IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v120y2019icp182-192.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The politics of rural–urban water conflict in India: Untapping the power of institutional reform

Author

Listed:
  • Punjabi, Bharat
  • Johnson, Craig A.

Abstract

Animating the contemporary politics of water governance in India is a combination of institutional path dependence and a neo-liberal restructuring that has extended the ability of Indian cities to establish new forms of water entitlement in rural and peri-urban areas. This paper explores the politics of rural–urban water conflicts that are occurring in this changing political context. Building upon Schlager and Ostrom’s conceptualization of operational and collective choice rules, it examines the role of agrarian institutions (primarily in the form of land rights) in shaping the politics of rural–urban water transfers in Mumbai and Chennai, two of India’s largest and fastest-growing cities. By doing so, it makes the case that Mumbai’s ability to secure water entitlement has been facilitated by an institutional legacy of prior appropriation that has been applied in a context of weak and limited tribal authority over land and resources. Chennai by contrast has become far more dependent upon the commodification of water in the form of quasi-market and allocation contracts, reflecting the riparian rights of commercial farmers in the Chennai region. The paper generates theoretical and empirical insights about the ways in which variations in urban and agrarian institutions affect the politics of rural–urban water allocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Punjabi, Bharat & Johnson, Craig A., 2019. "The politics of rural–urban water conflict in India: Untapping the power of institutional reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 182-192.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:120:y:2019:i:c:p:182-192
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.03.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X18301037
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.03.021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leach, Melissa & Mearns, Robin & Scoones, Ian, 1999. "Environmental Entitlements: Dynamics and Institutions in Community-Based Natural Resource Management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 225-247, February.
    2. Kristian Hoelscher, 2016. "The evolution of the smart cities agenda in India," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 28-44, March.
    3. Sikor, Thomas & He, Jun & Lestrelin, Guillaume, 2017. "Property Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 337-349.
    4. Johnson, Craig & Forsyth, Timothy, 2002. "In the Eyes of the State: Negotiating a "Rights-Based Approach" to Forest Conservation in Thailand," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1591-1605, September.
    5. R. Maria Saleth & Ariel Dinar, 2004. "The Institutional Economics of Water : A Cross-Country Analysis of Institutions and Performance," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14884.
    6. Karen C Seto & Michail Fragkias & Burak Güneralp & Michael K Reilly, 2011. "A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-9, August.
    7. Molle, François & Berkoff, J., 2006. "Cities versus agriculture: revisiting intersectoral water transfers, potential gains and conflicts," IWMI Research Reports H038722, International Water Management Institute.
    8. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    9. Craig Johnson & Arpana Chakravarty, 2013. "Re-Thinking the Role of Compensation in Urban Land Acquisition: Empirical Evidence from South Asia," Land, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-26, June.
    10. Vivek Vivek, 2016. "Rainwater Harvesting In Chennai: What Made It Work?," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 5(1), pages 91-106, January.
    11. R. Maria Saleth & Ariel Dinar, 2004. "The Institutional Economics of Water," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3443.
    12. Robert H. Bates & Avner Greif & Margaret Levi & Jean-Laurent, 1998. "Analytic Narratives," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 6355.
    13. David Mosse, 1997. "The Symbolic Making of a Common Property Resource: History, Ecology and Locality in a Tank‐irrigated Landscape in South India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 467-504, July.
    14. Frances Cleaver, 2000. "Moral Ecological Rationality, Institutions and the Management of Common Property Resources," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(2), pages 361-383, March.
