Limitations of the study

TARUACCCRN Indore City Level Vulnerability Analysis, Phase-I June 2009 30

3.5 Limitations of the study

There have been certain limitations while carrying out the pilot exercise for the vulnerability study in Indore. These lessons and the experiences will be carried forward to the Phase II of the study. This pilot exercise was undertaken during the period of elections. Keeping this in mind the exercise was done very cautiously to avoid expectations and controversies. This hindered the process of exploring deep into the issues of vulnerability. Day to day scuffles related to access to water reported in the daily newspapers needed a very cautious approach while talking about this issue with the respondents. Series of demonstrations and political issues related to water shortage have become a regular feature too. There are high chances that the scarcity in a particular area of the leading to voter polarization. No doubt there has been shortage of water, and the people were having a tough time dealing with it since the beginning of the summer season, but there are always some chances of people exaggerating the magnitude of the problem. Then there is other problem of identifying the poor or assessing the income status of the households. The income issues have been difficult to raise during first time interactions, especially due to persistent doubts that the survey results may be used to decide on BPL status. The expenditure pattern sometimes does not give a very clear picture 12 , so alternative methods need to be used. The categorization of the HHs can be done with the study of the job profile of the working members of the HH. The job profile can be further matched with the market rates for these services. This will be done especially for the skilled and unskilled labourers, where the income data is little difficult to come by. But they are important as the lack of sustainable income source and the loss of income days during floods or water scarcity makes the situation all the more critical. The experiences of other cities show that there are sectionpockets of the city, which are purposefully kept devoid of certain facilities in order to express displeasure of political party in power. Such kind of polarization in the city affects the poor most, as they have limited alternate sources to move on. This has to be kept in mind while studying this issue in detail. Total reliance on patronage based systems instead of formal grievance redressal mechanisms indicates the persistence of entrenched old systems. The nagar panchayts pepripheral village are the worst hit in terms of water shortage and are the neglected lot too. This is due to the lack of basic infrastructure to make services available to the people in these areas and also demands from the city to buy tanker water, which inflates the price of water for the peripheral areas. This makes the poor more vulnerable in these areas. In fact, addition of any peripheral area including IDA areas to the municipal area makes the provision of services in these areas very difficult at least for the initial years, until and unless the area becomes attached to the core of the city and the essential services are linked with the rest of the city. 12 The BPL and poor households tend to think that surveys are done to change the BPL status and tend to provide very low figures of incomes and expenditure. TARUACCCRN Indore City Level Vulnerability Analysis, Phase-I June 2009 31 4 CONCLUSIONS AND WAY FORWARD

4.1 Conclusions