@article{2015::citizenshi,
title = {Citizenship and Pipe Dreams: The law and politics of water access in Mumbai slums},
year = {2015},
note = {Indian cities are projected to be the home to an additional 250
million people by 2030. This growing population is putting increasing
demands on municipal resources, with challenges for economists,
planners and engineers. Yet, the projection also poses important
questions for law and politics - who is validated as an urban citizen
and who gets access to the city’s infrastructure? For slum residents
in Mumbai, access to water hinges on Maharashtra state law, which
prescribes that slum residents who can prove that they have lived in
the city since before 1 January 1995 are entitled to receiving
municipal water. In reality, research from Mumbai shows that the
likelihood of getting access, as well as the quality and quantity of
water accessed, differs between Hindu and Muslim areas, regardless of
how long residents in these areas have lived in the city. I find that
the Mumbai slum puts to test the notion of legality and illegality,
coming out as a grey space conducted by its own special set of rules.
It is in fact a historical discourse of belonging and the political
landscape of the city which determines who receives municipal water
connections and who does not. In this setting, the 1995 cut-off rule
has served to create room for further exclusion. The courts of law
continue to uphold and reinforce a rule that is arbitrary and
unenforceable in the slum context. This paper is a case study of
sub-groups in Mumbai slums trying to access water. Applied generally,
this case study demonstrates how law, politics and even physical space
can be aligned in a manner so as to systematically refuse access to a
particular minority group.},
journal = {VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee},
pages = {144--164},
author = {},
volume = {48},
number = {2}
}