Urban Transcripts (Mar 2021)
Fluid urbanism: Synthesising urban commons with water
Abstract
The Mahakali lake lies on the Sabarmati river’s western side, as a part of the Tekra-Talav system in western Ahmedabad. Tekra-Talav system is the relationship between high points and the low points of the city. This natural valley created due to the topography is essential in planning the city’s water system. The lake was formerly fed by various other lakes during the monsoon season through an intricate drainage pattern between Shilaj, Thaltej, and Vastrapur and emptied in the Makarba Lake (Southern). The area that once catered to large parcels of farmlands has now become a densely populated residential site. The contrast from past to the present is essentially due to rapid urbanization that coincided with a shift from primary sector to secondary and tertiary sectors activities. In turn, it gave rise to loss of ecological value, and loss of socio-cultural aspects due to the local community’s movement, the fragmentation of the water system, a lack of management, and degradation in water quality. On further investigation of this cause-and-effect relationship of development, we understand that the underlying causes of these were majorly ignorance, lack of coordination, and loss of local knowledge
