations. Suburbs were

conventionally seen as residential areas, with the city as

economic basis. Overtime the suburban economy has

diversified with the rise of services. 10

The concept of

Exclusionary urbanisation talks about regional imbalance

within the urban fabric, that characterises migrants as

poor and distressed, pushed out of agricultural system ,

living in slums and squatters at their place of destination ,

denied basic civic amenities and often forced into illegal

business.11

It also talks about their inability to pay taxes,

which result into financial burden for the state. The

resultant is that state tries to adopt process of

“Sanitisation and Formalisation” in order to discourage

growth of rural population in urban areas , however it

results into migration of men . 12

This process excludes

gendered symbiosis within urban poor as well as in rural

areas in survival strategies seeking livelihoods and

managing available resources.

Similarly development of Peri-urbanisation is due to

outward growth of large metros, relates to the processes

of dispersive urban growth and create hybrid landscapes

of fragmented rural and urban spaces. The process has

changes in spatial expression such as changes in land use

pattern and livelihood. And the Inhabitants of these peri-

urban areas are threatened by loss of quality of life, and

quality of available resources.

Ru-urbanisation is also a new rising concept talks

about integrating urban with the rural so that there is a

co-evolution of the countryside and the city embedded

within it13

Ru-urbanisation can also be thought as

mimicking of urban expression in rural fabric. The

transformation of rural houses from traditional to more

modern , availability of amenities such as mobile phones

as well as television are example of the same. However

the attributes of urban spaces that have been accounted in

rural fabric could be matter of discussion.

These changes in the fabric results into impact of

natural resources for e.g. changes in land use pattern

from residential to financial centres requires building and

rebuilding of existing spaces , resulting into impact of

natural resources,. Exclusionary urbanisation results into

exclusion of urban poor to basic civic amenities such as

access to water and sanitation . Development of peri-

urban areas results into loss of natural water bodies,

biodiversity and impacts on ecosystem. Ru-urbanisation

results in changes in livelihood patterns in rural fabric

creating an impact on the resources.

Water conflicts arise because of competing claims

between different users often have to do with conflicts

between right to water and other rights.14

(Priya;2007 )

The scale of competing claims varies in the larger realm.

In a micro scale the conflicts could be at household levels

caused by changes in demography , and at a macro scale

claims made between industrial and agricultural sector

could raise water conflicts. 15

Provision of water supply for domestic usage ,

agriculture as well as industrial usage and setting up

entitlements for each sector is responsibility of the state 16

, the state remains in dichotomy of ensuring equity in

water entitlements and allocations.

Urbanization and Intersectoral Competition for

water

Right to water has been seen intrinsically with various

other fundamental rights , it has been embedded in

varoious human rights , and needs to be seen from

various perspective. At the same time water is an

essential for larger economic development. However the

conflict between development and resources are the

major concern. The existing urban centres throughout

the world have been developed by ruthlessly exploiting

natural resources, and the similar pattern of development

is observed by the developing centres in all the parts.

However the case in current scenario, the development

cost shall be very high than what has been paid by the

developed centres.

The prcess of urbanization has given an expression to

the dynamism of rural as well as urban fabric. Water

being an essential resource for both; rural and urban areas

as well as the transitional process plays an important role.

Water is essential for life and livelihoods. If we consider

water as a common pool resource17

it is shared by both

the sectors and making an impact on the existing

resources. The consumption pattern shall bring out the

linkages and changes in consumption patterns shall

showcase the rising competitions in consumption pattern,

conflicts and has impacted water rights of individual and

communities.

Human water consumption can be divided into

following categories

a) Domestic Consumption

b) Industrial Consumption

c) Agricultural Consumption

Domestic and Industrial water consumption is

associated with urban demands and agricultural

consumption is associated with rural water demands a

closer look in the subject shall bring out the linkages

between usage along urban and rural fabric and how the

transition is associated with it. The interlink age between

Domestic , Industrial ,and Agricultural consumption is

the interdependencies of various sectors, and how they

impact each other.

Domestic sector: Large number of water schemes

launched by various states government as well as central

government has focused on supplying water for domestic

purpose. The usage for domestic water is for drinking ,

cooking , personal hygiene , washing etc. in urban as

well as in rural areas , in rural areas water required to

maintain livestock can be accounted as part of domestic

water consumption. The three major attributes that may

determine water uses are Quality of water , Quantity of

water as well as access to water . and denial of any of

these attributes is unconstitutional and illegal (Wasim

Ahmad Khan vs. Govt. of AP) 18

.

The standards set by the government to provide water

is differential due to multiple reasons, however the

rationale shows the reasons are more technical . for e.g.

rural water supply in India uses norms of 50 lpcd , urban

areas with piped water supply but no underground

sewerage – 70 lpcd and urban areas with underground

sewerage – 125 lpcd. (MIDS,1995) . However domestic

water supply is not simply a multiple of the population

size Per capita demand increases with urbanisation and

rising incomes.19

.With this data its quite evident the

along with the urbanisation state will have more liability

to arrange for adequate water supply.

Gendered approach : Women are traditionally

considered as water managers and has close association

with domestic water supply, and the apathy of current

situation of water supply in India is that the women are

most effected due lack of access of water. In almost all

rural communities in developing countries, it is primarily

women and girls , who collect water , protect the water

source and maintain water systems , and store water. And

they spend a significant amount of time with these

activities.

