Toxic waters and broken promises: The struggle for health equity in informal settlements

Abstract

This article examines how health inequities in Film Nagar Basti, Hyderabad, are produced through the uneven governance of water, sanitation and environmental infrastructure. This study draws on six months of ethnographic fieldwork, 50 semi-structured interviews and participatory infrastructure mapping. The article argues that water insecurity operates as a mode of governance through which health risks are unevenly distributed. Contaminated water supply, monsoon overflow and dependence on private water providers expose residents to illness while shifting the burden of coping onto households, particularly women. Although NGOs and health camps provide temporary relief, these interventions remain fragmented and cannot substitute for structural accountability. By linking water insecurity to the production of health inequity, the article contributes to debates on urban infrastructure, informality and health governance in cities of the Global South.