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Cse In News

Chock-a-block Kolkata gets 17k more vehicles in first 2 months of year

A total of 16,975 new vehicles were registered in the city's four regional transport offices in Jan-Feb, over a thousand more than the count for the same period in 2024 and 3,000 more than that in Jan-Feb 2023. The 21.5% increase over three years is driven largely by personalised vehicles, underlining the shift away from public transportation. Experts say the the surge, which is even greater than the pre-Covid peak level of 2019, reflects a decaying of the city's once-robust public transport system. "Trams remain largely discontinued, buses are being phased out without replacements, and infra development is prioritising private vehicles over mass transit," said mobility expert Anumita Roychowdhury of Centre for Science and Environment. Transport officials say the shift to private mobility raises concerns about long-term urban congestion and sustainability. "Once a model public transport city, Kolkata now risks the fate of Delhi and Bengaluru, where traffic snarls persist despite greater road space. This signals an urgent need to rethink urban mobility strategies before congestion spirals out of control," said A K Das, a former transport department chief traffic and transportation engineer. Steady rise in registration at Beltala, Behala PVDs At the centrally located PVD Beltala, new vehicle registrations for Jan jumped 48% over the same month 2023. For Behala RTO, the Jan registrations jump over 2023 was even higher at 55%. Behala has, in fact, witnessed a steady increase in vehicle registrations, with Jan figures rising from 765 in 2023 to 962 in 2024 and 1,189 in 2025. Feb also showed consistent growth, moving from 676 in 2023 to 851 in 2024 and 913 in 2025, suggesting a gradual rise in new vehicle ownership in this region. The Kasba RTO, interestingly, bucked the trend with the number of new registrations in both Jan and Feb dipping. January registrations climbed from 1,777 in 2023 to 2,039 in 2024 but dropped to 1,957 in 2025. February figures, too, moved from 1,656 in 2023 to 1,767 in 2024 before declining to 1,627 in 2025 Salt Lake, another key RTO, exhibited strong growth in January with registrations increasing from 1,771 in 2023 to 2,302 in 2024 and 2,343 in 2025. However, February figures dipped from 2,302 in 2023 to 2,024 in 2024 to 1,878 in 2025.

Jairam Ramesh slams government over air pollution report

The Congress on Sunday criticised the government after a world air quality report ranked India as the world’s fifth most polluted country, and demanded that all “anti-people” environmental law amendments over the past 10 years be rolled back. In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Swiss air quality technology company IQAIR has just released its 2024 World Air Quality Report which finds that India is the world’s fifth most polluted country. The Rajya Sabha MP said in his statement that according to the report, India’s population-weighted average concentration of fine particulate matter is 50.6 µg/m3 which is 10 times the WHO’s annual guideline level of 5 µg/m3. He claimed that according to the report, 74 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities are in India, and national capital New Delhi is the second-most polluted city in the world after Brynihat in Meghalaya. “Among the lesser-known tragedies of the non-biological PM’s reign is the rapidly deteriorating air quality nationally and the inattentiveness and policy chaos that has characterised the government’s response to it,” he said in his statement. Ramesh cited several studies in the past about air pollution-linked fatalities in the country. In early July 2024, he said, a study published in the prestigious Lancet journal showed that 7.2 percent of all deaths in India are associated with air pollution which comes about 34,000 deaths each year in just 10 cities. The former environment minister said that around the same time, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment revealed that the government’s interventions in pollution control are poorly designed, with the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) largely focused on mitigating road dust rather than industrial, vehicular, and biomass emissions -- the source of PM 2.5 that are the leading causes of mortality. To make matters worse, in the last five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has left more than 75 percent of the Environment Protection Charge (EPC) and Environmental Compensation (EC) funds unspent, he claimed, adding that in total `665.75 Crores have been left unutilised.

Cong hits out at BJP’s “denial mode” on India’air pollution crisis

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday criticised the Centre for its handling of India's worsening air pollution crisis, highlighting alarming statistics and calling for urgent policy reforms. His remarks come in response to the 2024 World Air Quality Report by Swiss air technology company IQAir, which ranks India as the fifth most polluted country globally. The report reveals that 74 of the world's 100 most polluted cities are in India, with New Delhi as the second-most polluted city worldwide, following Byrnihat in Meghalaya. "Among the lesser-known tragedies of the non-biological PM's reign is the rapidly deteriorating air quality nationally and the inattentiveness and policy chaos that has characterised the government's response to it," the Congress leader said. The AIIC general secretary quoted a Lancet study published in June, 2024, pointing out that air pollution is responsible for 7.2% of all deaths in India, with approximately 34,000 deaths annually across ten cities. Senior Congress leader Ramesh accused the government of being in denial mode over the deaths due to pollution in the country. He cited an instance of 29th July 2024, wherein upon being asked a question about the Lancet study, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change had "made the shocking claim in the Rajya Sabha that there was no conclusive data to directly correlate air pollution and deaths." He also highlighted a last year's study by the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences, stating that in districts where air pollution exceeds National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), there is a 13percent increase in premature mortality for adults and around 100percent increase in mortality for children. He said the data unraveled the "worst kept secret in India - that air pollution is costing thousands of Indians their lives and health." He said, "The government’s modus operandi is to deny that there is a real air pollution-linked mortality problem, under fund programmes targeted at mitigating pollution, fail to utilize the resources that it allocates, and misuse the funds that do get spent." According to the Congress leader, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment in July 2024 revealed that the government's National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) has been ineffective. In the last five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) left over 75 per cent of the Environment Protection Charge (EPC) and Environmental Compensation (EC) funds (Rs 665.75 crore) unutilised. The Congress leader also criticised NCAP's focus on controlling road dust while failing to address the primary sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution—industrial, vehicular, and biomass emissions—which he said are the leading causes of pollution-related deaths.

