Impact Of Urbanisation On Biodiversity

IMPACT OF
URBANISATION
ON BIODIVERSITY
Case Studies From India

WWF-India sees its role in urban work as an attempt to reduce the impact of cities on biodiversity and ecological footprint, both of which have implications for the overall conservation goals of the organisation.
Further, given the experience and expertise in dealing with footprint issues, WWF feels there is a greater need to engage with planners, developers and policy makers involved in dealing with urban issues. Author
Kiran Rajashekariah/WWF-India
Published 2011

© WWF-India 2011

Cover photo credit
Sejal Worah/WWF-India

IMPACT OF
URBANISATION
ON BIODIVERSITY
Case Studies From India

Content
1. BACKGROUND

7

Objectives and scope of the study

8

Methodology

9

2. COIMBATORE: A CITY HEADING TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL DISTRESS
Urban land use in Coimbatore

11
13

The Noyyal river: victim of urbanisation

16

Urbanisation and biodiversity

20

Energy use and carbon emissions

24

Institutional framework of governance in Coimbatore

25

3. KOLKATA: URBANISATION AND IMPACT ON ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

27

Urban growth of Kolkata

28

The East Kolkata Wetlands

30

Urbanisation of Kolkata and its impact on the Sundarbans

33

Energy use and carbon emissions

36

4. CONCLUSION

39

5. REFERENCES

43

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank many people who helped in the completion of this study. Special thanks is due to Sanjeev Sanyal for his help in providing the framework for the study and guiding the first phase of the work. Anurag Danda,
Subhro Sen, Mohanraj, Dakshinamurthy, Shiva Subramaniam, Ravi Kumar, and
Tirthankar Mandal also provided helpful support during the field work. Thanks are due to several organisations including the city corporations of Coimbatore and
Kolkata, state forest departments, town planning, and other agencies and individuals who provided information for this report. Special thanks to Ms Aurelie
Shapiro from WWF-Germany for providing exceptional GIS maps on Kolkata.
The

References: Public Works Department, 2001. Environmental status of the River Noyyal basin. Government of Tamil Nadu Rajaguru, P., Suba, S., Palanivel, M., and Kalaiselvi, K., 2003 the alkaline comet assay on fish and earthworm tissues, Environ Mol Mutagen, 41 (2): 85–91 Rajashekariah Kiran., 2007 Commission, Government of India, New Delhi Sahdev, Shashi and Verma, Nilima., 2008 Sanyal, P., Mukherjee, M., and Das, K. L., 2007. Status of sharks, rays, and dolphins of Sunderbans with special views on marine reserve Sinha, M., Mukhopadhyay, M. K., Mitra, P. M., Bagchi, M. M., and Karmakar, H. C., 1996. Impact of Farakka barrage on the hydrology and fishery of Hooghly estuary Sinha Subrata., 1988. Calcutta: problems of growth viable solutions. Science Tech Focus 1: 13–16. Suutari. A., 2009. India-East Calcutta- Making the most of It: Wastewater, Fishponds, and Agriculture. The Hindu., 2003. A glorious system in peril http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/05/19/stories/2003051900900100.htm The Hindu., 2005. Dam drained, 400 tons of fish dead, Chennai edition, August 24, 2005: 6 UNPD., 2006 http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/other-information/Press_Release_WPP2010.pdf, accessed on 15 May, 2010 The Hindu., 2005 http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/05/stories/2005070516370100.htm (accessed on 10/Sept/2011) Water Resource Organisation., 2001