Sustainable Water Management

                                                                                  Sustainable Water Management     

                                     PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAMS

Tapped Out

Tapped Out: Water Scarcity and Governance in Mumbai

What can the world's cities learn from Mumbai's struggles with water security? Nikhar Gaikwad, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, Nikhil Anand, Associate Professor of Anthropology,  University of Pennsylvania, Lisa Björkman, Assistant Professor of Urban and Public Affairs, University of Louisville, Qudsiya Contractor, Junior Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Social and Cultural Studies (University of Erfurt, Germany), and Abhay A. Mahajan, Joint Secretary-cum-Project Director, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Govt. of Maharashtra explore perspectives on the critical issue of water scarcity and governance in the metropolitan city of Mumbai.

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Times Lit Fest

Civilization Rides the River at Times Lit Fest

Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai's project on the River Ganges aimed to raise public awareness through lectures, films, talks and a travelling exhibition. Based on this work on Water, the Center’s Director Dr. Ravina Aggarwal moderated a session at the 2018 Times Litfest Mumbai on December 14, 2018 featuring Anthony Acciavatti, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University.

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Data workshop

Workshop on Data Visualization for Environmental Change

With a view to providing senior government stakeholders new perspectives on managing river basins in India, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and the American Center organized a workshop on data visualization to look at new techniques of imaging  water ecologies over time, led by Dr. Anthony Acciavatti, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, who spent over a decade mapping the Ganga River Basin.  

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Rohini Nilekani

Water Philanthropy in India

We have heard of the impending water crisis in the coastal city of Cape Town in South Africa with the city’s taps likely to run dry. But the scenario in India could be far worse if we don’t sit up and take note, warned Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson and Founder, Arghyam. Nilekani, a pioneering philanthropist in the water sector, was in conversation with Dr. Ravina Aggarwal, Director, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, on February 9, 2018, as part of an ongoing lecture series investigating groundwater issues in India.  

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Urban Lakes

Reviving Urban Lakes: Smart Pathways for Cities

Illegal waste disposal, rapid urbanization, and uncoordinated governance mechanisms have posed severe challenges for Bengaluru, a metropolis once described as the 'city of lakes.' As part of its ongoing series investigating issues related to groundwater, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai hosted a lecture by Dr. Veena Srinivasan, a Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) on October 4, 2017, who presented her research on Bengaluru’s lakes and addressed the role of lakes in the urban water system.

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Agony of the Ganges

Agony of the Ganges: A Film by Sudhesh Unniraman 

As part of 'The River Ganga: India's Iconic Water Machine' exhibition at the Nehru Science Center, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai held a film screening on August 20, 2017 of 'Agony of the Ganges', a documentary from 2008 that uses the spiritual and religious symbolism of the river, coupled with scientific data, to stress upon the threats to the river. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring filmmaker, Sudhesh Unniraman, and Anthony Acciavatti from the Graduate School of Art, Architecture and Planning at Columbia University.

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Rivers of the Future

Rivers of the Future: Evolving Approaches to Integrated Water Management 

Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai held a panel discussion on August 22, 2017 exploring the issue of river management in India featuring Anthony Acciavatti from the Graduate School of Art, Architecture and Planning at Columbia University, Madhav Chitale, former member, National Ganga River Basin Authority and Roshni Udyavar Yehuda, Head, Rachna Sansad Institute of Environmental Architecture, as part of 'The River Ganga: India's Iconic Water Machine' exhibition at the Nehru Science Center, Mumbai.

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When River becomes Machine

When River Becomes Machine 

On August 23, 2017, a webinar and livestream was organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai to probe the issues of policy around the mechanization of the Ganga further. It featured an insightful discussion between Anthony Acciavatti, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University and Vinod Tare, Professor of Environmental Engineering and Management and Founding Head of the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

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Demystifying Science, Making Groundwater Accessible in India 

Demystifying Science, Making Groundwater Accessible in India 

Evidence for the need to preserve groundwater commons and aquifers is often shrouded in inaccessible scientific discourse. How can science speak in a language that enables ordinary citizens and communities to manage their groundwater resources? As part of its ongoing Groundwater Series, the Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai held a public lecture and discussion by Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, Founder Trustee and Executive Director of Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management on June 30, 2017.

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Rakesh Sharma

Toilet to Tap: Greywater Recycling for Mumbai

Rapid urbanization has led to an increasing stress on water resources across India, but cities like Mumbai have the potential to reverse this trend by dealing effectively with its wastewater, which is going to be the most perennial resource for water. Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai hosted a Public Lecture with Dr. Rakesh Kumar, the Director at the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) on grey-water recycling for the city of Mumbai on April 12, 2017, the second in a series of our programs to address the crucial issue of Groundwater Management in India.

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Katherine Alfredo

Groundwater and Group Interest

Sharing of natural resources such as water have idealized collective interest, community action and governance as guiding principles. Yet the techniques and strategies for systematic and long-term action remain under-researched. Dr. Katherine Alfredo, a research scientist from Earth Institute, Columbia University presented her work on drinking water treatment facilities in rural Maharashtra in a Lecture and Discussion organized by the Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai. The Lecture, held on September 27, 2016, was the first in a series of activities planned by the Center around the issue of Groundwater.

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