One more tiger reserve: why India needs them, the challenges some face

Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, was declared a tiger reserve earlier this month, taking the tally of such reserves in the country to 58. The latest tiger reserve is spread over an area of 1,651 sq km, and currently has six tigers, including a cub. It is hoped that the notification of the new reserve will aid the movement of tigers in the Ranthambore-Kuno-Madhav National Park corridor, identified as a promising habitat for a growing tiger population. What is Project Tiger? Although native elites in India had been hunting big game for millennia, it was during British rule that this activity reached an unprecedented scale. Even after Independence, big game hunting flourished among Indian elites and tourists. For tigers, the apex predator of India’s forests, this had huge consequences. An alarm about declining tiger populations (also courtesy rapid deforestation to carve out farm land) was sounded in the 1960s. In 1969, the Indira Gandhi-led Union government banned the export of tiger skins. The very same year, the landmark 10th assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Delhi saw tigers being recognised as an endangered species, and a resolution being adopted to put a moratorium on their killing. The government also launched a task force to address the issue, headed by the chairman of the Indian Board for Wildlife, Karan Singh. The recommendations of this task force paved the way for the launch of Project Tiger in April 1973, soon after the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was passed. This project was meant to last only for six years initially, but has continued to date. It was aimed at maintaining a viable population of tigers, and preserving their habitat. What is the purpose of tiger reserves? Project Tiger was launched with nine tiger reserves — Manas (Assam), Jim Corbett (now in Uttarakhand), Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Palamau (now in Jharkhand), Ranthambore (Rajasthan), Simlipal (Odisha), Melghat (Maharashtra), Bandipur (Karnataka), and the Sundarbans (West Bengal). These reserves were notified in areas where national parks already existed and were provided funding through a centrally sponsored scheme. The purpose of the reserves was to create a “core” —where felling, grazing, and movement of people, except those involved in conservation activities, was prohibited — and a “buffer zone”, where human activity would be limited, ‘Joining the Dots’, the report of the 2005 tiger task force under Sunita Narain, noted. After amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act in 2005-06, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body, was created for oversight on the implementation of Project Tiger. What is the distribution of tigers in India? India is home to an estimated 3,681 tigers (range 3167-3925), as per the last population estimation released in 2022-23. The big cats occupy around 89,000 sq km area, as per NTCA. That is equivalent to the area of Jordan, and larger than that of Austria. Tigers are broadly distributed across the following “landscapes” — Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains, Central Indian Highlands and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra floodplains, and the Sundarbans. Corbett, with 260 tigers, boasts the largest population of the big cat followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh (135), Dudhwa (135), Mudumalai (113), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Tadoba-Andhari (97), Sathyamangalam (85), and Pench (77). Among states, Madhya Pradesh with 785 has the biggest tiger population, followed by 563 in Karnataka, 560 in Uttarakhand, and 444 in Maharashtra. A recent study published in the journal Science said that between 2006 and 2018, the area occupied by tigers has gone up by 30%, and more interestingly, some six crore people lived in around 45% of the area occupied by tigers. The study revealed that only 25% of the tiger habitats were in the core areas of tiger reserves, while buffer areas accounted for 20% of the big cat’s habitat. What are the areas of concern regarding tiger conversation? Today, there are 26 tiger reserves with a population of more than 50 tigers.

