tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/bangalore-45197/articlesBangalore – The Conversation2020-08-10T19:03:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1441552020-08-10T19:03:41Z2020-08-10T19:03:41ZAir pollution could be making honey bees sick – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351981/original/file-20200810-24-sx4edk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4256%2C2828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A swarm of giant Asian honey bees.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-on-giant-honey-bee-swarm-445789648">Rickythai/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether it’s exhaust fumes from cars or smoke from power plants, air pollution is an often invisible threat that is <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1">a leading cause</a> of death worldwide. Breathing air laced with heavy metals, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter has been linked to a range of chronic health conditions, <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-pollution-thats-hurting-our-health-25242">including</a> lung problems, heart disease, stroke and cancer.</p>
<p>If air pollution can harm human health in so many different ways, it makes sense that other animals suffer from it too. Airborne pollutants affect all kinds of life, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.en.27.010182.002101">even insects</a>. In highly polluted areas of Serbia, for instance, <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/5197/">researchers found</a> pollutants lingering on the bodies of European honeybees. Car exhaust fumes are known to interrupt the scent cues that attract and guide bees towards flowers, while also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41876-w">interfering with</a> their ability to remember scents. </p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2009074117">a new study from India</a> has revealed how air pollution may be depleting the health of honey bees in the wild. These effects may not kill bees outright. But like humans repeatedly going to work under heavy stress or while feeling unwell, the researchers found that air pollution made bees sluggish in their daily activities and could be shortening their lives.</p>
<h2>Unhealthy bees in Bangalore</h2>
<p>India is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264662/top-producers-of-fresh-vegetables-worldwide/">largest producers</a> of fruit and vegetables. Essential to that success are pollinator species like the giant Asian honey bee. Unlike the managed European honey bee, these bees are predominantly wild and regularly resist humans and other animals eager to harvest their honey. Colonies can migrate over hundreds of kilometres within a year, pollinating a vast range of wild plants and crops across India. </p>
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<img alt="An exposed comb hive hanging from a tree branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351979/original/file-20200810-14-3naz2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A giant honey bee hive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Natural_Beehive_and_Honeycombs.jpg">Muhammad Mahdi Karim</a></span>
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<p>Researchers studied how this species was faring in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where air pollution records have been <a href="https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/cover-story/you-think-delhi-is-polluted-bengalurus-pollution-levels-will-leave-you-breathless/articleshow/69065577.cms">reported as</a> some of the highest in the country. The giant Asian honey bees were observed and collected across four sites in the city over three years. Each had different standards of air pollution. </p>
<p>The number of bees visiting flowers was significantly lower in the most polluted sites, possibly reducing how much plants in these places were pollinated. Bees from these sites died faster after capture, and, like houses in a dirty city, were partly covered in traces of arsenic and lead. They had arrhythmic heartbeats, fewer immune cells, and were more likely to show signs of stress.</p>
<p>There are some caveats to consider, though. For one thing, areas with high pollution might have had fewer flowering plants, meaning bees were less likely to seek them out. Also, the researchers looked at the health of honey bees in parts of the city purely based on different levels of measured pollution. They couldn’t isolate the effect of the pollution with absolute certainty – there may have been hidden factors behind the unhealthy bees they uncovered. </p>
<p>But, crucially, it wasn’t just bees that showed this trend. In a follow-up experiment, the study’s authors placed cages of fruit flies at the same sites. Just like the bees, the flies became coated in pollutants, died quicker where there was more air pollution, and showed higher levels of stress.</p>
<p>The threat posed by pesticides is well known. But if air pollution is also affecting the health of a range of pollinating insects, what does that mean for ecosystems and food production?</p>
<h2>Fewer cars, more flowers</h2>
<p>Our diets would be severely limited if insects like honey bees were impaired in their pollinating duties, but the threat to entire ecosystems of losing these species is even more grave. Crop plants account for less than 0.1% of all flowering species, yet 85% of flowering plants are <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.464.6928&rep=rep1&type=pdf">pollinated by</a> bees and other species. </p>
