Chennai’s fight to preserve its wetlands and stay above water
It had been raining in Chennai since the beginning of November 2021, which culminated in a heavy spell on November 7, when the city recorded over 200 mm of rain.…
Articles by Nina Varghese
Nina Varghese is a freelance business writer based in Chennai (erstwhile
Madras) in India. She was earlier with the Hindu Business Line in Chennai and with Emirates 24x7 in Dubai. She grew up in the Nilgiris and has an unashamed partiality to the Blue Mountains and to Coonoor in particular.
Environmental activism in the Nilgiris: too early to rejoice?
The past two decades have seen an increase in environmental activism in the Nilgiris, as well as other parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It has evolved from protests, dharnas…
Chennai’s Adyar river shows signs of recovery after years of government investment
The long suffering residents of Chennai have been living with two dead rivers, the Adyar and the Cooum, flowing through the heart of their city. These two rivers meander sluggishly…
Restoring Chennai’s water bodies
Twenty-seven-year-old Chandra, a house help in Chennai, does not know much about deficient rainfall, rainwater harvesting or the city's degraded water bodies. All she knows is that once in two…
Coonoor citizens and officials clean the streams and river in the hill town
On September 22, the World Rivers Day, Clean Coonoor, a local NGO, started the second phase of the Coonoor River clean-up drive. Coonoor is a small town of around 45,494…
Coonoor citizens join hands to conserve wetlands and waterways
The recent Madras High Court order to evict encroachers from the banks of water bodies in the Nilgiris came as a shot in the arm for the citizens of Coonoor,…
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter
Environment And Health
- Brahmapuram fumes over waste
- Transgender activists highlight the impacts of climate change and environmental issues on the community
- Stubble burning is back, smothering north India with concerns for the upcoming winter
- Humans are contaminating Earth’s waterways with medicines, pharmaceutical ingredients
Almost Famous Species
- India garners international support to save two endangered freshwater turtles
- What protecting the slender loris could mean for forest communities in Tamil Nadu
- [Video] Hangul, the shy Kashmiri deer, is facing the threat of extinction as its habitat shrinks
- Identifying individual mugger crocodiles using drone technology to minimise conflicts
India's Iconic Landscapes
- Ain’t no mountain high enough: alien invasive plants increasing in higher elevations
- Unplanned, faulty buildings tremble under weather events in the fragile Himalayan regions
- Nourishing soils of Kashmir’s karewas crumble under infrastructure
- Shielding hijol, a floodplain tree, from climate impacts
Beyond Protected Areas
- Habitat preservation in the Western Ghats can help enhance biodiversity in the hotspot
- Climate change and catfight in the Himalayas: tigers, leopards venture into snow leopard land
- Mapping connectivity and human-elephant conflict in Karnataka
- Despite efforts and funds, human-wildlife conflict in Uttarakhand is not contained
Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Thirunelly’s seed festival celebrates traditional climate-resilient seeds and farm produce
- [Explainer] Why is 2023 the International Year of Millets? What do we achieve by celebrating such years?
- Nations adopt Global Biodiversity Framework amid concerns over watered-down targets
- [Commentary] A renewed CGIAR can better support South Asia to determine its food future
Just Transitions
- Incentives to boost demand, increase in e-buses in Tamil Nadu’s latest EV policy
- Electricity transition in India’s renewable-rich states needs to accelerate, says study
- [Interview] Ajay Kumar Rastogi on leading India’s first just transition task force
- Helping wildlife navigate road and railway infrastructure
