Photo: Kannampalli lake, Chintamani, Karnataka

India’s urbanisation narrative is entering a new phase, one in which the significance of small and medium towns is on the rise.

Cities are continuously sprawling outwards, with expanding urban boundaries. This overspill of population and increasing demand for resources such as water and agricultural produce is accommodated by the peri-urban interface of cities. Small and medium-sized towns also play a vital role in the process of peri-urbanisation in India, but are not taken into account in the literature (Shaw & Das, 2018).

A peri-urban region is a socioeconomic-environmental interface where agriculture, urban dimensions, and natural resources constantly interact with one another (Allen, 2003; Narain & Nischal, 2007). The fact that what is peri-urban today would be urban tomorrow makes it significant to plan for the sustainable development of peri-urban areas, especially through the lens of water security. Many towns already struggle to meet the requirements and aspirations of their growing populations and lack essential infrastructure for fundamental services, especially water and sanitation.

Chintamani is one such town in Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka. Part of the peri-urban region surrounding Bengaluru, Chintamani is representative of many towns located in India’s semi-arid climatic zones that suffer from the problems described above. The district has no perennial water sources for agriculture or drinking water supply. The only source is groundwater, which has been overexploited.

The town is plagued by challenges relating to both groundwater and surface water management, such as:

1. A high borewell failure rate due to a lack of knowledge of the region’s geology and aquifers.
2. Using municipal funds to extensively pump groundwater leaves limited resources to operate and manage water and wastewater infrastructure.
3. Unaccounted water use leads to revenue losses for the municipality and a lack of clarity regarding water demand.
4. Dumping of untreated sewage into water bodies leads to pollution.

Limited financial resources, staff, and technical capacity often prompt towns to address immediate needs through short-term measures, resulting in disjointed, piecemeal interventions that fail to address problems comprehensively. These fragmented systems are more susceptible to issues like water scarcity, droughts, and extreme-weather events in regions prone to climate variability.

Ramamoorthy et al. (2024) delve into Chintamani’s water balance and its water management challenges. This situation analysis builds upon the report and presents measures to improve the town’s water security, such as:

1. Create a comprehensive water security plan that takes into account surface water and groundwater hydrology, aquifer characteristics, water use patterns, and governance frameworks.
2. Rejuvenate lakes to reduce groundwater dependence and improve groundwater recharge.
3. Improve wastewater treatment and reuse by ensuring that all households are connected to the sewerage and broken lines are repaired.
4.  Increase community engagement to ensure the sustainability of water management interventions in the long run.

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