As per report shared by CSE , Down to earth ;

members of 82.2% of household in Chattisgarh walk

almost 500 m a day to fetch water and there is a

substantial increase in number of people travelling to

fetch water since 1993 to 2012.

Apart from this large number of women and girl

children walk between 0.2 to 0.5 Km to collect water ,

spending 10hours man month. In order to do so large

number of girls are denied from their Right to education.

It is evident that the total time spent in fetching water

is not limited to rural areas, long queue‟s and conflicts

over fetching water are common scenario in urban

settlements also. We could also see , that due to process

of unregulated exclusionary urbanisation , basic rights to

access to water is denied to women in slum areas, are

children especially girl child are more vulnerable to these

situations and their Right to education is denied since

they spend time in fetching water for the family.

Patterns of urbanisation: The exclusionary

urbanisation , denies access to water to squatter

settlements and slums located in urban centres, the basis

of that is also associated with low cost recovery and

burden on state government to provide water. Where

rationale behind full cost recovery comes from Dublin

Principal to consider water as an economic good 20

.

However in case of Wasim Ahmad Khan Vs Govt of AP

It is states responsibility to provide water and inability to

pay for water cannot be ground for denial of water . A

report was published in Deccaan Herald , based on an

independent survey in 11 slums , that more than 90% of

the residents in slums do not have access through piped

water supply , they have to access water through public

taps, where untimely supply give rise to conflicts , or

they have to ask water from tanks run by water mafia.

Similarly as discussed by Kundu; Saraswati 2012 , the

exclusionary urbanisation end up having migration of

male population, especially adult male. Many times

these people end up losing their daily wages in struggle

of water, effecting their right to livelihood

These excluded urban settlements are developed due to

various pull factor created by the urban centres ,

availability of „better‟ livelihood opportunity and

lifestyle creates a lucrative opportunities for citizen of

rural areas , however resource constraints of the migrants

force them to build squatter settlement. There is clear

segregation in spatial expression of an excluded

settlement and regular housing in the same urban centre.

Where the residents of both the settlements are related to

each other state has shown discrimination in supplying

water in both the settlements. Non availability of water

supply system make vulnerable residents to pay much

higher cost for water due to presence of water mafia, and

sometime presence of largely male population in the

settlements leads to loss of livelihood and wages. As

mentioned earlier water is associated with other basic

human rights and states inability to provide water results

in violation of these basic human rights and is embedded

in human right to water.

Elite “Environmental” concerns: Due to lack of

space, large number of slums develop on banks of

existing water bodies, such as rivers, lakes ponds etc

.These pattern of settlements have been challenged on

environmental grounds , Wazirpur Bartan Nirmata Sangh

Vs Union of India, 21

, judgement was passed by the

Delhi high court to remove jhuggies and unauthorized

structures from banks and flood plains of river Yamuna .

This case been considered as a reference for many other

similar decision where the encroachment of river beds

and catchment of lakes could be seen as one of the

pollution sources of water bodies. Many Squatter

settlements located on the banks of water bodies are

removed , it is understood that they are polluters of the

water because of lack of sanitation and hygiene

conditions on the river bed. The concept of „ absolute

liability of the polluter to pay‟ that has been evolved by

the Supreme court , the squatters had to pay the price by

denying their right to shelter to protect environment.

While „flush and forget.‟ approach of the elite towards

sanitation continues to pollute the water bodies, and they

pay monetary charges to government to manage their

pollution.

Peri Urban Problems Rapid changes in Peri-urban

areas as well as concept of Ru-urbanisation affects water

rights. In Peri urban areas as well as in rural areas that are

undergoing transformation there is no access of

municipal pipe water supply, and ground water is the

only source of water for domestic water needs. Since

groundwater has a direct link to the land above, a link

was established between land ownership and control, if

not outright ownership, of the water found underneath the

plot. While no specific groundwater legislation arose

until the past decade, basic principles of access and

control can be derived from the Easements Act, 188222

.

As Philippe (2010) there is a need to reform the reforms

and it should address the issue of legal status of ground

water. And legal provision should be established to

regulate groundwater extraction. Though this is largely

relevant in case of industrial extraction of groundwater

the underpinning attributes remains similar for domestic

water supply through unregulated extraction on ground

water. Venkatagiriyappa V Karnataka Electricity board23

was a case where issue was raised whether the citizen has

fundamental right or other any other right to draw sub

soil water for irrigation , business or drinking purposes.

Where court has directed that extraction of ground water

for drinking purposes could be considered as part of right

to life, however extraction of groundwater other than that

will not come under right to life. However lack of

regulatory mechanism and to police the purpose of use

of water that has been extracted could be contested from

legal perspective.

Large development in peri urban areas also happens

near existing water bodies for recreational purposes.

These areas are located under catchments of various

water sheds and large amount of agricultural land is

converted into non-agricultural land. Prof. A

Lakshmisagar V State of Karnataka, 1992 has shown up

this concern . It also talks about issues related to

depletion of available water and its pollution in as a

consequence and it requires objection of any kind of such

proposals as required under section 6 of the Land

Revenue Act. Due to construction activities in the

existing water shed a large amount of water is extracted

firstly for construction purposes , and then for livelihood

purposes , and construction in water shed also reduces

percolation rate creating further problem to the existing

ground water in the region.

