THE CROAK is a weekly environmental newsletter put out by the eCoexist team. It is the voice of the environment on its last legs, the final croak that can either be a plea for attention or a call of triumph as the frogs jump out of the well of ignorance and denial.

During the recent COVID 19 lockdown, eCoexist began a series of web talks called REVIVE - as a way to reconnect with self, with community and with Nature. These talks started as chats between friends to see how we were going to work towards a new normal and to find a way to envision a different future. Slowly, our audience grew to include more people and the discussions to cover various aspects of Sustainability and Self. 

Vishwanath Srikantaiah, is a water activist and has been working in the space for over 34 years. Mr. Vishwanath was a columnist for The Hindu for 12 yrs, and wrote weekly columns about water preservation. A Civil Engineer, and Urban & Regional Planner by profession, he currently teaches at the Azim Premji University as Adjunct Faculty.

Vishwanath has been working with a community of traditional well diggers to revive this skill and build recharge wells to direct water back into underground aquifers.

The well diggers aim to dig a million wells for Bengaluru.  The Mannu Vaddars will earn their livelihood using traditional skills , and the city will get water security.

Digging a well is a form of art - especially when it is dug by hand. The Manu vaddars are a community of people who have been traditional well diggers for the last 800 - 1000 years. With the advent of bore well technology, this community has been sufferring from a loss of livelihood. Vishwanath has been engaging them to solve the worsening water crisis in Bangalore, by creating wells for ground water recharge. 

Why is an open well a better idea than a bore well? Why is recharge important? How does one manage groundwater ? Can urban communities be water sufficient ?

Vishwanath answers questions like these and lays out a vision for water management in the urban Indian context. His experience in engineering and urban planning, as well his deep understanding of human nature, enable him to bring people together to tackle community issues that can only be solved through self discipline and cooperation. 

Every Sunday between 4 to 6 pm, we welcome you to connect with us through the REVIVE talks, that is bringing together a fantastic community of sensitive and brilliant people, with whom we can co create a new future. 

The talks are free for registration and have ample time and space for a deep and authentic conversation with the speaker. Some of our guests are otherwise difficult to reach as they live and work in remote locations and so these are precious opportunities to hear from them in person. 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar. 

When: Jul 19, 2020 04:00 PM India 

Topic: Water and Waste Water : People Skills and Solutions 

Register FREE in advance for this webinar:

https://kisan.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G8D5LFStT4u-GW8M7bQYqQ 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The Croak is a weekly environmental newsletter put out by the eCoexist team. It is the voice of the environment on its last legs, the final croak that can either be a plea for attention or a call of triumph as the frogs jump out of the well of ignorance and denial. Satirical, urgent and wise the newsletter brings to your attention, topics of global environmental relevance as well as emerging encouraging alternatives. Put together by a team of passionate Nature lovers, The Croak hopes to look at the environmental crisis in its face. It is a tool to reconnect readers to Nature, through questioning and self reflection. To understand the outer environment as a reflection of our own inner state, individually and as a species. And to take responsibility for enabling change.
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