The causes, conditions and consequences of poor water access in Bombay Hotel locality, a predominantly Muslim informal settlement located in Ahmedabad’s southern periphery, are studied through the lens of urban violence and conflict. This is done by tracing the dynamics of urban planning and governance that have produced two interlinked types of infrastructural violence in the locality—municipal water denial and violent articulations of infrastructure by informal water providers—and the experiences of everyday conflict and violence that emerge in residents’ lives as a consequence.

Water crisis has become a norm worldwide as many countries are entering an era of severe water shortage. Water plays a vital role within households though urban water authorities and water planners are struggling to satisfy the growing urban water demands and at the same time failing to achieve sustainable urban water systems. Water consumption was guided by a Calculation by Grag 2011.