Environment

The fresh, glistening, almost seemingly transparent prawns caught from Ennore was once a prime delicacy for seafood lovers in the city. But that is merely the stuff of memories now. In place of the succulent prawns of the past, one can only find dark, fatty prawns that no longer feed as much on worms as on the fly ash deposited by the thermal power stations in the waters of Ennore. “Prawns caught from the rivers of Palaverkadu and Kosasthalaiyar saw huge demand, both locally and internationally. Ash-coloured prawns (Sambal era in Tamil) form the majority of the catch now and…

NatConnect Foundation aims to protect and conserve the environment in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Citizen Matters spoke to NatConnet director B N Kumar, who is also a media veteran.  What are major environmental issues facing Mumbai's coastal areas. How will these impact Mumbai’s biodiversity? For long, authorities have been unconcerned and apathetic about Mumbai's ecology. It has become customary and almost an annual event for the people to suffer floods and city shutdown. But the deluge of 2006, somehow, made people realise that the destruction of mangroves has also contributed to the disaster. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the ever-extending and…

How do you know if a tree in your neighbourhood is ‘Ok’! Though trees can drop several hints when they are not ‘feeling fine’, one may have to keenly look at them to understand their condition. The residents of Chennai are doing just that as they participate in a city-wide tree survey, initiated by Nizhal, an NGO that focuses on tree conservation in the city. The initiative aims at making an inventory of trees in the city through local tree surveys that can indicate the extent of  tree diversity in the city and the status of tree health. A tree survey…

On Sunday mornings, various groups of citizens are seen cleaning up water bodies in different parts of Mumbai city. Recently, a new initiative to clean up the Bandra Talao (Swami Vivekananda Talao, Bandra) has been started by a group of residents, who believe that rather than complaining to authorities, they should step forward and help to keep their surroundings clean and plastic-free. A walk at Bandra Talao led to the start of this social initiative by Gauri Kulkarni (26), an architect and a Bandra resident. The #ChakaChakBandraTalav (pond) initiative was started after Kulkarni clicked photos of garbage dumped at the…

A new report from Greenpeace India reveals that a year after initial nationwide lockdowns due to Covid-19, NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide ) pollution has increased in all eight most populous state capitals studied highlighting worsening air quality. Among Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Lucknow, Delhi saw the most dramatic increase between April 2020 and April 2021. Chennai stood at second position with an increase of 94% between April 2020 and April 2021. NO2 in Chennai NO2 is a dangerous air pollutant that is released when fuel is burned, as in most motor vehicles, power generation, and industrial processes.…

As cities use up more resources, produce more and consumption spirals upward, there is a concomitant increase in solid waste generation. While this solid waste is comprised of both biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste (plastic, rubber, aluminum, glass etc.), the latter is what is most damaging to the environment. Most of the non-biodegradable waste ends up in landfills, open dumps and the natural environment, such as drains, rivers, lakes and the oceans. The iconic Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad presents a perfect example of an urban water body impacted by an increase in the flow of floating solid waste from…

Conservation Action Trust is a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation formed to protect the environment, particularly forests and wildlife. The main purpose of the Trust is to educate and enlighten decision makers and the public about the importance of forests for our survival. The role of forests in protecting the water security of the country is one of the major thrust areas of CAT. Debi Goenka is an Executive Trustee at Conservation Action Trust and a well-known environmentalist. Citizen Matters spoke to him about the threat to mangroves in Mumbai and other serious environmental concerns in the city. Vashi Creek and the Mangrove…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw that tree transplantation is an arduous process, and could fail if not done properly. Transplantation is now becoming popular in Bengaluru for Metro and road widening projects, but how cost-effective is this? How expensive is the process, and do the trees really make it? We explore this in Part 2 of the series. Cost of tree transplantation: Thousands to lakhs The cost of tree transplantation depends on several factors - the tree's trunk size and perimeter, the number of trees to be transplanted, the distance between the old and new sites, and…

In the run up to the monsoons, tree trimming or pruning in Mumbai is a regular affair. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Garden Department takes care of the trees on the roads and public spaces, and it used to do this in individual housing societies as well, on request. However, BMC recently announced that societies would now need to take the responsibility for the trimming of the trees in their premises, and bear the costs, after getting BMC permission. A few days ago, the exercise of "tree trimming " was carried out in the society where I live, Gitanjali Cooperative Housing…

According the Mumbai fire department, more than 60% of the fires in the city were from the Aarey region. In the first three months of this year, out of the 47 distress calls they received 31 were from Aarey. After fighting in the Supreme Court to prevent tree felling, activists are now fighting to save trees from suspicious fires. Though there is a lull in the fires for now due to the monsoons, Sanjiv Valsan of Rewilding Aarey feels that since the vested interests continue to be at play in  Aarey, it  could continue to be at the receiving end…