Dear Friends:

The PUKAR MONSOON SYMPOSIUM begins today, SATURDAY 19 JULY at 6.00 P.M., with a panel discussion on urban water supply featuring INDU AGARWAL from SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres) Mumbai, KALPANA SHARMA, Deputy Editor of The Hindu, Mumbai, and DAVID SATTHERTHWAITE from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, U.K.

The PUKAR Monsoon Symposium is a week-long series of panel discussions, film screenings, and presentations by students and researchers, which continues from today until SATURDAY 26 JULY 2003. See below for the complete shedule of activities over the coming week. All the activities in the Monsoon Symposium are free and open to the public, and we particularly encourage students and teachers to attend and participate in the Symposium, which will be followed by workshops and activities in undergraduate colleges in Mumbai on the theme of water and the city.

PUKAR Monsoon 2003: "On Cities, On Water"

Water as substance and as medium has been central to urban development throughout human history. In Mumbai, as in many other world cities, the modern urban experience is definitively connected to the city's geographical form as island, and its location on the coastline. In the context of globalisation, other dimensions of water, and of the relationship between cities and water are becoming increasingly visible and contested in the public arena -- notably, the privatisation of water resources and the infrastructural networks delivering water.

What is the PUKAR Monsoon?

The PUKAR Monsoon is an annual series of occassional lectures, workshops and pedagogic activities organised from May to August every year, in which undergraduate college students address a specific theme through a variety of creative approaches to documentation and education of urban life. The aim of PUKAR Monsoon 2003 has been to facilitate debate and reflection, encourage artistic, intellectual and creative expression, and develop hands-on skills in documenting the political and cultural implications of the many connections between cities and water.

PUKAR Monsoon 2003 began with the DOC-SHOP -- an eight-day student workshop for students held from 19-27 May 2003 -- and continues with pedagogic activities in undergraduate colleges throughout Mumbai in July and August 2003, when colleges open. For more information, contact Rahul Srivastava or Shekhar Krishnan at 2207 7779, mailto:monsoon@pukar.org.in, or visit http://www.pukar.org.in/doc-shop/.

SCHEDULE of PUKAR MONSOON 2003 SYMPOSIUM: "On Cities, On Water"

Dates: SATURDAY 19 JULY to SATURDAY 26 JULY 2003

Times: Afternoons and Evenings

At: PUKAR c/o Aragon Services 4th Floor, Kitab Mahal Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road Mumbai 400001

Kitab Mahal is next to New Excelsior Cinema, and is near VT Station. Entrance to Kitab Mahal is from the New Book Company on Dadabhai Naoroji Road. Lift is available to the third floor.

S A T U R D A Y 1 9 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

18.00-18.15 PUKAR Monsoon 2003 -- "On Cities, On Water" : INTRODUCTION

RAHUL SRIVASTAVA Director, PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research), Mumbai

18.15-20.15 Water Supply to Poor Areas: PANEL DISCUSSION

INDU AGARWAL SPARC (Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres), Mumbai

KALPANA SHARMA Deputy Editor, The Hindu, Mumbai

DAVID SATTHERTHWAITE Editor, Environment and Urbanisation, London, U.K. Intl Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, U.K.

M O N D A Y 2 1 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

17.00-18.00 FILM: "Spring" (Valdas Navasaitis, 19 minutes, 1997)

This silent documentary languidly glides upon an aquatic landscape, which much resembles a painting, and tries to understand the strange and unusual place, Valteris, the main character lives in. Valteris lives in the region of Klaipeda in Lithuania. Every year when the snow begins to melt, his house and the surrounding fields are flooded. Valteris lives to the rhythm of this spring flood; it is a part of his life.

18.00-19.30 FILM: "Aral: Sea of Thirst" (Jean Afanassieff, 52 minutes, 1999)

The Aral Sea has dried up. The 'Big Blue Mirror'of the Kazakhs is now a desert of sand and grasses haunted by the rusting hulls of fishing boats. Fed by two major rivers, the Syr-Dia and Amou-Daria, most of the water of the inland sea of Central Asia was diverted to irrigate cotton and rice fields. Today the intensive crops which were programmed by the Soviets in the 50s have all disappeared and, apart from the little that is left of the inexhaustible resources of the sea, there remains the bitter reality of a desolate environment. The government of Kazakhstan promises a better future in 2030. They have to promise something for the future. For an old fisherman kneeling in front of his grounded boat the only prospect is sand stretching out as far as the eye can see.

