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Case Study of Water Reforms in Hubli-Dharwad

Research Team: Priya Sangameswaran, in collaboration with Roopa Madhav and Clifton D’ Rozario

Under the Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project, the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad in north Karnataka have been chosen as a pilot case for "24/7" (supplying water twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week) and for the institutional and other changes required for private sector participation. While reforms in this locale are ongoing, the experience to date offers useful insights into and raises further questions about institutional relations, equity, the nature and extent of citizen participation, water provision financing, and conflicts between different uses of water. For instance, while there has been an attempt to provide certain concessions to the poor by way of the pro-poor policy under 24/7, there are still concerns about the overall impact of the project in terms of equity. The study underscores the need to engage with the kind of changes required in the water sector before institutionalizing processes that would be difficult to reverse in the future. The study is part of an IELRC research project on legal issues related to water restructuring.

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