Passing through the Arkavathi

Location: On the way to Thippagondahalli Reservoir

You are looking at the dry, shrunken river bank of the Arkavathi, somewhere between the Hesaragatta lake, an artificial lake created in 1894 to serve Bengaluru’s water needs and the Thippagondanahalli reservoir, created in 1934, which came into existence because the Hesaragatta lake began to dry up around then. Both sources failed in the 60s at which time the Cauvery began to serve as the main source of water supply.

I’m a sucker for bad action flicks. I used to cringe at them, point out inconsistencies and close my eyes when the cringe peaked, or stop watching them at all. I still cringe at them, more so than before, in intricately more detailed fashions, but I now enjoy watching them…….It gives me selfish happiness to laugh at my own criticism. I’ve realised that my catalogue of photos documenting our excursions alongside the Arkavathi have carried this similar tone of selfishness as well.

I’ve tended to focus selfishly on mine and my group’s interactions with the environment and the situations we were introduced to. So this collection of photo essays drives away from focusing only on the Arkavathi and its dependants and diverts to a very closed documentary of our interactions with it.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/will-bengaluru-run-out-water-and-it-too-late-save-city-76455