Groundwater pricing strategies for Indian cities - a case of Kanpur

ABSTRACT In the cities of the Indo-Gangetic basin, over the years, urban residents have been relying on groundwater due to its universal availability and reliability clubbed with inadequate municipal water supply. The study aims at using groundwater pricing as a tool for groundwater management in Indian cities giving due importance to the spatial dynamics of groundwater resources. It focuses on Kanpur city, where half the city depends directly on groundwater resources for meeting their requirements, making the aquifers susceptible to low yield and facing the risk of irreversible over-exploitation in the coming future. Spatial analysis using Geographical Information System (GIS) has been carried out for economic evaluation of the resource by assessing the criticality of groundwater resources. This is further incorporated into a differential pricing structure with an aim to curb over-exploitation. We have also proposed specific pricing strategies that are better suited and easily implementable in Kanpur city.