I just saw a great documentary by Sanjay Kak, called Words on Water (2003).  It focuses on longstanding resistance to the construction of giant dams in India’s Narmada Valley. The footage is captivating,  including a scene in which Arundhati Roy is arrested and taken to jail in an SUV owned by a dam construction company. In another scene, James Wolfensohn (during his tenure as president of the World Bank) talks through a chain-link fence to a crowd of protesters. I found the activists very inspiring, although I know there are other ways of viewing this conflict. There must be a way to safeguard against abuses of power, and I think it starts with this kind of organized community action.

Credits: Image of a scene in Words on Water from magiclanternfoundation.org.

The Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a public interest organization in New Delhi, holds classes in urban rainwater harvesting for practitioners. The term “rainwater harvesting” refers to the storage of rain for later use. The CSE program combines traditional water management practices with new technologies. This seems like a practical way of promoting efficient and sustainable natural resource management. I wonder if it would be possible to extend this training to non-practitioners in urban slums.

Photo from the construction page on rainwaterharvesting.org

Quoted from the Urban Rainwater Harvesting page on the Anil Agarwal Green Centre website: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has, over the years, researched and spread awareness about the relevance of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in urban areas. Among its most successful initiatives has been conducting training workshops for various stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), researchers, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs), engineers, architects, urban planners, civic body officials and industry consultants.

Good Earth is a group of Indian architects and engineers working together to build sustainable communities based on the philosophy of Laurie Baker, a British-born Indian architect known for his low-cost housing initiatives. Good Earth is currently working in Bangalore and Kerala.

Stewart Brand, co-founder of Global Business Network and author of How Buildings Learn, gave a fascinating talk on urbanization and innovation at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club on June 14, 2007. The video of Brand’s presentation, titled How Urbanization Will Drive Innovation on is available on FORA.tv.

Photo credit: Mike Lee

In his article Megacities, Mega Dreams for a Connected World, Suketu Mehta provides a vivid account of life in Bombay, including reasons people move there and how the plight of city dwellers might be improved. The article is accompanied by striking photos by Betsy Karel.

Quoted: For the young person in an Indian village, the call of Bombay isn’t just about money. It’s also about freedom. Suketu Mehta is a fiction writer and journalist based in New York. His first book, “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Photos are from “Bombay Jadoo,” a book of photographs by Betsy Karel, with text by Ardashir Vakil and Suketu Mehta, published by Steidl in Germany. “Jadoo” is the Hindi word for magic.