When Cities were Nature's Heaven - Harini Nagendra

 Kakatiya University Warangal- Degree General English- Sem 5- unit 2

When Cities were Nature's Heaven 

Harini Nagendra

About the author

Harini Nagendra is an Indian ecologist from Bangalore. Nagendra did her PhD in 1997 from the Indian Institute of Science in Ecological Sciences.

Her research focuses on issues of biodiversity, ecology and development, and urban sustainability. Her well-known book is Nature in the City: Banglore in the Past, Present, and Future (2016). She also co-authored the book "Cities and Canopies : Trees of Indian Cities” (2019) with Seema Mundoli.

About the text

She digs into Bengaluru’s past ecological history, beginning in the sixth century CE, in her well-researched book Nature in the City: Banglore in the Past, Present, and Future (2016). The book elaborates on how the dwellers in the Garden City (Bengaluru/Bangalore) understand that nature and cities can coexist and constantly try to preserve lakes and trees. Nagendra examines the transformation of the city into a metropolitan city (India's IT hub) with traffic congestion, diminishing lakes, skyrocketing buildings, and the act of cutting trees in the name of road widening and urban development.

She demonstrates that the inscriptions on stone and copper plates show that early residents had a close relationship with nature and maintained a three dimensional landscape consisting of the lakes, the surrounding irrigated and dry land, the  wells above and the trees below. 

1.Declining sources of water.

Nagendra gives a detailed account of open wells and lakes, especially talking about the Sampangi Lake transformation, which was once used to supply water to Bangalore and is now made into a sports stadium. Lake was worshiped as goddess, and rituals were celebrated during the monsoon. These sacred lakes began to decay and were polluted with sewage and garbage when water was supplied through pipelines.

Early residents focused not only on water but also on greenery. Each settlement was greened with a gundathope, a small plot of land planted with fruiting trees, jackfruit, mango, and tamarind.

2.Soaring temperatures and rising air pollution

The relationship between nature and dwellers began to weaken in the 21st century. Trees were felled for roads and other development projects. Citizens realized the connection between fewer trees and the soaring temperature as the city became hotter.

3.Social media to the rescue.

In the 21st century, Honnamma Govindayya, a 90-year-old woman, fought against real estate developers to protect a local park and won the case in the Supreme Court. Citizens' protests forced the government to withdraw its decision to build a steel flyover, which would have destroyed thousands of trees. These movements are supported by social media.

For the future, one can learn from Bangalore, which has successfully overcome the effects of such unbalanced urban planning.

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