Snowfall in Joshimath, Image from Wikimedia Commons/Vaibhav78545 There are places where angels fear to tread - such a place is the Himalayas, which rose as the Indian plate banged into the Eurasian place about 50 million years ago. The Indian plate continues to push and the Himalayas still rise, making the Himalayan zone one of …
Continue reading Joshimath. Why is it sinking? Why we acted the way it did? How can move forward?
This was originally published in http://www.moneycontrol.com on 1st January 2023 Art by Manian for Kalki Krishnamurthi's Ponniyin Selvan Have you seen Ponniyin Selvan Part-I? If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a film is worth at least a million. No words could convey how wealthy and mighty the Cholas were as well as …
Continue reading The Wealth Behind Ponniyin Selvan: The Kaveri and the Kallanai
It's been about two weeks since million-dollar homes were flooded in Bengaluru. There has been reams of press on why it happened and what can it be done about it. Sadly, much of the analysis misses the deeper questions. If the answers were only "encroachments on storm drains, must clear" - "lets Noida-tower the apartment …
Continue reading A fortnight after the Bengaluru Floods. Will it happen again? Yes, most likely.
Where has it flooded 2. Why has it flooded? Why here? Why now? a. Elevation The low-lying areas (green & blue) have flooded first. Source: https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/lpj1/Bengaluru/; Flooded areas marked out in blue. Moreover, areas subject to the highest flooding were often the lowest lying within a vicinity. Naturally, water flowed into them. b. Land-use change …
Chennai's floods are like clapping hands: one palm is the changing climate bringing with it intense rainfall (2021 rainfall, the Commissioner told us, was nearly 50% above normal) while the other is our broken relationship with water. A resounding clap requires both palms moving together forcefully. We appear to have already passed certain climate thresholds, …
Continue reading Resetting Our Relationship With Water: Times of India Column
India's water ship is a mammoth ship - nudging it towards friendlier waters is not going to be easy. We need the individual to change: to acknowledge water, and recognize what makes India's water truly unique. This excerpt from the book that The Print carried, shows what that might look like. This is my story, …
Continue reading Shifting India’s Water Ship Requires All Hands To Push.
When I ran out of home, I never thought that 9 years since, that not only would we become water-secure at home, but that I would have written two books and invested in over 15 climate-related start-ups. Thrilled to share that my second book, Watershed, is out! https://videopress.com/v/W5Bf0Khk?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata The book unpacks India's changing relationship with …
Back to the Future: Keeladi and the centrality of water in an ancient Indian city. About 13 kilometres east of Madurai, on the spanking new Rameswaram highway, one turns right and heads through a sleepy village to a set of coconut farms. In between the coconut trees are patches of cleared ground with neat squares …
Continue reading Keeladi – Life, Death and Water in Ancient India
If there is one question that Delhi residents ought to ask themselves it is this: What are the success factors for conquering the Delhi Air Pollution? Success Factor#1: The Need for Data Let’s consider the facts. Fact#1: Over a million Indians died in 2016 due to air pollution. Delhi is ranked as the most polluted …
Continue reading Five Success Factors for conquering the Delhi Pollution Problem
Climaction 