ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bengaluru was once known as the city of bountiful lakes but has now turned into a city of vanishing lakes. The puzzle of vanishing ‘urban commons’ sheds light on the complex structure of various relationships that exist which are constantly changing. This makes the governance of these lakes a complex issue. Bellandur is one such lake in Bengaluru which is experiencing overflow of pollution from many sources like residential complexes and industries which has turned into a sewage tank. Despite the involvement of collective action through public participation, there is no positive ecological outcome. This study aims to further understand the institutional dynamics of the lake by using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework by Ostrom (2011). It also aims to integrate the preferences of identified group of stakeholders with respect to various institutional, social, economic and ecological factors in coming up with the best suitable intervention for sustained rejuvenation of the lake. The Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), one of the most popular Multi Criteria Decision Making Analysis techniques is used to rank the interventions for the goal of long term sustained rejuvenation of the lake. Polycentric governance was the major cause identified behind the lack of co-ordination among authorities. The management authority might be getting decentralized but it is not getting devolved. The intervention which was chosen by the stakeholders was to install Common Effluent Treatment Plants for curbing the problem of industrial effluent discharge that can solve the multi-dimensional problem of pollution.
Keywords: IAD Framework, AHP process, ‘urban commons’, polycentric governance
