Vishwanath Srikantaiah
Trustee, Biome Environmental Trust. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
engineerfounderacademicauthorother@zenrainman ↗biometrust.org ↗
Vishwanath Srikantaiah is a civil engineer and urban planner pioneering rainwater harvesting, wastewater recycling, and ecological sanitation systems across India. He co-directs Biome Environmental Solutions, serves as a trustee at Biome Environmental Trust, and teaches as adjunct faculty at Azim Premji University.
1shows
1appearances
47statements
29resolved
19supported
2contradicted
66%fully supported
Everything Vishwanath Srikantaiah said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Srikantaiah: Just 20 families capture 70% to 80% of India's GDP growth
“Even now of the GDP growth, 20 families benefit 70% or 80%.”
Srikantaiah: Chinese dams cannot drain the Brahmaputra because 80% is Indian rainfall
“However, rest assured that if we are able to manage the Brahmaputra, which falls within India, we will not lose much water to the Chinese Dreams of building dams because roughly 80% of the water that flows in the Brahmaputra actually is rainfall which falls on…”
Srikantaiah: Bangalore uses 6.6% of Karnataka's Cauvery water but generates 70% GDP
“However, Bangalore only takes 6.66% of Karnatka's allocation of Cauvery waters, and supports roughly 50% of Karnatka's population in the Cauvery basin. It also generates 70% of the GDP of the state.”
Srikantaiah: Bangalore's water board employs zero hydrogeologists despite 500,000 city borewells
“Just to give you an example, the Bangalore Water Supply and Storage Board does not have a single hydrogeologist. The city has 500,000 bore wells at least. It pumps out six hundred million liters per day. But the institution does not have a single hydrogeologis…”
Srikantaiah: Excavating two five-star hotels completely drained surrounding Bangalore aquifers
“There was a five-star hotel built close to Mount Carmel College and one near Macri Circle. They pumped out groundwater for four to six months, completely emptying all the wells in the surrounding areas. Emptying the aquifer totally.”
Srikantaiah: 2°C warming could make Indian cities unlivable within five years
“If we hit two degrees Celsius,
It will, with urban heat island and fast evaporation of water, even in five years, it will become unlivable.”
Srikantaiah: Native Kannada speakers are arguably a demographic minority in Bangalore
“And one would argue that perhaps the local Kannada speakers are in a minority.”
Srikantaiah: Triple-cropping rice in Thanjavur sparked the Cauvery water conflict
“We started to grow three crops in areas where we would only grow one crop of rice in the Tanjava belt. That created the Cauvery conflict.”
Vishwanath: Competitive democracy locks India into irreversible agricultural subsidies
“That free electricity came from a political decision of giving to farmers subsidized fertilizer and subsidized electricity for groundwater. That decision could not be taken back by any political party. So again, I would believe it's the negative dividend of de…”
Srikantaiah: India Must Prepare for Large-Scale Migration from Rural Areas
“So therefore be prepared for large scale migration from the rural areas.”
Srikantaiah: 7.5% GDP growth drives a 7.5% increase in water consumption
“If the economy grows at seven and a half percent GDP, water consumption also increases at seven and a half percent.”
Srikantaiah: Recycled wastewater raised Bangalore's surrounding groundwater from 1,800 to 20 feet
“Groundwater tables in Kolar and Chikbalapur had plummeted to 1800 feet. Now they're at 20 feet, 30 feet in some places.”
Srikantaiah: Bangalore wastewater reuse will be world's second-largest after Mexico City
“And when all the projects are done, when all the treated wastewater will go to these surrounding districts, it will be the world's second largest project of its kind, next only to that of Mexico City.”
Srikantaiah: Five-year electoral cycles prevent Indian politicians from charging true water costs
“So there is a willingness to pay, but there's no willingness to charge. And this is the negative dividend of democracy because political parties are loath to charge people higher sums because they think they'll lose votes and that the opposition will lay claim…”
Srikantaiah: Bangalore Has Over 10,000 Modern Earth Homes, Most Globally
“This city has the single largest number of modern earth homes, more than 10,000 earth homes, homes built with earth.
No other city in the world has it.”
Srikantaiah: Solar power merely shifts pollution without addressing energy demand
“Solar only pushes away the pollution to some other place. The manufacturing place, and then what do you do with the solar rejects, the photovoltaic cells which remain with you? So all those challenges are there. In the short term, yes, it's a better answer tha…”
Vishwanath: Bangalore floods will be the norm without universal rainwater harvesting
“So therefore floods will be the norm as things go along, unless every house, every residence becomes responsible for what we have now designed as a policy for Bangalore for 60 millimeters of rainfall, saying that for every square meter of roof area, 60 millime…”
Srikantaiah: Drying Himalayan springs are causing village-wide desertion and migration
“For example, the springs in the Himalayas are drying up. Water is the only source of springs. So a lot of mountain villages are just up and migrating completely. Village after village is deserted.”
Srikantaiah: Vijayapura farmers use the town's entire raw sewage to cultivate silk
“Farmers there pick up the raw sewage, treat it on their own land with small pits, and then grow mulberry, which then goes to become silk. The silk sarees are made from sewage. We, I call it shit to silk. The entire sewage of Vijaypura town is consumed by farme…”
Vishwanath: Devanahalli is India's first project turning treated wastewater into drinking water
“So we, the Devanali project I was talking about is the first project in India where treated wastewater from Bangalore is becoming drinking water for Devanali town.”
Srikantaiah: Clean water raised India's average life expectancy from 35 to 72
“Because of clean water and sanitation, our average life in independence, which was 35 years, is now 72 years.”
Srikantaiah: India has as much arable land as the US and China
“But when you come to arable land, that's the land that can be cultivated. India is actually in the same position as the USA and China.”
Srikantaiah: Indus Treaty is a global model for sharing water despite war
“The industry is given as an example globally as to how two countries can go to war three times, yet be in a position to share the waters.”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Vishwanath's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 NEON SHOWLEDGER | Trustee, Biome Environmental Trust | 1 | 47 | 66% 19/29 | full record on the Neon Show → |