RiverSe
RIVERse began as a thought between three urban professionals to envison a citizens movement to transform the neglected erstwhile rivers and fresh water streams (nullahs) of Mumbai. Today these have become backyards of neglect that call for transformation into urban greens that much required people’s health and well-being spaces. Thus making them the front yards of our future cities.
Rationale
While the Supreme court of India in 2017 ruled that India’s rivers are ‘not living entities ‘, We believe that whatever be the human view point, be it communal, scientific or social, the sheer nature of the ecosystems is that it supports every river, and water body must be viewed as a living entity. We believe this change if effective could become a starting point for urban rivers around the country which are suffering a similar fate.
Strategy
Over the past decade, the Water environs team has acknowledged and improvised a four-fold approach:
- Public Mobilisation
- Impacting policies and governance.
- Promoting transformative change-making
- Participating in and contributing to the consolidation of knowledge related to rivers and strengthening sustainability networks.
Methods
Transformative Change Making
With expanding urbanisation; digitalisation, automation and urban transformation pose a complex economic and political challenge. The process of transformation is not a natural one, and is steered by withholders of power and resources. What is required is, a well guided, smart approach to create momentum for incremental change. This can be done by bringing together as many social groups as possible under a common agenda. However, it is difficult to build such a coalition as different social groups have different interests. A transformative alliance, on the other hand, binds different social groups through a common narrative. This is achieved by a) providing an alternative vision of the future, a better tomorrow to mobilise people b) creating a change narrative which connects people emotionally and morally c) converting a discourse into concrete action through a catalytic project.
Kanheri Caves, One of the origin points of Dahisar River. Source : Team Water Environs| July 2022
Washermen- Livelihoods where the river begins its urban journey. Source : Team Water Environs| 2016
Neglected Back yards of the city- Trained edges and insensitive infrastructure. Source : Team Water Environs| 2016
Urbanisation and the underutilised potential of the River. Source : Team Water Environs| Oct 2021
Intersections between Mobiity and River, Near Dahisar urban village. Source : Team Water Environs| October 2021
