PhD N.N. (Neha) Mungekar

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

Indian secondary cities face persistent water governance challenges due to rapid urbanization, infrastructural deficits, and socio-political inequities. These issues result in water scarcity, contamination, and flooding, exacerbated by governance structures that prioritize technocratic, top-down solutions over systemic, inclusive transformation. Despite policy aspirations for integrated water management, governance remains rigid and hierarchical, limiting meaningful change.
This research investigates reparative governance as a transformative approach to urban water governance. Reparative governance explicitly addresses historical injustices embedded in colonial-era infrastructures and institutions, fostering equitable, inclusive, and context-sensitive governance transitions. This study examines the role of informality in shaping governance capacities in two Indian secondary cities—Bhuj and Bhopal—where informal arrangements emerge in response to governance challenges. Informality operates alongside formal governance structures, forming hybrid systems that influence water access and decision-making.
Emerging from informality, this thesis identify two key capacities—consolidative and jugaadu capacity—that highlight how actors mobilize resources, navigate power asymmetries, and foster adaptive governance. Using visual ethnography and action research, the study documents how informality enables participation, co-produces knowledge, and negotiates governance outcomes in alignment with reparative principles.
This research challenges conventional views that frame informality as a governance failure, instead demonstrating its potential as an organizing logic that enhances governance adaptability and resilience in resource-constrained contexts. By foregrounding reparative governance, the study contributes to broader debates on transformative urban water governance and justice-oriented sustainability transitions.