<p>Giant Asian honey bees like the ones in Bangalore form large, aggressive colonies that can move between urban, farmed and forest habitats. These journeys expose them to very different levels of pollution, but the colonies of most other types of wild bee species are stationary. They nest in soil, undergrowth or masonry, and individuals travel relatively short distances. The levels of pollution they’re regularly exposed to are unlikely to change very much from one day to the next, and it’s these species that are likely to suffer most if they live in towns or cities where local pollution is high. </p>
<p>Thankfully, there are ways to fix this problem. Replacing cars with clean alternatives like electrified public transport would go a long way to reducing pollution. Creating more urban green spaces with lots of trees and other plants would help filter the air too, while providing new food sources and habitat for bees.</p>
<p>In many parts of the UK, roadside verges have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/roadside-wildflower-meadows-are-springing-up-across-the-uk-and-theyre-helping-wildlife-in-a-big-way-120014">converted to wildflower meadows</a> in recent years. In doing so, are local authorities inadvertently attracting bees to areas we know may be harmful? We don’t know, but it’s worth pondering. From September 2020, Coventry University is launching a citizen science project with the nation’s beekeepers to map the presence of fine particulate matter in the air around colonies, to begin to unravel what’s happening to honey bees in the UK.</p>
<p>Air pollution is likely to be one part of a complex problem. Bees are sensitive to lots of toxins, but how these interact in the wild is fiendishly difficult to disentangle. We know <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-014-0308-z">cocktails of pesticides</a> can cause real damage too. But what happens when bees are exposed to these at the same time as air pollution? We don’t yet know, but answers are urgently needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Smith receives funding from the British Beekeepers Association, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 727973 and the British Ecological Society. She is co-Director of the Centre for Pollination Studies at University of Calcutta, India.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Brown receives funding from the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 773921. He has advised DEFRA, Natural England, EFSA, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust on bee health issues.</span></em></p>Honey bees in the most polluted parts of an Indian city were more likely to die sooner and showed clear signs of poor health.Barbara Smith, Associate Professor of Ecology, Coventry UniversityMark Brown, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology & Conservation, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1036842018-10-10T18:37:44Z2018-10-10T18:37:44ZThe informal water markets of Bangalore are a view of the future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239829/original/file-20181008-72110-1hohio1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nischal Masand/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bangalore is home to some ten million people. It might also be the next city to experience “<a href="https://www.thequint.com/news/environment/bengaluru-water-crisis-to-reach-groundwater-level-zero-by-2020-report">day zero</a>”: when it runs out of ground water entirely. </p>
<p>But in settlements just outside the city centre, people already live without municipal water supplies. Our research found that families – largely women – must piece together drinking, cooking and washing water through a mixture of limited tap supply, communally bought canned water, and “water ATMs”. </p>
<p>It takes enormous time, energy and money to negotiate these water markets. Bangalore offers a glimpse of a possible future, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/day-zero-from-cape-town-to-sao-paulo-large-cities-are-facing-water-shortages-98535">more cities around the world</a> approach “day zero”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/day-zero-from-cape-town-to-sao-paulo-large-cities-are-facing-water-shortages-98535">‘Day Zero’: From Cape Town to São Paulo, large cities are facing water shortages</a>
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<h2>Beyond municipal water</h2>
<p>In settlements just outside the city centre, the reach of the official water board <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/residents-of-areas-on-bengaluru-outskirts-say-they-are-being-held-to-ransom/article17764344.ece">is limited</a>. These areas are not serviced by the municipality’s supply of Kaveri River water. Low-income households, <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002589/258968E.pdf">especially migrants</a>, living in these neighbourhoods have to negotiate limited water sources that are available in a narrow window of time.</p>
<p>The Bangalore water board does supply a range of tanker water services. However, tanker water is <a href="http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol7/v7issue1/235-a7-1-6/file">typically used</a> for washing, cleaning, and other household purposes, but not for cooking and drinking. Residents feel that this tanker water is “dirty” and complain that it causes sore throats and gastrointestinal problems when consumed directly.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239833/original/file-20181008-72113-a5e2zs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A water tanker supplies water to a home in Bangalore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>To access drinkable water, some of the more fortunate areas have access to pipe connections where water flows once a week for an hour or so. However, the bore wells connected to these pipes are continually at risk of being depleted.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indias-colonial-legacy-almost-caused-bangalore-to-run-out-of-water-98494">India's colonial legacy almost caused Bangalore to run out of water</a>
