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Moving Upstream with Veditum India Foundation

by Veditum India Foundation

Veditum India Foundation is a not-for-profit research, media and action oriented  organization based out of Kolkata, India. Their work is regarding transforming the environmental governance landscape of India, empowering communities to take action, and creating  empathetic environmental leaders for the future.  Currently, their focus is on India’s river ecosystems, freshwater resources & communities  that are dependent on them, and the governance of these systems. 

Rivers Ganga and Ken were walked by Veditum’s founder Siddharth Agarwal, and Rivers  Betwa, Sindh and Luni were walked by fellows of Veditum’s Moving Upstream fellowship program.  The team says that the choice of walking is incredibly rewarding, and it has enabled them to create an intimate  relation with the landscape and riparian communities, which also reflects in their  documentation and outputs. Below are a few images, 1 each from the different rivers that the fellows have walked.

Crossing the River Ganga with pilgrims at Sultanganj, Bihar, during the monsoon ritual season of Kanwar Yatra. Pilgrims walk 105kms over 3 days, starting from Sultanganj, to offer Ganga water at the Shiv Temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand. Photo credits: Siddharth Agarwal / Moving Upstream: Ganga / Veditum.
Cattle herders with their goats at one of the pools in the River Ken during the summer season. This river in Bundelkhand that dries up significantly every year, has been targeted with a multi-billion dollar project to divert its “excess waters” to a nearby river. Photo credits: Siddharth Agarwal / Moving Upstream: Ken / Veditum.
At a lunch stop while walking along the River Betwa, right next to a sand mining site. The River Betwa in Bundelkhand is punctured by many dams, and rampant, illegal and unsustainable sand mining further takes away any chances of the river’s survival. Photo credits: Prerana Anjali Choudhary / Moving Upstream: Betwa Fellowship.
In the floods of 2021, new bridges made of concrete snapped at multiple locations along the River Sindh. On ground learnings through the walk brought forth stories of huge losses for local communities as a result of severe mismanagement of dams, and absence of coordinated relief work. Photo credits: Aishani Goswami / Moving Upstream: Sindh Fellowship.
River Luni flows through large dry swathes of the state of Rajasthan. Also known sometimes as the lifeline of Marwar, the river currently struggles for survival due to large scale water extraction for agriculture and industries, combined with the serious threats of large scale sand mining and pollution from textile industries. Photo credits: Avisha Jain / Moving Upstream: Sindh Fellowship.
CategoriesCulture Nature & Environment Specials
Veditum India Foundation

Veditum India Foundation is a not-for-profit research, media, and action-oriented organization based in Kolkata, India. Its work involves transforming the environmental governance landscape of India, empowering communities to take action, and creating empathetic environmental leaders for the future.