Nachiket Kelkar, Head of Riverine Ecosystems and Livelihoods at the Wildlife Conservation Trust, shares his experiences and insights on the Ganges River, particularly focusing on the ecological changes observed in Bihar over the years.

Kelkar takes us into the multifaceted challenges and cultural dynamics surrounding the Ganges River dolphin and the fisher folk communities in India. It explores the socio-economic transitions of fisher folk, the unique characteristics of the Ganges River dolphin, and the implications of conservation projects like Project Dolphin.

Show Notes:
MC Elsa3 Sinking — Latest News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/ship-wreck-off-the-kerala-coast-in-may-led-to-significant-ecological-disruption-report/article70071493.ece

Who is Nachiket Kelkar — https://www.linkedin.com/in/nachiket-kelkar-59975213/ https://www.wildlifeconservationtrust.org/about-us/team-2/

Vikramshila Dolphin Sanctuary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikramshila_Gangetic_Dolphin_Sanctuary

Bhagalpur Blindings case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Bhagalpur_blindings

How India moves: Bhagalpur, Bihar’s third-largest city, wants to be ‘Smart’. But pollution and gridlock prevent that https://www.downtoearth.org.in/air/how-india-moves-bhagalpur-bihars-third-largest-city-wants-to-be-smart-but-pollution-and-gridlock-prevent-that

Identifying potential causes of fish declines through local ecological knowledge of fishers in the Ganga River, eastern Bihar, India: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fme.12390

What are Schedule 1 Species — IUCN CITES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_species_protected_by_CITES_Appendix_I

Panidari system and the nature of fisheries: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ghazala-Shahabuddin/publication/265440866_Nature_Without_Borders/links/5eabf720299bf18b958a94ac/Nature-Without-Borders.pdf#page=76

Ganga Mukti Andolan 1991: https://sandrp.in/2025/04/29/relevance-of-ganga-mukti-andolan-then-and-now/

Thirsty Rivers, Bygone Fishes, Hungry Societies: https://sandrp.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/thirsty_rivers_bygone_fishes_hungry_societies_nachiket_kelkar_dec2012.pdf

Arati’s article on the effects of the Farakka Barrage on the river: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/in-the-shifting-embrace-of-the-ganga/

Hilsa recovery ranching and ladders: Challenges abound to conserve the popular hilsa fish https://india.mongabay.com/2023/01/challenges-abound-to-conserve-the-popular-hilsa-fish/

Franciscana Dolphin of Brasil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Plata_dolphin
Turtle hunting: https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/tracking-critically-endangered-turtles-in-the-ganges/


Platanista gangetica: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_river_dolphin

Baiji: 1:36:48 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiji

Book on the extinction of the Baiji: Witness to Extinction: How we Failed to Save the Yangtze River Dolphin: https://www.amazon.in/Witness-Extinction-Failed-Yangtze-Dolphin-ebook/dp/B003N2P44Y

First human caused extinction of a cetacean: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2391192/
Yangtze Finless Porpoise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze_finless_porpoise

Indus River dolphin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_river_dolphin Now virtually extinct in India

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This conversation delves into the Great Nicobar Project, a massive infrastructure initiative at the southern end of the Nicobar Islands, focusing on its economic viability, ecological impact, and the implications for indigenous communities. Pankaj Sekhsaria and M Rajshekhar break down and analyze the project, which includes a transshipment terminal, airport, and township, raises significant concerns regarding ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA0teTB0msU for detailed Show notes

Pankaj Sekhsaria: https://www.instagram.com/pankajsekhsaria/
Pankaj Sekhsaria: https://x.com/pankajsekh
M Rajshekhar: https://x.com/mrajshekhar

Overview of the Great Nicobar project:
The Great Nicobar Betrayal (curated essays by Pankaj Sekhsaria), the foundational book on the subject: https://www.amazon.in/Nicobar-Betrayal-Paperback-Pankaj-Sekhsaria/dp/9393875863/

and TR Shankar Raman's extensive review for Mongabay: https://india.mongabay.com/2024/08/book-review-chronicle-of-an-ecocide-foretold/

The Great Nicobar project: A costly miscalculation? by M Rajshekhar for Frontline: https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-project-campbell-bay-transshipment-terminal-galathea-bay-infrastructure-project/article69159231.ece and

Frontline issue dedicated to the Great Nicobar Project: https://frontline.thehindu.com/current-issue/article69207368.ece

India’s plans to ‘develop’ Great Nicobar island threatens its unique wildlife and indigenous peoples, by Sohel Sarkar: https://therevelator.org/great-nicobar-island/