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<p>The “lineman” of a given neighbourhood is the one who decides which area will get water from these pipes, and at what hours. However, such decisions are limited by the availability of groundwater, which has to remain untouched periodically to create sufficient “recharge” of groundwater for adequate discharge. This limited supply forces the households to look for elsewhere for drinking and cooking water.</p>
<p>Some places have access to <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/whose-water-atm-is-it-anyway/article8605175.ece">water kiosks or water “ATMs”</a>. These water kiosks are also connected to groundwater sources and water filters. A household pays 5 Indian rupees (INR) for 20 litres of water.</p>
<p>If kiosk water is limited or absent, residents have to depend on “canned” water for drinking and cooking purposes. One such plastic can of 20 litres <a href="https://thewire.in/urban/water-crisis-bangalore-low-income-communities">costs between 25 to 35 INR depending on locality and frequency of purchase</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Men deliver water cans in Bangalore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>The more reputable brands cost as much as 70 INR, which is far beyond the reach of the poor. An average household of five members needs about three to five cans a week.</p>
<p>If a “can” delivery service refuses to deliver to households in one of these remote neighbourhoods, entrepreneurs arise to fill in the supply gap. Geetamma*, who runs a small eatery in one such neighbourhood, buys 20-litre cans in bulk and resells these to households with a small profit margin of 2 INR per can.</p>
<p>When municipally supplied or purchased tanker water is insufficient, households purchase water from private tankers. It is priced at 300-500 INR per tanker for 4,000-5,000 litres. Households collect the water in underground concrete tanks or in 200 litre plastic drums. In some neighbourhoods, residents collectively buy tanker water by pooling resources. The poorest migrants often resort to the collective option, or even to buying in smaller per-bucket quantities of 15 litres for 2 INR.</p>
<p>The range of ways that people access water in peri-urban Bangalore demonstrates that some transactions are formal, some are informal, and that others are a peculiar combination of both.</p>
<h2>A huge cost</h2>
<p>To secure water supplies from all these varied sources, people must spend a <a href="http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/mafias_in_the_waterscape_urban_informality_and_everyday_public_authority_in_bangalore_water_alternatives_2014.pdf">huge proportion of their income</a>. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the monthly spend on water for a low-income household is between 5-8% of total income. Despite this relatively high rate of expenditure, such households are still far below the <a href="http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/150314/15/15_appendices.pdf">minimum target supply of 70 litres per person per day</a>.</p>
<p>This limited water supply also comes at the cost of time. Based on our sampling of experiences in seven neighbourhoods of southeast Bangalore, adult women such as Manjula* typically spend between 3 and 5 hours a week working to secure water supplies – time that could be used to supplement household income.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-other-cities-learn-about-water-shortages-from-day-zero-98996">What can other cities learn about water shortages from 'Day Zero'?</a>
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<p>The water markets in Bangalore rely heavily on interpersonal relationships and collective action. These communities have so far been resilient and resourceful, but the formal and informal systems are in a delicate balance. One big supply-side shock can at any time distort this equilibrium.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgina Drew receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DE160101178).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amalendu Jyotishi and Deepika M G do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On the outskirts of Bangalore, families must piece together drinking water from communal supplies, intermittently available tap water, and “water ATMs”.Georgina Drew, Senior Lecturer, University of AdelaideAmalendu Jyotishi, Deepika M G, Associate professor, Amrita Vishwa VidyapeethamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/984942018-06-20T13:53:27Z2018-06-20T13:53:27ZIndia’s colonial legacy almost caused Bangalore to run out of water<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224026/original/file-20180620-137708-1a8yqwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Well, well, well.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangalore-bengalurus-skyline-dusk-sunset-mahadevpura-1097570915?src=EZdNEN39TvWz8bM1Opahew-1-38">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On hot summer days in Bangalore, India, it is common to see public water taps on roadsides hissing and spurting as water struggles to come out. People crowd around the tap with pots of brightly coloured plastic, burnished brass or steel, waiting for their turn. Many of these people have come from homes without such luxuries as indoor plumbing and will return carrying enough water to last several days. More privileged citizens have water piped to their houses in larger quantities – and more frequently. But even for them, interrupted water supply and rationing have always been a fact of daily life.</p>
