ABSTRACT
In the cities of the developing nations, water stress primarily affects the peri-urban population, who are vulnerable due to their location in the zones beyond formal supply areas. The gap between demand and supply to these areas, which are systematically ignored by the urban service providers, is filled by informal suppliers. These informal suppliers or water vendors operating from outside the legal networks of water management of a city are operating widely in several peri-urban stretches of the Global South, providing services to millions of deprived urban populations and creating “infrastructural archipelagos”. They are an important component of the water sector of the developing world, originating from need rather than policy, and are often subjected to strong official discouragement. Drawing on a micro-level case study among the vendors of a marginally located municipal ward of Kolkata, the current paper interrogates the role, significance and effectiveness of such informal water suppliers operating in the peri-urban areas of the south-eastern fringes of the city. It enquires into their relationship with local authorities, highlights the obstacles they face in maintaining their services, and argues for giving some considerations to ways and means of making this service of greater benefit till formal services are available.
