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Delhi logs cleanest April air in 6 years: CAQM data

The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was less than 200 on 23 days in April, logging the highest number of such days in the last six years, barring 2020, which was impacted by the Covid-induced lockdown, said the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Tuesday. AQI below 200 is classified into three categories considered acceptable in terms of air quality. It is “moderate” when the AQI is between 101 and 200; “satisfactory” when between 50 and 100 and “good” below 50, as per the Central Pollution Control Board. Similarly, an AQI over 200 is divided into three categories that are considered in the unacceptable range in terms of pollution. It is “poor” when between 201 and 300, “very poor” when between 301 and 400 and “severe” when over 400. The data, shared by CAQM since 2018 onwards, showed that Delhi recorded 23 such days this month this year, as compared to 17 days last April; zero days in 2022; 18 days in 2021; 30 days in 2020; 12 days in 2019 and eight in 2018. “As a result of favourable meteorological or weather conditions coupled with consistent, comprehensive and concerted efforts by Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas and various stakeholders to control air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi recorded maximum number of ‘good’ category to ‘moderate’ category air quality days in April 2024 as compared to the corresponding period of last six years starting from 2018 (except 2020 - the year of lockdown due to Covid), denoting a marked improvement,” CAQM said in a statement on Tuesday. The average AQI in April this year was marginally worse than last year. The average AQI in April this year was 182. In comparison, it was 180 in 2023; 255 in 2022; 202 in 2021; 110 in 2020; 211 in 2019 and 222 in 2018, it added. “CAQM is working closely with various stakeholders concerned to take effective measures for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution and to improve the overall air quality in NCR,” the statement said. Delhi, much like previous years, was ranked the world’s most polluted capital city in the world in 2023, recording an annual PM 2.5 concentration of 92.7µg/m3, beating Dhaka in Bangladesh (80.2 µg/m3). Though pollution levels in the the capital are worst during the winter months, in the summers, they can also remain fairly high, with the AQI known to touch “very poor” when dust storms hit the city. In addition to the usual sources impacting Delhi around the year in terms of vehicles and industries, dust pollution becomes a pertinent problem during the summer months. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment said though a marginal improvement has been seen this time, these levels were still beyond the permissible standards. “The air quality challenges are different in summer than in winter. In a more open and well-ventilated atmosphere during summers, the impact of dust pollution — especially wind-blown dust increases. This is also the time when the number and frequency of days exceeding ozone standards increases. To combat these, we will require deeper control measures, particularly on combustion sources like vehicles,” she said.

दिल्ली का वायु प्रदूषण अब बन गया नासूर, लोग खतरनाक हवा में सांस लेने को मजबूर; पढ़ें क्या कहते हैं एक्सपर्ट