<p>Bangalore is perhaps one of India’s most globally visible cities, owing to its reputation as India’s Silicon Valley. Corporate buildings and malls with shimmering glass facades vie for space with residential high rises and villas, bolstering the city’s popular image as a vibrant and booming metropolis with an entrepreneurial young population. But informal settlements and slums coexist alongside this image of prosperity, and residents – poor and affluent alike – face the trials of living in a city starved of water: a legacy of colonial policies that relied on vast technological solutions to solve local problems.</p>
<p>Bangalore is not alone in its water woes – cities across the globe struggle to meet water requirements every day. Although Cape Town’s water crisis <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-19/cape-town-scraps-desalination-barge-plan-as-water-crisis-eases">has eased</a>, residents are <a href="http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/residential-utility-services/residential-water-and-sanitation-services/Residential-water-restrictions-explained">still limited</a> to using 50 litres of water each, per day. Other settlements <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/cape-town-running-out-of-water-drought-taps-shutoff-other-cities/">are also affected</a>. In Mexico City, water supply is frequently interrupted while, in Brazil, São Paulo’s main water reserves were below 15% as of 2017. Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, meanwhile, is facing severe groundwater depletion. Droughts are shaped by each city’s development over time – and these recent shortages have shown just how shaky the infrastructure which supplies their water has become. </p>
<h2>A history of water</h2>
<p>Take <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-cities-were-natures-haven-a-tale-from-bangalore-85411">Bangalore</a>, for example – the city tends to be naturally arid, because of its location in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats hill range. Records from the 6th century onwards <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12685-017-0199-9">show that</a> successive rulers of the city invested in creating an interconnected, community-managed system of tanks and open wells. The shallow aquifers of the wells were recharged by the tanks, across an elevation gradient that harvested rainwater. </p>
<p>Since around 1799, different authorities took control of the tanks – first the colonial state, and later on the independent Indian government. These tanks were the main water supply infrastructure for almost a century, though they faltered during periods of drought and famine. To meet the rising demand, the Municipal and Public Works Departments considered deepening reservoirs or building new ones. By 1885, the city’s water supply was running low, and the colonial government responded by setting up piped infrastructure, bringing water from <a href="http://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/lost-lakes-bangalore">sources 30km away</a> including the Hesarghatta and then the TG Halli reservoirs. But none of these fixes could meet demand for very long. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, given the new dependency on piped water infrastructure, the old tanks and wells <a href="http://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/pulley-pipe-decline-wells-bangalore">became disused</a>, polluted or built over. After India <a href="https://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indianindependence/transfer/index.html">gained independence</a> in 1947, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) was established. In response to the city’s water supply issues, the board floated the idea of pumping in water from the river Cauvery – more than 100km upstream from Bangalore. The project started in 1974 and continues to this day, reaching its fifth stage in 2018. </p>
<p>With the threat that <a href="http://www.sawasjournal.org/download/369/">water would run out</a> still looming large, authorities have since explored other possibilities. In 2016, the state government proposed to divert water from the <a href="https://thewire.in/environment/yettinahole-karnataka-bengaluru-chikkaballapur">Yettinahole river</a>, 300kms from Bangalore. Scientists also explored the feasibility of <a href="http://ojs.udspub.com/index.php/jsupp/article/view/429">constructing a reservoir</a> under the Arabian Sea, to impound that water for supply. The central government of India went a step further and considered <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/centre-plans-to-transfer-surplus-godavari-water-to-cauvery-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/61770355.cms">transferring surplus water</a> from the north flowing river Godavari into the southern Cauvery. </p>
<p>The estimated costs of these large-scale proposals <a href="https://thewire.in/environment/yettinahole-karnataka-bengaluru-chikkaballapur">were massive</a> –– <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-cost-of-interlinking-indias-rivers/">billions of dollars</a> could be spent without delivering guaranteed water security. Instead, the authorities seek to reallocate limited supplies of water – though even that is done unfairly and unevenly. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224032/original/file-20180620-137725-1m8v2vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tanker delivers water in Bangalore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangalore-india-july-15-water-tanker-82300918?src=mo_CUryeWEE4_zTPRvVnWA-1-1">Ajay Bhaskar/Shutterstock.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Piped water supply systems cater only to central Bangalore, while the outskirts rely on alternatives including domestic bore wells or private water tankers, tapping into and depleting deep groundwater aquifers. These services are typically used by the urban poor, but operated on a for-profit basis, which means they actually <a href="https://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/9277/Art7-1-6.pdf?sequence=1">come at higher costs</a> than the heavily subsidised centralised water supply system. </p>
