PANJIM: Sandesh Kadur, best known for his conservation work through the medium of his pictures and videos in the form of documentaries, books, opened the D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas 2017 by talking about the importance of mountains.
Kadur has been instrumental in highlighting the need for conservation of biodiversity and a major chunk of his work has been in the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas. A firm believer in the fact that mountains need to be protected to protect humans, Kadur put the spotlight on how climate change is affecting rainfall, which in turn is affecting life, as all species depend on water.
Not one to mince words, Kadur cited the possibility of the third world war by saying that, if it happens, it will be about water. He also presented statistics to highlight the importance of the protection of the Western Ghats across Goa and Karnataka, and the Eastern Himalayas. “We are alive because of these mountains. Mountains harness water and water is what every human needs to survive. Mountains are important to biodiversity and life,” Kadur said.
According to Kadur, these mountain ranges combined; support almost 1/6th of the world’s population. Kadur said, “That is really the impact factor that these mountains have on us humans. If you think about it, India has got over a billion people who get their water from these mountain ranges. Almost all the major rivers in India originate either from the Western Ghats or the Eastern Himalayas,” Kadur said.
The environmentalist went on to identify the two regions as biodiversity hot spots and termed them the backbone of the Northern part of India and the peninsular part of India. Kadur said, “These are also the areas that need a high amount of protection. We need to bring a spotlight on them because of how important they are for the natural world. The future of life depends upon the future of mountains.”
Speaking about the importance of water and how every living organism has the right to receive water, Kadur put the focus on how hydro power is turning out be not as green as it was thought to be. The acclaimed documentary photographer claimed that the dams built by man to store water, are affecting life negatively. Kadur said, “Some countries have recognised the dangers that these dams are causing to biodiversity by denying organisms the water, and hence dams are being removed. It is about time that we start exploring alternative means of harnessing power. Rivers should be made wild again.”
