‘Save the Yamuna floodplains from government-sponsored encroachment’
The Yamuna is being choked, artificial grass is being watered with ground water, ornamental plants and bamboo trees planted, the riverbank has…
Interviews - Page 3
‘Give the river back its space. Give it a new spatial
role in a city’
São Paulo and Mumbai are similar in that the cities have seen massive urbanisation at the cost of rivers. The Tietê and…
‘Rivers have emotions, like human beings. Their waters rise’
As the plan to develop the Mula-Mutha riverfront in Pune gathers momentum, many residents and environmental activists believe it’s a death knell…
‘BEST is a municipal responsibility, it’s stupid to
think of profit-loss’
The cash-strapped Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), still the most reliable mode of transport, is going through a rough patch with…
‘In India, play is a luxury…parents and teachers should understand its importance’
As cities expand, the number of open spaces and in-between spaces for play are shrinking. Playgrounds and gardens are an afterthought. Mumbai…
‘Coping with heat isn’t an individual problem, it’s a systemic challenge’
The unequal impact of heat on the marginalised in India’s cities is no longer in question. The chasm is deepening between those…
‘Women’s access to gig work is challenged by their access to digital infrastructure’
Women gig workers form a niche and gender-segregated part of the expanding platform and gig economy. It will reportedly provide 90 million…
‘A happy city is where joy is not a commodity’
Rapid and unplanned urbanisation has hardly left open spaces for children. The carefree running, the cycling without the fear of speeding vehicles,…
‘Deep flaw or blind spot in Indian environmentalism is that it largely ignored cities’
Cities built at the cost of ecology are becoming uninhabitable and unsustainable. Between the Gandhian perspective which is hostile to city life…
‘Vulnerability mapping directly improves lives of those most affected by climate risks’
The devastation from floods, droughts and heat across India every year has heightened the need for effective strategies and adaptive measures. The…