Water Bodies in India : Public Space, Private Design
June 1, 2011 – August 1, 2011
After land, our water bodies are now facing tremendous stress: industries, urban 'development', increasing population, imperfect legislation... scores of wetlands, lakes, rivers and waterways are threatened by such projects and pressures. On one hand, cities across India struggle to meet the insatiable water demands of their people; on the other, real estate and industry are eyeing wetlands and water bodies, while regulators look the other way. According to the Directory of Asian Wetlands (1989), India has 27,403 wetlands,covering an estimated area of 4.1 million hectare. A survey by the Wildlife Institute of India says they are disappearing at a rate of 2 per cent to 3 per cent every year. Some of the recent cases of transgression include the Nirma cememt factory in Bhavnagar, Gujarat and an upcoming power plant in Kakrapalli, Andhra Pradesh.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) offers a media fellowship to journalists to address, analyse and report on this subject. Some of the suggested topics which can be examined are:
* Encroachments on wetlands and water bodies
* Conflicts and people's struggles
* Regulations pertaining to water management and use
* Classification of wetlands
* Biodiversity
* Livelihoods and water
* Wetland banking
* pollution
Duration
Two months – June 1, 2011 to August 1, 2011 – with one month of travel time and another month for research, writing, publication and submission of stories and features.
Compensation and funding
Selected fellows will each receive a stipend of Rs 40,000 (subject to tax deductions at source) to support research, travel and writing between the given period.
The stipend will be released in two instalments – the first as a travel grant at the start of the fellowship programme and the second after its successful completion.
Applications must be accompanied by the following documents:
* Curriculum vitae
* For print journalists, three samples of published work on development issues. By ‘published work’, we mean articles published by/in national or regional newspapers or magazines.
* Those writing in regional languages must have at least one of their articles translated into English.
* For television and radio journalists, two samples of telecasted/ broadcasted programmes on development issues – those telecasting/ broadcasting in regional languages must also give a short written summary of the programme along with the CDs of the samples.
* A letter of support from the editor that the output under the fellowship will be published/broadcast (mandatory for all candidates, including freelancers).
* A comprehensive fellowship proposal outlining (a) the subject/s and story ideas that the applicant proposes to focus on, (b) tentative travel plans and (c) a list of people who might be interviewed.
Last date for submission of applications
May 15, 2011
(now extended to 31 May, 2011)
CSE may organise a briefing workshop on the subject closer to the commencement of the Fellowship. The selected Fellows and some other interested journalists will be invited to participate in this workshop.
Fellowships output
Selected applicants from the print media will be expected to generate feature and news article/s totalling 5,000 words or three stories, based on the research carried out under the fellowship. Original clippings of these articles will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme. They will also be expected to take and submit photographs of the areas they travel in for their stories.
Selected applicants from the audio-visual media will be expected to generate either a single film/broadcast or a series of episodes, based on the research carried out under the fellowships. Video and audio CDs of these outputs will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme.
Applications for the fellowship should be addressed to:
Papia Samajdar
Assistant Coordinator
Media Resource Centre
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area
New Delhi 110 062
Ph: 011-29955124, 29955125, Fax: 011-29955879
Mobile: 9811906977
Email:
papia@cseindia.org
Website:
www.cseindia.org
