climate change

Urban flood disasters are clearly on the rise. The problem is known, the reasons evident, and the prescription is also more or less clear. But who will implement it?

Lack of political will and outdated laws hamper the creation of urban forests in India, but there is no dearth of good examples that can be adopted.

The average minimum temperature in the city has risen by 1.8 degree Celsius over the last seven decades, caused primarily by lack of public transport and loss of green cover.

As per official estimates, there are more than 31,000 unauthorised buildings in major hill towns in Himachal Pradesh, with Shimla constituting 30 per cent of these.

Extreme weather events triggered by climate change pose huge risk to life in Himachal Pradesh. To mitigate these risks, the state is now all set to install a first-of-its-kind automatic ‘Early Warning System’ in Kullu district.

Once a clear water stream and the centre of Ludhiana’s social life, the Buddha Nullah’s pollution has affected the groundwater table, contaminated drinking water sources and more.

Because of erratic rainfall due to climate change, Bhubaneswar sees frequent spells of unexpected heavy rainfall. With natural drainage channels illegally encroached, this poses a big problem.

The first of a two-part story on how river pollution and lack of a proper sewerage and drainage system is affecting Bhubaneswar

Over 90 Indian cities showed minimal air pollution since they were locked down, with many recording their best AQI in months. A briefing paper that examines the impact of COVID lockdown on background pollution across cities and industrial clusters concludes that informed measures and stricter rules can enable cities to achieve their clean air goals.

Mahila Housing Trust, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, has helped houses to bring down their indoor temperatures by switching to cooling roofs and reduce energy bills by installing energy-efficient devices.

A livelihood vulnerability study conducted in Guwahati, Assam, finds that farmers are the most sensitive to climate change, followed by drivers and street food sellers in the urban setting.

A climate movement here cannot be built without acknowledging the differentiated responsibility of developed and developing countries in causing climate change. The rhetoric of ‘young vs old’ is not just oversimplification, but simply untrue in the case of India.