Riverfront - How Ahmedabad Lost Sabarmati
More than a hundred riverfront projects have already been planned in different Indian cities situated on rivers. These projects claim to transform riverbanks into recreational spaces for the public and to ‘beautify' the urban rivers. The grim reality is, however, that these projects often become a vehicle to displace the communities living on the riverbanks and to destroy the social ecology of the river. Rivers in India are dying but riverfronts do not help revitalise them. Riverfronts merely mask the degradation of rivers and urban environments while capturing the valuable urban space for elite usage.
Sabarmati river, a seasonal river that flows through Ahmedabad and where Gandhi had built his Ashram, is now famous for the riverfront that has been built on it. This film revisits the Sabarmati Riverfront Project where it all started.
Commissioned by: People's Resource Centre
Latent City - Feeding Without Footprint
Urban agriculture is emerging as a viable solution to curb food mileage, reducing the footprint generated by the distribution of food. This film attempts to document the existing urban agriculture practices in Delhi.
The Draft Masterplan of Delhi 2041 proposes things like 'Green Development' and 'Food production' in Delhi, yet the planning fails to account for the existing farm practices & the people engaged in them.
Dedicated to the Farmers of Delhi.
Commissioned by: People's Resource Centre
Waiting for the bus
The film traces the journey of the Public Transport system in Delhi, especially the Delhi Transport Corporation's Bus Service. It aims to bring back the focus of mobility planning to sustainable modes like the Bus against the popular trend of car and metro based infrastructural development in cities.
Documenting the journeys of resident bus travellers the film creates a connection between the people and their right to public transport.
Commissioned by: Sustainable Urban Mobility Network
Lost Water - Dispossession in Sahibganj Multimodal
Terminal Project
There is a fresh impetus from the Government of India to promote the inland waterways as a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly mode of shipping and navigation. As a result, massive Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) infrastructures are being set up across the different river stretches, starting with the National Waterway-I from Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to Haldia. Contrary to what the government claims, these developments are proving to be hostile to the regional ecology, livelihood opportunities of local communities, and their claim over commons.
Lost Water attempts to bring out the on-ground narratives from the under-construction multi-modal inland waterways terminal in Sahibganj and a thermal power plant in Godda (both in Jharkhand) being set up by Adani Power Corporation.
Commissioned by: People's Resource Centre
City Moves
The film ‘City Moves’ by filmmakers Asna Jamal and Avikal Parashari looks at the issue of air pollution through the lens of mobility justice. It explores non-motorised transport as the sustainable solution for tackling air pollution in Delhi. The film documents how access to the city is embedded in the segregated spatial reality of Delhi.
Commissioned by: Keele University
Ganga Ke Do Kinare
Located on the southern bank of the Ganga, Patna, the capital of Bihar, is emerging as a ‘smart’ city with a massive influx of modern infrastructure. Close to the city are the riverine islands of Ganga, known as the Diaras, which contrary to the city, struggle to access the basic infrastructure to meet their everyday essential needs. The film focuses on the Diaras and their unique relationship with the Ganga and highlights the contrast between life at two opposing ends of the same river— Diaras and Patna. It shows how the development of permanent concrete structures on the river edge directly threatens floods in low-lying areas like the Diaras. Hence, the film questions the infrastructure-heavy development that most cities are witnessing, their disastrous impacts on the fragile natural environment and how Diaras can pave the way for a more ecological and harmonious form of development.
A film by Avikal, Asna Jamal, Archana Singh
Commissioned by: Charles Correa Foundation