This dissertation is a study conducted to draw on the Governance of an Urban River, which here is Mithi commonly refer to as a Nallah rather than a river in the city. The study has rigorously and comprehensively looked into the various aspects of urban river which unlike a natural river has a more complex context thus making the act of governance crucial and challenging.
The different layers in the system – social, political, economic and ecological all come together to form a narrative for Mithi which here is not a story with a happy end but marked with contestations and struggles where the Forgotten River tries to build an identity in the complex urban space. The Governance plays a key role in allowing and also preventing Mithi to battle the odds of utilitarian values. The perception different agencies and institutions have for the River and their interaction amongst each other results in urban political economy which is based on vested here is the resultant of the vested interest of the few over the grievance of the rest. The only mechanism in this situation that can work for an Urban River is the citizen rising up to the occasion and demanding the experts to change their lens to River’s Rejuvenation and Restoration.Anushri Tiwari is an Urban Planner by profession from CEPT University, and is currently a Master’s student of Urban Policy and Governance at Tata Institute of Social Science. Her research project revolves around the Mithi River in Mumbai. This is the very same river which has been demonised as the culprit of the recurring deluge that occurs in the city of Mumbai every year. She aims to go beyond normalized assumptions that we can manage natural resources through narrow technical and unsustainable development practices. For her thesis, she will uncover the different perspectives with which the Mithi River is viewed by different institutions like the urban development authority, Pollution Control Board, Environment Department of the Municipality and others. Through this work, she envisions contributing to the fields of Urban Planning and Governance. Anushri is also interested in data analysis and representation wherein as she puts it “every data has some story to convey.” Through data, she hopes to also learn and convey the unseen and unheard stories of nature.