Category: Environment and Climate

Two years ago, I co-published an article outlining the deep-seated causes behind the climate catastrophe with the most protracted effects on mortality across South Asia.[1] [2] In short, the causes are a combination of bureaucratic inertia at the state and local government level along with entrenched industry practices like the systematic burning of agricultural waste that has…

 In 2024, India saw at least 733 deaths and over 40,000 heat stroke cases in 17 states (HeatWatch, 2024). Indian cities are grappling with a silent yet deadly crisis: urban heat. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect causes urban areas to experience significantly higher temperatures than their rural surroundings. Over the past two decades, Tier-1…

India is on the cusp of a demographic and urban transformation. As per United Nation’s World Urbanisation Prospects Report, by 2050, over half of India’s population is projected to live in urban areas. As tier-1 cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore reach their population limits, the growth is shifting towards tier-2 cities, which are becoming…

Over 85 per cent of India’s population lives in areas where the air pollution level exceeds the WHO standard, reducing average lifespans by more than five years – 11.9 years for people living in NCR. In 2019, the Indian government launched the National Clean Air Programme, which aimed to reduce PM2.5 exposure levels by 20-30 per cent…