In this episode of 'The Women Inspire Aspire Podcast', I talk to Bhargavi Rao about environment and livelihood of the underprivileged.

Bhargavi comes with expansive experience in creativing awareness and activism in the field of how developmental projects play havoc in the meagre livelihood of the poorest of the poor. Her approaches range from judicial intervention to talking to the local communities and understanding the detailed aspects of how the people live and support themselves.

There have been tons of projects that Bhargavi has contributed to in her career, but we spoke about some very important interventions. Specifically she talks about the Tungabadra - Netravati rivers origin place, where an iron ore expansion was prevented, and Bangalore-Mysore Nandi corridor where the villages acquired were surveyed and cases were filed for violations.

She also talked about significantly huge projects ie the Kabini thermal power plant in Karnataka, and the Bangalore Mavallipura and Raichur solid waste management projects. She says waste management is not about wet waste, dry waste, etc. It is about class, caste, religion, and more!

She talked about her work in trying to preserve a large chunk of grasslands in Chitradurga in Central Karnataka called Amrit Mahal Kavals in the context of difference between agropastoral farming and industrial farming, and how livelihoods of the farmers are deeply interconnected with these agro-farm lands. She talks about how in those lands, the pit looms of the sheep are woven into blankets and supported the livelihood of the natives.

She also talked about an Odisha project in a village called Jagatsinghpur, the Nagaland oil project, and a Manipur fishing community livelihood project that was awarded by UN for sustainable community.

When it comes to her Work in Bengaluru, it is about study of lakes which was helpful not just for Bengaluru, but for the entire Karnataka. She also remembers the tree-felling and road widening in Bengaluru, while she says she is currently looking at construction of Metro.

Her current projects include solar and Wind power projects in Karnataka, Assam, etc., to address lands being grabbed from the poorest of the poor to setup solar plants. She talks about the laws that govern the renewable energy, and how Panchayats, which should ideally have the say in these matters are ignored and lands are grabbed through leases.

She has a few tips on how to approach creating awareness and on activism on the topic of environment and livelihoods of the underprivileged which the audience would be very interested in knowing.

We concluded the podcast with Bhargavi sharing her hobbies and interests and the societal issues apart from environment that she is working on.

Sit back, Relax, and Listen In!

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