About Lyla Mehta

Research Fellow

Lyla is a sociologist whose work has largely focused on issues concerning knowledge, power, rights and access in natural resource management, addressed through the case of water. Research areas include global and local responses to water scarcity and, more recently, community-led total sanitation. She is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies.

All posts by Lyla

Transformation in a crisis: reflections on research and action

This is a personal reflection from Lyla Mehta on the Transformations to Sustainability mid-term workshop, which took place virtually in June 2020. Find out more about the meeting and see…

Covid-19 is a stark reminder of the struggle for rights to water and sanitation

On the 10th anniversary of the UN’s recognition of the human right to access water and sanitation, Lyla Mehta and Claudia Ringler reflect on the lessons from Covid-19 and the…

A Kharai camel stands with factory chimney stacks behind it on the horizon.

How pastoralists in Kutch respond to social and environmental uncertainty

The TAPESTRY project is working in three different ‘patches’ across India and Bangladesh, creating opportunities for interactions with communities in marginalised environments to co-produce transformative change in sustainable development. In…

India’s new citizenship act threatens the country’s constitution

A version of this post first appeared on the Institute of Development Studies website. Since the end of 2019, India has been rocked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act…

Unpacking uncertainty in times of climate change

By Shilpi Srivastava, Hans Nicolai Adam and Lyla Mehta Climate change undoubtedly is one of the most significant development challenges of our times. Research over the last few decades has…

water pipe

Water crisis’ disproportionate toll on women can no longer be ignored

STEPS member Lyla Mehta has written an article with Ria Basu for the Indian magazine Firstpost about the impacts of ‘water crisis’ on women. Often, access to water is about…

Satellite image of solar farm in China

Green transformations in India and China: who’s in charge?

by Sam Geall, Wei Shen, Lyla Mehta and Peter Newell This is one in a series of four blog posts exploring ideas and case studies on ‘transformations’, drawing on research…

Flooded avenue in Mumbai with only the tops of cars showing above the water

Why Mumbai’s floods are an urban planning disaster

by Hans Nicolai Adam, Lyla Mehta and D. Parthasarathy, Climate Change, Uncertainty and Transformation project As Houston was inundated by ‘biblical’ rainfall and grapples with extreme flooding and its aftermath,…

Politics of Integrated Water Resources Management in southern Africa

For the past two decades, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been the dominant paradigm in water resources. It is the flagship project of global bodies such as the Global Water Partnership (GWP)….