जंगल को जीवन देगी बंजर की हरियाली...वन संरक्षण के लिए जरूरी हैं उठाने ये 3 कदम

वन निःसंदेह प्रकृति ने बनाए हैं लेकिन इनके बाहर मानव ने भी असंख्य उपवन उपजाए हैं। वन संपदा को बचाना है तो स्थानीय समुदाय को उसके श्रम का पारिश्रमिक भी देना होगा अंतरराष्ट्रीय वन दिवस (21 मार्च) के अवसर पर सुनीता नारायण के इस आलेख में जानें भारत में वन प्रबंधन की शुरुआत कैसे हुई और भविष्य के लिए क्या करना चाहिए। सुनीता नारायण, नई दिल्ली। भारत में वन प्रबंधन ब्रिटिश सरकार के दौरान शुरू हुआ था। अंग्रेजों ने सामुदायिक भूमि सरकार के अधीन करके उसका राष्ट्रीयकरण कर दिया था। वन उनके लिए आर्थिक शोषण को पोषित करने का जरिया भर थे। स्वतंत्रता के बाद पहले चरण तक भारत ने इस दोहनकारी व्यवस्था को जारी रखा। दूसरा चरण बीसवीं शताब्दी के आठवें दशक में शुरू हुआ जब वन संरक्षण अधिनियम बना और इसमें संशोधन हुए। इस काल में वनों की कटाई रोकने के लिए जागरूकता पर जोर दिया गया। भारत का वनों के साथ जुड़ने का प्रयास ‘चिपको आंदोलन’ से शुरू हुआ जब ऊपरी हिमालय में रहने वाली महिलाओं ने पेड़ों को लकड़हारों द्वारा कटने से बचाने के लिए उन्हें गले लगा लिया, लेकिन हमने आंदोलन की गलत व्याख्या की। महिलाओं ने पेड़ों की कटाई इसलिए नहीं रोकी कि वे पेड़ों का काटा जाना नहीं चाहती थीं बल्कि इसलिए रोकी कि वे पेड़ों को कब काटा जाए, इसका अधिकार चाहती थीं। उन्हें पता था कि उनका अस्तित्व जंगलों से जुड़ा है। उन्हें चारे और जल संरक्षण के लिए इसकी जरूरत थी, लेकिन हमने आधा-अधूरा संदेश सुना और जब तक यह मैदानी इलाकों में सत्ता के गलियारों में पहुंचाया गया, तब तक और छोटा हो गया। हमने सुना है कि पेड़ों को हर कीमत पर संरक्षित करना जरूरी है। यह नहीं सुना कि हमें एक स्थायी भविष्य बनाने की जरूरत है जो स्थानीय अर्थव्यवस्थाओं के लिए लकड़ी के उपयोग पर आधारित हो! वन प्रबंधन के तीसरे चरण में वनीकरण मिशन की शुरुआत हुई। इसमें देशभर में वनों के बाहर अनुपयोगी बंजर भूमि (वेस्टलैंड) पर पेड़ लगाने पर जोर दिया गया। बहुत जल्द यह स्पष्ट हो गया कि वास्तविक बंजर भूमि वन विभाग के नियंत्रण में आती है। यह भी स्पष्ट हो गया कि वनों का अस्तित्व बचाने के लिए जरूरी है कि लोग अपने मवेशियों को बंजर भूमि पर लगाए गए पेड़ों से दूर रखें। इसी के मद्देनजर संयुक्त वन प्रबंधन की शुरुआत की गई और लोगों को घास जैसे वन उत्पादों पर अधिकार दिया गया। इसके बदले में लोगों को वन भूमि की रक्षा करनी थी ताकि वन बढ़ते रहें। संयुक्त वन प्रबंधन सफल नहीं हो पाया क्योंकि राज्य के वन विभाग की इस योजना में लोगों की भागीदारी सुनिश्चित नहीं हो पाई। वन विभाग भी तभी तत्पर दिखाई दिया, जब वर्षों से संरक्षित पेड़ कटाई के लिए तैयार थे। समझौते के तहत इसका पैसा ग्राम समुदाय को हस्तांतरित किया जाना था, लेकिन देशभर में यह देखा गया कि वन उत्पादों के लिए मिला धन बहुत कम था। यह ग्रामीण समुदाय के साथ मजाक जैसा था। इससे लोगों का भरोसा उठ गया और पेड़ों को फिर से उगाने का आंदोलन नष्ट हो गया। वर्तमान में चौथा चरण जारी है जिसमें वन संघर्ष के स्थायी युद्धक्षेत्र बन गए हैं। अनुसूचित जनजाति एवं अन्य परंपरागत वनवासी (वनाधिकारों को मान्यता) अधिनियम 2006 से इन्हें भूमि पर सामुदायिक अधिकार दिया गया। जनजातीय कार्य मंत्रालय के आंकड़ों के अनुसार करीब 17.1 लाख हेक्टेयर वन भूमि पर इन्हें स्वीकृत किया गया है, लेकिन इस भूमि व अन्य क्षेत्रों में वनीकरण की आवश्यकता पर बहुत कम ध्यान दिया जा रहा है। हमको अतीत से सबक लेते हुए पांचवीं पीढ़ी के वन सुधारों की दिशा में आगे बढ़ना चाहिए। आज निजी भूमि पर उगे पेड़ को काटना अपराध की श्रेणी में है, जबकि भारत अधिकांश लकड़ी उत्पादों का आयात करता है। जापान स्थित अंतर-सरकारी संगठन इंटरनेशनल ट्रापिकल टिंबर आर्गनाइजेशन की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, इस प्रकार के लकड़ी उत्पादों का स्रोत आमतौर पर अफ्रीका व अन्य देशों में जंगलों की अवैध कटाई है। ऐसे में भविष्य में वन प्रबंधन के निम्न तीन एजेंडे होने चाहिए : बचे हुए अति सघन वनों की रक्षा उच्च गुणवत्ता और जैव विविधता से परिपूर्ण अति सघन वन का एक हेक्टेयर हिस्सा खोना भी हम बर्दाश्त नहीं कर सकते। इसलिए इन वनों की बेहद सख्ती से रक्षा की जानी चाहिए और ऐसे क्षेत्रों में किसी परियोजना को मंजूरी न दी जाए। यह बेहद संपन्न वन देश की सबसे गरीब आबादी की रिहाइश भी हैं। इस वन भूमि पर सह-अस्तित्व वाले समुदायों को वनों की सुरक्षा का पारिश्रमिक देना चाहिए। 12वें वित्त आयोग ने 2002 में वनों को संरक्षित करने वाले राज्यों को पुरस्कृत करने के लिए राज्य में वनों के क्षेत्र के अनुसार प्रोत्साहन-आधारित अनुदान की स्थापना की थी। 14वें वित्त आयोग ने इस अनुदान के लिए शर्तें हटा दीं जिसका अर्थ है कि राज्य इसका उपयोग करने के लिए स्वतंत्र हैं। बंजर जमीन पर पेड़ों को काटना-लगाना वन विभाग के अधीन आने वाला विशाल क्षेत्र बंजर रहता है। यह क्षेत्र लोगों और उनके पशुओं का आवास भी है, इसलिए पेड़ लगाने के लिए समुदायों की भागीदारी जरूरी है। वन अधिकार अधिनियम में सामुदायिक वन प्रबंधन का प्रविधान है और अब समय आ गया है कि राज्य इस दिशा में काम करें। इसका मतलब है कि लघु एवं बड़े वन उत्पादों का व्यापार हो। पेड़ों को काटना समस्या नहीं है, समस्या उन्हें फिर से न लगाने और उगाने की है। इस समस्या को दूर किया जाना चाहिए, ताकि घरों व फर्नीचर में सीमेंट, एल्युमिनियम अथवा स्टील के स्थान पर लकड़ी का उपयोग किया जा सके। अगर हम यह काम समुदाय के लाभ के लिए करें तो यह जीवनयापन, स्थानीय आर्थिकी और जलवायु परिवर्तन के लिए भी अच्छा है। वनक्षेत्र से बाहर लाइसेंस राज खत्म करना भारत वन स्थिति रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, लोग अपनी भूमि पर पेड़ लगा रहे हैं लेकिन इस बारे में बात नहीं होती कि यह वृक्षारोपण तमाम मुश्किलों के बाद हो रहा है। आज भारत में पेड़ काटना आपराधिक कृत्य है, भले ही वह निजी भूमि पर उगाया गया हो। भारतीय वन अधिनियम 1927 के तहत वनों के बाहर के पेड़ों से प्राप्त लकड़ी या अन्य उपज को भी वन उत्पाद के रूप में माना जाता है। इसके साथ ही राज्य सरकारों ने इसे अपने कई कानूनों से भी जोड़ दिया है, जो पेड़ों की विभिन्न प्रजातियों की कटाई और परिवहन को नियंत्रित करते हैं। जबकि सच्चाई यह है कि ग्रामीणों के लिए पेड़ बैंक खातों की तरह होते हैं। एक पीढ़ी जरूरत पड़ने पर पेड़ लगाती है और दूसरी पीढ़ी काटती है। (लेखिका पर्यावरणविद् हैं)

