water bodies

What do the trees, water bodies, agricultural fields and forests mean for a city like Delhi? Can we ascribe a monetary value to their contribution? These are some of the questions that a team of Delhi-based scientists recently tried to answer and found that rapid and unplanned urbanisation in Delhi during the last two decades (1998-2018) has happened at the expense of many natural and semi-natural elements and it has resulted in a loss of about Rs. 560 million (US$ 7.614 million). The study showed that the biggest contributor to this loss was the decline in the city’s forest cover, which declined…

Two large drainage holes almost incessantly vomit filthy, stinking, dark liquid into what has become a cesspool. Wild vegetation and slum pockets encircle its peripheries. While just a few metres away are tall residential and commercial structures that have mushroomed in recent years. The cesspool is the Makarba lake in Ahmedabad. Today, this sprawling pit is where rainwater and sewerage converge to create a veritable breeding ground of mosquitoes and stray dogs. And this is not an isolated instance of a once clean lake in the city being turned into a foul water body.  Makarba is a historical natural lake, which…

It is that time of the year again. When it rains, rather pours, in Mumbai ( the Mumbai region has the second highest rainfall in the country after Cheerapunji). And then the blame game begins to divert attention from the flooding of the city, loss of lives and livelihoods, and health issues.  Brihanmumai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) Iqbal Singh Chahal claims that the city is all set to meet the rains with its over 2900-km long storm water drain network -- all desilted and cleaned up, despite the COVID crisis and large-scale labour migration. Chahal announced that BMC has already surpassed…

A common sight in many Indian cities are decrepit or waste-laden canals that were once integral to the local economy. Cities have grappled with the mammoth task of cleaning and restoration of such canals with limited success. Often people who have made a life on the banks and margins become collateral damage to these efforts. Now Alappuzha in Kerala could pave the way for an alternative. The Canalpy Project A model canal-restoration project, Canalpy, is taking shape in the backwaters of Alappuzha. Funded by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), the effort is supported by Cochin University College of…