Urban Environment

Muthulakshmi S, a resident of Kattukuppam village in the Ennore Industrial Cluster spends a good share of her family income on doctors' fees and medicines. “My kids suffer from severe cold and cough infections every two months. The doctor says that it is common among those living here,” says 27-year-old Muthulakshmi, whose kids are seven and three-and-a-half years old.  Her husband is a fisherman who brings home a few hundred rupees on some days, but nothing on many others. Muthulakshmi is not alone, however. Her trials and tribulations reflect those of many women in Ennore, and much of that can…

Urbanisation has been progressing at a rapid pace globally, as people flock to cities in search of better lives and livelihoods. Cities have to 'create spaces' within and outside themselves to accommodate the growing population, but ad hoc expansion leads to environmental risks, high pollution levels and climate change. Chennai, where the population grew from 6.6 million in 2001 to 8.6 million in 2011 (as per the Census figures), has been no exception: The population explosion coupled with unplanned urbanisation raised land surface temperatures in Chennai during summer (March - May) by as much 5.8 degree C over the period…

Apartment residents often are unaware of how much water they consume in their household. A common water meter installed by the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) measures consumption of the entire apartment complex, but not of individual flats. The monthly water bill based on this meter is usually split evenly among all residents. But, in May 2020, BWSSB introduced a new regulation that mandates internal water meters for every flat in apartment complexes. Each apartment is responsible for installing these meters within their premises. Individual water meters compulsory, but no penalty yet According to the new regulation 43-A…

Nitrogen dioxide or NO2 pollution in Chennai is back to pre-pandemic levels, shows a recent report by the non-governmental environmental organization, Greenpeace India. In fact, among all the cities studied by the researchers, Chennai recorded the second highest spike over a year as lockdown conditions were relaxed.  Greenpeace studied NO2 levels in eight Indian cities using measurements made by the Tropomi sensor on Sentinel-5P satellite. The satellite observations of April 2020 and 2021 revealed a 125% spike in NO2 levels in Delhi followed by 94% in Chennai. This not only increases the vulnerability of citizens to respiratory and circulatory issues, but…

Over the years, we have noticed that giving people tips on water conservation often does not translate into practice, especially over the long term. A recent study by researchers at IIM-B shows that behavioural interventions could be a solution. The researchers, Vivek, Deepak Malghan and Kanchan Mukherjee, conducted the study at a 120-unit affluent apartment community in the outskirts of Bengaluru. Each flat in the complex had individual water meters installed already, so each household’s consumption could be measured. The researchers divided the households into four groups: The T1 group were given weekly reports on their per-person water usageT2 group…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw that tree transplantation is an arduous process, and could fail if not done properly. Transplantation is now becoming popular in Bengaluru for Metro and road widening projects, but how cost-effective is this? How expensive is the process, and do the trees really make it? We explore this in Part 2 of the series. Cost of tree transplantation: Thousands to lakhs The cost of tree transplantation depends on several factors - the tree's trunk size and perimeter, the number of trees to be transplanted, the distance between the old and new sites, and…

With Metro rail coming up along many stretches, Bengaluru is set to lose a large number of trees. But many trees have also been marked for transplantation. BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) has been giving work orders to contractors to transplant these trees. Currently, BMRCL is the only agency undertaking tree transplantation in Bengaluru, says BBMP Tree Officer H S Ranganatha Swamy. In Bengaluru, as in other Indian cities, government agencies had rejected the idea of transplantation for years, citing high costs and low survival rates. In fact, when 10 trees were transplanted from the first Metro stretch in…

It has been two months since Geetha Foundation apartments in Puzhuthivakkam installed water meters at a cost of Rs 8500. Since then, the apartment of five flats has been able to save 100-150 litres of water in a month. As part of the installation, a float switch sensor is added to the overhead tanks which sends an alert as soon as water levels reach a particular level. This stops the roof/storage tank from overflowing, resulting in significant conservation of water. “Water level in the storage tank is maintained at the level of the float valve inside the tank. Once water…

Chennai’s checkered history of water management has come under the spotlight every time the city has found itself face to face with a crisis, such as the catastrophic floods of 2015 or the unprecedented drought faced by the city in 2019. Experts have repeatedly called for better management of water resources, alluding to the fact that the city’s many water bodies could be the answer to its water woes, if they are managed better. There have, in fact, been some concerted efforts in recent years to restore and manage the tanks and lakes in Chennai. However, there are multiple organisations…

Bengaluru’s water woes are not a secret to anyone, all thanks to the city’s water activists and environmentalists who have fought tooth and nail to promote Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) and sustainable water management in the city. Two well known names campaigning for water sustainable are Vishwanath Srikantaiah and Shubha Ramachandran, both from the Biome Environmental Trust. Vishwanath is a water activist and an urban planner. He has worked in collaboration with the local communities to revive 10,000 wells with the support of the well-diggers, and helped in the development of 100,000 recharge wells. Shubha is a water sustainability expert. She…