Unnikrishnan, Hita
(2018)
Thinking beyond fairy lights and fountains : lessons from the waterscape of Bengaluru.
Ecology, Economy and Society - The INSEE Journal, 1 (2).
pp. 95-99.
Abstract
In March 2013, I was part of a group of researchers participating in a
discussion with a nodal agency responsible for maintaining one of periurban
Bengaluru's information technology (IT) hubs. The objective was to
seek academic collaboration to understand the ecology of two lakes
earmarked for rejuvenation and evolve a plan to clear „weeds‟. We quickly
found out „weeds‟ included forms of vegetation (like reeds) that were not
pleasing to the human eye although they were important resources feeding
informal economies integral to this landscape. The discussion included
propositions to make these lakes „attractive‟– musical fountains, lights,
jogging tracks … – in essence, everything that would fuel aspirations of the
urban middle and upper classes but would exclude people whose lives and
livelihoods were directly supported by those water bodies – farmers,
fishermen, commercial launderers, urban foragers, and livestock owners.
For them, the lake was not an embodiment of beauty and pleasure, but
something sustaining their ways of life.
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