Latest news with #TVRamachandra
Time of India
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Bengaluru lake activists say shrinking buffer zone disastrous for tech capital
Bengaluru: Reducing the lake buffer zone in Bengaluru will only invite more urban flooding and increase dependency on outsourcing water from different sources, according to land and water experts. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Experts and lake activists have questioned the govt on why buffer zones should be reduced and are now asking Karnataka Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA) to list the benefits of shrinking the buffer zone for the city. The Karnataka govt had recently approved Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill-2025, reducing buffer zones around lakes from the existing 30 meters to between 3 and 24 meters, depending on the lake size. Lake activists, while discussing the proposal during a public consultation organised at Bengaluru Town Hall, led by the actor and activist Prakash Belawadi, Saturday, feared the move will increase concretisation and shrink waterbodies further. Quotes TV Ramachandra, convener, IISc Environmental Information System Buffer zones or floodplains are vital as they absorb excess water, prevent flooding, and allow natural remediation. They should be kept green so that no construction is allowed, but instead of protecting them, we see them being choked, narrowed, and swallowed by vested interests, a move that will only worsen flooding and destroy Bengaluru's livability. V R Hegde, hydrologist Buffer zones around lakes and streams are hydrologically essential. Reducing them disrupts natural drainage, increases flood risk, and destroys ecological services these waterbodies provide. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Waterbodies are endowments from our forefathers, not our creations, and we have no right to demolish or vanish them. Shyam Prasad, founder and director of Clean Water Dynamics and hydrologist If we don't have buffer zones we will have shoreline erosion, fragmented infrastructure, poor water quality, sedimentation… It is really beyond me to understand who is coming up with further reduction of these zones. Prakash Belawadi, actor and activist We will be taking all the required inputs from experts and citizens to compile solid proof, data, and information to fight the proposed amendment in the near future
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Bengaluru has turned into a heat trap as concrete swallows the city: Report
Bengaluru's rapid urbanisation has left little room for nature, with built-up areas now occupying a staggering 87.6 per cent of the city. Over the last ten years alone, concrete coverage has jumped by 10 per cent, reshaping the city's climate and quality of life in the process, The New Indian Express reported. From heated debates over the smell of chicken curry to demands for DNA tests to trace pet droppings in common areas, Bengaluru residents are sharing their most bizarre WhatsApp group spats with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) on Reddit. (Representational Image)(Unsplash) A new study titled Urban Heat Island Linkages with the Landscape Morphology, conducted by the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has painted a worrying picture. The city's dwindling green and blue spaces - trees and lakes - now account for just 12 per cent of its surface, triggering a domino effect: rising local temperatures, more greenhouse gas emissions, and a sharp increase in health problems such as cardiovascular diseases and lifestyle disorders, the report stated. Professor T V Ramachandra, co-author of the study, noted that shrinking natural "lung spaces" directly correlates with worsening health indicators. The requirement for 30 per cent open setback space around buildings, essential for thermal comfort, is routinely ignored during construction approvals, he said, as per the report. These open spaces, he explained, help balance temperatures and reduce urban stress, but poor enforcement and widespread corruption have rendered this rule ineffective. READ | Bengaluru braces for traffic disruptions as thousands protest at Freedom Park today The study reveals that the unchecked sprawl has given rise to 'urban heat archipelagos' - clusters of heat islands that amplify each other, creating widespread hot zones across the city. Iconic green enclaves like IISc, GKVK and Jnanabharathi, once bastions of biodiversity and cooler microclimates, are now under threat from the expanding urban jungle, the report added. Using satellite data spanning from 1973 to 2025 and advanced classification methods, researchers traced Bengaluru's transformation from a city with just 7.97 per cent built-up land in the '70s to one dominated by concrete today. Since the formation of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - the civic administrative body governing the city - in the early 2000s, the city has seen a 1,078 per cent explosion in built-up areas, accompanied by an 88 per cent loss of vegetation and a 79 per cent reduction in water bodies. READ | 'Where is the end to this loot?': Bengaluru cab rider claims ₹117 booking turned ₹187 bill, Namma Yatri responds According to Ramachandra, Bengaluru has reached a critical threshold, and residents are seeing a transition from porous, ecologically supportive land to impermeable concrete surfaces. This shift is disrupting the city's hydrology, ecology, and even its economy. As of 2025, the city's urban expansion has hit 90 per cent and shows no signs of slowing. Driven largely by unplanned growth, the conversion of green fields and lakes into real estate has pushed the city beyond its environmental carrying capacity. The analysis also found that the entire city now falls within high-temperature zones, with surface temperatures regularly exceeding 44 degrees Celsius. Cooler zones that once existed in the '90s have all but vanished. In short, Bengaluru is overheating, and without urgent intervention to restore its ecological balance, the future could be hotter and even more hazardous.
New Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Science
- New Indian Express
87.6 per cent of 'garden city' is concrete, mercury rising
BENGALURU: Bengaluru's concrete cover is a solid 87.6 per cent, having increased by 10 per cent over the past decade. This has had a multiple effect on the city, leading to the creation of many heat archipelagos, a rise in temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions, besides affecting citizens' health. A cluster of urban heat islands within a city or region is called an 'urban heat archipelago' and represents the combined effect of multiple localised heat islands, forming a broader area of elevated temperatures. A micro-level study of Bengaluru's landscape 'Urban Heat Island Linkages with the Landscape Morphology', released on Tuesday, shows that lakes and trees cover a mere 12 per cent. The report, prepared by researchers from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, pointed out that increase in concretisation is also a reason for many diseases, including heart attacks and lifestyle disorders. Prof TV Ramachandra from IISc, co-author of the study, said there is a direct relation between reduction of lung spaces, increasing concretisation and deterioration of health. 'During the study, we found that the basic criteria of ensuring 30 per cent setback (thermal comfort space as architects call it) remains only on paper while seeking plan sanction from civic authorities. These thermal comfort zones not just help regulate urban temperatures, but also ensure good health. Corruption and lack of checks on the ground is the reason for this violation. It also leads to urban flooding,' he said. The report showed that urban green islands like the GKVK, IISc and Jnanabharathi campuses are also being compromised. For the study, researchers used temporal remote sensing data (from 1973 to 2025) through supervised non-parametric classifier. The report stated that the built-up area increased from 7.97 per cent (1973) to 87.64 per cent (2025). Bengaluru saw a boom in spatial expansion from the year 2000 with the formation of BBMP, when adjacent rural areas were incorporated and agricultural lands were converted to paved surfaces. 'The city's landscape saw a 1078 per cent increase in built-up area, and a decline of 88 per cent vegetation cover and 79 per cent water bodies, leading to the transition from porous to paved surfaces, affecting the hydrology, ecology and socio-economic aspects,' Ramachandra said.
New Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Western Ghats under pressure: Goa sees 11% drop in evergreen cover, forest value pegged at Rs 481 bn a year
BENGALURU: Change in land use and reduction in green cover are taking a drastic toll on the Western Ghats, especially the state of Goa, where development projects for tourism, infrastructure and connectivity have been put on the fast track. This has significantly impacted the functioning of forest ecosystems, contributing to climate change. A recent study by researchers from the Centre for Ecology, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), revealed that the total forest cover declined drastically post the 1990s, due to market forces associated with globalisation. There has also been a decline in evergreen forest cover by 10.98 per cent. The carbon sequestration potential of forests in Goa that the study assessed, showed the storage of 56,131.16 Giga grams (Gga) of carbon, which accounts for Rs 373.47 billion ($4.49 billion). Similarly, carbon stored in forest ecosystems of the Western Ghats is valued at Rs 100 billion. The total ecosystem supply value (TESV) for forest ecosystems was computed by aggregating the provisioning, regulating and cultural services which account for Rs 481.76 billion per year, said the report titled 'Insights into Linkages of Forest Structure Dynamics with Ecosystem Services', released on Monday. TESV is the summation of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, and depends on the spatial extent and condition of the ecosystem of a particular area. Prof TV Ramachandra, co-author of the research paper, said forest ecosystems in Goa provide diverse services which are vital for human well-being and prosperity. With economic growth accelerating in Goa, there is tremendous pressure to divert natural systems to other uses. Many villages of Goa have witnessed a significant decline in agricultural productivity due to environmental degradation, and lower fertility around wetland regions. Hence, there is an urgent need to undertake natural capital accounting and valuation of ecosystem services, especially intangible benefits (such as regulating services, etc.), which the ecosystem provides.