Let's talk about the Great Nicobar Project, a Frontline podcast featuring Pankaj Sekhsaria and M Rajshekhar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJjplULyl1c

Pankaj Sekhsaria on India's Great Nicobar misadventure for Himal Southasian (video): https://youtu.be/Z5MDOZB_VTw?si=FRbA-8W69uoo2jRK

Great Nicobar project could destroy the island, by M Rajshekhar for Time magazine: https://time.com/7316182/modi-destroy-great-nicobar-island/
The crisis of Great Nicobar, a video feature: https://youtu.be/9BEEjI6dkVs?si=VxyRnM6VhThjjKnn

Great Nicobar Island Development Project — Wikipedia entry for basic facts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Nicobar_Island_Development_Project

Economics of the project
Great Nicobar port clears paperwork, but will money follow? by M Rajshekhar for Economic Times: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-commentary/great-nicobar-port-clears-paperwork-but-will-money-follow/articleshow/120213450.cms

In Nicobar, ecology loses out, but who receives a windfall?, by Pankaj Sekhsaria, Hindustan Times: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/in-nicobar-ecology-loses-out-but-who-receives-a-windfall-101741700135419.html

Great Nicobar gamble, risk it? by M Rajshekhar in the Economic Times: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/epaper/delhicapital/2025/apr/12/satet-edit/great-nicobar-gamble-risk-it/articleshow/120217586.cms


Environmental / Social / Ecological Costs
Great Nicobar: Greenwashing a catastrophe, by T R Shankar Raman and Rohan Arthur: https://shankarraman.in/2025/05/22/great-nicobar-greenwashing-a-catastrophe/

The human cost of misgovernance in the Andamans by M Rajshekhar for The News Minute: https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/tnm-investigation-the-human-cost-of-misgovernance-in-the-andamans

On the biodiversity trail in Great Nicobar by M Rajshekhar: https://mrajshekhar.in/2025/02/13/pain-and-rapture-in-great-nicobar/

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Photojournalist Ed Kashi and documentary filmmaker Julie Winokur have spent decades telling urgent, human stories — from climate injustice to ageing, migration, and forgotten coastlines. In this episode of From the Marginlands, Arati and Prem talk to them about the art of long-form storytelling, the patience it demands, and why bearing witness matters now more than ever.

Show Notes:
Ed Kashi's website: https://www.edkashi.com/

Julie Winokur's Talking Eyes website: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/

0:37: About the award-winning The Sacrifice Zone: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/documentary/the-sacrifice-zone

2:09: Our first podcast with two-time Pulitzer winner Paul Salopek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_xqxD5splo&t=5s

2:18: Our podcast with author Nilanjana Roy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0L6GIJXs3k&t=4379s

2:53: About Ed Kashi: https://www.edkashi.com/about

3:47: Curse of the Black Gold, Ed Kashi's book on the Niger delta: https://www.amazon.in/Curse-Black-Gold-Years-Niger/dp/1576875474/

3: 59: Ageing in America by Ed Kashi: https://www.edkashi.com/books/aging-in-america and trailer: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/documentary/aging-in-america

4:49: Bring It To The Table, a Julie Winokur documentary: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/documentary/bring-it-to-the-table and https://bringit2thetable.org/learn-more#concept and a short Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/channels/bringit2thetable/213743985?

5:00: Newest Americans, by Julie Winokur: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/documentary/newest-americans

12:21: Ed Kashi for National Geographic on life as a photojournalist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFYobvn8wlE

12:41: When The Borders Bleed, Ed Kashi with a Christopher Hitchens intro: https://www.edkashi.com/books/when-the-borders-bleed-the-struggle-of-the-kurds

13:57: A Chat With The Kashis, National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/a-chat-with-the-kashis-a-photojournalism-family-juggles-chaos-and-calm

15:35: On Imogene Cunningham: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imogen_Cunningham

16:42: Ward 81, by Mary Ellen Mark: https://www.maryellenmark.com/books/ward-81-voices

18:37: Alive and Dead, Ed and Julie's work from Cairo's City of the Dead: https://talkingeyesmedia.org/blog/city-of-the-dead

35:58: Newest Americans by Ed and Julie with Tim Raphael: https://newestamericans.com/

1:04:04: Sheila and Joe, a film about love that transcends prison bars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mL7FaRDJRw and https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/04/03/981437100/video-when-love-transcends-prison-a-couple-finds-each-other-through-letters

1:29:06: Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia: https://archive.org/details/empiresofindusst0000albi_b2t4/mode/2up and an extract: https://www.alicealbinia.co.uk/books/empires-of-the-indus/empires-of-the-indus-extract

EOM

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