Thus , over extraction of water for development

projects results into a water scarce situation , the case of

Gurgaon is an example for the same, where the court

imposed a ban on construction from the ground water,

since due to depletion of aquifer, there was no water

available for the residents of that area. The paradox in

the situation is that the economic development happened

in area , infrastructure development was justified by need

of housing in a growing suburb , required for their basic

existence , but can a housing sustain itself without any

water for the residents. ? This resulted in slowdown of

property rates in Gurgaon city.

Disparities within the core: In Urban or rather

urbanized area over consumption of water for domestic

needs highly effects other rights of people in rural areas.

As per one of the report published in infochange 24

agenda an average room in a five star hotel in Delhi

consumes around 1600 litres of water per day and VIP

residences consume 30,000 litres per day. At the same

time 78% of delhiites, who live in sub-standard

settlements struggles to collect 30-90 litres per day. This

disparity exist inspite of setting up standards by BIS for

domestic water supply based on income groups , 200

lpcd for high income group and 130 lpcd for low income

groups. This kind of disparities needs to be regulated by

regulating consumption pattern , and strict measures

needs to be adopted . Increase in domestic consumption

results in requirement of large supply side management

project , for.eg. in order to meet demand of Delhi water

consumption , 500 cusec of water is diverted from

TEHRI dam . This dam is built on cost of displacement

of around 86,5000 people from the Tehri district who lost

their land and livlihoods and large number of families

haven‟t received their R&R packages.

It is quite evident that domestic water needs that is

required for basic human existence has been matter of

conflicts largely injected through changes in urban

scenario. The unregulated urbanisation creates

disparities within the society in terms of quality of water

being provided, quantity of water being provided as well

as to the access of water being provided due to various

reasons. Where Exclusionary urbanisation talks about

conflicts due to lack of access of water resources, it is

highly opposed by the elites on basis environmental

concern. The idea behind the debate is that there is

someone who is in the end being effected by lack of

access of water. While article 15 of constitution of India

, talks about right to equality and substantive equality.

Disparities in access and allocation of water based on

class and spatial differences could be contested in the

judiciary.

Industrial sector: The process of urbanisation is

linked with transformation of economy from agrarian to

more of industrialized economy. Water is considered to

be an input into the economic development process.

Industrial requirement of water supply is largely

dependent upon the typology of the industry and the

technology used. Industries being part of the cities exert

pressure on the urban water demand . If we closely

examine then most of the industrial products are also

produced to fulfil demands of urbanisation, generated

because of socio-cultural transition .

The industrialisation is by product of urbanisation or

urbanisation is an effect of industrialisation. Probably

both coexist while creating an impact on natural

resources. Large number of industries produce goods to

manage demand of the urban needs . In process of

production large amount of resources, natural as well as

well as human resources are utilized and large amount of

waste is generated , this in return effects the water source.

The linkages between urbanisation, industrial water use

and its impact on other rights are complex and could be

assessed based on the impact on water resources as well

as conflicts that have risen because of that.

Impact on surface water : Kanpur was developed as

an industrial town of Uttar Pradesh , the second largest

city of the state and availability of job opportunities due

to industries were boon for livelihood scarce society at

one point of time . Famous of it leather that was

exported throughout the world m growth of the industrial

sector was observed and along with tat impact on surface

water of Ganga river was also notices. M.C. Mehta Vs

Union of India ( Kanpur Tanneries ) was one of the

earliest cases that was brought under supreme court

pertaining to environmental losses. It was observed that

due to unregulated industrialization tanneries of Kanpur

were putting its effluents without any treatment . There

was considerable damage that was observed in ganga

river and tanneries were shut down under Section 2(a)

of the Environment (Protection ) Act , 1986 . Apart

from closure of tanneris , municipalities also received

severe criticism for its failure to discharge it statuary

duties 25

and they were directed to improve the sewerage

system and prevent the river from getting polluted.

This is a case where industries are being set up in town

near to water bodies so that they have abundant supply

of water . However lack of regulation in industrialisation

impacts water bodies.

Impact on wetlands : Wetlands are areas where water

is the primary factor that controls environment associated

with life of plants as well as animals. These wetlands

are highly productive and are cradles to large

biodiversity. These wetlands provide many ecosystem

services that are necessary for human existence.

However, these wetlands received threats due to

urbanization and excessive usage of fresh water sources.

“The convention on Wetlands (Ramsar , Iran 1971)” was

held ( which is known as Ramsar convention ) to call

international attention to the rate at which and wetlands

were disappearing26

. Due to growth in urban centres

many wetlands are under threat .

Bhoj wetland is an urban man made wetland in Bhopal

, It consist of two lakes , upper and lower lake. This lake

is one of the primary source of water supply since ages.

The wetlands provided many ecosystem services, had

been breeding place of bio diversity as well as for many

migratory birds. However the lake quality and quantity

has been deteriorating due to development in the

catchment area as well as pollution from the city. In due

course of time , WHO submitted a report claiming that

the water in the lake is unfit for drinking without proper

purification measures. There is development of squatter

settlements that has happened on fringes of the lake. Lake

receives 50.74MLD of sewage in upper lake and 31.63

MLD of sewage ion lower lake, and is under constant

threat due to various other human activities around the

lake. This is the condition of a wetland that has been

recognised in international records.

