Pani, Pahar Waters of the Himalayas" Photography Show -
This photography exhibition is based on research in India and Nepal on land-use and development in the lower Himalayas. It shows how environmental and social changes are impacting the ways in which small towns throughout the region source and distribute water.
The research has tried to understand the connections between changes in land-use and management that impact on the water-bearing capacity of landscape in these mountainous regions, and the availability of water.
The interdependence of people and ecological processes across these incredible landscapes creates a complex and fascinating story in which sustainable development must be realised.
Four different themes emerged from the study; change and transformation around water sources; the growing visibility and rapid pace of urbanisation; the ebbs, flows and characteristics of seasonality that affect both social and ecological systems; and, the ways in which physical, social and political infrastructures are being built, transformed and consolidated at this time of rapid change.
The project was produced by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with The Centre for Ecology Development and Research in India (CEDAR) and Southasia Institute for Advanced Studies in Nepal (SIAS). It combines academic research led by Professor Bhaskar Vira and Dr Eszter Kovacs with contemporary imagery by photojournalist Toby Smith.
