Abstract

Since India’s 1991 economic liberalization, urban development has followed a tripartite approach-investment, technological adoption, and innovation-largely shaped by elite interests and aligned with market-oriented, neoliberal imperatives. This paper examines Hyderabad’s transformation into a global business hub amid rising vulnerability to urban flooding. Since 2000, recurrent floods have caused significant damage, exposing infrastructural deficiencies and prompting urgent demands for state intervention. The unchecked spread of “cement-concrete urbanization” has intensified flooding, depleted water resources, worsened drinking water scarcity, and exacerbated climate-related risks. Rather than empowering local institutions, the state adopted a “New Localism” model, culminating in the formation of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA). While intended to enhance flood resilience, HYDRAA has centralized authority, diluted local government autonomy, and narrowed democratic space. These developments raise critical concerns: Does HYDRAA function impartially or cater to elite interests? How effectively does the state address the encroachment and regulatory violations by vested actors? Furthermore, does amending the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act of 1955-delegating extensive power to HYDRAA’s bureaucratic apparatus-undermine democratic decentralization? These questions call for a critical inquiry into the role of institutions like GHMC, HMDA, and HYDRAA in addressing Hyderabad’s environmental challenges under neoliberal urbanism.

Keywords: Urban reforms, Natural resources, Post-economic era, Flood resilience, Disaster management, New localism