Chennai, India

In Chennai, the NEGOWAT project focuses on problems linked to increasing exploitation of water resources in peri-urban zones to meet the domestic water needs of the city, concentrating on the River Palar catchment area.

Chennai has some of the most serious problems in domestic water supply throughout urban India, and as well as urgently needing to improve infrastructure and services, has to routinely cope with severe water shortages in summer. Currently, large volumes of water are tankered into the city. Public and private tanker operators purchase water from farmers in the peri-urban areas, and concerns are developing about the sustainability of abstraction (from peri-urban aquifers) and the impacts of developing water markets upon other farmers and water users. These include domestic water consumers in the peri-urban areas.

Other serious problems include sand mining, and pollution from textile and leather industries. In the River Palar catchment these concerns have led to the development of a stakeholder forum by civil society groups, and the research project supports negotiations linked to this forum.