Environment

Bangalore International Centre in collaboration with Citizen Matters and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, had organised 'Right to breathe- Fixing Bengaluru’s Air', a discussion under Bengaluru Solution Series, on January 11th. This was the second installment of the Bengaluru Solution Series. The panel for the discussion comprised of Randeep D, Indian Administrative Officer and Special Commissioner - Solid Waste Management, BBMP, Anjali Saini, a member of Whitefield Rising, Pawan Mulukutla, Bosch India and Shashank Atreya, a Research Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The panel was moderated by Meera K, Founder, Citizen Matters. The quality of Bengaluru’s air is…

In the ongoing Amsterdam Light Festival, illuminating the city’s waterway, a Serbian artist duo’s installation of an LED version of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic painting ‘The Starry Night’ has drawn attention to the growing menace of light pollution in urban areas. 7000 kilometres away, in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, Nilesh Desai is steadily working on a public interest litigation on light pollution-disturbance due to excessive, inappropriate and misdirected artificial lights. For the last couple of years, Desai, who holds a day job in the information technology sector, has been fighting against the excessive and obtrusive glare of floodlights in his neighbourhood. He has fired…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities Chennai residents woke up to choking weather on Bhogi morning, as thick smog covered the skyline post the regular ritual of burning garbage, old furniture and tyres in the city. The air quality indicators, within permissible levels till 4 am in the morning, shot up to hazardous levels and remained severe till at least 9 am on Monday, January 14th. Already reeling under unabated industrial pollution, Ennore was among the worst hit areas during the Bhogi festival, as PM 2.5 levels here soared up to 640 µg/m3 between…

City transport scene The European Investment Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have agreed to lend €500 million and €300 million respectively to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to execute the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase II of the project. A proposal to realign the Metro line to the airport through Hebbal junction was approved by the Karnataka cabinet.  The state cabinet also approved the proposal for four suburban railway corridors that will have 81 stations, on a total route length of 160.50km. TenderSURE work is set to begin on K.G. Road in Gandhinagar and Margosa Road in Malleswaram and…

From vehicular emissions to garbage burning, to dust on the streets and industrial smoke, there are many facets to air pollution in Bengaluru. Karnataka government allocated Rs 96 crores in last budget to monitor air pollution across the state in its budget for the first time in 2018, but the progress of work remains unknown. This winter season where the temperature has dipped up to 6 degrees in some areas, has shown that the quality of city's air is declining and much needs to be done to improve it. A recent report published by Climate Trends has shown Bengaluru to be…

Air pollution has been a cause of worry globally. Economic growth of cities has influenced the spatial patterns of emission sources, directly impacting public health. Bengaluru’s rapid development and changing landscape followed by lack of planning has led to several urban concerns, with air pollution being a crucial one. Contributors to air pollution are unique to each city. Vehicular pollution is among those concerns that contributes maximum to air pollution in Bengaluru. Data indicates that 60-70% of the emissions is said to originate from vehicles. This makes the city the only one in India to be most impacted by vehicular…

Bengaluru left shivering after cold wave According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the city observatory at Sheshadri road recorded a minimum temperature of 13.1°C during the 24-hour period that ended at 8.30 am on Thursday. HAL Airport and KIA recorded 11.6°C and 11.2°C, respectively, Hesarghatta had recorded a minimum temperature of 9°C — the lowest temperature recorded in the city in a decade. This is attributed to the cold wave sweeping across north and south interior Karnataka, and the conditions are expected to remain for the next couple of days. City doctors say the number of patients with upper respiratory problems…

On December 30, 2018, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a public notice declaring all 198 BBMP wards ‘open defecation free’. It was approved by the BBMP council on December 27, 2018, three days prior to the distribution of the notice. This is a required criterion under Swacch Bharath Mission to be considered for higher ranking in Swacch Sarvekshan Survey 2019 which will begin soon. What is Open Defecation-free area? According to the definition given by Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2015, "ODF is the termination of faecal-oral transmission, defined by a) no visible faeces found…

The new year 2019 promises to be a landmark year for Mahadevpura Parisara Samrakshane Mattu Abhivrudhi Samiti (MAPSAS) in lake rejuvenation and sustenance. The efforts to rejuvenate Kaikondrahalli Lake and Lower Ambalipura - the first lakes MAPSAS got involved with - started a decade ago in 2009. From a motley group of citizens who came together to envision a participatory and progressive way of managing our water resources in the form of lakes, some of us made a Trust called MAPSAS (Mahadevpura Parisara Samrakshane Mattu Abhivrudhi Samiti). We have taken more and more lakes in the neighborhood under our ambit.…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities https://twitter.com/dr_rvs/status/1074692756843442176?s=21 The tweet on 18th December 2018 from a resident addressing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Chief Minister of Karnataka pointed to the failure of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) in managing the municipal solid waste that it receives and its contribution to air pollution. Municipal Solid Waste Management (SWM) deals with the control of waste - storage, collection, transfer and transportation, its processing and disposal in line with the best principles of public health, engineering, conservation, economics and other environmental considerations. However the mismanagement of…