Inspired by Greta Thunberg, Swedish teenage climate activist, 16-year-old student Aman Sharma launched a petition on Change.org in May. He noticed that each successive year was becoming hotter, drier, thirstier, and more polluted. Sharma said he started the campaign to pressure the government as staying silent could impact future survival. His petition has gathered over 170,000 signatures. Sharma's demands to the environment ministry include increasing the country's green cover and meeting commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change did not respond to requests for comment. Supported by film personalities like Nathalie Kelley and Bollywood names, Sharma's next goal is to get Hollywood environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio's attention. DiCaprio shared a photo on Instagram showing women in Chennai struggling to draw water from a nearly empty well, highlighting the daily challenges faced by thousands of residents. The city's water crisis has garnered global attention after its main reservoirs dried up due to poor monsoons in 2018, leading to water rationing. A government report from last year warned that Chennai was among 21 cities at risk of running out of groundwater by 2020, and that India was facing its worst-ever long-term water crisis, putting 600 million people - nearly half of the population - at risk of severe water scarcity. Meanwhile, a heatwave in the north has claimed the lives of at least 36 people this year, with New Delhi recording its highest-ever temperature of 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit). Jitendra Sharma, a popular Instagram influencer based in Mumbai, initiated a petition this week that garnered nearly 300,000 signatures by Friday. He expressed hope that the government would declare a climate emergency, emphasizing the urgency of the situation and pointing to other countries that have already taken similar steps. In May, Britain's parliament declared a symbolic climate change "emergency" in response to a growing activist movement, especially among young people in Europe. Environmentalist Chandra Bhushan explained that a climate emergency involves prioritizing climate change in policy and planning decisions. Bhushan from the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi stated that the Indian government must acknowledge the crisis and develop an action plan. He emphasized that India is facing significant challenges and even if the government does not acknowledge the climate emergency currently, it will eventually have to do so.