Environment - Question of Cities

‘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 the eyes but allow people-nature bonds to form in cities. As a business place for hawkers, resting place…

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,…

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 seven-metre wave thundered down Wadi Derna through the city, washing whole suburbs into the sea. The Turkish Red…

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 their communities and leading mitigation or adaptation measures. Women are affected disproportionately more and in different ways than…

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 later, the authorities have scrambled to deepen and desilt the river besides construct retaining walls on both the…

‘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…

Kochi caught between the Periyar, surging sea and tidal floods

The intense rainfall in July and August in Kochi this year alarmed those who had witnessed the deadly floods in 2018 when Periyar River submerged vast areas of the city. Nearby, the Chellanam-Cherai coastal stretch has seen huge sea surges…

Frequent flood hazards show the downside of urbanisation

The northern hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the north-eastern state of Assam have been reeling under massive floods this monsoon. The large-scale destruction all around, and the loss of lives and property, exceeded what has come to…

Anniversary Edition

QoC Charter to make our cities habitable, equitable and sustainable

As cities have been undergoing development at the cost of ecology, they are fast becoming vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change. The new cities, dotted with high-rises and wide roads, have no space for pedestrians and eco-friendly bicycles. The…

Anniversary Edition

Making nature and people in cities the focal point of dialogues

As Question of Cities completes a year, we present to you some of the best and the most-read essays or on-ground stories through the year – with the added value of having the writers reflect on a few key questions.…