Articles by Vaibhav Chhipa

Vaibhav hails from Jaipur, India and works as a Scientist at Cropin in a professional capacity. Coming from a state which has almost half of its area as desert, he understands the importance of water balance. He completed his graduate studies in GIS and remote sensing and has a keen interest in geospatial data and environmental issues.

From industrial boom to heat doom: Peenya’s struggle with rising urban temperature

by , , , , and September 26, 2024

Peenya Industrial Area, one of Bengaluru's oldest industrial hubs, is facing a significant challenge — rising urban temperatures exacerbated by the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The aggregated maximum Land Surface Temperature for the first 8 months increased from 43 ℃ in 2023 to 46 ℃ in 2024, as derived from the ECOSTRESS sensor. This phenomenon, in which urban areas experience higher temperatures than their rural counterparts, is particularly pronounced in Peenya. The area’s industrial growth, coupled with a lack of green cover and the prevalent use of heat-absorbing materials, has made it one of the hottest zones in the…

Read more

What data says about Bengaluru’s alternatives to Cauvery water

by , , , and April 26, 2024

The Cauvery River is located 100 kilometres away from Bengaluru, 350 metres lower than the city’s elevation. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has to spend approximately Rs. 3 crores per day as electricity charges to pump the water over such long distances. The city’s dependence on Cauvery as its primary water source prompted us to analyse this issue at the recently held 'Bengaluru Water Datajam', held by Opencity.in. Since the extraction of water from the Cauvery is recent (just 50 years ago), how did Bengaluru operate its water needs before the onset of rapid urbanisation? Since, we…

Read more