Friday, July 29, 2005

Two links

  • Pablo points to an article by Lila Rajiva which appeared in CounterPunch.
      [T]here's no going home for these urban poor. Agriculture in India is reeling everywhere from the dire impact of multinationals. Everywhere, commercialization has displaced small and marginal farmers while mechanization has displaced landless agricultural labourers. Industries all over India have been claiming enormous portions of scarce ground and surface water for their permanent use, leaving citizens and communities unable to enunciate or defend their rights to water, even drinking water. The result - millions flee to the cities and feed the metastasis of fragile, unsanitary tenements.
  • "Even as I see people stranded everywhere, the kindness of others around is overwhelming. I am so goddamn proud of my city! I can never live anywhere else." Anumita on the spirit of Bombay.

3 Comments:

At 10:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fewer people are left in rural areas as millions have migrated to cities. Those left are often fighting for their survival with little or no land to farm, with powerful political and economic forces allied against them. Sometimes the men have had to migrate to the cities or abroad to look for work, while the women are left in charge of family and farm. Often things are worse. "For this project," writes SebastiĆ£o Salgado, "I visited many cities and countries for the first time. When I returned to places I had previously known, however, it was painful to discover that things were generally worse."

Check out the documentary project MIGRATIONS on this issue by Sebastiao Salgado-
http://www.terra.com.br/sebastiaosalgado/

 
At 1:08 AM, Blogger Dilip D'Souza said...

"Fewer people are left in rural areas"? Millions have indeed migrated to the cities, but this country is still over 70% rural! It's something worth remembering, for us city folks.

 
At 3:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link Balagopal. Touching images.

 

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