Biodiversity - Question of Cities

Seeing the unseen nature amidst Mumbai’s expanding concrete

A casualty of the build more approach is the erasure of precious natural wealth. Amidst the concrete maze of Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, there are still some treasures tucked away, as this photograph of flamingos shows. The Vihar Lake, the flora-fauna in…

Bad news for Earth: Hot leaves can’t catch carbon from air

Leafy canopies play a crucial role in regulating the global climate – and mitigating global warming. But, as a recent study shows, rising temperatures will severely affect the ability of tropical forests to photosynthesise. This, in turn, will hinder their…

Guwahati is fast axing its trees and undermining its future

Among Assam’s largest cities, Guwahati has turned into a huge construction site with a dwindling tree cover. The city lost 12 square kilometres of trees between 2001 and 2023 which is the size of London Heathrow airport while Assam’s forest…

When did we last hear what trees are telling us?

Trees are service providers to us, they perform necessary ecological functions, and they are among sturdy climate warriors there can be in a world dealing with climate change extremes. Adaptation is not something only human beings do in the climate…

Pune’s growth story reminds us that nature does not send an invoice

As Pune amalgamates larger non-urban areas into the city limits, expanding in all directions, the frenzy of development has also meant fast-depleting natural areas. The frequent floods and harsh summers are alarms that can no longer be ignored. As the…

‘Maharashtra had 1,500 landslides in 2021, so 1,500 lessons but nothing learnt’

The Wayanad landslides bring back memories of last year’s landslide in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, on the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats that straddle down to Kerala. Almost 30 percent of Maharashtra is landslide-prone. The recurring landslides have put the…

Mithi: More than a rainwater drain for Mumbai but tell that to the authorities

The quiet Mithi River turned hostile on July 26, 2005, flooding the city in the record 944 millimetres rainfall that day. Pinched and bent in places, narrowed by encroachments, treated like a sewage stream, the Mithi became the focus of…

Reimagining Mumbai: From flood-prone to sponge city

Over the years, reckless development has destroyed the city’s ecology, increasing the risk of floods. Mumbai’s lakes, marshes, and salt pans used to absorb monsoon rains and mitigate floods but they have been built upon or covered with concrete. As…

How Punekars fought for their hill, Vetal Tekdi, to save its ecology

Pune’s citizens have been fighting to save Vetal Tekdi, the city’s lungs and a popular open space, from being destroyed for developmental projects. Realising the importance of nature in a rapidly expanding city, a coalition of citizens and groups have…

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 houses, roads and fields --- triggering anger and anguish among the residents, who had been alerting authorities about…