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एन्वायरमेंट (सीएसई) द्वारा जारी स्टेट आफ इंडियाज रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक दिल्ली में सर्वाधिक 48 मानिटरिंग स्टेशन हैं। इनमें 38 रियल टाइम हैं जबकि 10 मैन्यूल। लेकिन इतनी सघन निगरानी के बावजूद प्रदूषण थम नहीं रहा है। वाहनों के प्रदूषण पर रोकथाम की कोई ठाेस व्यवस्था नहीं है। इस वजह से पीएम 2.5 एवं पीएम 10 भी यहां तय सीमा से ज्यादा रहता है। राजनीतिक स्तर पर आरोप प्रत्यारोप भले जो भी चलते रहें, लेकिन सच यह है कि दिल्ली का वायु प्रदूषण अब नासूर बन गया है। प्रदूषण के कारक भी बाहरी कम और भीतरी ज्यादा हैं। मसलन, दिल्ली के प्रदूषण में सर्वाधिक हिस्सेदारी धूल और धुएं की ही है। पीएम 2.5 एवं पीएम 10 भी यहां तय सीमा से ज्यादा रहता है। हैरानी की बात यह कि सरकारी स्तर पर प्रदूषण से निपटने के लिए याेजनाएं तो तमाम बन रही हैं, लेकिन उनके क्रियान्वयन को लेकर गंभीरता कम ही नजर आती है। विभागीय तालमेल का न होना सबसे बड़ी चुनौती तमाम नियम कायदों के बावजूद यदि दिल्ली में वायु प्रदूषण की समस्या खत्म नहीं हो पा रही है तो इसका सबसे बडा कारण विभागों एवं स्थानीय निकायों के बीच तालमेल न होना है। जमीनी स्तर पर कार्य योजनाओं का पालन नहीं हो पाना दूसरी सबसे बड़ी समस्या है। प्रदूषण की मुख्य वजह सार्वजनिक परिवहन अपर्याप्त है। बसें होनी चाहिए 15 हजार से भी अधिक लेकिन हैं सिर्फ 7,582 बसें। विकल्प के अभाव में ही दिल्ली में निजी वाहनों की संख्या एक करोड़ 10 लाख के आसपास पहुंच चुकी है। सरकार अथवा राज्य प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति के स्तर पर जो कार्य योजना बनाई जाती है, वह जमीनी स्तर पर गंभीरता से नहीं ही ली जाती। इसीलिए अभी भी जगह-जगह कूडे़ के ढेर में आग लगाई जा रही है तो कार्य निर्माण और सड़कों की साफ-सफाई में भी धूल उड़ती रहती है। एयर क्वालिटी मानिटरिंग स्टेशनों का हाल सेंटर फार साइंस एंड एन्वायरमेंट (सीएसई) द्वारा जारी स्टेट आफ इंडियाज रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक दिल्ली में सर्वाधिक 48 मानिटरिंग स्टेशन हैं। इनमें 38 रियल टाइम हैं जबकि 10 मैन्यूल। लेकिन इतनी सघन निगरानी के बावजूद प्रदूषण थम नहीं रहा है। यहां भी फंसा है पेच वाहनों के प्रदूषण पर रोकथाम की कोई ठाेस व्यवस्था नहीं है। प्रदूषण जांच केंद्र प्रमाण पत्र तो जारी कर देते हैं, जांच ठीक से करते नहीं। यातायात और परिवहन विभाग कर्मी भी इनका चालान नहीं काटते। कचरा निस्तारण की उचित व्यवस्था नहीं है। लैंडफिल साइटस का कूड़ा भी आबोहवा को दूषित करता है। ग्रेडिंग रिस्पांस सिस्टम भी बन जरूर गया है लेकिन उस पर ईमानदारी और सख्ती से पालन करा पाने की व्यवस्था नहीं है। दिल्ली के प्रदूषण पर कुछ अन्य महत्वपूर्ण तथ्य 12 जनवरी 2017 को राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र के लिए ग्रेडेड रिस्पांस एक्शन प्लान (ग्रेप) लागू हुआ। जून 2018 को कंप्रेहनशिव क्लीन एयर एक्शन प्लान लागू किया गया। 2017-18 की तुलना में बस यात्रियों में 48.5 प्रतिशत की गिरावट आई है। एक रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक दिल्ली में हर साल प्रति एक लाख लोगों पर तकरीबन 65 लोग प्रदूषण की चपेट में जान गंवा रहे हैं। सरकारी स्तर पर लागू प्लानों की खामियां प्लान के क्रियान्वयन को लेेकर जवाबदेही तय नहीं। विभिन्न कार्यक्रमों के लिए फंड का स्पष्ट प्रविधान नहीं। लोकल स्तर पर उपयोगी एक्शन प्लान का अभाव। हवा को स्वच्छ कैसे बनाया जाए, इस पर ठोस प्लान नहीं। पर्यावरण को प्रभावित किए बगैर विकास कार्य कैसे हों, इस बाबत दिशा निर्देश नहीं। देखिए, सर्दियां छोड़कर बाकी के दिनों में दिल्ली का प्रदूषण कम हो रहा है। ''संतोषजनक'' और ''मध्यम'' श्रेणी के दिनों की संख्या बढ़ रही है, ''गंभीर'' और ''बहुत खराब'' श्रेणी वाले दिन घट रहे हैं। लेकिन हमें अपनी प्लानिंग इसी तरह बनानी चाहिए कि प्रतिकूल मौसम में हालात अनुकूल ही बने रहें। जिस दिशा में काम हो रहे हैं, उससे मैं सहमत हूं। लेकिन जिस स्केल पर काम होने चाहिए, उससे मैं संतुष्ट नहीं हूं। वायु प्रदूषण की रोकथाम के लिए कार्ययोजना व्यावहारिक- दीर्घकालिक होनी चाहिए। जो कारक प्रदूषण की जड़ हैं, उन पर फोकस करना चाहिए। उदाहरण के लिए, इलेक्ट्रिक बसें लाना एवं इनकी संख्या बढ़ाना ही पर्याप्त नहीं है। यह भी सुनिश्चित करना होगा कि लोग निजी वाहन छोड़कर इनमें सफर करें। - सुनीता नारायण, महानिदेशक, सीएसई

