Climate speaks through water. As our climate changes, rising global temperatures are causing more intense storms; untimely and intense rainfall is leading to frequent floods and droughts, causing sea levels to rise and glaciers to melt. We face not only a rapidly careening climate crisis but also a brutal change in our water reality. We HAVE to adapt for the future NOW.
Photo by Ray Bilcliff on Pexels.com Many of the seeds of the our tangled thicket of a water crisis originate in colonial times - a penchant for growing crops unsuited to local climes, a centralized control-and-command approach to irrigation and water supply, and a certain disdain for traditional water technologies that 'get' India's water. We've …
Continue reading India@75: Tracing the colonial hand in evolving water tapestry
Aadi Perukku - respecting water.
Are the rains alone to blame for the floods and landslides in NE India?
Are they the same? Covid is fast, sometimes visually brutal, singular. It hurts people like us, now. Climate Change is slow, sometimes visually brutal, most times invisible, has many pieces and many villains. It hurt 'them', now and in the future. From my article: Size does not matter; Time does; Having a clear villain does; …
Last time, we asked what is the 'Herbie'? The one action or thing or person who, if impacted, can materially change our pollution levels? Psst: It’s the money Two causes stand out in the emission inventories: vehicular emissions and the one responsible for winter pollution spike: biomass burning. Let us deal with the latter today, …
Continue reading A Rs. 1,000,000,000,000 annual subsidy to support stubble burning?
Image source: Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Burning of rice residues in SE Punjab, India, prior to the wheat season. Wikimedia Commons A version of this article first appeared on Firstpost on Nov 10, 2019. Policy – follower not leader Policy is a manifestation of astute follower-ship, a balancing act, an act of judgement of …
Continue reading Why are we not solving the pollution crisis?
Open letter to Greta Thunberg on Choices
How and where to make climate change an electoral issue?
What is the appropriate time and the appropriate scale at which to deal with water issues in a democracy? A Question of Scale Let’s start with scale first. If it is to do with provision (and division) of waters – the answer is to deal with it at high a level as relevant. Consider Delhi …
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