A huge number of students, researchers and science enthusiasts marched down the streets of the city on Saturday as part of India March for Science (IMFS), a nationwide protest call to press for increasing funding for science and research.

The march, in its third edition, was initiated in the backdrop of reduced funding for scientific research as well as the continued quoting of pseudo-science by those in power.

Prajval Shastri, an astrophysicist, said that while increased funding does not necessarily lead to increased scientific temper, it was up to scientists and research organisations to reach out to people.

This belief in unscientific principles even continues in water management, said T.V Ramachandra, Energy and Wetlands researcher, Indian Institute of Science. “Pseudo experts continue to give wrong solutions, such as diverting water from the Sharavati instead of rejuvenating lakes and harvesting rainwater in the city. They don’t understand that Karnataka’s floods and water crisis are because we have mismanaged the ecosystem,” he said.

‘Coconut magic’

Water conservation expert S. Vishwanath likened the city’s search for water from rivers hundreds of km away with the superstition of yore where coconuts can divine sources of water. “Coconut magic of finding groundwater should be replaced by scientific logic,” he said.

S. Japhet, Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University, said that policymakers have to rely on science as the Indian imagination was geared towards modernity. “A member of the RBI board had once said that the Kerala floods were caused by women entering Sabarimala temple. These are only aberrations as many in the Centre continue to be committed to the cause of science,” he said.

Rajani K.S, one of the organisers, said it was necessary for educational, research and science institutions to work with underprivileged children and in slums to take science to the people.