Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai

297 Pages·2015·10.024 MB·English

by  Lisa Björkman

PIPE POLITICS, CONTESTED WATERS

PIPE POLITICS, CONTESTED WATERS
Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai
Lisa Björkman
Duke University Press Durham and London 2015
© 2015 DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Ame rica on acid-f ree paper ∞
Designed by Courtney Leigh Baker
Typeset in Minion by Westchester Publishing Services
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Björkman, Lisa, [date]–a uthor.
Pipe politics, contested waters : embedded infrastructures of millennial Mumbai /
Lisa Björkman.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8223-5950-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8223-5969-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8223-7521-0 (e- book)
1. Water- supply— India— Mumbai. 2. Waterworks— India— Mumbai. 3. Infrastructure
(Economics)— India— Mumbai. 4. Mumbai (India)— Politics and government. i. Title.
hd4465.i5b57 2015
363.6'10954792— dc23
2015010921
Cover art: Photo by Lisa Björkman.
Duke University Press gratefully acknowledges the American Institute of Indian Studies,
2014 Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences, which provided funds toward the
publication of this book.
FOR CAROL BRECKENRIDGE
Awarded the
JOSEPH W. ELDER PRIZE
IN THE INDIAN SOCIAL SCIENCES
by the American Institute of Indian Studies
and published with the
Institute’s generous support.
Contents
Ac know ledgm ents ix
Introduction: Embedded Infrastructures 1
one
“WE GOT STUCK IN BETWEEN”
Unmapping the Distribution Network 21
two
“THE SLUM AND BUILDING INDUSTRY”
Marketizing Urban Development 62
three
“YOU CAN’T STOP DEVELOPMENT”
Hydraulic Shambles 82
four
“IT WAS LIKE THAT FROM THE BEGINNING”
Becoming a Slum 98
five
“NO HYDRAULICS ARE POSSI BLE”
Brokering Water Knowledge 128
six
“GOOD DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE HONEST”
Corruption 165
seven
“IF WATER COMES IT’S BECAUSE OF POLITICS”
Power, Authority, and Hydraulic Spectacle 198
Conclusion: Pipe Politics 227
Appendix: Department of Hydraulic Engineering 235
Notes 237 References 267 Index 277
Ac know ledg ments
The idea for this book emerged in 2004 during a gradu ate seminar with Pro-
fessor Carol Breckenridge, an early mentor whose deep affection and curiosity
for the city of Mumbai was contagious. Over the following years the pro ject
came to life under the guidance of my advisors and mentors at the New School
for Social Research, especially that of Vyjayanthi Rao, Timothy Pachirat, San-
jay Ruparelia, Michael Cohen, Arjun Appadurai, and Victoria Hattam, each of
whom influenced the pro ject in distinct and im por tant ways.
I owe tremendous thanks to the American Institute of Indian Studies (aiis)
for their consistent support for my research over the years. Fieldwork in Mum-
bai between 2008 and 2011 was made possi ble by an American Institute of
Indian Studies Ju nior Research Fellowship, and Hindi training in Jaipur was
supported by language fellowships in 2004 and in 2007–8. I would like to thank
Elise Auerbach, Philip Lutgendorf, Purnima Mehta, the aiis trustees, as well
as the extraordinary faculty at the aiis Hindi Language Program in Jaipur.
Early support for this pro ject was provided by a New School India China In-
stitute Fellowship in 2006, and a New School for Social Research Dissertation
Fellowship in 2007–8. I am grateful to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in
Mumbai for providing affiliation during the period of my fieldwork, and to the
Institute of Advanced Studies in Lucca for providing a warm and welcoming
work environment in 2011. Much of the writing of this book took place while I
was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious
and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, which offered an intellectually invigorating
and exceedingly pleasant atmosphere in which to read, think, and write.