GENRE: In Focus

Anthony Ammal, a 43-year-old fisher from the coastal hamlet of Pulicat in Chennai, begins her day long before the sun scorches the concrete beneath her feet. Her mornings are occupied with preparing her two daughters for school and ensuring they are fed before she steps out. She then makes her way to the Pazhaverkadu fish market, where she labours for approximately 15 hours each day. As she settles into her allocated spot to clean the day's fresh catch, the sun begins to blaze overhead, and the humid breeze offers little relief. Her sunburnt skin stings each time the salty sweat…

Legal action by concerned citizens has frequently played a crucial role in safeguarding India's natural ecosystems. One such initiative finally stopped Pallavaram Municipality from dumping waste illegally inside the Pallavaram Periya Eri, a once-thriving lake in Chennai’s southern suburbs. Advocate Surendranath Karthik took up a pro bono case in 2012 to restore Pallavaram Periya Eri. The case was initially filed with the NGT's Principal Bench and later moved to the Southern Bench. After over a decade, the case resulted in court orders for the lake’s restoration. "Though I am not a resident of Pallavaram, I have seen my father advocating…

Dr Girish Salgaonkar, a fisher from Charkop, remembers a time when people used to grow vegetables in Kandivali. He rues the loss of their traditional way of life, catalysed by land reclamation and the destruction of mangroves. Now, with the construction of the coastal road, the threat of losing more mangroves has returned. In March, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a public notice to change the land use of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas from Goregaon to Dahisar for Phase 2 of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project. They invited public feedback and held a meeting on May 23 to…

It’s 6.45 am, and the first rays of sunlight bounce off the dense foliage at Sundaravana, an urban forest located in HSR Layout, Bengaluru. A gentle breeze carries the scent of wet earth. Calls of birds like the Gray Heron, Black Drongos and even the occasional peacock add to the morning chorus. A few early risers and joggers walk on a wide trail around Somansundarapalya Lake. The land around Somasundarapalya Lake wasn’t always a lush canopy. For years, it served as an RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) dump yard, with layers of processed plastic waste piling sky-high. But afforestation turned the tide.…

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…