Environment

It is that time of the year again. When it rains, rather pours, in Mumbai ( the Mumbai region has the second highest rainfall in the country after Cheerapunji). And then the blame game begins to divert attention from the flooding of the city, loss of lives and livelihoods, and health issues.  Brihanmumai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) Iqbal Singh Chahal claims that the city is all set to meet the rains with its over 2900-km long storm water drain network -- all desilted and cleaned up, despite the COVID crisis and large-scale labour migration. Chahal announced that BMC has already surpassed…

It is that time of the year again. When it rains, rather pours, in Mumbai ( the Mumbai region has the second highest rainfall in the country after Cheerapunji). And then the blame game begins to divert attention from the flooding of the city, loss of lives and livelihoods, and health issues.  Brihanmumai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) Iqbal Singh Chahal claims that the city is all set to meet the rains with its over 2900-km long storm water drain network -- all desilted and cleaned up, despite the COVID crisis and large-scale labour migration. Chahal announced that BMC has already surpassed…

An analysis of air quality data has shown that air pollution (measured as PM2.5) was reduced by an average of 28% in Bengaluru during COVID-19 lockdown. The analysis was done by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), using data collected by Bengaluru’s Healthy Air Coalition. Additional analysis of satellite data confirms this downward trend. The Healthy Air Coalition had set up a network of 30 air quality monitors across the city (in places frequented by groups most at risk from air pollution) to provide publicly-accessible data on air pollution. The Coalition has spent 12 months collecting data…

Bengaluru, once known as the 'City of Lakes', has made national and international headlines as the 'City of Burning Lakes'. Lakes in Bengaluru have caught fire several times - mostly at Bellandur lake, but also in other parts of the city. The fire burns for hours, polluting the air with smoke and creating a public health hazard. Bellandur Lake, the city’s largest lake, has burst into flames many times in the recent past. The first instance was in May 2015, and then again in August 2016, February 2017, and January 2018. The 2018 fire lasted 30 hours, with smoke engulfing…

Today, 7.8 billion people celebrate the World Environment Day amidst circumstances that are far rare and different from anything we’ve been through − we have been massively hit by a pandemic, the economy faces a sharp slowdown, swarms of locusts have destroyed food crops in the Middle East, the horn of Africa and many states in India, fires have burnt down million hectares of forests worldwide, ocean temperatures are rising and cyclones have become frequent and fierce destroying cities in a matter of hours and impacting urban services and infrastructure. Our rivers and oceans have become a plastic soup, many…

A report titled ‘Choking in the Garden City’ released by Sensing Local and Healthy Energy Initiative India, has analysed 24-hour air samples of PM 2.5 from different parts of the city. The authors of the report highlight that the main objective of the study was to understand the source contributors to air pollution at a local level, how they differ from one place to another based on land use, road hierarchies and other variables, and to highlight health effects due to specific elements present in the air.  Apart from PM 2.5, elevated levels of heavy metals such as manganese, nickel,…

While the lockdown may have seen a comeback of birds and animals in urban areas, for forest officers, the period has also meant more work thwarting and catching miscreants in the forests in and around cities. For the first time, Maharashtra officials are conducting drone surveillance to monitor and protect the flora and fauna in the wilds. Maharashtra has about 6733 sq km of protected forests (including six national parks, 48 wildlife sanctuaries and three conservation reserves) covering over 3.03% of its total geographical area of 307,713 sq kms, as per the India State of Forest Report, 2019. Historically, a severely short-staffed…

Bengaluru’s lakes have been in the news for pollution, froth, fish kill and even fire. Despite the government investing crores of rupees into reviving these lakes, and widespread citizen engagement, not much has changed. While the main reason is the lack of coordination between government departments, the absolute lack of science-based solutions is also a major gap. In this context, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Biome Environmental Trust (BIOME) have developed the ‘Bangalore Citizen Science Lakes Dashboard’ to share knowledge and best practices for better management of lakes. We created a series of system…

Pratap Singh Tomer is a retired serviceman living in the Ravi Nagar locality of Visakhapatnam, a port city in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the wee hours on May 7, he was awoken by desperate honking of vehicles and shouts of baffled citizens in his colony. There was a pungent smell of gas and some of the residents were experiencing dizziness. Tomer, who has years of experience working in LPG plants and is acquainted with gas leaks and rescue training, used his expertise and presence of mind to help others. “I thought that this could be a case of a…

https://soundcloud.com/citizenmatters/ep3-lessons-from-bengaluru-cm Look at Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park, and it’s easy to see why Bengaluru once claimed the title of 'Garden City'. Rapid, unplanned urbanisation has drastically reduced the city's green cover. Raj Bhagat, who works at the World Research Institute office here in Bengaluru, explains the history of the city's loss of natural vegetation as seen through data. Though Bengaluru still has several thousands of trees, these are mostly alien species. Natural vegetation, which is critical in terms of transpiration cycles, weather patterns, etc is completely absent here except for some sections of protected forests, says Raj. Several…