“Wasteland” Classification — Colonial Legacy

  • Government uses colonial-era classification of “wastelands” for western Rajasthan’s scrublands
  • In reality: vital community pastures, medicinal repositories, critical wildlife habitats
  • Provides legal loophole to acquire and divert commons for “green energy” and infrastructure
  • Destroys native ecology under guise of sustainable development

Urban River Encroachment (Dehradun)

  • Rispana and Bindal rivers squeezed into narrow concrete embankments to free land for real estate
  • Natural drainage destruction directly caused devastating September 2025 Sahastradhara cloudburst floods

India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP, 2019)

  • Aims to cut cooling demand by 20-25% by 2037-38
  • Space cooling demand projected to rise 11-fold by 2038
  • Cities must adopt “Cooling Master Plans” with nature-based solutions, low-embodied carbon materials, passive design
  • Energy-intensive ACs emit waste heat, worsening Urban Heat Island effect