Ecology - Question of Cities

‘Riverfront development is the murder of rivers, turning rivers into drains.’

“The Aravari taught me to flow like water,” says Dr Rajendra Singh, renowned water conservationist, in this interview, explaining how the work of turning it perennial influenced his life’s work and methods. Riverfront development, now unfolding across India’s cities, is…

Pune riverfront work narrows the Mula-Mutha, slashes
green to grey

The network of rivers in Pune have created and sustained life; their banks, riparian zones, and channels (not canals) have been functional spaces for humans and flora-fauna, nurturing an eternal ecological truth. The riverfront development will turn it from a…

Musi riverfront project for real estate, sidelines people
and river

Only the first phase of the Musi riverfront development project in Hyderabad will be around Rs 7,000 crore; the total cost is estimated from Rs 56,000 crore to allegedly Rs 1.5 lakh crore—the most expensive riverfront work in India. Several…

Nuts, bolts, and budgets of riverfront development

Riverfront development has rapidly become a defining feature of cities across India, with projects underway in cities from Ahmedabad to Guwahati and Hyderabad and more. Framed as efforts to “revitalise” rivers, these projects have largely followed a standardised template, set…

Determined voices continue to fight for rights, land, ecology

Against all odds, average Indians are pushing back against projects that threaten their livelihoods and environment, or raise their voice to demand rights and justice. Fisherfolk, Adivasis and farmers from Palghar intensified their protest against the proposed Vadhavan port, an…

Persistent ecological assault turns susegad Goans into
angry protesters

Goans have seen their fields and orchards turned into commercial areas. The amendment Section 39A in the Town and Country Planning Act intensifies this. It sparked anger and outrage with people coming out in large numbers to protest, including MLA…

An open letter to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand

Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, is grappling with waste management -- a crisis visible in every overflowing drain, every littered riverbank, and every hillside stained with plastic. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, which comes into effect from April 1,…

‘There comes a tipping point when people say enough
is enough’

In the past few years, Dehradun went from being a salubrious hill city to having summer temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, floods and landslides. Thousands of trees were felled for massive infrastructure projects. Locals call this large-scale devastation of nature…

Delhi like the dhau: A city of co-existence and kinship

The city reveals its quieter cycles beyond kilometres built and capital leveraged, if only we cared to look closely, recognise its biodiversity, restore native ecologies, and invest in nature-based solutions beyond token gestures. There’s birdsong as layered chorus, seasonal blooming…

Mumbai, our city, is being snatched from us

Through the decades of 1970-80s and till the mid-90s, Bombay was the arena for associations, unions, collectives and movements for people’s rights, justice, and equality. Dialogues and disagreements were part of its landscape, social action unfolded on its streets. That…