Harini Nagendra, Seema Mundoli – “Caste shapes access to water in so many ways”

The idea for the book came after discussions with Manasi Subramanian from Penguin, the editor of our 2019 book Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities. She asked if we would be interested in writing a book on urban rivers – we liked the idea, but expanded the theme to cover water as a topic, including the many aspects, roles and shades that water takes in our urban lives today. We have worked on issues of water in cities for many years, and a lot of the material covered in the book is based on our own work. Nevertheless, as we started our secondary research for the book, we came across many new aspects of urban water, fascinating and concerning in equal measure. For example, while we were aware of the link between water and anti-microbial resistance, we were confronted with the scale of the problem and the dangers it represents for us all only when we began writing the chapter and diving into the primary research material. In contrast, writing the chapter on water monsters was a fascinating journey, providing us with many hours of very interesting reading material on creatures like giant squids, sea serpents and bunyips, and the “evidence” behind mythical water beasts such as the Loch Ness monster, krakens and others.

Despite so much awareness around climate change, the difficulties with regards to the implementation of those tactics continues to exist. What are the kind of political and economic challenges that hinder ecological vision and betterment?

The complexity of climate change can be mind-numbing even for experts, let alone the general reader. It seems like we are choosing to deal with climate change with collective blindness, and a stubborn refusal to face facts. Even though we are already facing the impacts of extreme weather events – people largely close their eyes to the evidence, continuing to believe that climate change is a distant future challenge, and we have more important problems to deal with right now. Meanwhile, the poor who are perhaps most affected by extreme weather events, whether floods or scarcity of water, are just trying to cope with daily survival in cities. Even in cases when people are aware about climate change, this has not galvanized us into action – to demand that our planners and policy makers develop climate action plans that are tailored to meet the climate crisis, which will result in city coastlines flooded because of sea level rise, apocalyptic floods and looming droughts – just to name a few. Each of us needs to play a part in broadening the scope of public conversations around climate change – whether as educators or engineers, as students or community leaders, leveraging whatever we have at our disposal – from sharing knowledge to initiating interventions, whatever is in our scope of action. Challenges may be large and systemic, but there is still a lot that each one of us can do to help reduce the scale of the problem.

A certain percentage of waste that goes into the Indian rivers comprises of religious waste and the bodies of the deceased waste. What are your comments about this?

When we think of water pollution – one of the biggest challenges faced by rivers and lakes in cities is the toxic impact of industrial waste, and sewage from cities, that is often directly sent to water bodies without treatment. This is what harms water bodies across India, from the infamous frothing Bellandur lake in Bengaluru, to the stretch of the Yamuna river that flows through Delhi. This is a larger problem that needs to be addressed. In addition, some sacred stretches of rivers – such as such as the area near Varanasi along the Ganga – are impacted by waste from tourism, and cremation. This requires special attention and treatment, but there are many efforts underway – ecological treatment is perhaps one of the best ways to help the situation. Faith can also be a powerful force for conservation, when appropriately mobilized – if we find a way to make local communities and religious institutions allies in this task, instead of seeking purely technological ways to address the issue, that can make a real difference – but it will take time and sustained effort.

You point out in your book that when it comes water wars, caste and gender are a defining factor. Tell us how it is exacerbated in the Indian context.

Caste shapes access to water in so many ways. Through the centuries, Dalits and other marginalized caste groups have been denied access to clean, potable water – whether for drinking, household use or for irrigation. In many drought-prone areas, while the upper class and caste still manage to secure access to digging borewells, Dalits have limited means and limited income, and have to bear the brunt of scarcity. There is another aspect to the caste angle when it comes to water – the gender angle, because the burden of water for the house falls on the women, even the young girls. It is they who are forced to get up early to queue up for water near common tubewells, run after tankers, or stay awake late into the night waiting for the taps to come on – impacting their sleep, health, and even their education.

All Indian cities face the scarcity of usable water. Do you think that the combined efforts of the government and climate change activists are headed in the right direction?

If we look around, really paying attention to our surroundings, we would be disheartened by what we see. In cities where water is scarce, we have apartments prioritizing swimming pools over rainwater harvesting – and across the city, we turn a blind eye to pollution and waste, much of which we ourselves contribute to. It is our waste which finds its way into water bodies, making the water unusable. We need to really “see” water, to change the very instrumental relationship we have with water as an individual service, even a right – to use as much as we want, regardless of the impact our actions have on society. As we write in our book, there are many shades of blue in our lives and our imaginations – water means different things to different constituencies. Governments may perceive water from a technocentric lens, investing in infrastructure like sewage treatment plants to clean water. They often ignore the need to work with communities and local institutions to manage local water supply, and reduce pollution. And yet, there are many signs of hope. We find a lot of promise in the actions of citizen groups and individuals — the inspiring water warriors whom we profile in the book. Against difficult odds, these incredible people restore lakes and rivers, educate young people, raise awareness, and contribute to making their cities better places in which to live. Their stories can give us ideas of how each of us can act to make a difference, in our own ways.

Arunima Mazumdar is an independent writer. She is @sermoninstone on Twitter and @sermonsinstone on Instagram.

