GENRE: In Focus

When guests step into Gopala Krishnan and Sangeetha’s 'Midori' Green home in Madipakkam, Chennai, their attention is drawn not to the decor or layout but to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The top halves have high ventilators that remain open day and night—a feature once common in traditional architecture but rare in modern homes. This simple design floods the space with natural light while continuously expelling hot air. "It's the first thing everyone mentions," Sangeetha shares. "The rooms feel brighter, airier, and somehow cooler." Visitors are often surprised to learn that the couple uses air conditioning for only a few hours during…

‘We don’t want white-topped roads, as they increase waterlogging and don't allow water to percolate’ is a common sentiment among many Bengalureans. While drawing more and more water from Cauvery river, Bengaluru is doing little to recharge its groundwater. With the city extracting 100% of its groundwater, citizens don't get water even after drilling down to 1,800 feet. Yet BBMP is white-topping our roads over the existing asphalt, without structures like rain gardens or bioswales to capture stormwater. But are Bengalureans right in believing that white-topping worsens flooding? The answer is complicated. Do white-topped roads hinder water recharge? Hearing a…

Encroachments on Chennai lakes often begin with the construction of religious structures, such as temples. Unless citizens take collective action, such encroachments are likely to persist. This is a key lesson from the citizen-led initiative by the Federation of Sunnambu Kulathur Residents Welfare Association to protect Narayanapuram Lake. For years, Narayanapuram Lake has faced encroachments, with four temples and a church gradually expanding into its area. Each monsoon, floodwaters engulfed the residential areas around the lake, sparing neither homes nor the religious structures. The local residents rallied together; they engaged with elected representatives, used social media to raise awareness, and…

‘You should also report on Hegondanahalli Kere. A lake has been killed in the name of rejuvenation' — a message that I received from Chetan Gopal, Bengaluru-based lake conservationist and a member of the group ‘Friends of Lakes’, after my earlier story on Mullur Lake, another panchayat lake, was published.  Chetan regularly visits around 14 lakes in Sarjapura Road, Varthur and nearby areas, mostly outside the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limit, and his observations bear out what our article underscored — that lakes on the peripheries of the city face common challenges that have left them in worse condition…

Every afternoon, Nanda Kumar makes a difficult choice. He parks his bike outside his home in Chennai and suspends work, losing up to ₹800 a day. The 27-year-old Ola and Uber rider isn’t on a break for leisure, though. A brutal heatwave and a recent heat stroke that landed him in the hospital for two days cost him over ₹10,000 in medical bills and lost wages. Since then, he has been forced to stay off the roads during the afternoon hours. “I can’t ride between 12 and 4 pm in the summer months. The heat is just unbearable,” he says. …

Nine-year-old Priti Borde, is struggling to stay indoors. The air inside her home is hot and stuffy, offering little relief compared to the lane outside. With her school closed for the summer holidays, she finds herself confined to a narrow alley barely three feet wide, idly passing time with her neighbourhood friends. Her mother has set firm boundaries—no straying into the adjacent lane and no trips to Pushpa Park, the only playground nearby. Although just half a kilometre away, the park lies beyond a busy road, making it difficult to reach. Juhu Beach, nearly a kilometre away, remains inaccessible, leaving…

“You will see how the river changes once we go outside the national park,” says Mahesh Thawani of Mumbai March, a voluntary organisation working on issues in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP). I am meeting Mahesh, a long-time resident of the area, to walk along the Dahisar River, which originates in the park at Tulsi Lake. As we make our way through enthusiastic throngs of morning walkers, the river is omnipresent—providing a serene setting to a group of senior citizens singing, a refuge for birds, holding a mirror to the green of the trees along its banks and the…

“I’ve seen tiny black worms in this water whenever we store it. But since we don’t have any other source, I strain and boil the water before use,” said Tulasi, mother of two, tediously filling her buckets with Cauvery water from the common tap in Vinayakanagara slum, TC Palya. She stores a drum of water for a week despite her doctor warning her not to store water for more than four days. “What option do I have? We get Cauvery water only once a week for three hours. We get muddy borewell water twice weekly, which we use for non-drinking…

“We had to take Cauvery connections as the common borewell tap went completely dry last summer. Even then, we cannot get a bucket of water without using motors,” said Hajira Bhanu, resident of Triveninagara slum in KR Pura. This slum — 'declared' or officially recognised by the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) — is comparatively developed. Yet the only water source for nearly 60 houses here is the Cauvery, which comes very faintly for less than three hours, twice a week. The residents have installed motors in their homes to draw water, which is considered illegal by the Bangalore Water…

Ambedkar Nagar, located in Kodathi panchayat, is a rapidly expanding neighbourhood in Bengaluru's outskirts. Young professionals socialising, walking to their workplace, waiting for their cabs—this area reflects Bengaluru's bustling IT ecosystem. Water tankers are a common sight, supplying water to local buildings. From small eateries to salons, the area has all the essential facilities for everyday life. The Wipro office premises are located on one side of Ambalipura-Sarjapura Road, while opposite its Kodathi gate, NPS School Road is lined with brightly painted, four-storey Paying Guest (PG) accommodations. But this growth has come at a steep cost, especially for the environment.…