<h2>An alternative approach</h2>
<p>While governments have floundered, Bangalore has seen a resurgence of <a href="https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2012/10/07/a-tale-of-two-lakes-collective-action-in-cities/">citizen-led collectives</a> working to protect and rejuvenate the old tanks and open wells – and open them up to poor and disadvantaged citizens. These collectives have also innovated, exploring how treated sewage can contribute to the supply. In <a href="http://biometrust.blogspot.com/2015/04/jakkur-lake-ecosystem-and-its-challenges.html">Jakkur Lake</a>, for instance, treated sewage is filtered through a human-made wetland and into the lake itself, fostering a healthy ecosystem as well as helping to recharge groundwater. </p>
<p>Initiatives have blossomed online, too: the Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/654818214611691/">Open wells of India and the world</a> is a place where members can upload photographs of any open wells they encounter, along with their location. By documenting many little known open wells which survive across the city and beyond, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the potential such options hold for harnessing and storing rain water. One particularly poignant image was shared by local man Vishwanath Srikantaiah: a massive open well, recharged by the Jakkur lake. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224023/original/file-20180620-137720-nlkd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An open well near Jakkur lake, replenished.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/zenrainman/media_set?set=a.10152984175097555.1073741873.564692554&amp%3Btype=3">S. Vishwanath/Facebook</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The efforts of <a href="http://www.biome-solutions.com/">Biome</a>, <a href="http://icfn.in/">India Cares Foundation</a> and <a href="http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/bangalore-lake-revival-solutions-part-2-21106">Friends of Lakes</a> – combined with the local expertise of traditional well diggers – have restored <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/this-summer-rejuvenated-wells-and-ponds-will-keep-cubbon-park-green/articleshow/63167096.cms">seven public wells</a> within the city’s well-known Cubbon Park. Thanks to an approach that combines local knowledge and innovative problem solving, the wells now produce about 65,000 litres of water per day and help to meet the water demands of the park. </p>
<p>Grand technological visions have proved incapable of meeting Bangalore’s needs since colonial times. But local, community-led measures to manage and replenish water have a good chance of creating a <a href="https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2015/07/02/open-wells-and-urban-resilience/">water-secure, resilient city</a>: an object lesson for those planning cities for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hita Unnikrishnan receives funding from a Newton International Fellowship granted to her by the British Academy and hosted by the Urban Institute, The University of Sheffield. She is also a visiting faculty at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harini Nagendra receives research funding from the Centre for Urban Ecological Sustainability, Azim Premji University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanesa Castán Broto receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Funding, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Landscape Research Group Ltd.</span></em></p>Bangalore’s forgotten water wells are being revived, to help the city overcome centuries-old supply issues.Hita Unnikrishnan, Newton International Fellow, University of SheffieldHarini Nagendra, Professor of Sustainability, Azim Premji UniversityVanesa Castán Broto, Professorial Fellow, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/854112017-10-25T11:44:49Z2017-10-25T11:44:49ZWhen cities were Nature’s haven: a tale from Bangalore<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191341/original/file-20171023-1746-1irrbdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bangalore has a long lasting love history with nature.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Streets_of_Bangalore.jpg">Eirik Refsdal/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We tend to think that <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/cities-are-the-opposite-of-nature-right-heres-a-futuristic-twist-on-that">nature and cities</a> are polar opposites. Yet this is not true. As <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/can-nature-thrive-in-cities/">my research on Bangalore</a> or Bengaluru – India’s IT hub – shows, for centuries, the population of this region grew <em>because</em> of nature, not <em>despite</em> it. </p>
<p>In my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nature-City-Bengaluru-Present-Future/dp/0199465924/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1505483173&sr=8-5&keywords=nature+in+the+city">Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future</a>, I take a deep dive into the ecological history of an Indian city, going way back in the past to the 6th century CE. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/blessings-and-curses-the-construction-of-lakes-in-bengaluru/article7339775.ece">Inscriptions on stone and copper plates</a> show that the starting point for a new village was often the creation of a tank, or lake, to collect rain water – essential and life-giving in this unfavourable low-rainfall environment.
