This paper is a study of climate change discourse in urban India. It suggests that the policies being articulated to deal with climate issues are premised on incremental changes rather than radical re-planning of Indian cities. The paper tries to ask as to what explains this incremental approach.

The large state-managed and institutionalised provision of water in Delhi and its nearby environs is not free of social and political biases. In the nearby Trans Hindon area, different sections of the population are increasingly witnessing huge disparities in terms of formal and even informal modes of water access. Both regions exhibit rising levels of deprivation among large segments of the population and increasing affluence among others. This is reflected in the distribution and availability of water to these sections.