Environment

Imagine you’re out on a morning walk, phone in hand, when you spot a butterfly you’ve never seen before. You snap a photo, log it into a citizen science app, and voila! You’ve just contributed to crucial biodiversity monitoring. This isn’t just a hobby; it’s part of a global movement where ordinary people collect, record, and sometimes analyse data about plants, animals, and ecosystems. Citizen science stretches the reach of ecological research. Every observation adds to unique longitudinal datasets that reveal phenology — periodic events in the life cycle of a species — along with species distribution shifts and population…

Indian cities are struggling to breathe. Air pollution is a year-round governance challenge. In 2024, 35 of the 50 most polluted cities globally were in India, with PM2.5 concentrations above 66.4 μg/m3. This is at least 13 times the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and at least 1.6 times the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in India. Citizens continue to bear the brunt of worsening air quality, and urban local governments (ULGs) are at the forefront of the problem, being primarily accountable for their citizens' first mile. While they do have a role to play in addressing this threat,…

​Two decades ago, Gandhi Nagar in south Chennai was a shaded green canopy, recalls Meera Ravikumar, a resident. “Now, in the name of development, many incidents of tree felling have occurred in the past 15 years on avenues and across private properties. In highly populated and polluted urban areas, green lung spaces are important,” says the member of Swacch Gandhi Nagar, a citizens group.   Since 2000, India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover, according to the 2024 Global Forest Watch. Tamil Nadu has fared better than most states — its forest cover has remained “largely stable” since…

Bengaluru is often described as having “better air” than North Indian cities, yet new evidence shows this perception may be misleading. Data from 40 low‑cost air quality sensors set up by the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) reveal sharp variations in pollution across time and place, patterns that citywide averages completely miss. In this interview, Abhishek Penchala, Senior Analyst in CSTEP’s Air Quality team, tells Citizen Matters how hyperlocal monitoring uncovers hidden pollution hotspots, from waste burning to construction dust and traffic, that the sparse official network fails to detect, forcing us to rethink how urban…

Editor’s Note: This article is the third in a three-part series.Part 1: Bengaluru’s Peripheral Ring Road: Two decades on, who really benefits?Part 2: Peripheral Ring Road: Bengaluru farmers allege unfair payouts threaten their future Two decades after the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) was announced, the project is far from completion. For farmers, it has meant years of uncertainty and mounting financial losses, while residents remain unsure about the usefulness of the long-pending road development. In an earlier article, we explored how the PRR project could lead to forced migration and threaten the livelihoods of farmers. In Part 2 of the…

The chimneys of the NTECL Vallur Thermal Power Station, billowing smoke, loom over Kuruvimedu in Ponneri, Thiruvallur near Chennai. Wedged between the plant and its sprawling 300-acre ash pond, the hamlet lies under a blanket of kari (coal) and sambal (ash), coating its narrow streets, colourful homes, and trees. Kuruvimedu is hard to find on Google maps, just as its namesake bird. The main road leading to this place is flanked by factories and industrial complexes, its surface riddled with potholes that make every journey dangerous for motorists.  Home to mangroves, networks of canals, and fields, Kuruvimedu once buzzed with…

Across Pallikaranai marshland, migratory birds can be spotted, searching for forage and water. Yet the wetland they depend on has steadily depleted. As Chennai has grown in an amoeba-like manner, ebbing with the promise of ‘development,’ the marsh has borne the brunt. In the 1990s, the marsh covered 2,450 hectares, nearly 70% of its original size. Today, barely 500 hectares remain. In recent years, the marshland has often entered public discourse. In September 2025, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), acting on an order from the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal, halted planning permission for development within the Pallikaranai…

Commuters passing through Ambattur Industrial Estate inevitably find a layer of dust coating their vehicles, faces, and hands. For Lalitha*, a domestic worker employed at a high-rise apartment near Padi flyover’s Saravana Stores, the last two weeks of December have been especially unbearable. "Dust, dust, dust everywhere," she says, coughing through a persistent cold. At 6 pm, when the rush hour begins, it takes her nearly 30 minutes by bus to cover the 5 km journey home. The ride to the Dunlop area is punctuated by pollution, blaring horns, and endless traffic snarls. “It should take 15 minutes usually, but…

செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டம், திருப்போரூர் மற்றும் திருக்கழுக்குன்றம் வட்டங்களுக்குட்பட்ட வருவாய் கிராமங்களில், இயற்கையாக அமைந்துள்ள கழுவேலி, உப்பங்கழி நீர்நிலையில், புதிய குடிநீர் நீர்த்தேக்கம் அமைக்க CRZ அனுமதி வழங்கியுள்ளது மாநில கடற்கரை ஒழுங்குமுறை மண்டல ஆணையம். இத்திட்டத்தின் முதல் கட்டத்தில் நெம்மேலி, கிருஷ்ணகாரனை, தண்டலம், பட்டிபுலம், திருப்போரூர், மாமல்லபுரம், சலுவான்குப்பம், பையனூர் ஆகிய வருவாய் கிராமங்களுக்குட்பட்ட 4375 ஏக்கர் பரப்பளவில் வருவாய்த்துறை, நீர்வளத்துறைக்குச் சொந்தமான இடங்களில் நீர்த்தேக்கம் அமைக்கத் திட்டமிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. 1.655TMC கொள்ளளவு கொண்ட இந்நீர்த்தேக்கம் மேற்கூறிய கிராமங்களைச் சேர்ந்த 50 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட மக்களின் குடிநீர்த் தேவையைப் பூர்த்தி செய்யும் எனவும் அருகாமை கிராமங்களின் வெள்ள பாதிப்பைக் குறைக்கும் எனவும் அரசுத் தரப்பில் கூறப்படுகிறது. Map showing components of the Kovalam reservoir. Pic courtesy: Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department. இத்திட்டத்திற்கான விண்ணப்பத்தை 17.11.2025 அன்று  தொழில் நுட்ப  வல்லுநர் குழு பரிசீலித்தது. 20.11.2025 அன்று  மாநில கடற்கரை  மண்டல ஆணையம் விண்ணப்பத்தைை பரிசீலித்து CRZ அனுமதிக்கு பரிந்துரைக்கிறது.…

As sweater weather arrives, winter brings purple December flowers, fresh Ooty carrots with slivers of roots, and crisp Kashmiri apples to Chennai’s Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex (KWMC). Much before dawn, workers unload crates of seasonal produce, and retailers vie for the best prices at Asia’s biggest market place for perishable goods. For the last 15 years, Murugan*, a parking personnel at the flower market's gate, has witnessed the coming and going of seasons, flowers, customers, and trucks. Most of all, he has seen the cityscape change with the addition of flyovers, bridges, cars, and metro construction. This December, a combination…