From free-flowing rivers to walled urban riverfronts

Control over riverine ecologies has been the customary hydro-bureaucratic practice fuelled by the textbook propagation of rivers as ‘unruly water&s; to be tamed by dams, weirs and embankments. A river&s;s right to ‘flow and flood&s; the riparian lands has been jeopardised by domestication and channelisation. This has caused severe alterations in the river&s;s natural flow regimes, destroying the functional integrity of the river ecosystem. Natural riverbanks and vegetation are considered as wastelands that need to be replaced with embankments and promenades. The ‘urban river&s; with a scenic and lively riverfront is projected as the magic bullet to boost local tourism, creating opportunities for businesses and services. Instead of cities becoming river-centric, the rivers have to become city-centric. A channelised river, with its controlled flow and well-maintained banks, is considered a symbol of a smart city. The chapter argues that overly modernist developments under ‘urban river management&s; are, in fact, overshadowing or even destroying important cultural and historical sites along the river, with loss of ecological and fluvial resilience. The monsoon-fed rivers and riverscapes in India do not fit perfectly into this predefined ‘generic, one-size-fits-all&s; conceptual category of the riverfront imported from a completely different socio-ecological setting.