Project: Land Conflict Watch: Building India’s first and largest database of land disputes and natural resource conflicts.
A journalist and social entrepreneur, Kumar Sambhav leads the Land Conflict Watch (LCW), which is India’s first and largest database of ongoing disputes over land resources. LCW is a multidisciplinary research-and-communications organization that continuously documents, communicates, analyzes, and builds awareness about the natural-resource injustices caused to marginalized communities. The published reports have impacted debates in the Parliament, cases in the Supreme Court, government or policy action, scientific peer-reviewed research, and a wide range of follow-ups by other media.
As a journalist and entrepreneur, I have been working to document, analyze and communicate environmental injustices caused to marginalized communities. To effectively do so, I always believed it was important to break down the role of various actors, especially those in power, and highlight the systemic issues that cause and exacerbate such injustices. What inspired me the most about the ORA Fellowship was its objective of addressing the ‘polycrisis,’ which resonated with my work and approach and even helped me better define my motivations and objectives for the work I do.