India’s urban expansion is rapidly extending beyond municipal cores into surrounding villages, transforming agricultural landscapes into dense mixed-use settlements. However, while administrative boundaries are expanding quickly, infrastructure systems are struggling to keep pace. Water supply networks remain incomplete, sewerage systems fragmented, natural drainage pathways disrupted, and groundwater extraction is increasing. Ponds and wetlands are increasingly becoming wastewater sinks, while governance responsibilities are shifting faster than institutional capacities can adapt.
To assess these very challenges, Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has done an extensive research and published a report on WASH challenges in the recently transitioned peri-urban areas of Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh.
In December 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government expanded the boundary of the Bijnor Nagar Palika Parishad (BNPP) by incorporating 14 adjoining villages, adding nearly 796 hectares of land and over 78,000 people to the city, according to the report. While the expansion aimed to integrate rapidly urbanising settlements into formal planning and service systems, infrastructure development did not progress at the same pace.
Bijnor’s newly added wards reflect the complex realities of peri-urban India — officially urban areas that still depend largely on rural-era infrastructure. Wards such as 13 and 32, once predominantly agricultural, now show dense residential growth and expanding road networks. Ward 6 reflects industrial-led urbanisation around the sugar mill and railway corridor, while Ward 17 demonstrates intense infill development with shrinking open spaces.
Despite rapid urbanisation, infrastructure systems continue to function under rural norms. Village-level water supply schemes remain operational in several wards, drainage networks are mostly open and informal, and most households depend on onsite sanitation systems. Natural drains continue to carry mixed wastewater and stormwater runoff, creating a widening gap between urban growth and service delivery.
One of Bijnor’s biggest challenges is the governance transition in newly expanded peri-urban areas. Earlier governed by Gram Panchayats under rural service norms, these settlements are now municipal wards under urban bylaws and taxation systems. However, institutional integration remains incomplete.
Water supply systems are still partly managed by UP Jal Nigam (Gramin), while new infrastructure is being developed by UP Jal Nigam (Urban) under schemes like AMRUT 2.0, creating confusion over responsibilities for operation, maintenance and grievance redressal. Sanitation functions now fall under the urban local body, but staffing remains severely inadequate.
The transition has also generated social tensions, as residents who earlier paid nominal rural charges now face urban taxes and tariffs without noticeable service improvements. As a result, rural governance systems have weakened while urban systems are yet to fully mature, creating a governance vacuum.
Water supply in Bijnor reflects the growing vulnerabilities of peri-urban settlements. Despite being located within the Ganga basin, the district relies heavily on groundwater through deep borewells and tubewells for both municipal and private supply systems. In the core city, water is supplied through tubewells connected to overhead tanks, and officially reported supply exceeds the urban benchmark of 135 LPCD. However, household surveys reveal widespread dependence on private submersible pumps due to intermittent supply, low pressure and uneven network coverage.
The situation is more critical in peri-urban wards such as 13 and 32, where piped water networks remain fragmented and largely confined to main roads, forcing interior settlements to depend almost entirely on household borewells. Across surveyed wards, groundwater extraction through borewells of 120–220 feet depth was commonly observed. Water supply duration also varies significantly, ranging from about 11 hours in Ward 7 to barely 5 hours in Ward 17. To cope with irregular supply, households have increasingly invested in large storage tanks of 500–3,000 litres capacity.
This growing dependence on private groundwater extraction, combined with poor wastewater management, is emerging as a major environmental risk in peri-urban Bijnor. Untreated wastewater is frequently discharged into drains, ponds, wetlands and vacant plots, often stagnating near groundwater abstraction points.
In some areas, industrial discharge has already contaminated shallow aquifers, with residents reporting hardness, turbidity, foul odour and declining water quality. As a result, many households now rely on reverse osmosis systems for drinking water despite the financial burden, while poorer households continue consuming untreated groundwater. The absence of effective regulation on household groundwater abstraction further increases the risk of groundwater depletion and contamination as peri-urban expansion continues.
