ICTS

This lecture delves into the political and cultural importance of the monsoon in India since the late nineteenth century. It examines how changing meteorological knowledge was absorbed into political discussions about India’s future. In the early twentieth century, many among India’s engineers, planners, economists, and political leaders committed themselves to infrastructural solutions to the vagaries of the monsoon; over the long term, these infrastructures have had a number of unintended consequences. The range of policy options on the table today, in response to India’s many water-related challenges, are a residue of that earlier history.