Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The waters of the city of Shillong are governed by the municipal board, the traditional institutions, and private parties. The traditional institutions in the urban arena are losing their influence and power which in turn threatens the identity of the indigenous Khasi society. This is examined through the lens of water governance by these traditional institutions. The future of the city is alarming in two ways – the threats to water security and the disintegration of the inherent social capital of the traditional institutions. The paper investigates the complementarity between governance and equity. The roles of these traditional institutions are vital for equitable water distribution and protection of water sources. Water creates interdependencies among the actors. But this is weakened by modern mechanisms of government and urbanization itself. A key finding of the study is that the communities, through the traditional institutions, can effectively govern the common-pool resource of water. The research also brings into the picture clans as private actors in the water governance structure. Some traditional institutions are dominated by clans. The paper also contends for natural resource management carried out jointly by a hybrid system which should not undermine and ideally should improve social sustainability of the urban dwellers.