Policy Transformations and Translations: Lessons for Sustainable Water Management in Peri-Urban Delhi, India

Abstract

Citation: Randhawa, Pritpal, and Fiona Marshall. "Policy transformations and translations: lessons for sustainable water management in peri-urban Delhi, India." Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 32.1 (2014): 93-107.Official URL: http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=c10204More details/abstract: This paper explores the complex interactions that occur as formal policies are interpreted and utilised to develop water management plans in peri-urban Delhi. With an emphasis on people's participation in decision-making, the paper examines some of the disjunctures between formal assumptions about water management in periurban areas and practices on the ground. In doing so it attempts to reveal some of the key processes responsible for social fragmentation of services. The paper describes informal coping strategies adopted by poor and marginalised peri-urban communities with little or no access to formal provision. Within this, the role of 'hidden; interactions with the formal system are highlighted in the context of failures of formal participatory platforms. The paper argues that enhanced understanding of the policy process, and the alternative arrangements that emerge in response to its shortfalls, could be an important contributory factors in identifying realistic intervention strategies for enhanced, more socially just, water management in periurban situations. Version: Accepted version AbstractThis paper explores the complex interactions that occur as formal policies are interpreted and utilised to develop water management plans in peri-urban Delhi. With an emphasis on people's participation in decision-making, the paper examines some of the disjunctures between formal assumptions about water management in periurban areas and practices on the ground. In doing so it attempts to reveal some of the key processes responsible for social fragmentation of services. The paper describes informal coping strategies adopted by poor and marginalised peri-urban communities with little or no access to formal provision. Within this, the role of 'hidden; interactions with the formal system are highlighted in the context of failures of formal participatory platforms. The paper argues that enhanced understanding of the policy process, and the alternative arrangements that emerge in response to its shortfalls, could be an important contributory factors in identifying realistic intervention strategies for enhanced, more socially just, water management in periurban situations.

The policy–practice divide and SME-friendly public procurement

“…'Implementation deficits' have also been identified outside public procurement in areas including climate protection (Jordan, 1999;Krause, 2011;Pitt, 2010), waste management (Nilsson et al, 2009) and rural planning (Gilg and Kelly, 1997). Most recently, Randhawa and Marshall's (2014) case study of an Indian water management project demonstrated how implementation practices often end up bearing little resemblance to what is contained in government action plans. Evidently, there is nothing inevitable about policy translating into practice, whether in procurement or in any other domain.…”

Peri-Urbanism in Globalizing India: A Study of Pollution, Health and Community Awareness

“…It includes a diversity of urban and peri-urban settlements, with people variously accommodated in villages, unauthorized colonies, slums, and middle-class colonies. This area has been enormously affected by the transformations in nearby Delhi—for example, through the loss of farmland to urban development and through the relocation of polluting industries from Delhi to Ghaziabad [26,27]. The population in Ghaziabad has grown as people are attracted by its urbanizing nature, including rural migrants looking for work and urban populations relocating because of cheaper housing and improved commuting possibilities.…”

“…The result has been a lowering of the water table. Areas such as Karhera have been affected by these urbanization processes, and their tubewells no longer provide adequate sources of water [3,26]. Water shortages have also reduced the amount of land suitable for cultivation.…”

“…Water and air pollution have been the subject of numerous newspaper articles and have, on occasion, resulted in civil society protests against polluting industries. In Karhera, there have only been a few isolated attempts to address environmental pollution despite official recognition of the contaminated environment [26]. Some of Karhera’s residents had complained about a particular factory to the police station.…”

Theorising pathways to sustainability

“…Leach 2008;Leach et al 2010b), others pick bits and pieces in combination with other theories, for example resilience (Thapa et al 2010), conflict transformation theory (Rodriguez et al 2013) or livelihood studies (Muller-Mahn et al 2010). Ely et al (2013Ely et al ( , 2014) focus on 'innovation pathways' and the idea of 'opening up' and 'broadening out', and Randhawa and Marshall (2014) explore how the institutional context prioritises particular pathways to sustainability in an Indian water management context. However, it is hard to find research that address all components (narratives, actors, their ideas/perceptions, Pathways and the governance/institutional context) in ways that are systematic enough to reveal the mechanisms of domination and suppression of alternative Pathways.…”