Avneet Kaur

AR2048

When calamity strikes, snakes, meerkats, rabbits and the like seek refuge underground. When a severe and unending drought changed the face of Jaipur, the lithium miners at Galta Kund did the same. There was no sustenance on the surface and resources were tight, so they used what they had access to and built a system of caves for shelter in the Kund. Using the robots and machinery they used in the mines; they dug out residences and community spaces. Lithium silicate, a by-product of the extraction process was used to make translucent bridges connecting the various caves. Deeper into the cave systems, they found water, which had all but disappeared from the surface. This oasis became a lifeline for the nascent community, nurturing them as it had done for past civilisations. Instead of using the water for traditional agriculture, a process which would have inevitably depleted it, the miners grew marine plants and created a small ecosystem in the little oasis. Within the old Kund, its new residents created a sustainable community living in harmony with nature.