A SAGA OF RESILIENCE

Women are the worst impacted by environmental degradation and so are mindful about how to build a better tomorrow. This was the first learning of my environmental career. When I graduated from school in the early 1980s, environment was hardly an issue of public concern. It was certainly not a profession that my friends thought of joining. But environmental issues had reached the global arena. In 1972, the first major world conference on the environment was held in Stockholm. India’s then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was one of the few developing world leaders who attended it. It was also in the 1970s, that news came of the movement in the remote Himalayas where women hugged trees to protect them from woodcutters. The “Chipko” movement, as it came to be known, brought consciousness of how the environment was important for the very poor, particularly the women. My work began with travels to the high Himalayas to understand why the women would want to stop the felling of trees. I began to see the connection between livelihoods and environment. For the millions of women in India, the environment—land, water, forests—was not a luxury; it was about their survival. The gross nature product was more important in their lives than the gross national product. I learnt that rejuvenating the natural asset was the way for economic growth; in fact, it was the way forward for India’s economic growth. The women who participated in the Chipko movement did not hug trees because they did not want them cut by the woodcutters, but because they wanted the first right to cut the trees—it was not a conservation movement but a development movement to build local livelihoods from natural resources. The early years of my career working with Anil Agarwal (founder editor of the magazine) taught me a lot. We travelled to the villages where communities had come together to build a green future. There I saw the difference that good management of forest and water could make to lives. Anil and I quickly learnt to look beyond trees, at ways to deepen democracy, so that these commons—in India, forests are mostly owned by government agencies but it is the poor, particularly women, who use them—could be regenerated. It became clear that without community participation, planting trees was not possible. For people to be involved, the rules for engagement had to be respected. To be respected, the rules had to be fair. This initiation helped me understand the challenges of climate change as well. In the same period, data released by a prestigious US research institution convinced our then environment minister that it was the poor who contributed substantially to global warming by doing “unsustainable” things like growing rice or keeping animals. Anil and I were pulled into this debate when a flummoxed chief minister of a hill state called us. He had received a government circular asking him to prevent people from keeping animals. “How do I do this?” he asked us. “Do the animals of the poor really disrupt the world’s climate system?” We were equally foxed. Our work told us that the poor were victims of environmental degradation. Here they were now, complete villains. How? With this question we embarked on our climate research journey. We quickly learnt that there was not much difference between managing a local forest and the global climate. Both were common property resources. What was needed, most of all, was a property rights framework, which encouraged cooperation. One, the world needed to differentiate the emissions of the poor (from subsistence paddy or animals) from that of the rich (from, say, cars). Survival emissions were not—and could not—be equivalent to luxury emissions. Two, managing a global common meant cooperation between countries. Just as a stray cattle or goat is likely to chew up saplings in the forest, any country could blow up the international climate agreement if it emits beyond what the atmosphere could absorb. Cooperation was only possible if benefits were distributed equally. We then developed the concept of per capita entitlements—each nation’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions—and used the property rights framework to set up rules of engagement that were fair and equitous. We said that countries using less than their share of the global emissions could trade their unused quota and use the incentive to invest in clean energy technologies. In all this, we told climate negotiators to think of the local forest and learn that the issue of equity is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite. Today, we know that climate change is an existential threat. It is happening and it is making the poor—who have not contributed to the making of the problem—more marginalised. To ensure that growth is equitable and that the poor across the world are not denied their right to development, the key is to invest in creating ecological assets—from rainwater harvesting to better food systems that are resilient. We must also redefine what we mean by resilience—often high-input agricultural systems are productive but less resilient. Farmers are more vulnerable to shocks when their debts are high. We need, therefore, to understand the strength of smallholder agricultural systems that are multi-crop, low-input and built for shocks. And this learning, particularly from women who play a vital but often overlooked role in building resilient food systems, must drive policy and practice of the future. (Courtesy: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/; Writer is Director General of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist who pushes for changes in policies, practices and mindsets)

Cong Hits out at govt over Air Quality Report Putting India as 5th Most Polluted Country

