Alternate Networks

Rapid urbanization in Karachi’s low income settlements has resulted in a growing ‘infrastructural deficit’ that challenges citizens’ access to water. A diverse range of off-grid modes of water provisioning make service delivery possible for many disadvantaged neighborhoods. This study explores the heterogenous nature of alternative modes of water that go beyond the piped network and analyses them from a socio-technical perspective. The objective is to capture the processes undergirding these diverse arrangements and highlight the unfolding constraints. This is a qualitative study situated in a low income settlement, Lyari.