    15. Molle, Francois & Berkoff, Jeremy, 2006. "Cities versus agriculture: Revisiting intersectoral water transfers, potential gains and conflicts," IWMI Research Reports 91817, International Water Management Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roy, Tirthankar, 2019. "Climate and the economy in India, 1850-2000," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102589, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Roy, Tirthankar, 2019. "Climate and the Economy in India, 1850-2000," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 445, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Kathleen C. Stosch & Richard S. Quilliam & Nils Bunnefeld & David M. Oliver, 2022. "Catchment-Scale Participatory Mapping Identifies Stakeholder Perceptions of Land and Water Management Conflicts," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Kashwan, Prakash & MacLean, Lauren M. & García-López, Gustavo A., 2019. "Rethinking power and institutions in the shadows of neoliberalism," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 133-146.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bidhan Kanti Das, 2019. "Denial of Rights Continues: How Legislation for ‘Democratic Decentralisation’ of Forest Governance was Subverted in the Implementation Process of the Forest Rights Act in India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 957-983, September.
    2. Crase, Lin & Dollery, Brian, 2006. "Water rights: a comparison of the impacts of urban and irrigation reforms in Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 50(3), pages 1-12, September.
    3. Brobbey, Lawrence Kwabena & Hansen, Christian Pilegaard & Kyereh, Boateng, 2021. "The dynamics of property and other mechanisms of access: The case of charcoal production and trade in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Johnson, Craig & Forsyth, Timothy, 2002. "In the Eyes of the State: Negotiating a "Rights-Based Approach" to Forest Conservation in Thailand," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1591-1605, September.
    5. Castillo, G. E. & Namara, Regassa & Ravnborg, H. M. & Hanjra, M. A. & Smith, L. & Hussein, M. H. & Bene, Christopher & Cook, S. & Hirsch, D. & Polak, P. & Valee, Domitille & van Koppen, Barbara, 2007. "Reversing the flow: agricultural water management pathways for poverty reduction," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    6. Floriane Clement, 2010. "Analysing decentralised natural resource governance: proposition for a “politicised” institutional analysis and development framework," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 43(2), pages 129-156, June.
    7. Agrawal, Arun, 2001. "Common Property Institutions and Sustainable Governance of Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1649-1672, October.
    8. Talbot-Jones, Julia & Bennett, Jeff, 2019. "Toward a property rights theory of legal rights for rivers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    9. W Neil Adger & Katrina Brown & Jenny Fairbrass & Andrew Jordan & Jouni Paavola & Sergio Rosendo & Gill Seyfang, 2003. "Governance for Sustainability: Towards a ‘Thick’ Analysis of Environmental Decisionmaking," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 35(6), pages 1095-1110, June.
    10. Ishihara, Hiroe & Pascual, Unai, 2009. "Social capital in community level environmental governance: A critique," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1549-1562, March.
    11. Millner, Naomi & Peñagaricano, Irune & Fernandez, Maria & Snook, Laura K., 2020. "The politics of participation: Negotiating relationships through community forestry in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Krul, Kees & Ho, Peter & Yang, Xiuyun, 2020. "Incentivizing household forest management in China's forest reform: Limitations to rights-based approaches in Southwest China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Dinar, Ariel, 2012. "Economy-wide implications of direct and indirect policy interventions in the water sector: lessons from recent work and future research needs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6068, The World Bank.
    14. Molle, Francois & Berkoff, Jeremy, 2007. "Water pricing in irrigation: the lifetime of an idea," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    15. Stephen Woroniecki, 2019. "Enabling Environments? Examining Social Co-Benefits of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Sri Lanka," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Rout, S., 2008. "Institutional and policy reforms in water sector in India: review of issues, concepts and trends," Conference Papers h042926, International Water Management Institute.
    17. Narain, V., 2009. "Water rights system as a demand management option: potentials, constraints and prospects," IWMI Books, Reports H042163, International Water Management Institute.
    18. Wilson, R. Trevor, 2007. "Perceptions, practices, principles and policies in provision of livestock water in Africa," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-2), pages 1-12, May.
    19. Karin Andrea Wigger & Dean A. Shepherd, 2020. "We’re All in the Same Boat: A Collective Model of Preserving and Accessing Nature-Based Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 587-617, May.
    20. Poncian, Japhace & Jose, Jim, 2019. "National resource ownership and community engagement in Tanzania's natural gas governance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:120:y:2019:i:c:p:182-192. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.