CPR-CSH Monthly Workshop on Dirty but Comfortable? : Everyday state’s view of waste water in Delhi’s informal settlements by Anna Zimmer.
Date: Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Time: 3.45 p.m.
Venue: Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021
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Delhi’s informal settlements suffer from lack of access to solid waste and waste water collection infrastructure, resulting in day to day exposure of residents to waste water. This presentation explores the views and attitudes of the everyday state – the government employees and political representatives in frequent interaction with residents – regarding this issue. While these actors have specific insights in the workings of government that make problem solving in informal areas difficult, they also blame inhabitants of informal settlements for the situation to a large extent. Often, it appears as if their view of residents in informal settlements is that “they are comfortable living in a dirty place”! Differences exist however between attitudes towards slums (jugghi-jhompri clusters) and unauthorised colonies. The aim of this presentation therefore is to identify commonalities, but also shed light on the distinct positions of both types of settlements and their residents in the urban fabric.
Anna Zimmer is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Her research focuses mainly on the intersection of urban environments, governance and informal settlements, with a specific interest in water and waste water. Currently she works on urban environmental governance in small cities of Gujarat. She received her PhD from University of Bonn, Germany.
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This is the thirty eighth in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society, and politics. For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org