These inscriptions provide fascinating insights into the close relationship that these early residents had with nature. They describe the landscape as consisting of the lakes, the surrounding irrigated and dry land, the “wells above”, and the “trees below”. This three-dimensional view of the landscape, consisting of two major resources, water (lake) and food (agriculture), nourished by nature below (in the form of wells) and above (in the form of trees) is a remarkably holistic conception of nature.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in today’s urbanised India, we have lost all trace of this three-dimensional vision.</p>
<h2>Declining sources of water</h2>
<p>The central areas of Bangalore had 1960 open wells in 1885; today, there are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12685-017-0199-9">fewer than 50</a>. Bangalore also lost many of its lakes, which were considered to be filthy breeding grounds for malaria, and converted to bus stands, malls, housing, and other built spaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187409/original/file-20170925-14625-emv6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sree Kanteerava stadium was built in 1997, where Sampangi lake used to be located before.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sree_kanteerava_stadium,Bangalore.jpg">Shakkeerpadathakayil/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The city’s central <a href="https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/10.18352/ijc.616/print/">Sampangi lake</a>, which supplied water to many parts of Bangalore in the 19th century, was transformed into a sports stadium by the 20th century, leaving behind only a tiny pond for ceremonial religious purposes. As long as lakes and wells supplied water, essential for the activities of daily life, they were worshipped as sacred and protected as life-giving.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191342/original/file-20171023-1738-16uoxdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Furneaux, JH (1895) Glimpses of India. A grand photographic history of the Land of Antiquity, the vast Empire of the East. Historical Publishing Company. Philadelphia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore#/media/File:Bangalore_Cantonment.jpg">Furneaux, Wikmedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rituals celebrating the overflowing of lakes during the monsoon by <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/the-sacred-lakes-of-bengaluru/article7346811.ece">paying homage to the lake goddess</a> kept the importance of lakes in the forefront of people’s imaginations. But once piped water began to be provided in the 1890s, these water bodies began to decay. By the end of the 19th century, wells and lakes began to be polluted with garbage, sewage, and even corpses during times of epidemics and disease.</p>
<h2>Citizens nurturing nature</h2>
<p>What transformed this centuries-long, strong relationship between people and nature? When Bangalore shattered its local loop of dependence by importing water from outside, people forgot the importance of their local sources of water. </p>
<p>Yet, as our research has shown, <a href="http://www.sawasjournal.org/files/v5i32016/2(Volume%205,%20Issue%203,%20March%202016).pdf">Bangalore still needs water just as badly</a> for its resilience. The city has grown so large that piped water from distant rivers can no longer supply all its needs. </p>
<p>Thus resurgent citizen movements across Bangalore have begun to focus on <a href="https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss2/art67/">protecting and restoring lakes</a> in their neighbourhoods, which will also recharge the water below ground. In some low income settlements, where adequate water supply is a constant challenge, community wells, once ignored, are now being assiduously protected and maintained as well.</p>
<p>The same pattern – of an early, close relationship with nature, followed by a break, and later a resurgent interest in the connection – is also playing out when it comes to trees. Early residents did not only focus on water, but also “greened” this dusty, hot landscape of the dry Deccan plateau. <a href="https://scroll.in/article/828228/what-hyder-ali-and-tipu-sultan-had-to-do-with-bangalores-love-affair-with-trees">Successive rulers</a> from the 16th century onwards, and common citizens planted millions of trees over centuries. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187960/original/file-20170928-1483-1qziwkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The number of lakes in Bangalore increased between 1791 and 1888 then rapidly decreased after piped water was brought in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sreerupa Sen</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each settlement was greened with a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19463138.2016.1264404"><em>gundathope</em></a> – a woodlot commonly planted with fruiting trees, jackfruit, mango and tamarind – which provided shade, fruits, firewood for cooking, grazing material for cattle, and occasionally timber as well.</p>
