Environment

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…

  Bengaluru’s air story is one of unchecked air pollution, ever increasing dust and air quality issues. Bengaluru's Airpocalypse: Air pollution Problems & Solutions is a workshop that brings experts to answer key questions like: What is happening to Bengaluru’s air? From vehicular smoke ro garbage burning... How has it impacted our children’s and our health? What are some of the government policies and actions that are having an impact on the quality of air? And what can we do - as individuals, and as a collective? The workshop is hosted by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and supported by…

Several blooms to delight the senses! A walk in Lalbagh is always something that will bring a lot of joy. I decided to capture some of the blossoms that appealed to my eyes, my nose, my touch, and sometimes, as they rustled in the morning breeze, to my ears, too! Some of them are quite uncommon trees that I have not yet seen outside the park. The Purple Bauhinia (Bauhinia blakena) and the Cabbage Bark Tree (Andira inermis) can be seen in the garden. These are the flowers of the Cabbage Bark Tree (Andira inermis). Pic: Deepa Mohan The beauty…

I was heading down M G Road in Bengaluru and just as I approached Anil Kumble Circle, I immediately looked back to see how much this one road had changed since this picture was taken from the same spot many years ago: Pic: Abraham Koshy The obvious difference is the exhaustive removal of the colour green from the scene; the entire tree-lined walkway on the left has now given way to a boulevard. I bade the crown jewel of this phenomenon, Namma Metro, goodbye as I turned into Cubban Park to head my destination for the day, Neralu, a citizen-organised…

Storytelling by Vikram Sridhar. Pic: Neralu FB page Save the Tree - Street Play 'Kallada' A theatre troupe based out of Bengaluru put on a Street Play on Day 1 of Neralu. The play was in Kannada, and spoke about motivating people to be concerned about the preservation of trees around them by humorously painting trees as an entity capable of producing wi-fi - maybe only then people will take the initiative to preserve trees. Festival of Stories As part of activities for Day 1 of Neralu, storyteller Vikram Sridhar regaled children with a story about how to protect our…

Pic: Deepa Mohan I've always been drawn to owls. The Rock Eagle Owl, also called the Indian Eagle Owl, has been one of my favourites; I've sighted it at Bannerghatta, Turahalli, and at various other locations. For the past few years, we've been watching some of these majestic birds making their homes on the rocky outcrops of the highway built by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), around Bangalore. As we were returning from our trip to Sakleshpur, where we did a bird census for a coffee estate (a very satisfying assignment, more about it later!) we decided we would detour…

Disaster struck two nautical miles off Ennore’s Kamarajar port just before dawn on January 28 when two cargo ships--LPG-carrier** BW Maple bearing the flag of the UK’s Isle of Man and MT Dawn Kanchipuram, the latter loaded to the brim with petroleum oil and lubricants, collided due to poor inter-vessel communication. The LPG tanker, on its way out of the port, suffered a major dent. The incoming Dawn Kanchipuram was left with two holes that tore through it. Pregnant with oil and lubricants, the cargo ship released a considerable amount of the furnace oil stored for fuelling purposes** into the surrounding…

Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli from Azim Premji University, and Vijay Nishant, Project Vruksha, conducted a study of trees to be felled for Jaymahal Road widening and proposed steel flyover. According to government documents the number of trees to be cut was estimated to be 1668. But an independent survey by citizens done between October 2016 and January 2017 estimates the number to 2244, and 205 saplings, all belonging to 71 species and 26 families. The report prepared by the team also lists out the number of trees to be cut, their species, scientific names etc,, and the environmental impact…

Over the past few years, Chennai has witnessed one natural disaster after another. Every time, officials and citizens themselves come up with knee jerk reactions and post mortem analysis of the underlying causes, but strangely, scant little is noted about the big picture of ecological damage in the city. Understanding the natural resources of Chennai and addressing their degradation in a sustained, systematic way is critical if the city wishes to avoid a Doomsday scenario in the future. In an earlier article, we had discussed the rich heritage and long history of Chennai. Since 1639, Madras has expanded vastly in…

Sandy beaches are a prominent feature along the 7500 km coastline that envelopes either side of peninsular India. These are dynamic zones that support coastal communities as well as marine and terrestrial life forms. Could these local communities play an active role in monitoring the shoreline, creating a knowledge base and eventually, a baseline for appropriate action towards disaster risk reduction as well as recreation of a healthy coastline? This will be the focus of 'A Tide Turns' -- an interactive and exploratory event organised by SNEHA and LAW Trust of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, the volunteers of Karaikal and Cuddalore…