However , in due course of time importance of the

environmental services have been recognised by the

legislature and importance of protection of wetlands

have been given importance and the environmental

services have been recognised. The people united for

Better living in Calcutta and another vs State of West

Bengal and others, 1992 was one of the judgement

where the court recognised ecosystem of the services of

Calcutta wetlands was considered more important that

materialistic benefit to society at large27

The case was against construction of world trade

centre by reclaiming wetlands in Calcutta , in the case

various ecological services provided by wetlands were

used by the petitioner and brought out how these

ecological services such as water purification , control

over soil erosion , lessen impacts of floods as well as

droughts supporting wildlife and aquatic ecosystem are

more important than economic development through

large infrastructure projects.

Protection of wetlands and other water bodies is one

of the primary role of government as per the constitution

of India . In article 48A of the constitution of India it has

been clearly stated that “ The state shall endeavour to

protect and improve environment and to safeguard the

forest and wildlife of the country” Similarly the

provisions to protect the wetlands are further

strengthened by, the article 51 A of the constitution that

says “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to

protect and improve the natural environment including

forests, lakes , rivers and wildlife, and to have

compassion for living creatures.” . Owing to

constitutional framework , India was one of the primary

signatory of the Ramsar convention , an

intergovernmental treaty in order to protect and promote

wise use of wetlands and their ecosystem. The Ramsar

convention has also mandated to plan , implement and

review of legal and institutional framework in order to

promote and implement wise use concept through its

guidelines ( Art 3.1) . However the conditions of

wetlands in India and its continuous deterioration raises

questions on effective governance in India within this

regime . These claims are further strengthened since 2 out

of 26 sites listed in Ramsar list exist in Montreux

Record , and if this is the case of wetlands of

international importance the status of other wetlands shall

be even worse thus making it imperative to examine the

legal and institutional aspects of wetlands management in

the country. Due to extrovert expansion of urban centres

and development of city fringes adverse effects on

existing wetlands , there are multiple laws , guidelines

that have been brought by both central as well as state

bodies in order to protect the same. Judiciary has been

playing its part in making rationale decision to protect

these spots.

The unclear framework regarding the same adds to

complexities to protect the wetlands. According to

constitution of India it has been understood the water is a

„State.‟ Subject , and at the same time various policy

statements have been developed by central government .

This unclear framework of accountability and lack of co-

ordination between national policies and state enactments

has resulted into negligence of implementation measures

the policies . For e.g. The Ministry of Environment and

Forestry ( MoEF) had developed the National Wetland

Conservation Programme in 1983, in order to protect and

conserve lakes and other water bodies. Soon it realised

that lakes in urban area face more threats due to over

urbanization , pollution and encroachment . IN 2001 it

developed a separate programme for the same called as

national Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) . NLCP

focussed on the development of the national policies and

actions for urban lakes however , water being a state

subject , central government had limited authority of to

implement those guidelines .

The groundwater : We have seen impact of an

urbanised scenario on urban water bodies . However

many industries are being set up in rural areas and has

impact on watershed associated with rural fabric. The

plight of the Plachimada people is one of the example

that in order to satisfy needs of urban population a large

impact is made on rural areas. The case exemplify the

complexities involved in the issue of „right to water‟ in

recent times28

The conflicts is between objectives of

growth , equity and sustainability. Hindustan Coca-

cola beverages Ltd. (HCBL) had set up its boptteling

plant in Plachimada village in Pallakad district , Kerela.

Initially this project was welcomed in the village

because it had provisions of providing employment in

the village as well as would generate revenue for the

Panchayat . However soon it was realised that bottling

plant was extracting much more water than required and

was creating shortage of water for irrigation purposes.

The matter was taken to the court where initially court

ruled in favour of the Gram Panchayat , however Coca-

cola opposed the judgment and later another bench of

Kerela high court allowed HBCL to extract ground water

under certain conditionality‟s The decision led to protest

and in the end Coca-Cola had to relocate its bottteling

plant from Plachimada.

Priya (2007;75) puts forward that the Plachimada

struggle is also the question of development entails29

and

ambiguity of ground water laws and lack of clear

framework . Where on the one hand where the decision

implicitly supports a path of development that necessarily

entails establishment of industries , even if the

environmental costs are high. And on the another hand

there is a judgment that brings ground water under

public trust doctrine , state as a trustee and its

responsibility to maintain status of water as a public

good.

The idea being presented is that in order to fulfil an

unregulated urban demand that has been there because

of social transformation due to urbanisation , an adverse

impact is created on ground water resource . The impact

doesn‟t limit itself to the resource exploitation but it

effects livelihood and health of people associated with

that.

The case of Palchimada , is one of the case that came

into consideration because of conflicts , protests and

some contrasting intervention from the judiciary.

However the case could be similar to other bottling plants

of Coca-cola , Pepsi-co and probably other thriving

beverage industry which are going unnoticed because

currently there are no significant conflicts.

The projected growth of non-alcoholic beverage

industry, is 16.5% to 19% within next three years has

been estimated in according to a report by Indian

Beverage Association and Indian Council for Research

on International Economic Association30

released in

December 2013 at the same time another document

came into public domain is Ground water year book

2012-13 , that has stated that out of 9% of total blocks

are semi critical , 3 % are critical and 14% are over

exploited . If both the scenarios are overlapped on each

other then we shall find that large number of bottling

plants exist where the status of groundwater is wither

critical or overexploited., and with the current estimate of

growth of beverage industry or to meet the targets set up

by the industry to achive 16-19% growth there are three

possibilities that could be seen firstly, there will be more

conflicts between industrialization and loss of livelihood

. Secondly , There will be transformation of critical

blocks into overexploited blocks . And thirdly , there

shall be a shift of bottling plants towards safe blocks

and that shall eventually create similar situations , or

even worse since large number of people employed in

these industries

The implications of excessive use of groundwater has

an implications on human rights (Koonan 2005) and

there is necessity to de-link ground water rights from the

landownership rights.

