Articles by Rituparna Palit

Oil spills are annual during Mumbai monsoons and this year was no exception. Washed ashore as black or dark brown sticky liquid tar deposits, it was first noticed on August 4th that the sand in several beaches of Mumbai turned black from the tar deposits. These signs of tar pollution were seen along a stretch of 4 kilometres, extending up to Alibag and beaches in Palghar. In fact, according to Shaunak Modi, Director, Coastal Conservation Foundation, the oil deposits have been occurring throughout August. Two weeks ago a lot of tar had washed ashore at Chimbai beach in Bandra and…

Urban governance is a complex phenomenon. Apart from the local municipal body, a host of governmental organisations, parastatal bodies and state departments are entrusted with providing public services in Chennai. Their functions define the various aspects of life in the city. From water to power to housing, do you know who is accountable for the governance and delivery of basic services and amenities in Namma Chennai? This explainer talks of the various agencies involved in administration and public service delivery in Chennai. Municipal administration: The Greater Chennai Corporation Let’s start with the civic body. The Greater Chennai Corporation, housed in…

Nitrogen dioxide or NO2 pollution in Chennai is back to pre-pandemic levels, shows a recent report by the non-governmental environmental organization, Greenpeace India. In fact, among all the cities studied by the researchers, Chennai recorded the second highest spike over a year as lockdown conditions were relaxed.  Greenpeace studied NO2 levels in eight Indian cities using measurements made by the Tropomi sensor on Sentinel-5P satellite. The satellite observations of April 2020 and 2021 revealed a 125% spike in NO2 levels in Delhi followed by 94% in Chennai. This not only increases the vulnerability of citizens to respiratory and circulatory issues, but…