What drew you to this subject and what were the stark discoveries you made during your research?

The idea for the book came after discussions with Manasi Subramanian from Penguin, the editor of our 2019 book Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities. She asked if we would be interested in writing a book on urban rivers – we liked the idea, but expanded the theme to cover water as a topic, including the many aspects, roles and shades that water takes in our urban lives today. We have worked on issues of water in cities for many years, and a lot of the material covered in the book is based on our own work. Nevertheless, as we started our secondary research for the book, we came across many new aspects of urban water, fascinating and concerning in equal measure. For example, while we were aware of the link between water and anti-microbial resistance, we were confronted with the scale of the problem and the dangers it represents for us all only when we began writing the chapter and diving into the primary research material. In contrast, writing the chapter on water monsters was a fascinating journey, providing us with many hours of very interesting reading material on creatures like giant squids, sea serpents and bunyips, and the “evidence” behind mythical water beasts such as the Loch Ness monster, krakens and others.

Despite so much awareness around climate change, the difficulties with regards to the implementation of those tactics continues to exist. What are the kind of political and economic challenges that hinder ecological vision and betterment?

The complexity of climate change can be mind-numbing even for experts, let alone the general reader. It seems like we are choosing to deal with climate change with collective blindness, and a stubborn refusal to face facts. Even though we are already facing the impacts of extreme weather events – people largely close their eyes to the evidence, continuing to believe that climate change is a distant future challenge, and we have more important problems to deal with right now. Meanwhile, the poor who are perhaps most affected by extreme weather events, whether floods or scarcity of water, are just trying to cope with daily survival in cities. Even in cases when people are aware about climate change, this has not galvanized us into action – to demand that our planners and policy makers develop climate action plans that are tailored to meet the climate crisis, which will result in city coastlines flooded because of sea level rise, apocalyptic floods and looming droughts – just to name a few. Each of us needs to play a part in broadening the scope of public conversations around climate change – whether as educators or engineers, as students or community leaders, leveraging whatever we have at our disposal – from sharing knowledge to initiating interventions, whatever is in our scope of action. Challenges may be large and systemic, but there is still a lot that each one of us can do to help reduce the scale of the problem.

A certain percentage of waste that goes into the Indian rivers comprises of religious waste and the bodies of the deceased waste. What are your comments about this?

When we think of water pollution – one of the biggest challenges faced by rivers and lakes in cities is the toxic impact of industrial waste, and sewage from cities, that is often directly sent to water bodies without treatment. This is what harms water bodies across India, from the infamous frothing Bellandur lake in Bengaluru, to the stretch of the Yamuna river that flows through Delhi. This is a larger problem that needs to be addressed. In addition, some sacred stretches of rivers – such as such as the area near Varanasi along the Ganga – are impacted by waste from tourism, and cremation. This requires special attention and treatment, but there are many efforts underway – ecological treatment is perhaps one of the best ways to help the situation. Faith can also be a powerful force for conservation, when appropriately mobilized – if we find a way to make local communities and religious institutions allies in this task, instead of seeking purely technological ways to address the issue, that can make a real difference – but it will take time and sustained effort.

You point out in your book that when it comes water wars, caste and gender are a defining factor. Tell us how it is exacerbated in the Indian context.

Caste shapes access to water in so many ways. Through the centuries, Dalits and other marginalized caste groups have been denied access to clean, potable water – whether for drinking, household use or for irrigation. In many drought-prone areas, while the upper class and caste still manage to secure access to digging borewells, Dalits have limited means and limited income, and have to bear the brunt of scarcity. There is another aspect to the caste angle when it comes to water – the gender angle, because the burden of water for the house falls on the women, even the young girls. It is they who are forced to get up early to queue up for water near common tubewells, run after tankers, or stay awake late into the night waiting for the taps to come on – impacting their sleep, health, and even their education.

All Indian cities face the scarcity of usable water. Do you think that the combined efforts of the government and climate change activists are headed in the right direction?

If we look around, really paying attention to our surroundings, we would be disheartened by what we see. In cities where water is scarce, we have apartments prioritizing swimming pools over rainwater harvesting – and across the city, we turn a blind eye to pollution and waste, much of which we ourselves contribute to. It is our waste which finds its way into water bodies, making the water unusable. We need to really “see” water, to change the very instrumental relationship we have with water as an individual service, even a right – to use as much as we want, regardless of the impact our actions have on society. As we write in our book, there are many shades of blue in our lives and our imaginations – water means different things to different constituencies. Governments may perceive water from a technocentric lens, investing in infrastructure like sewage treatment plants to clean water. They often ignore the need to work with communities and local institutions to manage local water supply, and reduce pollution. And yet, there are many signs of hope. We find a lot of promise in the actions of citizen groups and individuals — the inspiring water warriors whom we profile in the book. Against difficult odds, these incredible people restore lakes and rivers, educate young people, raise awareness, and contribute to making their cities better places in which to live. Their stories can give us ideas of how each of us can act to make a difference, in our own ways.

Arunima Mazumdar is an independent writer. She is @sermoninstone on Twitter and @sermonsinstone on Instagram.