08-05-2025
Exhibition on status of Bengaluru's lakes, rivers begins
Written by Brinda Srinivasa
An exhibition to showcase the water bodies of Bengaluru titled 'Waterscapes of Bengaluru' opened at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological (VIT) Museum in the city on Tuesday.
The exhibition, which intends to create awareness on the deterioration of Bengaluru's numerous lakes and tanks, apart from the surviving rivers, takes a look at the future of the city's water bodies.
It brings together the work of scientists, environmentalists and artists to tell stories about the pollution of water bodies in Bengaluru and their struggle to stay alive.
On the opening day on May 6, Subodh Sharma, a visiting professor at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research (ICWAR) at the Indian Institute of Science provided an overview of the exhibition and discussed his own research on tracking the water quality of the Cauvery River, the source of drinking water supply to Bengaluru.
He spoke about aquatic macroinvertebrates, like molluscs and annelids, which are organisms that inhabit deep waters and can evaluate water quality. He said these organisms are significant biological indicators of the sustainability of rivers and lakes amid pollution.
'These indicators react to various types of pollution in the Indravati River. In five years, I aim to provide a comprehensive assessment of the Cauvery River's water quality using aquatic macroinvertebrates,' Prof Sharma said.
One of the highlight is that participants can engage in sandbox contour terrain activity where they can shape real sand with their hands and create hills or mountains, represented by brown or red colours, and when the hill was excavated, the colour changed to blue, indicating the presence of water. There is also a rainwater harvesting system that explains the process of water collection.
The exhibition showcases various discoveries made by individuals involved in the project. It begins with an overview of the sources of the images displayed. One can get a glimpse of the intriguing readings about the Vrishabhavathi river
from a book on display titled 'Whose River is it Anyway'.
The contributors to this project include Kadambari Komandur, an information designer focused on landscapes and ecology; Namrata Narendra, an urban researcher; Megha Kashyap, a designer from Bengaluru; and Nirmala Gowda, co-founder and curator of Paani Earth Foundation; Madhuri Mandava, who is also a co-founder of Paani Earth Foundation, and Arathy Aluckal, a mixed-media artist and universal designer.
The exhibition has been developed by the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum and the Paani Earth Foundation and will be on till July.
(Brinda Srinivasa is an intern with The Indian Express)
