Abstract
In East Libya in September 2023, two dams burst and flooded low-lying areas in Derna, killing thousands of people. The tragedy has given a painful twist to the idea of living with water and to the preface I was planning to write for this volume. Yes, water is the elixir of life, but water can also bring death and destruction, and the rapid pace of urbanization coupled with the growing uncertainty of climate change means that we must be sensitive to how we live with water. All our actions, whether remodelling riverfronts in the name of modernization, covering ancient water tanks or reclaiming coastal land for malls, flyovers, bridges and housing societies, will have consequences, especially for the poor and marginalized, whose lives are shaped by the intersection of land and water.
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