Deadly Holy Waters? Pollution, Legislation, and Infant Mortality Along the Rivers of India

CASI Seminar
Shareen Joshi
Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Center for the Advanced Study of India
3600 Market Street, Suite 560 (5th floor)
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104

About the Speaker:
Shareen Joshi is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service. Her research focuses on poverty alleviation and demographic change in the developing world. She is particularly interested in the evaluation of development policies using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Her recent papers explore the effects of maternal and child health programs on the well-being of families in Bangladesh and the impact of self-help group participation on the lives of women in rural Rajasthan. She is also interested in issues of caste and gender, and how these affect the success of poverty alleviation programs in India. She has a BA from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

About the Lecture:
India’s rivers are heavily polluted. The Ganges—one of the most polluted—runs through the city of Kanpur and receives large amounts of toxic waste from the city’s domestic and industrial sectors. The tannery industry, in particular, unleashes highly toxic pollutants into the river. Examining the impact of a 1987 landmark piece of environmental legislation in this city (M. C. Mehta v Union of India), Dr. Joshi will explore the mortality burden and mechanisms of impact of this ruling in the Kanpur district, as well as districts downstream.

[Event Flyer]

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.