Environment

Part 3: Butterflies in my garden Lesson learnt: Don’t admire the butterflies in your garden or you might be sharing your plants with caterpillars, voluntarily or otherwise! Many Bengalureans may be aware of the seasonal migration of butterflies through the city. We discovered this when our terrace garden became a favoured wayside halt for the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) and lemon emigrant (Catopsilia pomona) butterflies, for a few seasons. Although we were visited by other species, including the common Mormon (Papilio polytes), the former two were the most frequent. The emigrants usually remained well-camouflaged in the bougainvillaea till we almost…

On February 5 this year, an important public hearing was held at Perungudi’s Ward 184 office on Panchayat Office Road to discuss the fate of a large chunk of the Pallikaranai Marshland. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) organised the hearing to assess public opinion towards an eco-park set to come up on the Perungudi dump yard located in the marshland area. News reports about the eco-park first started to appear in 2023, as the next step after a process of biomining, which was a means to clear up the legacy waste dumped for three to four decades in the marsh…

பள்ளிக்கரணை சதுப்பு நிலத்தில் உள்ள பெருங்குடி குப்பைக் கிடங்கை பயோ மைனிங் முறையில் மீட்டுருவாக்கம் செய்து 93 ஏக்கர் பரப்பளவில் 99 கோடி செலவில் பல்லுயிர்ப் பூங்கா அமைக்க சென்னை மாநகராட்சி திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது.  மீட்கப்பட்ட நிலத்தில் பூங்கா அமைப்பதற்கான பொதுமக்கள் கருத்துக் கேட்புக் கூட்டம் 05.02.2024 அன்று சென்னையில் நடந்தபோது இத்திட்டம் பொதுமக்களின் கடும் எதிர்ப்பைச் சந்தித்துள்ளது. சென்னையின் மிக அதிகமாக மாசுபட்ட, ஆக்கிரமிக்கப்பட்ட ஈரநிலங்களில் ஒன்றான பள்ளிக்கரணையில் 65 வகையான வலசைப்பறவைகள், 105 வகையான உள்ளூர்ப் பறவைகள், 50 வகையான மீனினங்கள், 15 வகையானப் பாம்புகள், 10 வகையானப் பல்லிகள், 11 வகையான இருவாழ்விகள், 10 வகையானப் பாலூட்டிகள், 34 வகையான வண்ணத்துப் பூச்சிகள், 20 வகையானத் தட்டான்கள், 24 வகையான ஓட்டுடலிகள், 8 வகையானக் கரப்பான்கள், 78 வகையான மிதவை உயிரினங்கள், 167 வகையானத் தாவரங்கள் என மொத்தம் 625 –க்கும் மேற்பட்ட வகை வகையான உயிரினங்கள் வாழ்ந்து…

In April 2023, even as picturesque images of a rain-soaked Delhi circulated on social media, farmers in the region were in fact living through one of their worst nightmares. The Indian Meteorological Department recorded 20.1 mm of rain in the national capital, marking a 23% increase from the monthly average of 16.3 mm. Things got worse during the months of July and August, as the Yamuna River overflowed, devastating numerous fields. Weather events such as these are just one among the plethora of challenges faced by urban farmers in Delhi.  Ask Abhishek Dhama, a resident of Palla village in Delhi.…

Part 2: The cluster of the ‘plant-detritus-eating darkling’ beetles Lesson learnt: Never forget to get your tiled roof cleaned annually especially when you live under trees, which shed leaves and flowers that get sticky as they rot. We considered ourselves lucky to live in a home whose frontage was shaded by mature social forestry trees, mainly West Indian mahoganies and Pongamia (Indian beech). The trees managed to survive their initial perilous years of existence and now the parking spots in front of our home are hotly contested. Auto and cab drivers seem to have telepathically passed the word around that…

Chennai received one of its worst rains in the last 80 years in December 2023*, and we should not be surprised if the city is primed to break more such records in the future for the worse. The scenes of boats out on the streets, families stranded on rooftops, and news media outlets asking what happened to all the funds sanctioned for building stormwater drains are painfully familiar for Chennai come monsoon-cyclones season. Since 2015, this ‘water-stressed’ city has endured brutal cycles of extreme rainfall and destructive flooding, most recently from Cyclone Michaung. The 2015 deluge saw nearly 50 cm…

The following is an excerpt from the book Shades of Blue: Connecting the drops in Indian cities, written by Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli, and published by Penguin Random House India. The excerpt is from the chapter: Bengaluru: Landlocked city of tanks and lakes and has been republished with permission from the authors and publisher: To know where a lake once was, Bengaluru has only to wait for the monsoon. The Kempegowda Bus Stand, the Sri Kanteerava Stadium, the hockey stadium in Akkithimmanahalli in the city and the Asian Games Village in Koramangala, all of which are sites of former…

The habits of birds have long been studied to make sense of the changes and trends in our natural ecosystems. Given that these are environmentally adaptive creatures — whose patterns of migration and breeding change as the ecosystems change — watching birds can teach us many things about climate change, ecological degradation and the ways we can respond to these phenomena. Every year during Pongal time, birders and nature enthusiasts around Tamil Nadu participate in the Pongal Bird Count, a state-wide annual bird monitoring programme, which is an initiative of the Tamil Birders Network. This year as a part of…

Part 1: More insects than we cared to get acquainted with… Both as an architect and heritage conservation expert, ecological living has been a day-to-day mantra for me. However, it’s not without its attendant perils as many years of living in a home in the city, built with natural materials, has demonstrated. Our woeful tales of insects and other species reluctantly permitting us to share space with them, provide much amusement to friends and family. And now, I have decided to spread the joy and share some of our encounters with a wider audience.   We blithely commenced our home construction…

The lesser and greater flamingos of Gujarat that migrate to our wetlands are nothing short of a blessing. Every year a record number of juvenile waders and flamingos visit the TS Chanakya Lake, feeding on urban algae. When Navi Mumbai becomes a "Flamingo city." Pic: Seema Tania Read more: How a Navi Mumbai citizens group fought for the flamingos After strenuous breeding activities they fly to the flamingo city of Navi Mumbai to feed and roost in TS Chanakya and NRI wetlands in large numbers. While, the species is in an overall decline, the mudflats and mangroves of Navi Mumbai offer…