Hard struggle and soft gains: environmental management, civil society and governance in Pammal, South India

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationships of a women-led civil society organization (the Shri Shankara Nagar Mahalir Manram) with the local government and with the local residents of Pammal, a small town on the periphery of the city of Chennai in southern India. It examines these relationships with regard to the organization’s initiative on community-based solid waste collection and management in a middle-income neighbourhood. This initiative began in response to the inadequacies in the waste collection services provided by local government and, to remain successful, it had to change and develop in response to the changing relationships between this organization, the residents and local government. It also had to overcome opposition from some of the residents and the lack of support from local politicians. When local government stopped collecting the waste that the organization had amassed from house-to-house collections, composting and recycling were developed, greatly reducing waste volumes and generating revenues that helped cover costs. The organization also had to network with higher-level political officials for the resolution of conflicts at the local level. The paper concludes that in peri-urban areas, which are in transition from rural to urban in character and have inadequate institutional cover, civil society organizations have enormous potential to improve local environmental conditions, to resolve political conflicts in governance, and to scale up environmental management activities.