A book series by the Centre for Science and Environment explores links between food and biodiversity

In a world where we are increasingly facing weather extremities, the risk of losing our traditional food practices looms large. As does the risk of lifestyle diseases that are on the rise due to the consumption of processed food, high stress levels, and a largely sedentary lifestyle. The New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’s First Food series aims to highlight these important issues, and the series’ recently-released book, its fourth, explores the links between our food with biodiversity, nutrition and livelihood. Titled Future of Taste, it highlights the impact of climate change on food production, and includes unique recipes and ingredients belonging to traditional communities across the country such as the Soliga tribe in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district, Manipur’s Tangkhul Naga tribe, and the Paniya tribe of Kerala. Vibha Varshney, consulting editor, Down To Earth (Centre for Science and Environment’s fortnightly magazine) and editor of the series, explains how the series began with reportage on the link between food and environment. “These stories were a part of Down To Earth, and many of them were on foods foraged locally and seasonally from the wild, and how communities used them to survive periods of distress, such as drought, excessive rain or flood. We have tried to explore the Nature-nutrition-livelihood linkages between the foods that nurture our bodies. The effort is to share knowledge about local biodiversity and how it can be used as food,” she says. The first book, Taste of India’s Biodiversity, which was published in 2013, focussed on the link between food and environment, while the second book Culture of Taste (2017) celebrated the knowledge about the use of biodiversity as food — what and how it could be used. The third book Business of Taste (2019) has stories of the link between food, biodiversity and livelihood. The latest, Future of Taste, is on survival foods, says Vibha. “Our local biodiversity can help us survive a climate-risked world. Our ancestors had this knowledge, and they knew how to use resilient foods to prepare healthy and tasty meals,” she says. The introductory section on millets comprises recipes for ragi shrikhand cannoli by Chef Manish Mehrotra of New Delhi’s Indian Accent; proso millet tikki by Pallavi Upadhyaya, co-founder of agri start-up Sakala Nutrition; a summer vegetable loaf with foxtail millets by Jatin Mallick of Tres restaurant in the country’s capital; and masala roti with browntop millet by G Krishna Prasad of sustainable agriculture movement Sahaja Samrudha; among others. The sections for breakfast, larger meals, pickles, beverages, and sweets have recipes for dishes such as bathua raita, shukto, chow chow curry, chane ka saag, lasoda pickle, sabja kulfi, guava ladoo, jamun shot and sabja lemonade, among others. “Every recipe is prepared, tested and tasted,” says Vibha, adding that the team has showcased nearly 400 recipes through the series so far. “We recently served amrakh ki launj (a chutney prepared from star fruit) at an event and it provided a tarter version of the mango launj we are used to. I also enjoy the aloo gutke tempered with jakhiya, a wild spice from Uttarakhand. This recipe is now a favourite at home too,” she says. “A kheer prepared from black rice from Manipur is yet another favourite specifically because of its simplicity. It is prepared with just black rice, milk, and sugar with a dash of cardamom.” Addressing where India stands, in terms of its agricultural practices, Vibha talks about how farmers generally focus only on a select few crops such as rice and wheat which are consumed more and have assured returns. However, these agricultural practices are input-intensive and not resilient to changes in the environment. “We now frequently hear stories of crop failures due to increased temperature, rainfall deficit and pest attack. This intensive format of agriculture has also decimated the local agro-biodiversity in the country. Many nutritious foods such as bathua (pigweed) are weeded out of the fields.” The nutritional value of many other foods has also been forgotten. “For example, instead of consuming mahua flowers for nutrition, like local communities in many dry regions of the country used to in the past, most of the flowers are now used to prepare alcohol,” she says, adding that through their books, the team hopes to bring local biodiversity “back on the plate and we hope that the increased demand gives farmers a reason to shift to more nutritious and locally adapted crops”. Government-led initiatives have also helped. For example, the push to consume millets, Kerala’s promotion of the jackfruit a few years ago, etc. While a majority of the stories and recipes come from the team’s reportage, CSE also invites scientists, bloggers, nutritionists, politicians, and Government officials to contribute to the books. “Everyone has personal food stories and the ingredients used vary from house-to-house, community-to-community and region-to-region. We maintain the research rigour and ensure that each article brings out the cultural significance of the food/ingredient along with providing information on its linkage toNature, nutrition, livelihood and climate change,” explains Vibha, who is in the process of identifying the sub-theme for the next volume. Priced at ₹950, Future of Taste is available on csestore.cse.org.in