Industrial agglomeration: Availability of water

resources, land or unique ecological nature also results

into urbanisation and development of various industries

areas in the country . Where the spatial transformation

my mimic exclusionary urbanisation while the

unregulated industrialisation promoted by the authorities

may lead to conflicts , loss of natural resource and

adverse impact on livelihoods and other rights ,there are

larger urban implications of industrial agglomeration

Alang is globally known ship breaking yard in

Bhavnagar District , this caters to around 25-30 % of

total ship breaking that happens worldwide, making it

one of the most fascinating economic centres in the

world. However , the industry is flourishing in India

because of low operational benefits from unique

geography , cheap labour and lack of environmental

control 31

. Shipbreaking is one of the most

environmentally hazardous industry that exist , though

the steel in the ship gives high value in recycling

business , oil residue , lead paint , asbestos ,

PCB(polychlorinated Biphenyl) and other toxic

compounds and heavy metals are major by-product of

the industry , that has created impacts on marine

ecosystem . The 17 km of coastline of Alang district

comes under Gujrat Maritime Board (GMB) , as s

notified area for special business purposes with an

agreement with Gujrat Industrial Development

Corporation .

Asbestos , oil spills and other toxic release has led to

degradation of the marine ecosystem and clear violation

of article 51A(g) of Constitution of India . 32

This release

has caused loss of biodiversity , problems in agriculture

etc. Though industry has been providing livelihood to

almost 35,000 migrant workers from other parts of the

country , and providing economic growth , the local

communities are facing loss of livelihoods raising

conflicts . The local fisherman community was the only

stakeholder in without voice and any apparent benefit

from the industry at Alang33

There is a drastic drop in the

fish catch and presence of heavy metals in fish catch has

led to loss of livlihoods and health of the community.

Due to large economic pressure from the industry ,

traditional fisherman community is now marginalized

and has been restricted to a limited area for fishing .

Article 47 of Constitution of India34

has seen right to

healthy living as fundamental rights and it is the state

duty to improve health and nutrition of its citizen , the

industrial set up Alang violates the same , firstly for the

fisherman folks and of the other villagers. The villagers

in nearby vicinity has a serious issue with noise pollution

, and there are reports of skin diseases and respiratory

problems. This is intrinsically related to Article 47. The

close relationship between heath and ecology had been

brought under M.C.Mehta Vs Union of India 2004 case

against mining industry , where the court has taken a

decision that life , public health and ecology of should

have priority over unemployment and loss of revenue .

The coastal areas of Alang are also facing loss of

groundwater resources because of industrial needs. Apart

from that migration from various parts of the country has

also resulted in overpopulation and high density bringing

social changes in the existing fabric.

The unregulated migration due to this coastal industry

has created a pull factor for the migrant labourers. The

industry employs 25,000 to 40,000 workers due to the

transient nature of work These workers are employed

directly in shipbreaking and other industries associated

with it . 70% of workers come from agricultural

background from states of Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar, and has an attributes of exclusionary urbanism

where largely male population is present due to nature of

work and lack of basic civic amenities. Other labour laws

are also violated due to various other reasons majorly

because the broker intends to maximise their profit. The

working conditions are far from ideal, though there have

been some improvements ,the entire operation remains

under total power of the employer , and their feudal

approach to address the issue.35

The lucrative industry and unregulated migration has

also resulted in over supply of workers , further

increasing in the density of the area and creating

problems on available limited water resources and adding

to further layer of unemployment and complexities in

existing situation.

Increase in male population in the coastal areas is also

associated in sphere of health , and the concerns of

spread of HIV are serious, this social problem also

excludes large number of workforce from basic rights of

water and sanitation.

Case Natural

features, Industry

Impact attributes

Alang ,

Gujrat

Varying tidal

coastline ,

Shipbreaking

industry

Environmental

degradation due to large oil

spills and other chemical

disposal.

adverse impacts on

human habitats

Jhumrital

iya

,Jharkhand

Availbility of

Metals, and stone ;

Mining industry

Impact on ground

water due to over extraction of

groundwater

Release of highly

turbid water from industries.

Adverse impacts on

human habitats

Tirupur,

Tamil Nadu

Black cotton

soil; Textile

industry

Impact on ground

water due to over extraction of

groundwater

Release of toxic

waste disposal

Adverse impacts on

human habitats

This is not just one of the case where urbanisation has

happened due to availability of resources, Similar cases

have been seen in other districts for e.g. Jhumritaliya in

Jharkhand , Kishangarhg in Rajasthan and Tirupur in

Tamil Nadu to name a few.Since these industries are

playing important role in economy of their respective

states , the states have been paying more attention to

address the needs of the industrial elite involved rather

than paying attention to the necessities of the people

associated with and the impact these industries are

making on environment , resources and ecological

services provided by the natural resources.

The urbanisation happening due to these industries

also effect basic human rights of people associated with

them and even their fundamental rights are denied.

Since right to water is a basic human right derived from

several other fundamental rights entrenched in

international rights instrument. ( Madhav , 2008) we can

see associate their conditions with denial of their right to

water.