<p>When one tree was chopped down, another was planted to ensure continuity. New areas of the city were assiduously greened by administrators, who planted trees, and residents, who watered and cared for them, benefiting from the services they provided. This practice of greening continued during the British colonial period of governance, and later into the 20th century, after Indian independence. Because of the cool climate of Bangalore – in part due to its location on a plateau, but also because of its lakes and trees, created, planted and nurtured by local residents and rulers over centuries – the city became a chosen location for the British army, and later as a science and industrial hub in south India.</p>
<p>It is no accident that Bangalore, once called India’s lake city and garden city, became the country’s IT capital.</p>
<h2>Soaring temperatures and rising air pollution</h2>
<p>By the late 20th century, this relationship had begun to fray. With rapid growth, roads and other built infrastructure gained importance in the minds of planners. As a consequence, trees were disregarded, and <a href="http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/cover-story/bengaluru-will-lose-not-812-but-2244-trees-from-71-species/articleshow/56989480.cms">felled in their thousands</a> for development projects in Bangalore.</p>
<p>Inevitably, with more private vehicles on the road, and fewer trees, the city became hotter, and the air severely polluted. Citizens soon realised this connection. So did academics. Our research for instance demonstrated that trees cool the air by 3 to 5ºC, and reduce the temperature of the road surface by as much as 23ºC, as well as <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866713000289">significantly reducing air pollution</a>.</p>
<h2>Social media to the rescue</h2>
<p>Yet citizen movements did not fade. In the early 21st century, the nonagerian Honnamma Govindayya has become an epitome of struggles to protect Bangalore’s environment. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187803/original/file-20170927-24225-1ghqos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Honamma Govindayya.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harini Nagendra</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She fought against real estate developers who wanted to convert a local park that her children played in, <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/04/04/stories/2002040400460100.htm">taking a case all the way to the Supreme Court of India</a>. She won and saved a tiny but very important patch of green from destruction. </p>
<p><a href="http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/citizens-save-the-day/articleshow/59207590.cms">Mass citizen protests in recent years</a> have continued and gained significant victories for the city’s green cover, including the reversal of a controversial decision to build a steel flyover, which would have destroyed thousands of trees. </p>
<p>Today these movements are strongly supported by social media. In the flyover case, the twitter tag #steelflyoverbeda (“beda” meaning “no” in the local language, Kannada) went viral, attracting hundreds of followers.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Social media has provided an easier way for once isolated groups of people to connect and coordinate, and often to ratchet up public pressure on nature-blind administrators. Who knows how many would have supported Honamma Govindayya if she had a Twitter account then?</p>
<p>Understanding the history of nature reveals a very different picture from the preconceived idea that, at least in countries like India, where the pressures of development and growth are so large, nature and cities cannot coexist.</p>
<p>Today, this perspective on the ecological history of Bangalore can help city-dwellers worldwide understand why nature in the city is not just important for the metropolis’s past, but also essential for its resilient future.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fz81-iunHu4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A history of resilience, Harini Nagendra.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harini Nagendra receives funding from Azim Premji University for her research. In the past, she has also received research funding for this work from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; Stockholm Resilience Center; USAID PEER; and National Geographic Society. </span></em></p>The population of India’s IT hub, Bangalore, grew for centuries because of nature, not despite it – a lesson that could give hope for the future of our modern cities.Harini Nagendra, Professor of Sustainability, Azim Premji UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.