GENRE: In Focus

Mangrove Action Project recently announced the winners of their 2020 Mangrove Photography Awards. The intimate relationships between wildlife, coastal communities and mangrove forests, as well as the fragility of these unique ecosystems from both above and below the water line, were captured by amateur and professional photographers from nearly 70 countries. We are thrilled to find that two photographers from India are among the winners, both having captured the flamingos at Talawe, Navi Mumbai. There are also a few 'Highly Commended' photographs from India. In it's sixth year, the competition received over 1,100 entries in five categories - threats, conservation,…

 “The bulk of our business is being conducted through WhatsApp as we can only allow a limited number of people in the store,” says Ankit Katariya, a wholesale saree dealer whose store, Katariya Tradelink, is located in Bhavani Peth, one of Pune’s COVID-19 hotspots. Currently, Pune has the highest number of positive cases and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has put in place restrictions in the city’s old, congested neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods -- – Bhavani Peth, Budhwar Peth, Ganesh Peth, Raviwar Peth and Gurwar Peth – are also the hub of the city’s wholesale businesses. Each Peth is known for…

The woes faced by resettlement colonies in the grips of COVID-19 and the impact of the lockdown has been immense. Issues highlighted in the past -- such as shortfalls in adequate, livable housing for those evicted from their original settlements -- have only been heightened by COVID-19, as our earlier article illustrated. Yet another stark fact is that women, children and disabled individuals face added burdens as a result of the way such housing is designed.  The feminisation of poverty COVID-19 and the lockdown has placed an enormous burden on the women in resettlement colonies. Managing the household, ensuring cleanliness…

We’ve likely seen coloured garbage bins in malls, airports and so on. The bin colour indicates, of course, what kind of trash we should put where, based on whether it's food waste or recyclable waste. Many a time, I have stood in front of these bins and wondered where to put the coffee cup and the little styrofoam container. Are they the same material? Are they both recyclable? Manufacturers must step up! For years the burden of dealing with plastic disposal has been with the consumer. We are told to reduce, reuse, and recycle while the manufacturers who sell us…

Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are peeved at being blamed for Delhi’s smog. “We have been burning crop residue for the past 50 years now,” said a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union from Haryana, who does not want to be named. “If anybody is affected it should be the surrounding villages. We don’t face any such problem. So why is this problem in Delhi seen just during these past few years?” Every winter, not just Delhi but the entire northern region is frequently enveloped in a thick blanket of smog, caused by air pollution from vehicular and…

In 2008, Nandini N, professor at the Department of Environmental Science at Bangalore University, started documenting Bengaluru’s biodiversity for its first People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR). She was a member of BBMP’s Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), which is mandated to prepare a PBR under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Professor Nandini inaugurated the exercise at JP Park in Mathikere where, she remembered, “very few Matti trees were surviving”. For the next two years, Professor Nandini, then the Director for Student Welfare at Bangalore University, involved approximately 20 colleges across the city to collate information on biodiversity. They first divided the city…

Nagamma and Tirupataiah, a couple hailing from Kurnool district are waste pickers at the Kattedan Industrial Estate (KIE), near Rajendranagar in Hyderabad. Another waste picker, Shantamma took up this activity when she shifted to the area after her marriage.  Spread across 110 hectares, the KIE houses 450 units belonging to manufacturing, oil refining, rewinding machines, food processing industries. The industries provide employment to 10,000 laborers, and the total population of the area is roughly 26000, most of them living in the neighbouring villages. Industrial pollution -- primarily high concentration of mineral oil and metals in the soil, dust, odour and…

Manoj Kumar, 34, had lost his job even before the lockdown. With car sales taking a steep dip due to the pandemic, Manoj, a sales agent in the car loan section of the Kotak Mahindra group in Ghaziabad, was not among the lucky few who were offered leave without pay or the option of staying on with a steep pay cut. Initially optimistic about being able to find another job, Manoj soon found his hopes dashed by the countrywide lockdown. “I would read every article on how to make a living in the times of COVID, read posts or watch…

This article is part of our special series Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change in Tier II cities supported by Climate Trends. Chandigarh: The Beautiful City, located in the foothills of Shivalik range, was originally a cluster of 58 villages. When the site was chosen to build a modern capital for the then state of Punjab in 1948, it resulted in relocation of 21,000 people, mainly farmers cultivating crops such as wheat, corn, and maize. The city lies in the Indo-Gangetic plains, between two seasonal hill torrents – the Sukhna and Patiali rivers. Presumably, back then it was a much cooler…

Five or more people cooped up for 24 hours in a room 10x10 sq ft. The children barely catch a sliver of the sky above their heads. The women deprived of any kind of interaction with their neighbours and friends, which had been the only respite from their usual grueling, monotonous domestic schedules. The men, caught in the confines of four walls 24x7, more dour and impatient than usual. As the spread of COVID-19 and the effort to curb it resulted in India enforcing one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, this was the reality for thousands of families…