Bengaluru's last USP, its weather, might soon be lost

#Bengaluru’s Last USP - Its #Weather - Might Soon Be Lost!
For all the problems this city has - from traffic jams to crumbling infrastructure, water shortages, to corruption - most citizens staying in the city have one answer to counter all the problems: "But, the weather is great!"
But with unchecked #urbanization and relentless #concretization, even this last USP seems to be slipping away.

If IMD’s forecast is to be believed, Bengaluru is in for a hotter summer this year. The summer onset, which typically happens in March, arrived in mid-February this year! Last year’s acute water crisis had people struggling—if temperatures soar further, we might see a shortage again! BWSSB has already issued orders restraining people from the usage of drinking water for multiple non-drinking use cases.

By the way, how do we solve this rising temperature problem?
As the city heats up, we will rush to buy more Air Conditioners (ACs)! ❄️
- ACs consume high energy, produced by burning fossil fuels!
- ACs release more heat outdoors, increasing city temperatures further
- More heat = More ACs = Even higher temperatures—a vicious cycle!
But in the process, everyone seems to be happy!
- The government would earn tax revenue plus many won't be able to avail the benefit of the Gruha Jyoti scheme!
- The AC industrial ecosystem rejoices, closing the year at all-time high numbers!
- Consumers, at least my house is cool now!

20 years back when I visited the city for the first time, many houses didn't even have a provision for a fan installation! It ought to be like that, the city's green cover was still intact and concretization not as rampant as it is today!
As per an IISc study, Bengaluru’s tree cover has fallen from 68% in 1973 to just 3% today! If we don't act now, even the remaining tree cover will be lost to a new tech park, shopping mall, or apartment!

Sadly next time when someone asks why we prefer to stay in Bengaluru despite so many issues, we won’t even be able to say "At least the weather is great!"

An earlier post on #AQI #Environment - https://lnkd.in/gyG_fh6R