Cities are under constant transitions and new cities are

in making due to process of industrialization. Water

being an important economic source for industries create

a pull factor for industrialization , and industrialization

creates a pull factor for human resources. Lack of

holistic guidelines as well as clear intent to address the

issues creates a problem on the resources as well as effect

the people associated with them. Clear understanding on

the regulations shall come where industries may adopt

strategies from an economy centric approach to resource

centric approach. And regulations on industrialisation as

well as urbanisation associated with them shall ensure

minimal

Agricultural sector: Agriculture sector is a livelihood

of millions of farmers that is highly dependent on water

resource, the entire rural economy of a region is effected

by availability of water . Changing of agglomeration

results into impact on water rights related to agricultural

sector. High dependency of a livelihood on a resource

makes its more vulnerable , and any externalities shall

create a larger impact. Urbanisation acts as one of the

externalities that effects the resources and rights

associated with it.

Impacts of urbanisation can be observed in changes in

livelihoods of rural areas, diversion of water from

irrigation projects to other purposes, changes in

agricultural pattern to fulfil urban needs and other

activities happening in urban areas affects agricultural

sector.

Changing land-use : rapid economic development ,

urbanisation and connection of urban centres through

highways have resulted in price rise in property along

the roads and urban fringes. The changes in land use

pattern and transition in economy comes along with the

transformation of agricultural land for non-agricultural

purposes . Though JNNURM has tried to intervene in

the same in order to streamline the process through

regulatory mechanism in peri-urban areas, but

inefficiency of associated institutional setup are not able

to address the issue. However even if the process is

regulated the implications on water rights still exist.

Ozar , is an agricultural town situated in Nasik District

, and has been famous for the thriving grape farms. The

Ozar Water Users Authority (WUA) were among the first

few WUA to be formed in Maharshtra and have been

cited as a success story in various forums. The success

of WUA in terms of irrigation efficiency , increase in

ICA , maintaining the system , collection of water

charges are largely associated with public participation

in managing and allocation water resources36

. Agra-

Mumbai highways is one of the recent intervention that

passes through the village cutting across the canal and

water users associations, and there are changes in land

use pattern along the highways , creating a new problem

for WUA‟s .According to MMISF Act ( Sec 5) changes

in command areas need to be notified by the WUA , The

changes include reduction in area under WUA , and as

declared in Secion 7 of the same no water shall be

allocated to the individual landholder who have

modified its land use pattern , and the supply of water to

water user association shall depend on the modification

of the land use. The sanctioned water use entitlements is

the total volume of water guaranteed to be supplied to

the Water User Association , and the water allowance to

the WUA is dependent on availability of water in canal ,

and Command area under each WUA . Changes in land

use from Agricultural to Non Agricultural purposes

reduces the share of the water in each WUA.

Water allocation to the farmers in happens based on

total water available and they have to modify their crop

or irrigated land accordingly , these process happens

through Participatory Irrigation Measure. Loss in bulk

water allotted to the WUA raise problematic situations

for the authority and lead to conflicts.

Any changes in the exiting in natural topography due

to change in land use effects the field channel, this

disturbs the layout of the distribution channel , and the

farmers at the tail end are not able to receive adequate

water for irrigation. This denies him right to the

livelihood. Where the farmer on the upper riparian of the

canal can exert its riparian rights 37

, these rights cannot be

challenged under Easement Act 1882 38

, since it is

applicable only on natural streams. According To

MMISF act the land owner who is not member of WUA ,

doesn‟t receives any water from the dam , this results in

extraction of water from borewells tfor construction as

well as later usage, in WUA , people pay charges for

using wells which is there because of infiltration from

the canal.

Urban food: Green revolution was brought through

political interference in order to ensure food security in

the country, but in current scenario the interference in

natural form of agriculture is to meet the growing urban

demand of food grains. HYV seeds , use of fertilizers

and pesticides in order to make sure that the crop looks

perfect for the food malls. Though it is perceived that the

better produce from the field ensures economic

productivity, but it could be contested since the

conditions of majority of farmers in the country is still

the same. The HYV seeds of the crop needs large amount

of water , and in order to do so farmers adopt bore wells

and booster pumps to extract groundwater. Heavy

subsidies on electricity , clubbed with lack of water

efficient irrigation technology in a scenario where there

is lack of any ground water regulation has adverse effects

on local aquifers. The pesticides and insecticides that are

sprayed for better yield contaminates existing natural

water body ,or it infiltrate into the ground.

Centre of Science and Environment had published a

report regarding contamination of Endosulfan in villagers

, where its brings out that The aerial spraying of

endosulfan on cashew farms by the plantation

corporation of Kerela has contaminated the water as well

as seriously damaged health of children , women and

men. The findings demonstrated that their was significant

traces of endosulfan in water samples , soil ,

groundwater and in vegetation, it had adverse effects on

health of the people as well as effect on aquatic

ecosystem. There was awrit petition filed against

Goevrnment of Kerela in this case, and tribunal was

demanded in order to get compensation for the

endosulfan victims. However the case of banning of

Endosulfan is still pending in the Supreme Court. The

court had put an interim ban on production and use in

may 2011 under Article 21. However in October 2012

the Supreme court bench has appointed a special

committee and the supreme court bench also mentioned

dichotomy of the centre on its stand on endosulfan case,

since banning of endosulfan shall result in economic

crisis , and uplifting the ban have human crisis.39

If we see that choice of selection of crop and

agricultural practices adopted by the agricultural sector

has adopted economy centric practices. Selectiuon of

cash crops instead of staple food , has resulted in lack of

staple food in the ,market and price rise, use of expensive

fertilizers and insecticides has raised cost of production

for farmers , adversely effected groundwater in terms of

quality and quantity and also has degraded quality of soil

that required for better farmings. As Vandana Shiva

terms it „violence of the green revolution.‟ Production

done in agricultural farms in order to fulfill irrational

urban demands has led to water, health and livlihoods

problem of the agrarian world.

