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The study aims to explore the intricate relationship between urbanization, changes in labour market dynamics, and water scarcity, with focus on the depletion of groundwater that often goes unnoticed in urban settlements. Today, more than half of world’s population resides in urban clusters, facing serious socio-economic and environmental implications. Unplanned and unregulated urbanization has led to range of urban issues including to traffic congestion, surge of informal settlements, poor resource quality, overcrowding, insufficient infrastructure among others.
In this context, the study assesses the impact of urbanization on the water scarcity situation in Bengaluru in the past decade, i.e., 2013 - 2023. The study disaggregates urbanization into landscape urbanization (land use change indicators), demographic urbanization – changes in labour market (captured through change in employment in key sectors), and economic urbanization. To assess this relationship, the study undertakes a multivariate regression analysis to regress the urbanization indicators on groundwater levels of Bengaluru; the results indicate towards a negative relationship, i.e., changes in land use and land cover, high population density and economic growth without adequate water infrastructure exerts strain on not only groundwater levels but also impacts the aquifer recharge capacity. Furthermore, the study also evaluates the role of Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) under indicators of environmental (unaccounted water) and financial sustainability (non-revenue water) respectively. The analysis highlights the governance gaps through mismatch between roles/functions and the scale of water regulation in the city. Finally, as one of India’s leading economic hubs, this study on Bengaluru acts as the guiding pillar in proposing sustainable urban planning practices for several metropolitan cities on a similar growth trajectory.
Keywords: Water Scarcity, Urbanization, Water Governance, Groundwater, Labour Influx, Resource Strain, Environmental Sustainability.
