Provisional green infrastructure: transdisciplinary approaches to address contamination in urban streams

Abstract

Abstract Surface water contamination has emerged as an area of major concern in rapidly growing cities in the Global South, including and especially in the Indian megacity context. We argue here that nallahs (open drainage channels in Indian megacities) should be more widely recognized as a potential locus of intervention. These combined stormwater and wastewater networks offer opportunities for flexible, frugal and inclusive retrofits to improve surface and groundwater quality. We propose and define the concept of provisional green infrastructure (PGI) as a speculative innovation typology describing in-stream interventions. We argue that PGI should be employed as a shared boundary concept guiding transdisciplinary action and research within the highly unpredictable, space-constrained, and contaminated watersheds. Citing case studies throughout the region and ongoing research in the city of Bangalore, we demonstrate in-stream modifications may be capable of achieving significant improvement in the quality of urban wastewater and may play a complementary role in closing persistent capacity gaps in the operation of both centralized and decentralized treatment practices within megacities. Anticipating the larger diffusion of PGI practices across the region by various early adopters and non-state actors, we suggest a cogent research agenda focused on identifying various generalizable ‘upscaling’ opportunities for deploying in-stream interventions across various organizational and spatial domains.