Environment

This article is part of our special series Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change in Tier II cities supported by Climate Trends. Situated on the banks of river Ganga, Varanasi, India’s holiest city and the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came into limelight in 2015, when Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data highlighted that the city didn’t have even a single good air quality day that year. In fact, Varanasi is among the 43 critically polluted zones across the country. Not just air, its water quality is equally pathetic. Pollution indices in Varanasi have only got worse with time. In…

Twelve-year-old Sarah vividly remembers the first stargazing trip her parents took her on, about 70 kilometers from Bengaluru, just for a glimpse of the comet Neowise. Her father, who proposed this outing, says, “When I was young, my parents would scoff at the idea of going this far just to look at the sky. Living in a city has snatched away such simple pleasures, and I had to make that effort for my little astronomer!” Stargazers aren't the only ones losing out due to the city lights. Studies all over the world have shown that long-term exposure to bright artificial…

A short trip to a small island off Tarkarli in Sindhudurg District along coastal Maharashtra a few years ago introduced me to the sport of Kayaking. This first experience led me to explore how I could continue with the sport in Mumbai itself. The Walduni canal, not far from my home in Ulhasnagar would have been very convenient, but it is too polluted to be safe for kayaking. So my eyes were set on the Ulhas river, further down. A fisherman at work on the Ulhas river (Photo: Deepak Malani) (Photo: Deepak Malani) Two years ago I got an inflatable…

On the night of November 24th, a fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site in the capital, burning for over 24 hours till it could be brought under control and choking an already severely polluted city. As citizens coughed and struggled to breathe, we called Dr Ajay Nagpure, Head, Air Quality and Sustainable Urbanisation, World Resources Institute Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, and this is what he said: “The air pollution caused by gases emitted from the landfill affects the birth weight of children born to those residing in the vicinity of the landfill. Even child mortality will be very…

It was January 2016. We had recently returned to India from Kenya, and were all excited to move into our new home at Hyde Park, Kharghar Sector 35. We had spent the previous couple of months visiting the apartment on and off from Mumbai where we were temporarily living. Away from the hustle and bustle, and surrounded by nature, this place was pleasantly different. Every time we approached the gates, we would see the tall green hills in the distance. A big pond lay behind the central jail and right in front of the apartments we would see this small…

Currently, over 60 animals housed in various parts of the 103 sq kms of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park are available for adoption. These include about a couple of Rusty Spotted Cats, two leopards and about 56 herbivorous animals like Blue Bull or Neelgai, spotted deer and four-horned antelopes.  Modelled on the lines of Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park, the sponsorship fee of the animals have stayed unchanged since the inception of this animal adoption scheme in December 2013.  According to the forest department, the purpose of sponsorship is primarily to build goodwill among citizens for the park and its animals.…

Cyclone Nivar brought with it heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu with winds going upto speeds of 130 km/h as it made landfall near Puducherry on the night of November 25th. The cyclone rapidly gained strength in its last few hours and was categorised as a "severe cyclonic storm”. With repeated warnings from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to brace for the cyclone, many districts shut down completely and suspended transportation services to ensure safety. Cities in the region, including Chennai, experienced heavy rain and flooding.  Link with climate change With the cyclone having…

“I was thrilled when the government issued an ordinance to control air quality in the NCR,” says 76-year old Mithilesh Kumar of Seemantak Vihar near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. But as crackers shattered the relative quiet of his area, Mithilesh, an asthma patient who thought he was safe this year from cracker smoke polluted air, wanted to lodge a complaint with the new commission. “But I did not know whom to complain to. My grandson tried to find out from the net, but could not.” Not far away, Chandra Aggarwal, 43, was so gung-ho, she had hoped her use of nebulizer…

Distances are measured in time in Mumbai. Mulund is 30 minutes away from South Mumbai in a fast local train and Vasai an hour. But how far is the Giri’s Geckoella from Kanjurmarg, or where are you most likely to spot Vigors’ Sunbird? A biodiversity map, commissioned by a non-profit, Purpose Climate Lab (PCL), puts the city’s landmarks and its plant and animal life in perspective. This new map for an old world shows that along certain edges and nodes of Mumbai, the real landmark might be the city's biodiversity.  Map by Rohan Chakravarty/ Credit: Purpose Climate Lab We spoke…

This article is part of our special series Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change in Tier II cities supported by Climate Trends. The colonial summer capital is taking some key steps on the energy front in its goal of becoming a green city. Presently, 67 government buildings are switching over to solar power and more than 1,000  street lights are working on solar energy. Also, dozens of city hotels are maximising their use of solar energy systems, while several residential buildings have installed photovoltaic technologies to cut down their monthly power bills. “This is our 2021-22 mission for a green city project…