a series of conversations about river sediments – from creation to extraction
hosted by India Sand Watch at Veditum India Foundation
Conversation 10 – with Tarun Nair
For our 10th session, we will be in conversation with conservation biologist Tarun Nair.
Tarun leads Programme Makara at the Wildlife Conservation Trust.
His work has largely focused on understanding the conservation needs of gharials in North-Central India, particularly along the Chambal, Son and Gandak Rivers.
When: 5pm – 6pm IST, Saturday 24th January 2026
Where: Via Zoom (register below)
Scroll down to read more about our thoughts around sediments, and the work we’re doing. At the bottom of the page you’ll find the recordings of all the past sessions of Sediment Stories
1 year of Sediment Stories
We just completed 1 year of Sediment Stories. Checkout the slides above for a few highlights.
Our thoughts and work on sediments
River flows create, carry and deposit sediments on their journey from source to sea. The interaction/play of sediments in this journey creates spaces for habitation for aquatic life, affects river morphology, stores groundwater, strengthens and enriches river bank soil. Sediments play a role in estuarine, coastal and marine systems as well.
Sediment journeys are quite fascinating in a river system, but have become skewed because of excessive extraction. The demand of river sand primarily for construction has risen rapidly, leading to excessive sand mining. This has changed river flows, affected flora, disturbed habitats of aquatic life, caused accidents and violence.
India Sand Watch is an open-data project by Veditum to collect, collate and archive data on sand mining. The project aims to improve accountability, enable and inform further research, support reporting and legal action. It offers possibilities to further the work through new imaginations. Sediment Stories is one such imagination, as are our ongoing experiments with Data Sprints.
What are the different kinds of sediments and their sources? What role does sediment play in different ecosystems? What are the governance mechanisms to regulate sediment/sand mining? Can we work on alternatives? What role do scientists and civil society play?
Join us for a series of conversations as we explore the journey of sediments from creation to extraction. We will be engaging with people – geologists, biologists, hydrologists, journalists, activists, administrators, and more – about their work around sediments and sand mining in India.
New writing on Sediments in rivers
Aishani Goswami and Rhea Lopez, associates at Veditum, have started publishing a series of articles with India Water Portal on the topic of sediments in rivers. We’ll add all the parts here as they get published.
Muddy waters: The role of sediments in river hydrology
Read here: http://indiawaterportal.org/environment/ecology/muddy-waters-the-role-of-sediments-in-river-hydrology
Where sand shifts and rivers flow, life adapts across India’s changing lands
Read here: https://www.indiawaterportal.org/environment/ecology/where-sand-shifts-and-rivers-flow-life-adapts-across-indias-changing-lands
Resources
A growing set of resources to read / learn from about sediments
- Checkout our work at India Sand Watch
- Checkout the conversations from India Rivers Week 2020
- Sand Futures: Post-Growth Alternatives to Excessive Mineral Extraction in the Global South
- Sand Mining Watch: Leveraging Earth Observation Foundation Models to Inform Sustainable Development [work in progress by our partners at UC Berkeley]
Past Conversations
Conversation 01 – with Rahul Singh
You can follow him on twitter at this link: https://twitter.com/rahul_tomar99
Click here to read his reporting of sand mining from Bihar
Conversation 02 – with Shishir Rao
You can follow him on Instagram at this link: http://instagram.com/raorchestes
Click here to read a report co-authored by Shishir: An Assessment of Environmental and Social Impacts of and cluster of small hydropower projects in Western Ghats of Karnataka.
Conversation 03 – with Anuja Mital
You can follow them on Instagram at this link: https://www.instagram.com/aninja_turtle/
Click here to checkout FTTI – Freshwater Turtles & Tortoises of India, which was set up with the very intention of conserving freshwater chelonians and their habitats through dedicated research, outreach and education.
Conversation 04 – with Avli Verma
You can follow them on twitter at this link: https://x.com/avli_verma
Click here to checkout the website of Manthan Adhyayan Kendra and learn more about India’s inland waterways and other topics at the intersection of water and energy.
Conversation 05* – with Shriti Pandey
You can follow them on LinkedIn at this link: Shriti Pandey
Click here to learn more about Shriti’s company Strawcture Eco, India’s first carbon negative building material company.
Conversation 06 – with Garima Bora
You can follow Dakshin Foundation (the organisation where Garima works) on Instagram at this link: http://instagram.com/dakshin_seas/
Click here to checkout the website of Dakshin Foundation.
Conversation 07 – with Keyur Sarda
Checkout Kesarjan Building Center’s website here: https://www.kesarjan.com
You can follow them on Instagram at this link: http://instagram.com/kesarjan_building_centre/
Conversation 08 – with Dr. Priyank Patel
Checkout Dr. Priyank Patel’s Google Scholar page here: Dr. Priyank Pravin Patel
You can follow them on LinkedIn at this link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyank-pravin-patel-8650b17a/
Conversation 09 – with Dr. Nachiket Kelkar
Checkout Wildlife Conservation Trust’s River Programme here: WCT – Rivers Programme
You can follow Nachiket on LinkedIn at this link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nachiket-kelkar-59975213/
Contact Info:
asid@veditum.org
+ 91 8100170707