Environment

Bengaluru, in many ways, is still recovering from the recent deluge, which caused an estimated loss of approximately Rs 225 crores and claimed 96 precious lives. Three months down the line, we are in no way even remotely better prepared for another impending tragedy. The impact of such climate change-induced disasters are only made worse by unregulated urbanisation and the unpreparedness of government agencies. The Department of Science and Technology has identified Bengaluru to be moderately vulnerable to climate change-associated risks. Yet, it is one of the only Indian metro cities that still does not have a Climate Action Plan…

"Will the protection of Ennore and Pulicat wetlands alone bring them back to the time when they were clean and unpolluted?" asks K Saravanan, a fisherman from Urur Olcott Kuppam, who has also been mapping fishing villages across the city. "It is too late for a complete revival." In the wake of Pallikaranai marshlands receiving the Ramsar tag this year, the question on everyone's minds is whether other wetlands in Chennai, like the Ennore and Pulicat wetlands, also get Ramsar status. To examine this possibility, it is crucial to understand the causes and effects of the degradation of the wetlands.…

On his 17 km walk along the Mithi, Abhijit Waghre observed the river’s water level, its flood protection infrastructure, and associated limitations in basic sanitation services. Read more: Walking along the 17-km long Mithi river: A look at the riverine ecosystem Most of Mumbai's stormwater systems depend on the Mithi river for drainage to the sea. However, systemic challenges abound, with settlements abutting the river, limiting the effectiveness of this approach during the problematic monsoon months. When high tides and heavy rainfall coincide, the city's stormwater flow to the river gets backed up resulting in Mumbai’s annual flooding woes. Household…

Kya kahein kuch kaha nahi jata/ Ab toh chup bhi raha nahi jata. Meer Taqi Meer’s poetry effectively sums up the sentiments of a large number of nature-loving Hyderabadis. More so, after about 200 trees of gold (Tabebuia aurea) and several other trees including pink trumpet trees (Tabebuia impetiginosa) and royal palms were removed from NTR Marg – the road from Secretariat to Khairatabad -- to make way for a race track for Formula E races to be held in the city in February 2023.  Formula E is a single-seater motorsport championship conceived in Paris in 2011, to showcase the…

Planting saplings as part of tree plantation drives in Chennai is an act that provides tremendous gratification to those who plant them. But what happens to the saplings after they are planted is a key question that we should be looking at. How many tree plantation drives are successful in their mission? Whom does the responsibility of caring for the plants fall upon? How can tree plantation drives be made more effective? A resident's lament Namachivayam C of Venkatarathinam Nagar planted 40 saplings in and around his locality ten months ago. "I grew up seeing many trees disappear in my…

For a large part of October, the air quality in Mumbai remained passable. Not very good, but not very bad either. The downslide began in the last few days of the month. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 79 —considered to be satisfactory; on October 22nd, it jumped to 121, moderate, the very next day. Mumbai's AQI was 136 the day after that, and finally, on October 25th, the city's air quality further deteriorated and turned 'poor' with an AQI of 213. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB) sub-regional officer Achyut Nandavate says, "We are sure that Mumbai is never…

The United Nations' 27th Conference of Parties(COP27) is currently underway in Egypt, from November 6th to 18th. Nations from across the world are discussing ways and means to tackle the problem of climate change at this congregation. Climate change is a real and present danger and every nook and corner of the world is facing a climate crisis at present. Recent years have shown that climate change has not spared Chennai either. As countries at COP27 discuss how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or find mechanisms for Loss and Damage reparations, or create new institutions for 'Climate Finance', how do…

It was an encouraging clean air start of October for Delhi. The capital recorded five good AQI days in the first two weeks of October. But the good news ended there. The annual nightmare of poor to severe and very severe air quality in Delhi and adjoining areas soon returned. And with it, the annual nightmare of strict and systematic implementation of the different stages of the revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR which had kicked in from September 11th. Air quality had continued to deteriorate before and after…

The government recently announced that it will now ease the travel woes of residents by cutting travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to 30 minutes. The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) will soon launch a ferry service from Belapur in Navi Mumbai to Gateway of India. This forced me to do some research on this subject. CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) recently made two jetties within a distance of hardly 4 km from each other: one in Belapur at a reported cost of approximately Rs 10 crore, and another one in Nerul costing more than Rs 111 crore. Both were…

The recent flooding in Bengaluru made national headlines as the ‘high-tech’ IT capital of India was ground to a halt in the wake of heavy rainfall spells. The severity of the event shone the spotlight on the state of the city’s lakes, particularly the extent of encroachment, and poor waste management that have impaired the ability of Bengaluru’s water bodies and stormwater drains to act as flood buffers. With climate change, the frequency of such extreme weather is likely to increase, underlining the need to understand the city’s complex and integral waterscape better. Lesson one, in this regard, is that…