Informal Water Issues In Hyderabad – Interview With Mr. Kilian Christ, Water and Megacities Project

Kilian: The main challenge is to organise valuable data from the Indian authorities. It seems as if nobody feels responsible; they don’t have any data or, if they do have it, it is not supposed to be shared with us. It takes a lot of time to establish the necessary contacts and gain the confidence of authorities in order to get whatever little insight into their statistics. Furthermore, the entire process is very bureaucratic. We have to compile copies of various request letters until we finally get access to data, which we cannot find on our own. The reaction to my requests has been mixed though initial scepticism about the need of collecting data is always there. The current discussions and protests around the Telangana movement have sometimes led to closed office doors. But don’t get me wrong: most of the people I meet are very interested in our work and trying their best to support us with providing the data. Hyderabad really tries hard to make a change – and that’s a very positive environment to start with. India itself is a highlight every single day. I am wondering how ‘processes’ works here, especially as a German who likes to plan things in advance – it can be very tough sometimes! Let’s take meetings as an example. In the beginning, it seemed so chaotic. I was always worried about reaching on time due to the crazy traffic here, or if my counterpart was actually at the office for the meeting, even after having fixed times and dates. But I have gotten used to it now – and waiting with a nice cup of chai is always all right! On the whole, I enjoy my time a lot and am happy to be part of such a great team.
IJR: Kilian, tell us more about your PHD topic. How does it fit into the larger context of the project on water and megacities?
Kilian: In my thesis ‘Interaction between informal processes and the water management in Hyderabad’ (working title), I want to understand how informal processes in Hyderabad impact local water management. As a first step, I try to identify those informal processes that affect water or depend on it. My research includes different aspects of livelihoods, from living to manufacturing, waste disposal, health and so on. The core questions are: Who is providing water to the slum dwellers? How do they dispose of their wastewater? What effect does that have on the overall water cycle and what conclusions can be drawn from it? What’s the role of public authorities, NGOs and CBOs? My research is based on interviews, visits to slum or squatter areas, water analysis data and official documents provided by the public authorities. Since data on informal processes is very scarce and these people are often forgotten within the Indian growth story, I want to point out the importance of including the informal sector and its needs in urban planning and decision-making processes. My long-term goal is to implement my results in India after the PhD research is over. I can see myself living here and joining an organisation that I can contribute to with the knowledge and experience I have gained.

IJR: What kind of interaction between high-speed Indian urbanisation, as you call it, and the usage of water have you observed so far?

Kilian: As this is the case in most emerging countries, the process of urbanisation is much faster than the actual development of infrastructure itself. In Hyderabad, lakes and little nallahs disappear because of encroachment. There are laws and building regulations, which should prevent that process, but nobody enforces them. Construction within full tank level of lakes is prohibited, however, for a long time, the full tank level was never determined. There are not enough wastewater treatment plants; this results in massive pollution of the Musi river and lakes in Hyderabad. People living in slums at the banks of the Musi cannot drink the water from their wells anymore because of contamination. But you see, slums on the other hand have to be extremely economic with their water usage. Hence, their influence on the overall water system (water theft, water pollution, etc.) is very low compared to large-scale water pollution by the industry or large household colonies.
IJR: What problems does Hyderabad’s water situation face?

Kilian: I can share two examples with you. There is a general lack of urban planning. For example, there are treatment plants, which are constructed but not operational because of power shortage. Additionally, along with the growth of the city, the demand for water naturally increases. Hence, the water is brought to Hyderabad from farther and farther sources although at the same time the city faces huge water losses due to bad infrastructure and management. So, the solution is to improve the current system itself but obviously this is a very complex and political task.
IJR: Do you think that German technology providers can help implement concrete solutions?
Kilian: My opinion on this is clear: Keep it simple. Most German technology providers have excellent solutions; however, implementing them in a slum scenario does not work for two reasons. Firstly, imported technology is expensive. So who will foot the bill? Neither the local city government nor the slum dwellers can generally afford expensive technology. Secondly, we should ask ourselves the question, “Is it really necessary?” More often than not the simplest (and hence, cheaper) solutions have the deepest impact and can be scaled easily.
IJR: Last but not least, what advice would you like to share with the Hyderabad government?
Kilian: If the growth in Hyderabad happens in accordance with the master plans and building regulations, the newer parts of the city should have better infrastructure with sewer lines and storm water drainage. One major problem herein is the lack of enforcement. There have been 7 to 8 slum upgrade schemes in the past but the situation for many slum dwellers is still the same. These schemes usually only address notified slums, which means that there is no support for informal squatter settlements and/or pavement dwellers. Another major issue that the local government can solve easily is the sharing and further evaluation of the city’s cartographic data on formal and informal slums. My goal is to support and help with the implementation – and the time to make a serious change is now.

You can reach Mr. Kilian Christ via e-mail at christlih [dot] rwth-aachen [dot] de.
Kilian recommends the following books for further literature research:
Connors, G. (2007) Watering the Slums: How a Utility and its Street-Level Bureaucrats Connected the Poor in Bangalore, PhD thesis, MIT Mehta, M. (1985) Urban Informal Sector: Concepts, Indian Evidence and Policy Implications, Economic and Political Weekly, 20, 326-332 Mitra, A. (1994) Urbanisation, Slums, Informal Sector Employment and Poverty – An Exploratory Study, B.R. Publishing Corporation Pugh, Cedric (2005) Sustainable Cities in Developing Countries, Earthscan