ABSTRACT
This chapter explores place in Bansighat, an informal settlement in Kathmandu, Nepal, where residents undertake daily negotiations to assemble water sources to meet their needs. It describes the story of an innovative community-managed water project initiated by the women’s federation of the urban poor, Mahila Ekata Samaj. Planned interventions in informal settlements have long linked the ideas of participation and community-based natural resource management. Across cities of the Global South, this has manifested in a range of institutional models for devolved management, through small scale users groups across water, sanitation, irrigation, or other urban services. Though Nepal is one of the most water rich nations in the world, Kathmandu experiences severe challenges in the adequate provision of water supply. The western half of the neighbourhood is also home to residents of a particular ethnic group, the Madhesi.