The Congress on Sunday attacked the government after a world air quality report ranked India as the world's fifth most polluted country, and demanded that all "anti-people" environmental law amendments over the past 10 years be rolled back. In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Swiss air quality technology company IQAIR has just released its 2024 World Air Quality Report which finds that India is the world's fifth most polluted country. The Rajya Sabha MP said in his statement that according to the report, India's population-weighted average concentration of fine particulate matter is 50.6 µg/m3 which is 10 times the WHO's annual guideline level of 5 µg/m3. Follow our WhatsApp channel He claimed that according to the report, 74 of the world's 100 most polluted cities are in India, and national capital New Delhi is the second-most polluted city in the world after Brynihat in Meghalaya. "Among the lesser-known tragedies of the non-biological PM's reign is the rapidly deteriorating air quality nationally and the inattentiveness and policy chaos that has characterised the government's response to it," he said in his statement. Ramesh cited several studies in the past about air pollution-linked fatalities in the country. In early July 2024, he said, a study published in the prestigious Lancet journal showed that 7.2 percent of all deaths in India are associated with air pollution which comes about 34,000 deaths each year in just 10 cities. The former environment minister said that around the same time, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment revealed that the government's interventions in pollution control are poorly designed, with the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) largely focused on mitigating road dust rather than industrial, vehicular, and biomass emissions -- the source of PM 2.5 -- that are the leading causes of mortality. To make matters worse, in the last five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has left more than 75 percent of the Environment Protection Charge (EPC) and Environmental Compensation (EC) funds unspent, he claimed, adding that in total Rs 665.75 crores have been left unutilised. On 29th July 2024, he said, upon being asked a question about the Lancet study, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change made the "shocking" claim in Rajya Sabha that there was "no conclusive data" to directly correlate air pollution and deaths. He further claimed that in August 2024, a study by the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences used government data from the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS V) to unravel the worst kept secret in India: that air pollution is costing thousands of Indians their lives and health. "In districts where air pollution exceeds National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), there is a 13 percent increase in premature mortality for adults and around 100 percent increase in mortality for children," he also claimed. "This Government's Modus Operandi is to deny that there is a real air pollution-linked mortality problem, underfund programmes targeted at mitigating pollution, fail to utilise the resources that it allocates, and misuse the funds that do get spent," Ramesh said. The Congress leader spelt out some steps the government must take moving forward. "The first step must be to acknowledge the public health crisis linked to air pollution across wide swathes of India. Consequently, given this crisis, we must revisit and totally revamp both the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act of 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) put into effect in November 2009. As per the NAAQS, the permissible concentration of fine particulate matter is 60 µg/m3 for a 24-hour period, and 40 µg/m3 annually - versus the guidelines of less than 15 µg/m3 for a 24-hour period and 5 µg/m3 annually set by the WHO," he said. Ramesh suggested the government must drastically increase the funds made available under the NCAP. The current budget, inclusive of NCAP funding and the 15th Finance Commission's grants, is about Rs 10,500 crores, spread across 131 cities, he said. "Our cities need at least 10-20 times more funding - NCAP must be made a Rs 25,000 crore programme. "The NCAP must adopt measurement of PM 2.5 levels as the yardstick for performance. NCAP must reorient its focus to key sources of emissions - burning of solid fuels, vehicular emissions, and industrial emissions," he said. The former environment minister also suggested that the NCAP must adopt a regional/airshed approach for air quality control, municipal and state authorities must have the governance architecture and resources required to collaborate across jurisdictions. The NCAP must be given legal backing, an enforcement mechanism, and serious data monitoring capacity for every Indian city, beyond the current focus only on "non-attainment" cities, he said. Ramesh also said that Air pollution norms for coal power plants must be enforced immediately and all power plants must install a Fluoride Gas Desulfurizer (FGD) by the end of 2025. "The National Green Tribunal's independence must be restored, and the anti-people environmental law amendments of the last 10 years must be rolled back," he said.

Mindless pollution: Teenagers shocked over sorry state of Umkaliar river

Operation Clean-Up (OCU), a citizens’ group comprising concerned individuals, groups, and institutions committed to cleaning rivers has been at it since 2019. They have been faithfully keeping to the schedule of cleaning up the Umkaliar river every fortnight. Their objective has been to concentrate on the upper reaches of the Umkhrah at the Umkaliar river. Their contention is that if the garbage is trapped before it enters the Umkhrah then there will be less garbage to deal with. Nearly six years down the line, the OCU team is overwhelmed by a deep desperation. So far, neither the MLA of the area where the Umkaliar flows through, nor the MDC has ever thought it fit to lend a helping hand in cleaning up the mess. The only politician who has lent some support to the OCU team was former KHADC CEM, Pyniaid Sing Syiem who visited the site twice with his team and was supposed to construct some barrier by the side of the Umkaliar to prevent people from washing vehicles right in the middle of the river, thereby causing massive pollution. Although OCU had visited a few schools to enlist their support in cleaning up rivers, the only school that responded and has been consistently bringing students to clean the river is KC Secondary School led by its headmaster Brian Wahlang. Other integral members of OCU include Jiva Cares led by Jiwat Vaswani, team Shubham led by Payal Bajaj, Col Shishupal Security Company (CSSC), Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU), IIM Shillong, Meghalaya Home Guards and committed individuals who show up every time a clean-up message is put up. When the OCU team arrived at the Umkaliar on Saturday, they found the river water almost black in shade with tonnes of garbage right in the middle of the river. Further down, women were washing clothes as usual completely unaffected by the fact that they were using dirty and polluted water to wash their clothes in. Mawjop Marwein, a Class 7 student of KC Secondary School, and his friends waded in the river and along with Team Jiva Cares began their cleaning up job in right earnest. Mawjop, with a look of incredulity asked one of the senior members of OCU why people were so cruel to the river. He was teary-eyed and took up the rake to pull out all the garbage from the river. He worked diligently, not stopping to take a breath as if his life depended on it. He looked at the women washing clothes without batting an eyelid and asked his teammates why they were not helping in the cleaning drive. There was no answer and there is no answer. The residents of Nongmensong wash their clothes there every single day and also discard plastic and soap containers in the river. They just don’t care because they think it is not their duty to keep the river clean. And that’s the problem: Citizens think it’s the duty of government to clean up streets, drains and rivers and it is their right to pollute. The OCU team has been pursuing with the KHADC to make car washing in the Umkaliar a punishable offence with a heavy fine to deter such individuals from doing so but the Nongmensong Dorbar Shnong has shown no inclination to stop the pollution of the river within their jurisdiction. The problem with enforcing anything to do with the environment is the lack of cohesion from different stakeholders. It’s time the KHADC, the Dorbar Shnong, the Forest and Environment department and the Water Resources department along with citizens’ groups converge and come up with a master plan that is designed to work. Studies by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi state that Meghalaya is heading for a drought. Before that calamity arrives the state ought to take cogent steps to avert this environmental disaster. KHADC Executive Member in charge of environment, Aibandaplin F Lyngdoh and KHADC Chairman Strong Pillar Kharjana were present to observe the state of the Umkaliar and to figure out what action the council can take to reduce the pollution level.

