Water scarcity is a growing challenge, but across India, communities are finding smart ways to conserve every drop. This map takes you through some of the most inspiring efforts—from ancient step wells to modern rainwater harvesting—that are making a real difference in tackling drought and ensuring a sustainable future.
Solid waste management is perhaps among the most overwhelming problems that Indian cities are grappling with today. But while the complexities around waste management in big cities are discussed widely, the challenges faced by smaller Indian cities and towns are even more complex due to limited scale, inadequate funding and institutional capacity constraints. Tier-1 and some Tier-2 cities have set up infrastructure and allocated resources for waste processing, but in general, small cities struggle to do so. As a result, waste processing in these cities is almost negligible, with only a few exceptions.
The rise of fast fashion, coupled with citizens’ limited awareness about waste disposal, has led to a textile waste challenge in Bengaluru. The city generates 220 tonnes of textile waste everyday, which accounts for 4% of its municipal waste.
Managing urban textile waste goes beyond collection, sorting, and recycling — it should also take into account the needs of the frontline workers, the waste picker community. To address this challenge, waste pickers, with support from NGOs, have developed multiple solutions. In the past few years, they have set up Bengaluru’s first textile waste processing centre, a decentralised system to provide waste to this centre, and even a separate upcycling system that fashions new clothes out of waste.
As Indian cities expand, the impact of climate hazards varies widely due to socioeconomic inequalities and political and cultural factors. Cities lie at the forefront of the climate crisis, contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions while also reeling from impacts like heat islands, floods, droughts and public health risks. At the same time, India’s urban population continues to swell – rising about from 32% in 2013 to 36.3% in 2023. By 2050, India’s urban population is projected to reach 53%, adding 416 million people, according to a UN report.
The global dash to green energy is not so green after all. We are uncovering the geopolitics and dark sides of the renewable energy transition while countries race to become the next Green powers.
The world is at a critical juncture, urgently needing to combat climate change—a reality that many experts now label a climate emergency. Countries are racing to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources—like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power—because this shift is more urgent than ever. While Big Oil advocates are still aggressive about their ‘drill-baby-drill’ campaigns, there is a hidden race to be the next Green Superpower (especially with nuclear at the hinge).
A fifth of the cities have seen a reversal in climate extremes, with the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo and the Indian financial hub of Mumbai ‘flipping’ to become far wetter, while the Egyptian capital of Cairo and Hong Kong are steadily drier.
