AHMEDABAD: Finding it difficult to mitigate heat even with air-conditioning indoors or in the car? Blame it on lack of shade in the city - both by tre.
Are Indiaâs Cities Planning to Be Victims of Climate Change? A Tale From Gujarat
An excerpt from Despite the State: Why India Lets Its People Down and How They Cope by M. Rajshekhar, published by Westland/Context.
Traffic moves along roads in Ahmedabad, India, March 21, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave
Urban20/Jan/2021
The following is an unedited excerpt, published with permission, from Despite the State: Why India Lets Its People Down and How They Cope by M. Rajshekhar, published by Westland/Context, January 2021.
India’s track record on climate adaptive/mitigative urban planning has been dismal. Most buildings and houses use construction material that absorb heat and drive up cooling costs. Cities have low and decreasing tree cover, and rising hard spaces. As Bangalore found in 2017, even after heavy rains, there is little groundwater recharge. In city after city, lakes, which can recharge groundwater, are being killed through real estate development. Little thought