Cleanest air since Sept 29, Delhi out of GRAP’s grasp

The air quality in the capital recorded a satisfactory range reading of 85 on Saturday due to strong winds and rain and prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to revoke measures enforced under stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The CAQM had imposed the GRAP restrictions on March 7 after the AQI reached 202. Delhiites on Saturday inhaled the cleanest air since Sept 29 last year when the AQI was 76. "The AQI has shown significant improvement due to favourable winds, light rain/drizzling and improved meteorological conditions in Delhi-NCR. Forecasts by IMD/IITM indicate that the average air quality of Delhi to stay in the ‘satisfactory' to ‘moderate' category in the coming days. It was unanimously decided to revoke Stage-I of the extant schedule of GRAP in the entire NCR, with immediate effect," said CAQM in a statement. CAQM wrote on X that Delhi recorded an average AQI of 85, the lowest in the last three years for the period from Jan 1 to March 15. The commission directed all the agencies to take note of various actions and the targeted timelines issued by CAQM to curb air pollution in NCR and take appropriate actions accordingly in the field, "particularly the dust mitigation measures for C&D activities and roads or open areas, which would become a predominant factor in the coming months determining the air quality in Delhi-NCR." The measures under Stage I are preventive in nature, directing govt agencies to intensify measures to control air pollution. This includes intensifying the use of anti-smog guns, water sprinkling and dust suppression measures in road construction, widening or repair projects and maintenance activities, and strict vigilance and enforcement of PUC norms for vehicles. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: "Air quality will be highly variable now as we are transitioning from winter to summer and meteorological conditions will keep changing. But we need to see a firm downward trend in pollution levels...." The city recorded the highest maximum temperature of the year on Friday on Holi. It was 36.2 degrees Celsius, which was seven degrees above normal. However, the maximum on Saturday dipped to 33 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal. No rain was reported from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday. However, SPS Mayur Vihar and Rajghat recorded 1.5 and 1.2mm of rainfall, respectively, till 8.30am on Saturday. However, Safdarjung, Palam and Lodhi Road saw just ‘trace' rainfall till 8.30am on Saturday. The minimum temperature was 18.7 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, on Saturday, compared to 17.6 a day earlier. There is a possibility of very light rain or drizzle on Sunday. The maximum temperature is expected to stay between 31 and 33 degrees Celsius.

Congress targets govt. over air quality report ranking India as fifth most polluted country

The Congress on Sunday (March 16, 2025) attacked the government after a world air quality report ranked India as the world's fifth most polluted country, and demanded that all "anti-people" environmental law amendments over the past 10 years be rolled back. In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Swiss air quality technology company IQAIR has just released its 2024 World Air Quality Report which finds that India is the world's fifth most polluted country. The Rajya Sabha MP said in his statement that according to the report, India's population-weighted average concentration of fine particulate matter is 50.6 µg/m3 which is 10 times the WHO's annual guideline level of 5 µg/m3. He claimed that according to the report, 74 of the world's 100 most polluted cities are in India, and national capital New Delhi is the second-most polluted city in the world after Brynihat in Meghalaya. "Among the lesser-known tragedies of the non-biological PM's reign is the rapidly deteriorating air quality nationally and the inattentiveness and policy chaos that has characterised the government's response to it," he said in his statement. Mr. Ramesh cited several studies in the past about air pollution-linked fatalities in the country. Lancet study In early July 2024, he said, a study published in the prestigious Lancet journal showed that 7.2 % of all deaths in India are associated with air pollution which comes about 34,000 deaths each year in just 10 cities. The former Environment Minister said that around the same time, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment revealed that the government's interventions in pollution control are poorly designed, with the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) largely focused on mitigating road dust rather than industrial, vehicular, and biomass emissions — the source of PM 2.5 — that are the leading causes of mortality.

Tackling pollution warrants regional cooperation and an airshed approach

An annual survey on air pollution has presented, yet again, a bleak picture for India. Delhi retained its dubious spot as the world’s most polluted capital in 2024 although India bettered its position from the third to fifth most polluted country, Swiss air quality technology firm IQAir found. Last year’s gains are measly, and eradicating pollution remains a Himalayan task. For instance, the country witnessed 7% decline in concentrations of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5; yet 13 of the 20 most polluted cities including the one with the worst air are in India. More than a third (35%) of Indian cities recorded annual PM2.5 levels that were 10 times worse than the recommended safe limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. Cities adjoining Delhi are among the worst performers, the data shows. In a broader context, Bangladesh and Pakistan suffer a similar fate as India to make South Asia one of the worst regions. Within India, there is a North-South divide. Factors like burning biomass besides coal, and vehicular emissions —the major source of air pollution in Delhi —are common across India. In North India, an added contributor like stubble burning (also practised in neighbouring Pakistan) has been politicised in recent years. The region’s geography also conspires against it. Pollutants emanating in the Indo-Gangetic Plain get mixed with those blowing in from the coast and get trapped as the Himalayas act as a natural barrier.Clearly, air pollution can spread across cities, states, and even countries. Sadly, political expediencies often take over as parties blame each other instead of working in unison. The Aam Aadmi Party, while it was in power in Delhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party have traded accusations for the crisis in the capital. Officials in India and Pakistan too have attributed spikes in pollution to conditions across the border. It therefore warrants regional cooperation and an airshed approach to tackling the menace. The World Bank has supported the government by considering all sources of emissions that fall within the airshed, which it defines as “a region that shares a common flow of air, which may become uniformly polluted”. Steps like curbing biomass burning by promoting liquefied natural gas cylinders should be enforced in rural areas. Air pollution is a health hazard in India, with a Lancet study stating that 1.5 million deaths annually from 2009 to 2019 resulted from long-term exposure to PM2.5. The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in 2019, reported that 95 out of the 131 cities under it had shown improvement. But the bulk of its funds have been spent on reducing road dust, a major part of PM10 which the NCAP evaluation focuses on. Prioritising PM2.5 instead will encourage cities to spend further on limiting more harmful emissions. Delhi is a test case for India. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment showed that the city’s PM2.5 levels in 2024 were more than twice the national ambient air quality standard, despite a dip in farm fires in Haryana and Punjab.

