Development is a multi-faceted phenomenon that provides a strong rationale to the practice of bio-power by modern political systems in the form of state-sponsored policy acts. The Guwahati Water Bodies (Preservation & Conservation) Act enacted in 2008, amended in 2010 is one such legislation which when viewed through the lens of mainstream development perspective is meant to preserve, protect, conserve and maintain waterbodies such that it could control artificial flooding, promote eco-tourism, prohibit encroachment and encourage sustainable development by creating eco-friendly infrastructural projects. However, the recent eviction drive of indigenous people at Silsako beel in Guwahati city of North-East India done under the ambit of this act raises some critical questions concerning ‘what development’ and ‘whose development’ are we talking about. Present study aims to understand the co relation between state sponsored development projects and lived-in experiences of marginalised communities by conducting an ethnographic case study at the site Silsako beel. The research objective is to critically evaluate the status of sustainable development with reference to this particular act in Guwahati city and to understand its implications on the lives of the communities living in such sites of massive eviction drives. Post-Covid world is replete with vulnerabilities related to basic survival. Under such changing circumstances, it becomes important to analyse as to how these communities negotiate with state to ensure a fairer mechanism in development programmes and policies. The research also tries to evaluate the element of sustainability in the proposed model Silsako lake in Guwahati city and whether such infrastructural development projects can be delivered without compromising human rights of the marginalised sections.
