Sustainability - Question of Cities

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 tree lovers. Here, besides the ubiquitous Banyan and Peepal, less-seen species in Mumbai such as Almond, Copper Pod,…

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…

Women move the narrative from victims to agents of change

At a time when extreme weather events are causing damage and destruction around the world, women are silently turning climate crusaders in…

How is India mainstreaming gender in Climate Change adaptation?

Women are often portrayed as victims of Climate Change, or as ‘most vulnerable’ while failing to recognise other realities. Women’s contribution to…

Pune’s women waste pickers show path to climate action

Women waste pickers have been playing a crucial role towards making Pune zero-waste. Their efforts mean nearly 80,000 tonnes of waste recycled…

Climate-induced inflation wrecks women’s food practices in Shaheen Bagh

Shaheen Bagh, a middle-class and predominantly Muslim area in south east Delhi, emerged as the city’s culinary hub after the persistent protest…

Making new cities in climate emergency calls for respecting nature

A city does not exist outside of its natural conditions, no matter how much air conditioning or bottled water we use. As…

How Navi Mumbai developed into an urban jungle edging out nature

The planned satellite city on the outskirts of the oversaturated Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, was built from scratch. Its landscape was once an ecologically-rich rural one with hill ranges, dozens of wetlands, creeks and intertidal areas, tropical semi-evergreen and deciduous vegetation,…

‘Why Joshimath, Mussoorie and Nainital are also threatened towns’

When Joshimath, a hill town in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, suffered the destruction caused by subsidence in January, the large infrastructure projects…

Battered and forgotten, Joshimath holds a lesson in urbanising at the cost of environment

It’s been more than three months since the subsidence in the hill town of Joshimath, Uttarakhand, made headlines. Deep cracks appeared in…