Doubts over climate funding as donors squeeze aid

PARIS: There are growing doubts about a pledge by rich nations to provide more climate finance to poorer nations, as foreign aid budgets are slashed and the US guts environmental spending. Richer nations committed at the UN COP29 summit in November to boost spending on climate action in developing countries to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate. Since then, President Donald Trump has frozen US contributions to the global pot and withdrawn from a funding deal to help developing nations transition to clean energy, among other climate initiatives. The UK, meanwhile, has trimmed overseas aid to raise defence spending, following a slew of similar cuts by climate-friendly governments in Europe. Diplomats and analysts say it remains unclear where the axe may fall, but there are fears that money earmarked for climate finance could be on the chopping block. Laetitia Pettinotti, a climate economist from the think tank ODI Global, told AFP that signs are not good and cuts could be expected. “It’s really hard to see where the money is going to come from,” she said. Difficult road With the United States halting its climate action, expectations have fallen largely on the European Union, historically the third-largest producer of greenhouse gases, and the biggest contributor to climate finance. But the 27-nation bloc is under budget strain, facing US tariffs and trying to ramp up military spending to defend itself and Ukraine, and reduce strategic reliance on Washington. Recent elections meanwhile have seen right-wing populists’ hostile to climate policies make gains across the continent. France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom have all announced recent aid cuts as economic and security priorities shift and budget pressures take hold. The EU “needs to find a new way to prioritise its limited resources, for very legitimate reasons”, said Li Shuo, a climate analyst at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “This will make the climate finance discussion very difficult.” ‘Worrying trends’ Azerbaijan, which hosted the COP29 summit where the $300-billion deal was brokered, is seeking reassurances at a two-day meeting of climate negotiators in Tokyo that starts on Thursday. Yalchin Rafiyev, the country’s top climate diplomat, said he would be asking developed nations if the cuts impacted money “they were thinking or planning to allocate for climate or not”. “We are not sure yet. There was not any concrete kind of climate fund cuts that we have heard from any of the parties. There were only some worrying trends,” he told AFP. He added: “We are opposed to any kind of action that can reduce the funding for climate action.” Brazil, which is hosting this year’s COP30 summit, said it was exploring ways to raise the enormous sums needed for developing countries to wean off fossil fuels and adapt to global warming. According to independent experts, these countries — excluding China — will require $1.3 trillion a year in outside assistance by 2035 to meet their climate needs. Under the Paris Agreement, developed countries — those most responsible for global warming to date — are obligated to pay climate finance, but other countries do make their own voluntary contributions. “Climate finance for developing countries was already insufficient, but the recent cuts to foreign aid budgets represent a renewed challenge,” the COP30 presidency said in a written statement to AFP. ‘Not looking good’ Donors have struggled to meet their climate finance pledges at the best of times, even for commitments well below the $300bn pledged last year. Developed nations provided about $116bn in 2022, the latest year for which official OECD climate finance figures are available. The US provided about 10 percent of that money. Trump’s spending freeze means other contributors will have to make up the difference. Other ways to possibly plug the shortfall — such as greater lending from multilateral development banks like the World Bank — are also in doubt. “You’re going to hear more and more that there simply isn’t money out there to fill up such a big pot… it’s not looking good,” Avantika Goswami, climate change lead at the Centre for Science and Environment in India, said.

Unnecessary consumption of antibiotics falls in Kerala; Centre hails the state model.

Pathanamthitta: The unnecessary consumption of antibiotics has drastically decreased by 20 to 30 percent in Kerala, Health Minister Veena George said. The government had earlier prohibited the sale of antibiotics in medical stores without a doctor’s prescription. The minister was responding to the ndings of the State of India's Environment 2025 report published by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a leading environmental advocacy organisation based in New Delhi. The report hailed Kerala as a model for the nation in raising awareness about the dangers of antibiotic overuse. Efforts are underway to make all hospitals in Kerala antibiotic-smart, the minister stated. The state has launched a massive public awareness campaign about antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—the growing threat posed by microorganisms developing resistance due to excessive antibiotic use. As part of this initiative, health workers are conducting door-to-door visits to educate the public. "We anticipate a signicant change through this initiative," the minister told Manorama. According to the minister, KARSNET (Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Action Plan), Kerala’s AMR surveillance network, is the largest of its kind by any state in India. “Through KARSNET, we are compiling AMR-related data from 59 tertiary hospitals and over 100 spoke hospitals across the state. Kerala is also the only state to conduct AMR surveillance at primary and secondary healthcare levels,” she noted. Veena George also emphasized that the dangers posed by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics are far greater than commonly perceived. "By anticipating this crisis early, Kerala has taken proactive steps that now serve as a model for the entire country," she added. In the report titled State of India's Environment 2025, Sunita Narain, Director General of CSE, praised Kerala’s initiatives in tackling antimicrobial resistance, calling them world-class. She urged other states to follow Kerala’s lead in implementing robust AMR management strategies. The report highlighted several of Kerala’s key measures, including strict enforcement of prescription-only antibiotic sales curbing unnecessary consumption of such medicines and preventing its improper disposal into soil and water. Kerala was also the rst state in India to introduce a state-level AMR action plan in 2018 Several public health centres, including those in Kakkodi, Vattiyoorkkavu, and Ernakulam, have already achieved antibiotic-smart status. In addition, the Health Department has directed pharmacies to use blue-coloured covers for selling antibiotics to distinguish them from other medications. Awareness campaigns have reached households in 43 panchayats, with National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers playing a key role. Kerala has also set a benchmark by establishing antimicrobial committees in 191 blocks,

