Water supply for residents is a big challenge in urban India, and is more so in small towns, where institutionally and organisationally there are not enough trained and qualified people. In early 2007, Arghyam decided to venture into the urban water space and initiated a pilot programme on Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) in Mulbagal, a town in Kolar district, 100 kms from Bengaluru. From 2008 to 2012, several activities were taken up under this programme with a consortium of partners from government, civil society, academic, and other water sector institutions.

Over the course of four years, this multi-phase initiative included first, a Preparatory phase of engaging the local and state government stakeholders and developing the partnerships. This was followed by the Foundation phase which involved a series of studies to identify issues, mobilising the local community, and setting up the Project Support Unit (PSU). Third was the Planning and Design phase, during which appropriate interventions were planned, based on the evidence generated and prioritised by the local stakeholders. The fourth phase, Implementation, involved guiding the local actors in implementing a few targeted interventions. The final Operations and Maintenance (O&M) phase involved building local capacities and strengthening institutional or community structures to manage the interventions.

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