Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) like constructed wetlands could help us realize our vision of WaSH (Water Sanitation Hygiene) in ‘informal’ settlements, without compromising water quality in the adjacent stormwater drains and the river Yamuna that they flow into. My analysis of water quality and adjacent land uses around Delhi's drains destabilize the case that the poor pollute, identifying them as more the recipients of upstream pollution from ‘formal’ land uses (Syal, 2024). An institutional analysis of urban service access in informal settlements then showed how regulatory overlap cripples infrastructure/service providers, not just users (Syal, 2025), laying the groundwork for the need to map the network (ongoing) of the many international, national, and local actors dictating WaSH access and NBS deployment in 'informal’ settlements. This Social Network Mapping and Analysis of the major urban service chains (water, wastewater, stormwater, sanitation, solid waste, pest control, electricity) is not only consolidating the actions, roles, and interactions between hundreds of state and non-state actors, but also the hundreds of instruments (Plans, Policies, Legislations, Programs) guiding them.

This network map (Syal, manuscript under preparation), along with an innovative GIS suitability analysis for DEWATS (decentralized wastewater treatment systems) that identified at least 28 drain-adjacent settlements suitable for NBS (Syal & O’Grady, under review), will serve as an unforeseen resource to understand what is needed to make this complex system of water, waste, drains, communities, and institutions, etc., resilient.

This project has been funded by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (~$5,000 over 2011-2014), the Campus Research Board grant (~$24,000 over 2014-2015) and Hopkins Fellowships at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and the Wilder School Small Grant ($10,000 over 2022-2023) and Quest Fund grant (~$50,000 over 2024-2026) at Virginia Commonwealth University.