ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 Hyderabad’s Musi River: Why Do Technocratic Solutions Fail in Safeguarding Urban Waterbodies? VIKAS SEHRA Vikas Sehra (
[email protected]) is with the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Vol. 55, Issue No. 10, 07 Mar, 2020 In complete contrast to its past glory, the Musi river which traverses through Hyderabad city, is degraded by indiscriminate disposal of waste and massive encroachments. The Telangana government had announced plans in 2017 to revitalise the river through a large- scale riverfront development project. By revisiting similar initiatives taken up earlier to resuscitate the Musi, the article argues that these techno-managerial solutions completely disregard notions of commons, only to normalise their exploitation. On 28 September 1908, water levels in Musi river rose to 16 feet and completely flooded Hyderabad, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. Encroached and concretised, the river has shrunk into a drain ever since. Today, it crawls through the city carrying a deadly mix of drain water interspersed with patches of cattle grass, solid wastes, and poisonous fumes. To revitalise the river, the Telangana government announced the Musi Riverfront Development Project in 2017. The degrading condition of such ecological commons (such as waterbodies, air, wetlands, etc) in cities brings focus back to Hardin’s "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1968). According to Hardin, in the absence of well-defined ownership, individuals maximise their self- interests, which eventually results in the overexploitation of commons. But Hardin’s conceptualisation was eventually criticised, and many scholars over time pointed out its ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 limitations.