Reports critical of Ambani’s Vantara vanish, news outlets get suspicious emails, legal notices

Reports about Vantara – the animal rehabilitation centre of Reliance’s Anant Ambani in Gujarat’s Jamnagar – are curiously unavailable, hours after they were published by Deccan Herald, The Telegraph India and The Tribune. These reports had highlighted concerns of a South African animal protection organisation over the large-scale import of animals to Vantara, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 3. TNM has learned that independent news organizations that published similar reports received emails and legal notices pressuring them to take down the story. Mahesh Deka, executive editor of NorthEast Now, told TNM that his firm received a threatening mail, a day after publication of the article, alleging that the news website was inciting violence and hatred against organisations. The mail, signed by one Bilal Ahmad, carried a link of the article and alleged that the website was seeking money to remove it. The next day Mahesh also received messages from multiple PR agencies - based in Mumbai and Delhi - requesting him to remove four articles related to Vantara. "One agency even asked me to publish a paid content, which I refused stating that it was against our editorial policy," Mahesh said. He said that NorthEast Now is not planning to remove any of the articles from its website. The email said, “I came across the website by chance and was shocked at the type of content it is promoting. The website is manipulating people's personal information with the intention of defaming and blackmailing them. It is evident that the website's contents are defamatory and violate the rights of individuals to online privacy and protection. I strongly urge your help center to take action and remove the website as it is promoting terrorism and violates the laws of the land.” The email was signed by a man named Bilal, who listed a mobile number with a Pakistan ISD code. Down To Earth magazine confirmed that they first received an email and call asking them to remove the story. Later, they received a notice of defamation up to Rs. 1,000 crore from lawyers claiming to represent Anant Ambani. It is however unclear whether Deccan Herald, The Telegraph India and The Tribune received any such emails or legal notices. Newslaundry reached out to the chief editors of Deccan Herald and The Telegraph India. Meanwhile, TNM reached out to officials of Vantara for a comment. This report will be updated if they respond.

Africa not net contributor to global emissions, says Veheijen

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to creating an enabling environment for hydrocarbon investments to address energy poverty, emphasising that Africa is not a net contributor to global emissions. Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, spoke on Tuesday during a session at CERAWeek by S&P Global, with the theme: “Policy and people: pathways to a just transition.” The session, chaired by the Head of Market Report & Trading Solutions at S&P Global, Vera Blei, featured the CEO of Tinker Energy Association, Scott Tinker, and the Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain. Nigeria, along with other African and middle-income countries, continues to advocate for a just energy transition amid the global push for net-zero emissions. Under its “Decade of Gas” initiative, the Nigerian government has adopted natural gas as a transition fuel to support economic growth while reducing carbon emissions.

‘Oil & Gas Investments Won’t Make Africa Net Contributor to Global Emissions’

The federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to creating an enabling environment for hydrocarbon investments to address energy poverty, emphasising that Africa is not a net contributor to global emissions. Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, stated this during a session at CERAWeek by S&P Global with the theme: Policy and People: Pathways to a Just Transition. The session, which was chaired by Head of Market Report & Trading Solutions at S&P Global, Vera Blei, featured key speakers including CEO of Tinker Energy Association, Scott Tinker and Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain. On Africa’s role in global emissions, Veheijen, who said Nigeria and other African and middle-income countries, continue to canvass a just energy transition amid the global push for net-zero emissions, maintained that under its “Decade of Gas.” initiative, the Nigerian government has adopted natural gas as a transition fuel to support economic growth, while reducing carbon emissions. Verheijen noted that Africa and other low-income countries contribute only about 3-4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, compared to China and the United States, which account for approximately 30 percent and 13 percent of global CO2 emissions. Together, both countries are responsible for nearly 40 percent of global emissions. Assuring that the government remains focused on creating an attractive investment environment, she stressed that Nigeria’s commitment to fostering a stable investment climate and addressing climate-related risks through clear and transparent policies, was not in doubt. “In Nigeria, we will continue to ensure that we create an enabling environment for investments. On climate change, we recognize the importance of risk perception in our markets and are committed to transparent policies that stand the test of time, enabling the deployment of capital,” she stated. She also underscored the need for greater regional integration to attract capital and enhance market efficiency, adding: “We need to strengthen economic integration across African nations to create a larger, more attractive market for investment. By pooling resources, integrating markets, and leveraging collaboration across the continent and regional blocs, we can drive sustainable development.” Verheijen, who also made a case for data-driven policy for sustainable growth, stressed the importance of better data collection and analysis in Africa to support informed decision-making and policy development. “Even if Africa experiences exponential economic growth and reaches middle-income status, the continent will still not be a major contributor to global emissions. The bulk of emission reductions will have to come from developed nations, which must diversify their energy sources and invest heavily in carbon removal and reduction technologies,” Verheijen said. She further noted that a balanced approach is necessary to ensure that developing economies can utilize their natural resources to drive prosperity, while also adopting climate solutions that enhance adaptability and sustainability. Through strategic investments and policy reforms, Nigeria and the broader African continent aim to bridge energy poverty, attract investment, and contribute to a more sustainable global energy transition.