Archives at NCBS | Public Lecture Series
https://www.ncbs.res.in/events/apls
68th edition
 
Talks framed around explorations in and around archives. Discussions by artists, archivists, academics, lawyers, teachers, journalists and others.
 
Revisiting the Narmada
On Memory, Accountability and Resistance
 
Nandini Oza and Shripad Dharmadhikary
 
Wed, Aug 13, 2025. 4 PM
Lecture Hall – 1 (Haapus), NCBS
 
 
 
 
Note: The contents of all abstracts and talks in the Archives Public Lecture Series reflect the views of the speakers. The series is framed as one that looks at a "history of ideas", inviting discussions by people with a vast body of work and/or service across diverse aspects (https://www.ncbs.res.in/events/apls).
 
 
Abstract:
For over more than sixty years, ever since the foundation stone of the Sardar Sarovar Dam and Project (SSP) was laid in 1961, the people of the Narmada Valley affected by the SSP have been involved in many intense struggles against the project. Many of these resistance movements in the Narmada valley eventually culminated into a powerful people’s movement popularly known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). The talk will reflect on the history of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada project and on how its archives and history are not just memories or chronicles of past events, but also include an understanding of hydrology and river systems, biodiversity and coexistence models, and social movements. The collection of papers and documents around these scientific and social issues from the movement have been deposited with the Archives at NCBS.
 
 
Bio:
Shripad Dharmadhikary is an activist and researcher, and the founder-coordinator of Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, a centre focused on analytical and advocacy work in the water and energy sectors. His work examines the intersection of water, energy, environment, and development through the lens of equity, justice, sustainability, and efficacy. Areas of his engagement include water policy and programs; river and water resource management—especially through the environmental flows approach; dams, hydropower, and irrigation; the privatisation and commodification of water; the impact of coal on water resources; and inland navigation. A graduate in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay, Shripad worked for a couple of years in industry and then was a a full-time activist for 12 years with the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a mass movement of people affected by the dams on the Narmada River. 
 
Social worker by training, Nandini Oza was a full-time activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a mass resistance movement against the mega dam, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the River Narmada. She was the President of Oral History Association of India (2020-22). She is a writer, chronicler and an archivist and has been documenting and disseminating the oral histories of the Narmada struggle. Her books have been published in Marathi, Hindi and English. Since 2005 she has been associated with the Zindabad Trust, which supports work related to environment and social change.