Labour and Water Conservation with Karan Misquitta | The WELL Labs Show

Watershed researcher Karan Misquitta  joins host Pavan Srinath to unpack how water conservation, labour, and technology have shaped India’s landscapes over more than a century.This episode explores the evolution of watershed development — from colonial-era famine relief works to modern-day machine-led interventions. Karan explains how droughts historically led to labour-based public works, why soil and water conservation became central to rural employment programmes, and how structures like bunds, trenches, percolation tanks, and check dams transformed agricultural landscapes across India.The conversation also examines a critical tension: how do we balance creating employment at scale with building effective, durable water systems? Drawing on his research in Maharashtra, Karan traces the shift from labour-intensive watershed programmes to capital-intensive approaches driven by excavators, farm ponds, and large-scale recharge efforts — and what this means for groundwater, farmers, and policy today.Karan Misquitta is a Senior Researcher at WELL Labs, with a PhD in Geography. His work focuses on groundwater, rural water systems, and the political economy of watershed development in India.Pavan Srinath is the Managing Partner for Communications and Development at WELL Labs. Pavan is a communications and public policy professional who has spent over 14 years working in Bangalore's not-for-profit sector.This episode is essential viewing for anyone working on water conservation, rural development, agriculture, public policy, or employment programmes — and for those trying to understand how India’s water landscapes have been shaped by both people and machines.The WELL Labs Show features rich conversations on water, environment, land and livelihoods, from the people and partners of WELL Labs. Hosted by Pavan Srinath and occasionally guest-hosted by colleagues from WELL Labs, each episode explores complex environmental and social issues and helps you understand the systems and the dynamics better. For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/twls-karan-misquitta/Subscribe to the WELL Labs YouTube channel @welllabs and watch all episodes on the official playlist here  Recording by Nabina Chakraborty, Vraj Acharya and Nanditha Gogate. Video editing by Ranjith Kumar S. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar and Kanishka Goyal. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.