T U E S D A Y 2 2 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

17.00-17.30 FILM: "20,000 Leagues on the Sea" (Bernard David-Cavaz, 13 minutes, 1995)

This documentary is the portrait of a Geophysicist, Jean-Francois Minster, who heads the Laboratory of Oceanography in Toulouse. This reveals the implications of climate changes on human populations, the economy, and life in general like a journey of discovery into a complex and mysterious world.

18.00-19.15 FILM: "Fishing in the Sea of Greed" (Anand Patwardhan, 40 minutes, 1999)

followed by discussion with ANAND PATWARDHAN Documentary Film-Maker, Mumbai

W E D N E S D A Y 2 3 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

17.00-18.30 VIDEOS: Urban Sanitation, Transport, and Alliances of the Urban Poor

followed by discussion with INDU AGARWAL and DEVIKA MAHADEVAN SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres), Mumbai

19.00-21.00 FILM: "Living on the River Agano" (Sato Makoto, 115 minutes, 1992)

The filmmakers filmed and shared everyday life in Kanose, a town on the River Agano in the Niigata Prefecture. Kanose and nearby Yasuda lie close to the Showa Electric Company factory that has poisoned the river by dumping organic mercury waste.

T H U R S D A Y 2 4 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

15.00-16.00 Waterfronts and Ambiguous Boundaries: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

SHILPA PHADKE and students of St Xavier's College Associate, PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research), Mumbai

16.30-18.00 Mumbai's Waterfronts: URBAN DESIGN INTERVENTIONS

Eastern Waterfront: Bombay Port and Harbour ANIRUDH PAUL and PRASAD SHETTY Design Cell, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture (KRVIA), Mumbai

Western Waterfronts: Dadar-Mahim, Bandra and Juhu P.K. DAS Architect, P.K. Das Associates, Mumbai

discussion moderated by VYJAYANTHI RAO Director, PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research), U.S.A.

18.30-19.15 FILM: "Canals Suspended in the Sky" (Dominique Martin-Ferrari, 26 minutes)

Hué, which is crossed by The River of Perfumes, is trying to restore the canals and the hanging gardens of the Vietnamese city whilst conciliating the preservation of the architecture and the landscape, the maintaining of rural populations on the shores of the river, and the development of tourism. Parcels of land are turned into rice paddies following the model of the Etang de Thau, and the small vegetable gardens planted on top of the town walls are preserved. Huê, the 19th century Imperial City, reconnects with is traditions and its water heritage.

19.15-18.00 FILM: "The Village of the Mist" (Nina Peliaeva and George Trivano, 12 minutes)

At Chungungo, in Northern Chile, rain never falls. Since there are no springs in the village, every week, water is brought to the inhabitants by lorry. However, the village is near the sea, and every morning, a thick mist rises up along the mountain slopes. Scientists have thought up a simple but effective way of collecting the mist to obtain water. Up to 60,000 litres of water per day can be produced when there is mist. This has changed the life of the village.

F R I D A Y 2 5 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

15.00-17.00 Water Issues in the Media: PANEL DISCUSSION

Reporting Water PRADEEP SAHA Managing Editor, Down To Earth Magazine, New Delhi

Media Coverage of the Environment MEENA MENON Journalist and Writer, Mumbai

discussion moderated by SAMEERA KHAN Associate, PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research), Mumbai

18.00-19.30 FILM: Premiere of "Words on Water" (Sanjay Kak, 2003, 82 minutes)

followed by discussion with SANJAY KAK Film-Maker, Octave Communications, New Delhi

S A T U R D A Y 2 6 J U L Y 2 0 0 3

15.00-16.00 Ecological Footprint of Mumbai: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

NIKHIL ANAND and students of Sophia College Associate, PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research), Mumbai

16.30-17.00 FILM: "Four Engineers and a Manager" (Pradeep Saha, 2000, 22 minutes)

followed by discussion with PRADEEP SAHA Managing Editor, Down To Earth Magazine, New Delhi

17.30-19.00 Water -- Mumbai at Risk?: PANEL DISCUSSION

discussion chaired by NIRUPA BHANGAR Educationist, Mumbai

Water Infrastucture NAYAN PAREKH and RACHNA SHETH Juhu Together, Mumbai

Urban-Rural Migration KAREN MENEZES and ZARIR DEVITRA St Xavier's College, Mumbai

Perspectives on Privatisation SANJAY BHANGAR Bombay Independent Media Centre (IMC), Mumbai

19.00-20.00 OPEN DISCUSSION on Cities and Water

_____

PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research) P.O. Box 5627, Dadar, Mumbai 400014, INDIA

E-Mail mailto:secretariat@pukar.org.in Phone +91 (022) 2207 7779, +91 98200 45529, +91 98204 04010 Web Site http://www.pukar.org.in