Uncharted waters: Navigating new configurations for urban service delivery in India

Decentralization reconfigures urban water governance by transferring responsibilities for service delivery to local institutions and expanding the role for non-state actors. Consequently, community-managed water supply projects exemplify a proliferation of participatory arrangements—typically those that promise capacity building in low-income communities to enable them to partner with the state in delivering basic services. Drawing on a cross-case analysis of how three such projects unfolded on the ground in India, I examine the coproduction of water supply—a manifestation of the shift in water governance. The findings delineate its role in (re)shaping local-level state-community relations and underscore implications for urban service delivery.