Sacred Toxic

Focusing on the constant (re)configurations of the water flowing in the Godavari River in Nashik city, India, in my research, I explore how at specific instances the alterations become visible to the populations and is acted upon. The narratives of river water configurations, in Nashik, discusses about pollution and sources of pollution. The socio-nature complex of Godavari and pollution, here, can be seen as a product of socio-political and economic practices that have left and are leaving thick and continuously evolving impressions on the riverscape.

The wastewater management system is proving to be inefficient, as the sewerage system is dotted with leaks, congestion, and overflows, and the ‘logic of modernity’ attempting maintain binaries of nature-culture by keeping sewage out of rivers has collapsed. The wastewater, domestic as well as industrial, is not the only observed ‘polluting agent’, though it is the dominant one. Others range from solid waste, construction debris, temporary shelters/slums, religious offerings, cemeteries, to activities like weekly markets.

But at certain moments in the life of Nashik, like Kumbh Mela (an age-old religious festival), water scarcity, and floods, certain polluting agents or sources are identified and targeted by the governance, the political leaders, and the activists. Whereas, during other times, the toxicity of river is camouflaged in the everydayness of the city. Thus, I ask - how, when, and by whom certain entities are seen as ‘pollutants’ or harmful/ hazardous in the Godavari, and what factors influencing such associations.

This visualization is part of the Visualizing Toxic Places collection. It is also part of the Sacred Toxic: Narratives of Visible and Invisible Toxicities of Godavari River photo essay.