Author: Deshwale Science and Environment Desk

मरोल ही क्यों, और क्यों अभी? मुंबई के अंधेरी पूर्व इलाक़े में मरोल की एक ज़मीन पर इन दिनों कुछ हो रहा है। वहाँ क़रीब १५० पेड़ हैं, मलबे का एक ढेर है, और एक ऐसी योजना है जो इस शहर में एक पीढ़ी पहले शुरू हो जानी चाहिए थी। मिठी नदी के किनारे बसी यह १२,९६४ वर्गमीटर यानी क़रीब ३.२ एकड़ की ज़मीन डेवलपमेंट प्लान के तहत ROS 1.4 के अंतर्गत मनोरंजन स्थल के रूप में वर्षों से आरक्षित है। लेकिन यह ज़मीन असल में खाली पड़ी रही। वीरान और उपेक्षित। जो भूमि काग़ज़ों पर एक उद्देश्य के लिए…

A 3.2-acre plot in Marol has 150 trees and a pile of debris. It is also, if things go to plan, the beginning of something this city should have started a generation ago. There is a certain cruelty to the location, and also a certain logic. Marol, in Andheri East, is one of the hottest, most concrete-saturated pockets in an already blazing megacity. After Metro Line 1 was constructed through the area, land surface temperatures climbed from a recorded average of 29.27°C in 2005 to a punishing 38.8°C in subsequent years. The K East Ward, which houses the Marol Cooperative…

The Manipal Academy of Higher Education celebrated National Science Day 2026 with a vibrant science exhibition and a distinguished lecture at its Manipal campus on February 28. The Institution of Eminence Deemed to be University welcomed nearly 350 high school students and teachers from the Academy of General Education, Dr TMA Pai Foundation schools, and other institutions, offering them an opportunity to explore its advanced science and technology facilities. The celebration aimed to spark curiosity and strengthen scientific thinking among young learners. A series of competitions, including science seminars, drawing contests, and model making events, encouraged students to present ideas…

More than 200 residents recently formed a human chain along Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai to protest against the proposed felling of 440 trees for an underpass project at Sanpada. The gathering was peaceful and notably silent. Children, senior citizens and joggers stood shoulder to shoulder, holding placards that asked a simple question: can a city grow without cutting down its shade? At one level, this is a local planning dispute. At another, it reflects a familiar tension in Indian cities between infrastructure expansion and ecological stability. A Community Draws a Line The protest was organised by local environmental…

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), an Institution of Eminence Deemed to be University, will celebrate National Science Day 2026 on Saturday, February 28, at the Dr TMA Pai Auditorium, 3rd Floor, Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal. This annual event honours Sir C. V. Raman’s groundbreaking discovery of the Raman Effect and promotes scientific thinking among students and the community. The celebrations will feature Dr Hoysall N. Chanakya, Chief Research Scientist (Retd.) at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, as the chief guest. A veteran in sustainable technology research, Dr Chanakya has over 40 years…

Environmental restoration in India rarely begins with a grand announcement. It starts with a meeting under a tree, a conversation in a village temple courtyard, or a discussion between residents of an urban housing colony who are tired of living beside a dumping ground or a dying lake. Across the country, such small beginnings are leading to measurable ecological change. In one town, a neglected patch of government land had long served as an informal waste site. During the monsoon, plastic would clog drains and the surrounding area would flood. A group of residents decided the cycle had to stop.…

For centuries, people have imagined lifespans stretching far beyond a century and a half. Legends speak of sages and elders who lived for 150 years or more. Yet modern science, grounded in biology and demographic evidence, tells a different story. While average life expectancy has risen dramatically, The maximum human lifespan appears to have a natural ceiling and it falls well short of 150. The human body is not designed for indefinite renewal. At the core of aging lies a gradual process of cellular wear and tear. Every time a cell divides, it copies its DNA, and each copy introduces…

Beijing cleaned up in a decade. Los Angeles took a generation. Delhi and Mumbai are still debating. On a winter morning in Delhi, the air carries a weight you can feel before you are fully awake. Visibility drops to a few hundred metres. Schools send children home. Hospital wards fill with the elderly and the very young. Politicians call emergency meetings, issue directives, threaten action. And then, in a few weeks, the smog thins slightly, the news cycle pivots, and the city exhales, not from relief, but from exhaustion. Nothing structurally changes. This has been the story for the better…

मुंबई की गर्मियाँ असहनीय होती हैं। कंक्रीट की इमारतों से गर्मी रात तक निकलती रहती है और मॉनसून में नमी पूरे शहर में घुल जाती है। बारिश जब आती है, तो राहत नहीं बल्कि जलजमाव, फंसी ट्रेनें और ठप सड़कें लेकर आती है। इसी मुश्किल भरे मौसम के बीच मुंबई क्लाइमेट वीक २०२६ शुरू हुआ। इसमें नीति निर्माता, कॉर्पोरेट और वैश्विक जलवायु संस्थान के नेता, और नागरिक समाज के प्रतिनिधि शामिल हुए, जो सीओपी३० की तैयारियों पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर रहे हैं। सम्मेलन का उद्देश्य मुंबई को शहरी जलवायु समाधान के लिए प्रयोगशाला बनाना है। मुख्यमंत्री देवेंद्र फडणवीस ने राज्य…

Mumbai’s summers are unforgiving. Heat radiates off concrete towers long after sunset. Humidity wraps itself around the city even before the monsoon clouds gather. When the rains finally arrive, they bring not relief but waterlogging, stalled trains and paralysed roads. It is in this lived climate reality that Mumbai Climate Week 2026 has begun, bringing together policymakers, corporate leaders, global climate institutions and civil society representatives ahead of COP30. The summit positions Mumbai as a laboratory for urban climate solutions. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emphasised Maharashtra’s renewable ambitions and climate resilience strategy. India has already committed to achieving 500…