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Discourses of Water, Development and Sector Reforms in Water in Maharashtra

Researcher: Priya Sangameswaran

Over the last decade, various sectors that provide public service goods, such as water, power, and health, are being restructured. In the realm of water, these "reforms" have typically included elements like participatory irrigation management, increased emphasis on the economic dimensions of water provision, the adoption of demand-driven approaches, requiring users to contribute to costs, greater power to local bodies, establishment of regulatory authorities, and corporate involvement.

This research explored different dimensions of the reform process, both in rural and urban areas, and across domestic, agricultural, and industrial/commercial uses of water. It focused on the interaction between mainstream discourses on water and development, and the motivations of and interactions between diverse actors, especially the new ones (technical service providers, water auditors) that have emerged as a result of the reforms process. It views these changes in the context of larger debates about neo-liberal development, commodification of resources, rights, and equity.

The study has observed a general trend towards formalization in various domains, as manifested by an emphasis on contracts and legislation, and on defining entitlements to water. The implications of this trend for equity and democratization are mixed. The study also finds that the process has already started to frame the terms of the discourse in the water sector and also to influence people’s attitudes/perceptions. Finally, the reform process is putting in place new forms of government, leading to new ways in which the state is functioning. All of these dimensions need to be critically interrogated.

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