Environment | Citizen Matters

India urgently needs urban forests. What’s stopping us from creating more?

September 30, 2020 Neeta Lal/TheThirdpole.net

Lack of political will and outdated laws hamper the creation of urban forests in India, but there is no dearth of good examples that can be adopted.

Delhi: Crores allocated, but winter smog from stubble burning likely this year too

September 16, 2020 Asha Ramachandran

Health experts fear that the effects of COVID-19, primarily respiratory problems, could be worsened by heightened air pollution due to smoke from the annual stubble burning.

Almost every family in Chandigarh has two cars. This is what it has cost the city

September 11, 2020 Raj Machhan

The average minimum temperature in the city has risen by 1.8 degree Celsius over the last seven decades, caused primarily by lack of public transport and loss of green cover.

Shimla’s haphazard building policy a recipe for climate disaster

September 1, 2020 Ashwani Sharma

As per official estimates, there are more than 31,000 unauthorised buildings in major hill towns in Himachal Pradesh, with Shimla constituting 30 per cent of these.

As we honour Mother India this Independence Day, let’s not forget Mother Earth

August 15, 2020 Odette Katrak

Patriotism has 3 colours – and green is one of them! So let our celebrations be green!

In photos: Life along Pune’s Mutha riverbank in the time of COVID-19

August 5, 2020 Abhay Kanvinde and Parineeta Dandekar

These astounding captures by photographer Abhay Kanvinde during the lockdown urges us to reconsider the need for clean urban rivers and open riverfronts.

What lies behind the deepening water crisis in Himalayan towns?

July 29, 2020 Krity Shrestha, Sreoshi Singh and Anjal Prakash

A study conducted in the Himalayan towns of Singtam, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Devprayag and Mussoorie exposes the effect of haphazard urbanisation, poor water management and climate change on water resources.

Clean air plans ready for 102 cities, but no budget

July 24, 2020 Dr. Sarath Guttikunda, Tanushree Ganguly and Kurinji Selvaraj

90% of the cities that have made plans under the National Clean Air Programme have no budgetary support. None, except Delhi, have a legal mandate to implement those either.

State-of-the-art early warning system to save more lives in Shimla, Kullu, Manali during extreme climate events

July 23, 2020 Ashwani Sharma

Extreme weather events triggered by climate change pose huge risk to life in Himachal Pradesh. To mitigate these risks, the state is now all set to install a first-of-its-kind automatic ‘Early Warning System’ in Kullu district.

Dozens of studies, hundreds of crores, but Buddha Nullah pollution still threatens Ludhiana

July 22, 2020 Raj Machhan

Once a clear water stream and the centre of Ludhiana’s social life, the Buddha Nullah’s pollution has affected the groundwater table, contaminated drinking water sources and more.

Pune: Destroying a hill to build a road of dubious necessity

July 20, 2020 Ambika Shaligram

Citizen groups have strongly opposed the proposed 2.1 km Bal Bharati-Paud Phata link road through Vetal Tekadi and the slopes of Law College Tekadi, home to rare flora and fauna species.

Where can Bhubaneswar’s rainwater go?

July 16, 2020 Lalit Pattajoshi

Because of erratic rainfall due to climate change, Bhubaneswar sees frequent spells of unexpected heavy rainfall. With natural drainage channels illegally encroached, this poses a big problem.

Smart city Bhubaneswar yet to get proper wastewater treatment infrastructure

July 16, 2020 Lalit Pattajoshi

The first of a two-part story on how river pollution and lack of a proper sewerage and drainage system is affecting Bhubaneswar

Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata attain 95% of clean air targets during lockdown

July 3, 2020 News Desk

The lockdown period helped researchers understand the effects of human-generated emissions; this could tell policy-makers how they may achieve what the NCAP has targetted in the coming four years.

Locked down? Here’s how to grow your own food and become self-reliant

July 2, 2020 Himanshu Arteev

Imagine edible gardens on all rooftops in cities, apartments with community gardens, parks turned to edible food forests. That would be resilience, and you could build it too.