Exploring the Role of Evolved Social Norms in Regulatory Structures: A Case of Bellandur Lake, Bengaluru

Posted: 18 Oct 2016

See all articles by Deepa Kylasam Iyer

Deepa Kylasam Iyer

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Rashmi Nayar

National Law School of India University

Date Written: October 16, 2016

Abstract

The lake systems in Bengaluru have transformed disjointedly with the urban sprawl as the city expanded predominantly due to its IT services. This paper traces the evolution of one lake system to examine the nature of lake as a property system in an urban context in India. Bellandur lake is part of Varthur lake series and is one of the highly polluted lakes in Bengaluru, India. It is lake of size 726 square kilometre and depth of five feet that has been contaminated over the past thirty five years due to rapid urbanisation and presence of untreated sewage effluents. The lake received national attention in India because of excessive foam formation and breakout of fire in early 2016. The paper examines how regulation around Bellandur lake evolved with urbanisation. Regulation of Bellandur lake was conceived as a system of regulatory institutions provided by the city municipal corporation and social norms practised by the community. How far did the case of Bellandur conform to the expected theorisation on evolved social norms and interaction with urban regulatory institutions? Literature on lakes as common property system suggest that the institutions for governing and managing common pool resources like lakes require two processes - restricting access and creating incentives for investing in the resources. Evolved social norms of communality and strong institutional enforcing system are required to govern commons. Evolved norms can emerge based on reciprocal behaviour while external governance authority sets limits of citizen rules. The paper argues that evolved social norms were included in the regulatory rules for effective management of the Bellandur lake.

Keywords: Lake systems, Public property doctrine, Bengaluru, Urban planning

Suggested Citation

Kylasam Iyer, Deepa and Nayar, Rashmi, Exploring the Role of Evolved Social Norms in Regulatory Structures: A Case of Bellandur Lake, Bengaluru (October 16, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2852954

Deepa Kylasam Iyer (Contact Author)

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations ( email )

Rashmi Nayar

National Law School of India University ( email )

Nagarbhavi
Bangalore, KS Karnataka 560072
India

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