Environment | Citizen Matters

As Kolkata begins Durga Puja festivities on Mahalaya, environment gets a raw deal

September 28, 2019 Mou Chakraborty

2500 plus community pujas. Lakhs of revellers. The Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata are magical, but harsh and unforgiving on the environment. Unfortunately, thoughts and plans on greening the celebrations appear to be at a very immature stage still.

India gets its first public battery swapping station as Ahmedabad launches 18 e-buses

September 26, 2019 Binita Parikh

The e-buses run on RTO circular routes 1 and 2, covering many key residential and business centres. The battery swapping station is at Ranip, on Route 1. Find out what else is on the cards for Ahmedabad’s e-mobility programme.

How the Sabarmati river is affecting the climate of Ahmedabad

September 18, 2019 Amita Bhaduri

A study shows how the open space on the western bank of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad acts as a heat sink. Water bodies in general have a great impact on land surface temperatures in the city, as is also seen in the case of Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake.

Cities must know more about desertification and be a part of the solution: Sunita Narain, CSE

September 14, 2019 Kedar Koushik

As the 14th Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification was held in New Delhi, we spoke to Sunita Narain, Director-General of Centre for Science and Environment, to know what our cities can do to mitigate the looming environmental crisis.

Citizen Matters Impact: Buddha Nullah restoration in Ludhiana gets new life

September 11, 2019 Raj Machhan

It has been a little over three months since Citizen Matters raised the long-pending issue of the clean-up of Buddha Nullah. That coverage has given a boost to attempts by a 50-member umbrella organisation to restore the Sutlej tributary, and the government appears to be listening too.

As Mumbai gets ready to bid adieu to Bappa, the sea braces for more pollution

September 10, 2019 Jahanvi J

An estimated 1.63 lakh idols were bought by households this year, and over 19,000 idols for the public pandals. Most of these are made of thermocol and Plaster-of-Paris (POP), and will be immersed in the sea, along the popular beaches. Why is Mumbai unable to move from POP to clay idols?

Why the Bombay High Court had to don Mumbai tree panel’s hat

September 4, 2019 Hepzi Anthony

Mumbai’s Tree Authority had for long led a quiet existence, issuing permissions without fuss to cut trees to make way for the city’s rapid urbanization. People are now looking up to the courts as a last resort to save the green cover of the city.

Amaravati capital city project: A sad tale of politics, finance and environmental neglect

August 30, 2019 Mayank Aggarwal

After World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank withdrew from the project, all construction in Amaravati has come to a halt. The new YSR Congress government has also announced its intention to probe into complaints of mismanagement in the project.

Catch 22 in Shimla: To save urban forests or stay safe?

August 30, 2019 Ashwani Sharma

Every year, heavy monsoon rains cause the uprooting or instability of many large trees, posing a risk to life and property. Then again, the same pretext is used for rampant illegal tree felling in the town, that has led to loss of 50-55% of its green cover over the last 30 years.

Can individual water metering help Indian cities avoid Doomsday?

August 29, 2019 Apekshita Varshney

Is there any scarce resource that we can enjoy for free or for a fixed sum, irrespective of the amounts we consume or use? If that’s not true for anything, why should it be so for water? As Indian cities stand perilously close to running dry, a look at whether water metering can help the cause of conservation

Yeh dil maange more: Kolkata, New Town love their e-buses, but more needed for impact

August 22, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

40 electric buses planned for 11 routes in Kolkata were pressed into service earlier this year, while the satellite town of New Town has been successfully running 3 e-buses for more than one year. How have they been faring and what’s in the offing?

Flamingos in the city: Sabarmati project brings winged visitors to Ahmedabad

August 22, 2019 Binita Parikh

Huge flocks of flamingos as well as other species of birds are being spotted on the banks of Sabarmati, bang in the middle of the city, for the first time this season. Riverfront development officials say that cleaning and bioremediation of the river have made this possible.