Interlink of Other factors :These are few of the cases

that have been brought under picture through various

case laws , and how urbanisation is effecting water

resources. There could be multiple intersectoral relations

that could be brought in from various other perspectives.

For eg . Climate change and changes in natural

topography due to urbanisation has infused greater

challenges in water resources. On one hand where erratic

rainfall through out the country is because of the climate

changes owing to rapid urbanisation has caused

livlihoods of various farmers and on the other

Unregulated urbanisation in river beds of uttrakhand

caused disasters . Uttrakhand floods was an example of

a human introduced disaster where the major cause of

loss of life was due to unregulated urbanisation.

Rising temperature and Urban Heat Island Effects are

the reasons of vicious cycle of urbanisation ,and rapid

construction and hard paving throughout the cities have

caused problems in infiltration of water in ground and

has effected environmental flow in rivers

Waste produced by the urban areas at various scales

has been effecting water bodies at all level.At larger scale

the conflicts are arising because of waste being produced

and water being contaminated , e.g. Rise of conflicts in

Urulikanchan , Maharhstra, is due to the waste of Pune

city being dumped in landfills in peri urban areas and it is

contaminating ground water. Dump yard in Gazipur, has

been contaminating Hindon river in Uttar Pradesh while

managing waste of Delhi, and there are multiple similar

cases that could be citied

Increase in electricity consumption in urban areas due

to mimicking of west through glass buildings, and

changes in urban lifestyle has resulted in large

hydropower projects, causing loss of livelihoods in rural

areas.

Large water front development such as Narmada water

front project has been introduced in order to fulfil

aesthetical needs of the urban population, where the

environmental flow of has been restricted ,slums have

been removed and land has been reclaimed for real-estate

projects .

There could be infinite examples from various parts of

the country and world addressing the same topic but the

underpinning message still remains that the transitions in

spatial – cultural and social aspects of the society and

shift from agrarian to industrialized economy have been

causing conflicts and it is an important issue that needs to

be considered.

The debate continues: It is very much evident that

urbanization has been creating water demand and has

been reasons of various conflicts within the water sector.

and because of this there is an increase increase in

demand –supply gap of water resources. We can consider

that it is transition in economy that is triggering these

gaps and government is trying to reduce the gap by

introducing more economically unviable projects such as

National River Linking Project , as a supply side

management practice. At the same time it also introduces

economic measures such as water tariff and water

markets to manage the rising demand.40

Concepts of efficiency is given more importance than

equity in distribution , „management‟ itself is a „market‟

oriented terminologies. We have seen impacts of these

economically intensive projects such as „ Sardar sarovar

Dam‟ to provide water for agricultural purposes, which

has resulted in eviction of huge population and their losss

of livelihoods and Privatisation of water supply by

NTADCL, in Tirupur, that failed to provide water

equitably to residents of Tirupur and other surrounding

villages.

The bigger question is whether economic measures to

address the issue created by economic transitions are

viable ?

Water conflicts rising water demands needs a more

comprehensive understanding of right to water 41

(Cullet

2012) talks about integrating right to water other

fundamental rights with environment and inter-sectoral

perspective might reach holistic goals that need to be

achieved right to water.

However in order to rethink the approach, we have to

debate on developmental paradigms that we are

envisaging . As urbanisation is characterised as „engine

of economic development‟ the need of urbanisation can

be debated based on rationale of development. In all the

above cases we have been seeing that economy is the

driving force of spatial, social and cultural transition.

And this transition is not equitable because in country

like India , there are huge economic disparities and class

differences. The Indian judiciary has faced this dilemma

in many times where it has to decide between economic

goals or environmental impacts ( Endosulfan case & The

people united for Better living in Calcutta and another vs

State of West Bengal and others, 1992 ) and has given

decision considering environment and health of human

beings on more priority than economic development.

These decisions by the judiciary is laying path for

future discourse that needs to be built for development .

The future models of policy making can use these

decisions by the judiciary to redevelop models of

development.

The idea that can be put forward is that we can bring

developmental paradigms that talks about resource

centric approach rather than economy centric approach .

Since ,economy shall generate based on optimum

exploitation of the resource , a resource centric approach

towards policy making and other development shall

ensure a sustainable growth. And resource is not just the

water or minerals , that needs to be addressed . It is a

complex network of all natural resources , land , water ,

minerals , air , environment and humans etc. and

developmental policies can be framed by adopting an

intersectoral approach mapping the interdependencies

,impacts and symbiotic relationship of all the sectors.