Bijnor’s sanitation landscape reflects India’s ongoing urban sanitation transition. The city has developed centralised sewerage infrastructure, including a 24 MLD STP and nearly 80 km of sewer network, but household sewer connections remain limited. As a result, most households, especially in peri-urban areas, still depend on onsite systems such as septic tanks, lined pits and semi-lined containment structures.
Containment conditions vary across wards. While Wards 17 and 6 mainly use septic tanks and fully lined systems, Wards 13 and 32 still rely partly on semi-lined pits and open-bottom structures. Effluent is often discharged into open drains or low-lying areas. Desludging is largely managed by private operators, with manual emptying still occurring in some settlements. Narrow lanes and dense housing further complicate faecal sludge management, highlighting that the key challenge now is safe management of the entire sanitation chain — from containment to treatment and disposal.
To improve STP utilisation, Bijnor adopted interception and diversion (I&D) systems under directions of the National Green Tribunal. Instead of relying entirely on underground sewers, wastewater flowing through open drains is intercepted and diverted to the STP through 17 interception points. The system has improved wastewater conveyance in some wards, though several areas still remain partially or fully disconnected.
The approach highlighted the growing importance of hybrid wastewater systems in cities where complete sewerage coverage is financially difficult. However, during monsoons, stormwater and solid waste entering open drains often choke the system and cause flooding at the STP, which reportedly reached near-full utilisation earlier than projected.
One of the most visible environmental impacts of peri-urbanisation in Bijnor is the degradation of ponds and wetlands. Waterbodies that once supported groundwater recharge and rainwater storage are increasingly used for wastewater disposal.
The Rampur Bakli pond in Ward 13 receives untreated greywater and blackwater, while the Nawab ka Hatta wetland in Ward 6 faces pressure from industrial discharge, wastewater accumulation and encroachment. Open lands and vacant spaces have effectively become decentralized wastewater holding zones, leading to foul odour, mosquito breeding and growing public health risks.
Peri-urban expansion is disrupting traditional stormwater pathways. Natural drains, agricultural fields and village ponds that once managed runoff are increasingly blocked by rapid urbanisation.
Most newly added wards still rely on open and informal drainage systems. Poor maintenance, encroachment and unplanned construction have reduced drainage efficiency, leading to frequent monsoon waterlogging and wastewater stagnation. Conditions are particularly severe in Wards 13 and 32, where stormwater mixes with open wastewater flows, creating major environmental and health risks.
The impacts of infrastructure deficits are not evenly distributed across wards.
Wards 17 and 6 exhibit relatively better housing conditions, higher civic awareness and stronger community-led maintenance systems. Planned colonies and industrial housing areas display more organised infrastructure conditions.
In contrast, Wards 13, 32 and parts of Ward 7 remain densely populated, poorly planned and environmentally vulnerable. Livestock presence, weak drain maintenance and lower awareness regarding sanitation systems worsen local environmental conditions.
The peri-urban transition is therefore also producing unequal environmental risks across different social and economic groups.
Bijnor reflects a larger national challenge. India’s urban policies still classify settlements as either rural or urban, while peri-urban areas remain caught in transition despite being among the fastest-growing parts of cities.
Their challenges cannot be addressed through conventional sewerage projects alone. Peri-urban planning requires integrated approaches combining water supply, groundwater regulation, faecal sludge management, interception and diversion systems, decentralised treatment, stormwater management, wetland restoration, climate-resilient infrastructure and stronger institutional coordination.
Cities must also stop treating ponds, drains and wetlands as waste disposal spaces. These are critical ecological assets that support groundwater recharge, flood mitigation and environmental resilience.
Bijnor demonstrates that India’s urban infrastructure crisis is increasingly unfolding at the peri-urban edges, where rural and urban systems are rapidly converging.