Environment | Citizen Matters

Bhopal left with water for two weeks, thanks to neglect of iconic Upper Lake

July 3, 2019 Anup Dutta

Crores have been marked for wetland preservation and urban water supply; yet, shrinking lakes, ineffective sewage management and diminishing green cover have brought Bhopal to a situation where its natural water reserves may dry up within a matter of weeks.

Resilience, diversity in focus as Bhubaneswar tries to restore trees lost to Fani

July 3, 2019 Basudev Mahapatra

Government, civil society and corporate bodies have joined hands to regreen cyclone-ravaged Bhubaneswar, but what is needed is not just replantation but also proper urban forest planning.

Why Bengaluru must phase out diesel vehicles on war footing

June 25, 2019 Vimal Simha

One diesel SUV accounts for the emissions of about 25-65 petrol cars! And yet cities, where vehicle emissions are the biggest cause of particulate matter pollution, have not been able to shun them. Can we take the steps needed to mitigate the diesel threat or will citizens and environment continue to pay a heavy price?

As Chennai, Bengaluru grapple with water shortage, time to consider a compact with Cauvery

June 25, 2019 Vishwanath Srikantaiah

Cities can no longer rely on romanticized local water resources, but must place themselves in a river basin and take responsibility for the ecological health of the river as a whole. Take the case of the Cauvery in the context of the water starved southern metros.

2020 is around the corner, can we stop Delhi from running dry?

June 24, 2019 Akshita Nagpal

If a 2018 Niti Aayog report is to be believed, the capital is among 21 Indian cities that look poised to run out of groundwater by next year. Here’s what has brought Delhi to this ominous brink, and what needs to be done to avert Doomsday.

Kolkata’s ignored groundwater crisis could lead to much more than just water shortage

June 18, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

Increasing contamination due to deepening of the water table, serious health hazards and even instability in built structures in the city — indiscriminate extraction of groundwater could spell more doom for the city than it seems to be aware of.

Bhopal all set to become ‘smart’, even if hot and barren!

June 11, 2019 Shuriah Niazi

Countless trees have already gone under the axe and several thousands are at risk in Bhopal’s Tatiya Tope Nagar, where a government housing project under the Smart Cities Mission is in progress. Environmentalists fume at the toll that such projects are taking.

Rs 550 crore spent on clean up, yet Ludhiana’s polluted Buddha Nulla only grows more toxic

June 8, 2019 Raj Machhan

Buddha Nulla, formerly Buddha Dariya, symbolises Ludhiana’s decay; its water grows more polluted and contaminated with carcinogens as governments fail to curb dumping and spend crores in sporadic cleaning efforts.

Waste mounds in open landfills grow higher as Kolkata brazenly ignores SWM rules

June 6, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

In Kolkata’s Dhapa and other neighbouring municipalities, open landfills lie filled to the brim with unsegregated waste. Biomedical waste disposal too does not uniformly conform to the rules formulated. A lax administration merely looks on and introduces token measures in select pockets.

Smoggy, but unfazed: Mumbai needs to take air pollution more seriously than it does

June 5, 2019 Apekshita Varshney

For many Mumbaikars, ‘air pollution’ is a Delhi or at most a North Indian problem. Yet, Mumbai air itself says otherwise on many a day. But are city authorities really aware and equipped to take the steps they need to?

Can Bhubaneswar’s smart city infrastructure withstand summer heat stress?

May 30, 2019 Basudev Mahapatra

Extreme heat stress caused by high ‘wet bulb temperatures’ and urban heat island effect come into play in Odisha’s capital, that is often the hottest city in the country during summers. But what do these terms imply, and how are they a threat to the upcoming smart city?

This World Menstrual Hygiene Day, let’s think of sustainable options

May 28, 2019 Odette Katrak

World Menstrual Hygiene Day is intended to focus on the millions of women worldwide without access to hygienic solutions during their monthly period. Today, we continue the focus, but with a changed track in the context of the global environment crisis.