Pollution

If you are in Delhi now, the ink on your fingers is probably fresh still. In about a day from the time you read this, the much awaited results of the elections to the three municipal corporations in the national capital will be known. It has been an intense, high-decibel and often bitter campaign but once the reins have finally been assumed by the newly elected members of the municipal bodies, can Delhiites hope to breathe easy? Not just metaphorically, but literally too? In the years to come, Delhi’s deteriorating air could have disastrous consequences for its population. According to Greenpeace India,…

A recent workshop on air pollution, which saw participation from IIT Delhi and Kanpur, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, World Health Organisation, as well as the Delhi Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board, brought to the fore yet again the fact that there are no policy level interventions to stop farmers from burning crop residue. Experts at the event stated that the state government and the central government need to prepare now for a pollution free winter. However, there seems to be a lackadaisical attitude towards applying existing data into a working and effective policy-level intervention. The implementation…

I got this photo of a stray dog, with a plastic juice or shake container in its mouth.     We have now conditioned even the animals around us to like processed food, lots of sugar. They have learnt to try and ingest plastic in a bid to get that food. I wonder where we are headed....

Air pollution has always been a mainstream concern with an underwhelming response towards remediating the situation. More recently, the interest has been re-ignited in India with several Indian cities having the highest levels of air pollution in the world. In addition, a report estimates over 650,000 deaths in India in 2015 due to outdoor (ambient) air pollution alone, and an even higher number due to indoor air pollution (1.2 million). These are only mortality estimates, and the impact on morbidity is a lot more widespread. News articles on air pollution and its impacts in Bengaluru are usually based on studies…

Bangalore city has various famous landmarks. One of these landmarks is KR Market in Bangalore city also known as City Market. KR Market is Asia’s largest flower market and also is one of the largest areas in Bangalore which sells fresh produce.   Every Mayor comes with an agenda to clean-up KR Market, yet it remains dirty. The main reason is there is no proper disposal of waste. Fruit and vegetable vendors throw rotten or reject produce onto the street or on top of existing heaps of garbage around their stalls. This garbage is then collected by pourakarmikas and is…

Nearly every citizen of Bangalore has heard of the current state of two of Bangalore’s biggest lakes - the Varthur and Bellandur lakes. The main reasons for the pollution of these lakes are the untreated sewage and industrial effluents that are constantly flowing into the lake.  Map source: All you need to know about Bellandur lake and its problems. Though we all know that these lakes are in bad shape, many of us may not be aware of the extent of  pollution. Check these shocking pictures. VARTHUR LAKE   The froth that we usually see at the top surface of…

In the last week of September, residents of BCCHS Layout, close to Kanakapura road in Bengaluru, noticed illegal dumping of garbage by unknown people on BDA land and Gomala land, while on their way to Chamundeswari Temple at Hurakalu Gudda very close to the Anjanapura BDA Layout, II Block at Lal Bahadur Shastrinagar. They soon found out that the dumping had been systematic: for several years on end, garbage had been dumped at these sites and covered with debris, while the neighbourhood assumed that the land was being levelled by its owner. Over time, as the stench got unbearable, residents…

Air pollution on Outer Ring Road. Pic: Mayur Channagere According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is the fifth leading cause of deaths in India, resulting in about 620,000 premature deaths. Recent studies have largely focussed on Delhi, where air pollution is estimated to cause 10,000 – 30,000 annual deaths. What we don’t know with certainty, however, is the extent to which the quality of air in Bengaluru has been compromised and its impact, given the rapid and unchecked urbanisation, dramatic loss in tree cover, rampant waste burning all over the city and rising vehicle numbers. To understand rising…

Case 1: Bellandur In the last week of October, residents of Mantri Espana, an apartment close to Bellandur lake in Bengaluru, were appalled at the sight of thick smoke engulfing the skies from a private land adjacent to the lake. The smoke originated from an illegal garbage burning site on a private land. The situation continued for the next few days worsening to the extent that children in the neighbourhood faced breathing difficulties. Garbage on fire in Bellandur yet again, after being doused once. Pic: A Bellandur resident Following repeated complaints by residents of the area, officials from Bruhat Bengaluru…

As a child growing up in the northern part of the country, Deepavali was a bit of a strange festival. We had to wake up at 4 am, have a bath (an oil bath!), wear our new clothes and burst crackers - at least one, said my grandmother - before the crack of dawn. And before we knew it, our Deepavali was over! And then the rest of the world started celebrating Diwali, and it went on and on and on. I clearly remember that our grandmother never let us go overboard with the crackers - she believed it was…