1 Amit Tandon, Author is a student of water policy and governance at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 2 Report of the committee for drafting on national water framework law,GOI , NewDelhi , may 2013 3 National Water Policy ,GOI, MoWR , 2012 4 The right to water:An overview of the Indian Legal Regime ;S.Muralidhar; IELRC working paper. 5 Subhash Kumar V. State of Bihar 6 Wasim Ahmad Khan Vs Govt of AP 7 Deshi Sugar MIlls vs Tupsi Kahar , 1925. 8 Legal Implications of Plachimada: A case study ; Sujit Koonan ; IELRC working paper 2006-07 9 Hindustan coca-cola beverages (p) ltd. V. Perumatty grama panchayat, 2005 10 Subaltern urbanisation in India ; Eric Denis; Partha Mukhopadhyay,Marie-Helene Zerah; EPW,2012 11 Migrant and Exclusionary urbanisation in India……. 12 Migrant and Exclusionary urbanisation in India…… 13 Subaltern urbanisation in India; Eric Denis; Partha Mukhopadhyay,Marie-Helene Zerah; EPW,2012 14 Review of Right to Water:Human rights ,state legislations and civil societies in India; Priya Sangameswaran; CISED, Technical

report,2007 15 Protest held by Lokabhimukh Paani Dhoran Sangharsh Manch; 4th Feb 2014 ; where it is advocated by the manch that water is

allocated for agricultural sector have been diverted for industrial and other purposes. 16 As per MWRRA, ACT 2001; MWRRA is mandated to facilitate , and ensure judicious,equitable and sustainable management,

allocation and utilization of water resource. 17 As per Draft National Water Policy- Water needs ot be managed as a common pool community resource held by the state ,under

public trust doctrine to achieve food security, support livelihoods and ensure sustainable development for all. 18 Pertaining to writ petition filed by Wasim Ahmad Khan , court directed Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to provide safe drinking water to

all the citizen in state , and paucty of funds cannot be understood as reason ode denial of water. 19 Urbanization and Intersectoral competition for Water; Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Paul P. Appasamy; 20 Dublin statement on water and sustainable development, 1992 “ Water has and economic value in all its competing uses should be

recognised as economic good.”; “Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use‟

and of encouraging conservation and protection of water resources.” 21 Wazirpur Bartan Nirmata Sangh Vs Union of India, 22 Groundwater regulation- Need for further reforms; Philipe Cullet , IELERC working paper. 23http://www.ielrc.org/content/~head%20note_water.php?param=144 24

http://infochangeindia.org/agenda/the-politics-of-water/30-litres-for-some-1600-for-others-inequities-in-delhis-water-supply.html 25 They were : Uttar Pradesh Muncipalities Act,; The Uttar Pradesh water supply and sewerage act , 1975; water (prevention and

control of pollution )Act, 1974 26 Ramsar convetion : “The convention on Wetlands (Ramsar , Iran 1971)” was held ( which is known as Ramsar convention ) 27 The people united for Better living in Calcutta and another vs State of West Bengal and others, 1995 28 Review of Right to Water:Human rights ,state legislations and civil societies in India; Priya Sangameswaran; CISED, Technical

report,2007 ,73 29 Review of Right to Water:Human rights ,state legislations and civil societies in India; Priya Sangameswaran; CISED, Technical

report,2007 ,73

30 http://www.livemint.com/Industry/nyCVXeL2ex9NZGWe3zxPsK/Beverage-industry-to-grow-at-16519-report.html 31 Urbanism of Disassembly : strategies for Alang‟s shipbreaking industries ;Barve . Aditya S

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/82266 32 Article 51a(g) inserted fundamental duties (Part IV A) “ It shall be duty of every citizen to protect and improve natural environment

including forests , lakes , river and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. 33 Chapter 4 ; Alang Actors and Conflicts ; Urbanism of Disassembly : strategies for Alang‟s shipbreaking industries ;Barve . Aditya S 34Constitution of India - Article 47 – The State shall regard the raising of the level of

nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the

improvement of public health as among its primary

duties. 35 Chapter 4 ; Alang Actors and Conflicts ; Urbanism of Disassembly : strategies for Alang‟s shipbreaking industries ;Barve . Aditya S 36 The Ozar Water User Societies: Impact of Society Formation andCo-management of Surface Water and Groundwater;Suhas

Pranjape and K.J.Joy 37 Riparian rights : Etymologically ,the term‟ripa‟ means „the bank of stream‟ ,wherein Riparian right has been defined to mean right

of a land owber whose property borders on a body of water course.Such a landowner traditionally has right to make reasonable use of

water. 38 Indian easement Act,1882 39 http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/panel-to-go-into-all-aspects-of-endosulfan/article3981886.ece# 40 Promoting Demand Management in Irrigation in India:Policy Options and Institutional Requirements; Rathinasamy Maria Saleth,

Upali A. Amarasinghe, V. Ratna Reddy, K. Palanisami,R.P.S. Malik, A. Narayanamoorthy, Vishal Narain and M. Venkata

Reddy;2009 41Drinking water regulation Rethinking the right to water; Philippe Cullet; IELRC policy paper 2102

Reference for Figure :

Figure 1: Percentage of women travel to fetch water in urban and rural areas ; Source - CSE, 2014

Figure2 :Number of women that walk 0.2- 0.5 km to fetch water in all states of

Figure 3 : Bottling plants of Hindustan Coca-cola beverages Ltd. ; Source : www.hcbl.co.in

Figure 4: Categorization of ground water assesments units ; source : Ground water year book 2012-2013;MoWR 2013

Figure 5: Coastline of ship breaking yard at Alang ; Source : Google Earth

Table 1 : Categories and impacts of various industrial agglomeration.