Abstract
Today more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. With anticipated increases in urbanization in Asia and Africa, addressing the growing needs of water and sanitation in cities has become one of the most urgent and pressing issues in urban sustainability. As the megacities of the world are home to such a large proportion of the urban population, the issue of water is particularly acute. Given the magnitude and complexity of the water question, this chapter focuses on water as one significant aspect of urban sustainability in megacities.
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Notes
- 1.
One of the targets in the Millennium Development Goals states: “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.”
- 2.
The Census of India, 2001, estimated the population at 13.8 million. It was expected to be over 15 million by the end of 2002. The urban population increased by 52% between 1991 and 2001.
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- 4.
Samuel Noe has suggested that the canals represented a considerable engineering achievement and that their pattern is central to understanding the form and structure of Shahjahan’s Delhi. He also suggests that the entire city was originally designed as a paradise garden in the tradition of Islamic design in medieval Persia. Although one may question his assertion that geometry was the primary determinant of Delhi’s form, his analysis is valuable in pointing out the significance of engineering in the layout of Shahjahanadad (Noe 1989).
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Vast amount of funds spent on the military expeditions of the Indian Army under the British Empire left little money for state projects during the late nineteenth century. Local authorities were largely required to raise their own funds for improvement projects. The Delhi Municipal Committee had very little money. As my review of municipal records and proceedings over several years in the late nineteenth century shows, large, capital-intensive projects were not only expected to pay for themselves, but to bring in some profits as well. Kumar and Habib (1982) have noted that works of “Internal Improvement” were explicitly a commercial proposition. Such works were to be “essentially based on the idea of their being profitable in a pecuniary point of view.… If it cannot reasonably be predicted that such work will be profitable in this sense, it should not be undertaken” (Report of a Committee 1858).
- 7.
“Sweeper” is a term that colonial officials used to refer to those who collected refuse and cleaned toilets and streets. Such people were considered untouchable according to traditional caste divisions.
- 8.
Letter from Major C.A.M. Mahon, Deputy Commissioner, Delhi, dated 1882, to Lieutenant W.M. Wiley, Commissioner and Superintendent, Delhi Division. Commissioner’s Office, Delhi Division, File #206, Carton Box #11, 1869−1882.
- 9.
Letter from Major C. A. M. Mahon, Deputy Commissioner, Delhi, dated 1882, to Lieutenant W. M. Wiley, Commissioner and Superintendent, Delhi Division, Commissioner’s Office, Delhi Division, File #206, Carton Box #11, 1869–1882.
- 10.
Narayani Gupta has discussed the politics and burdens of taxation in detail. Gupta (1981).
- 11.
Based on conversations with property owners, municipal officials, and real estate agents during the author’s field work in Delhi, 2002−2004.
- 12.
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- 18.
The journal Down to Earth, published by the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi, notes that during the 1980s, private developers in Gurgaon had hundreds of private borewells and were drawing water free of cost. The water table today is 40 m below ground level while Gurgaon, home to multinational companies and apartment complexes of the well-heeled employees in the IT sector, depends heavily on groundwater for its needs. According to the Central Ground Water Board (2004), 70% of its present need is met through groundwater. Yet, no figures are available on how many borewells are operating or how much groundwater is being extracted.
- 19.
Central Ground Water Board, 2004. The Central Ground Water Board is a government agency. The rate of depletion, which is about 4.5 m/year over four years, can be compared to the earlier figure of 22.5 m in the 27 years between 1980 and 2007 (http://cgwb.nic.in/).
- 20.
- 21.
Today these are within the city itself, but remain hidden from view.
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Acknowledgement
Damien Carriere ably assisted with the bibliography and references.
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Hosagrahar, J. (2011). Landscapes of Water in Delhi: Negotiating Global Norms and Local Cultures. In: Sorensen, A., Okata, J. (eds) Megacities. Library for Sustainable Urban Regeneration, vol 10. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-99267-7_6
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