Alumnus

Dept. 15: Architecture
Section Urban Planning, Department of Design and Urban Development

• Städtische und ländliche Planung
• Architektur
• traditionelle Wissenssysteme

Significance of Traditional Water Mangement systems in current water supply systems: Case of Pune, India

The availability of safe, clean drinking water in a developing country like India is limited. Metropolitan cities like Pune and their hinterlands are solely dependent on the state provided networked water supply system. Population growth, urban sprawl and rapid increase in city boundaries exert tremendous pressure on the networked water supply system to meet the water requirement of the entire population. Not only is the current water supply system inefficient with regards to water loss due to its leaking pipes, but also in terms of ensuring equity of water usage by different people. To avoid this phenomenon, many water experts propose of reviving back the traditional decentralized water management practices, the traces of which can still be found in the city. This research attempts to gain a deeper understanding of these traditional water management principles in terms of their planning, community practices of maintaining them, and practices of maintaining communal harmony in case of water supply failure.