Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands

These are some of the questions which led Tarun Jayaram, the film-maker to explore traditional water systems in the country. From the documentary’s opening moments, the director engages us with a beautifully shot array of footages ranging from pilgrims taking a holy dip of Ganges to beautiful baolis and tankas of Rajasthan to the ancient town of Hampi in Karnataka, while establishing how rivers have been an integral part of Indian culture and how its rich tradition of harvesting rainwater needs to be re-established to deal with the present day water crisis. Over the refreshing images and soothing audio, it advocates the need for community participation in rejuvenating the traditional methods of rainwater harvesting. 

This book by Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is an outcome of the project on National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA) . Increasing concern about how our wetlands are being influenced had led to formulation of the project entitled to create an updated database of the wetlands of India.

Wetlands defined as areas of land that are either temporarily or permanently covered by water exhibit enormous diversity according to their genesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry. They are one of the most productive ecosystems and play crucial role in hydrological cycle. Utility-wise, wetlands directly and indirectly support millions of people in providing services such as storm and flood control, clean water supply, food, fiber and raw materials, scenic beauty, educational and recreational benefits. Thus, their identification and protection becomes very important.

Gujarati newsletter brought out by ACT Kutch, for admirers of the Hamirsar lake and its environs

Jog falls in Western Ghats

 These dams have had a profound negative impact on communities and ecology upstream and downstream. While promised benefits of these dams (irrigation, hydro-power or flood control) have been overstated, numerous interrelated and complex negative impacts have simply not been studied or documented. Nonetheless, communities and ecosystems continue paying huge prices of these impacts.

Talking History is an inter-collegiate course on Oral History offered at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, India. The films were made between February - March 2011.

 Doddabommasandra lake

 Doddabommasandra lake is located close to B.E.L circle in an area called Doddabommasandra in Bangalore. This film endeavours to portray the story and memories of drying up of Doddabommasandra through two different viewpoints. The story reflects the pattern in which we are exploiting and losing our water resources.
A short film by Gautam Vishwanath and Kinshuk Surjan