Case Studies - Urban Water

A case study is a detailed study of some aspect of this subject

Once upon a lake: A report on the current status of the lakes of Mahadevpura constituency, Bengaluru with recommendations for restoration

'Lakes of Mahadevpura constituency, Bengaluru- current status, changes in distribution and recommendations for restoration' by Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram, and S Subramanya presents the current status of the lake and canal system in Bengaluru’s Mahadevpura constituency, with details of individual lakes as well as recommendations for the restoration of these lakes as well as the entire system. This report has been shared with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, under which the management of these lakes is consolidated, to inform planning at a constituency and ward level.

Map of the lakes in Bengaluru, source: ATREE

Contextualising urban water supply in a changing environment: India Urban Conference, November 17-20 2011

The India Urban Conference (IUC) was organised to encourage multi-level dialogue regarding India's urban transformation. It aimed to set the challenges faced by urban planners in the current economic, socio-political, and ecological landscape. This would enable informed and negotiated choices on urban development. The stated objectives of the conference are as follows:

To make urban, applied research relevant to an increased spectrum of stakeholders including academics, civil societies, policy think tanks, research institutes, media, private sector, and citizens.
To leverage experience to generate useful evidence to promote applied research and responsive policy-making.
To create new research initiatives and/ or collaborations with a potential for creating tangible changes/ reforms for the benefit of urban India and its context.
To identify and explore research issues affecting urban India, by exploring through a perspective of eight selected themes.
Publish research papers and evidence presented/ discussed in the form of case-books, web publications, and potentially a special issue of a journal.

National action plan on climate change (NAPCC) and supporting mission documents (2008-11)

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It gives the direction which India needs to take, to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.

Lakes in Mumbai – A draft report by WWF India

Mumbai lakes This draft report on the study of lakes by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (India) documents the physical condition of the lakes in Mumbai. Apart from the three lakes - Tulsi, Powai and Vihar that used to provide water to Mumbai residents, there are many lakes in the Bombay Municipal Corporation jurisdiction that are either polluted by human sewage or industrial effluents and have remained neglected with increasing urbanization.

There is very little to no data available on the existence of lakes of Mumbai. Several RTI’s to the government bodies also revealed that there was a lacuna in terms of the availability of the data; as a result most of the water bodies are easily exploited. Under this study the baseline data was prepared with the help of Google Earth website. The areas appearing to be lakes were marked on the Google Earth Images. These were verified by the field staff through onsite visits. The survey was conducted during September and October, 2008 and March, 2009. The study considers only the fresh water lakes which were accessible and saline water impoundments have not been considered.

Private water supply augmentation project for Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh under UIDSSMT - A case study of the impacts of the project by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra

Project This report by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra discusses the concerns around the private water supply augmentation project in Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), a Government of India scheme for infrastructure development in small and medium town.

The number of private water projects under UIDSSMT is increasing at a fast rate. Khandwa is the first town in Madhya Pradesh to execute a private water project under this scheme, hence the findings of this project would be important for other towns as well which are looking for implementing private water projects under UIDSSMT.

This report basically focuses on the issues related to the new private water supply augmentation project from Chhoti Tawa, a tributary of Narmada River, and a part of the backwaters of Indira Sagar Project on Narmada. It gives a brief picture of the existing water supply system in Khandwa. It also discusses in details the impacts of the new private water supply project and question marks on the project efficacy.The report looks into the alternative systems that could have been operated instead of the current private, long distance and expensive project.

Groundwater, self-supply and poor urban dwellers - A review with case studies of Bangalore and Lusaka by IIED

This paper by International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) explores the extent to which urban dwellers, and especially those living in low income areas, depend directly and indirectly on groundwater. It investigates the difficulties they face and emphasizes the need for better integration of groundwater in the planning and management of urban water resources.

Groundwater scenario in major cities of India – A report by Central Ground Water Board

cover page This report by Central Ground Water Board presents the groundwater scenario in twenty eight major cities of the country based on a consolidation of the urban studies carried out by it. It covers varying groundwater scenarios in the country including the highly developed metros, the hilly region, the coastal cities, the cities tapping unconsolidated and hard rock aquifers. The report briefly describes the administrative set up, status of water supply and demand, groundwater scenario, feasibility of rainwater harvesting and groundwater development strategy.

It is an updated version of an earlier report on “Groundwater in urban environment in India” (2000). Since then, groundwater regime, urban demography and water demand have changed enormously. This report will form a scientific base for an in-depth understanding of urban groundwater system including aquifer geometry, water level behavior and groundwater quality. The possibility of artificial recharge to rejuvenate the urban aquifers has also been discussed.

Proposal for groundwater recharge in National Capital Region - A report by SK Sharma and Green Systems

This study by SK Sharma and Green Systems, details the current situation of the National Capital Region (NCR) area, in terms of geohydrology, climate and water usage. It also explains the various laws that have been put in place to increase groundwater replenishment.

With this information, the author makes a series of proposals to recharge the groundwater in the NCR. The NCR consists of parts of the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, besides New Delhi itself. The rapid urbanisation of these areas is leading to water being consumed at a pace, far greater than its replenishment.

Development of training module for water safety plan in urban areas - A document by ESCI

A Water Safety Plan (WSP) is an improved risk management tool designed to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water. It identifies hazards, means to control them, means and actions to identify loss of control and its restoration. It comprises system assessment and design, operational monitoring and management plans (including documentation and communication). Water quality guidelines have been issued by the WHO.

Water safety plan: A manual for pilot study areas of Hyderabad

The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of drinking water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and management approach, that encompasses all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer. Such approaches are called Water Safety Plans (WSPs).

The aim of a WSP is to organize and systematize records of management practices applied to drinking water and to ensure workability of such practices to organized drinking water supply.

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