Natural Environment - Question of Cities

The green does not have to lose the battle to the grey in our cities

Large swathes of green cover are being cleared to make way for construction and infrastructure across cities in India. Trees are being cut, large canopies felled, old trees badly and unscientifically pruned. Urban plans and projects do not take trees…

‘Cities are valued as places of commerce and not well-being, so trees are seen as dispensable’

In an age when cities are building more malls, parking lots, offices, schools and colleges, there seems to be hardly any room…

‘By leaves we live, the world is mainly a vast leaf colony’

They are everywhere, although hidden sometimes, but provide a layer of comfort amidst the grey concrete. Lush green landscapes not only soothe…

Walking through a green Mumbai, meeting special and rare trees

Oasis in a concrete city, areas like the Five Gardens in Dadar Parsi Colony are a veritable treasure trove for naturalists and…

A new tree ethic: What if trees really mattered?

The chopping down of trees has become a casual act. Perhaps, we have forgotten all the daily delights that trees provide, or…

Libya floods: Derna drowning was a man-made disaster decades in the making

Two dams collapsed upstream towards the Jebel Akhdar (the Green Mountain) in Libya, overwhelmed by the rain surge from Storm Daniel. A…

Mithi: Desperately seeking course correction, ecological restoration

It’s been 18 long years since the Mithi river was blamed for Mumbai’s worst flood. Ten committee reports and thousands of crores…

‘This year’s Yamuna floods are a trailer of bigger floods to hit Delhi’

New Delhi and parts of the National Capital region (NCR) struggled through a massive flood in July, the likes of which had not been seen in many decades, certainly since 1978. Yamuna River breached its previous highest flood level by…