From Planet to Plate: How India's culinary diversity can help you beat the heat and combat climate change

In We Are What We Eat, Alice Waters — a longtime advocate for universal access to healthy and organic foods and proprietor of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California — writes that every decision we make about what we put in our mouths affects not only our bodies, but also our families, our communities and our environment. Set up in 1971, Chez Panisse’s menu runs on the principle that food must be fresh and in season, grown locally, organically and sustainably. Waters’ words came to mind at a recent dinner event where India’s top chefs, such as Indian Accent's culinary director Manish Mehrotra and former ITC corporate chef Manjit Gill, slow-cooked nourishing and healthy dishes with indigenous ingredients. Also on the menu were their personal stories about India’s regional culinary traditions and local cultures. Each story underlined one message: our food choices must be sustainable in a climate-hit world. The event was part of the launch of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) First Food: Future of Taste, the fourth book in the First Food series. The book is a primer on how to survive food shortages brought on by uncertainties in extreme weather events. It has 100-odd recipes from top chefs, food bloggers/influencers and food enthusiasts that include summer vegetable loaf with foxtail millet, vegetable paella made with kodo millet, as well as ragi srikhand cannoli and a sorghum sweet beverage. A common thread runs through the delightfully rich and varied local food traditions of different communities. Consumers must learn from traditional knowledge of local communities, who have, over centuries, experimented with weeds, tree-borne foods, seeds that can be stored for long periods, plants with short lifecycles, and even those parts of plants that are generally wasted to create healthy and nutritious recipes. ‘We need hardy foods to survive the climate-risked world. More importantly, we need knowledge about how to use them,’ says CSE director general Sunita Narain. ‘We must link with the idea of what is resilient. What is that food that is good for the farmer, good for nutrition and good for the environment.'

India banned single-use plastics almost 2 years ago. Did it work?

A nearly two-year ban in India on single-use plastics (SUP) has failed to stem rampant proliferation and manufacturing of such items across the country, analysts say, putting the blame on the authorities’ “weak enforcement on the ground”. SUP products such as plastic bags, cutlery, straws, food packaging, and disposable water bottles were outlawed by the government from July 1, 2022. A senior official at the Federal Agency of Central Pollution Control Board in October 2022 admitted that the measure did not have the desired effect as SUPs, including a banned grade of carry bags, are still circulating in the low-end section of the economy. Analysts say lax supervision and a reluctance across cost-sensitive small businesses to embrace non-plastic alternatives have made the law toothless in a country that generates about 5.5 million tonnes of SUP waste annually, the New Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said in a February report. “During the first few months of the ban, actions were taken for non-compliance. Later, the authorities stopped being as watchful,” said Priti Mahesh, chief programme coordinator of environmental NGO Toxics Link in New Delhi. The regulation could have been successful if different state officials had rolled out a sustained implementation strategy and economically feasible non-plastic substitutes were available, she said.

MCD’s Parking Plan Parked For 3 Years

Three years after the notification of the capital’s parking policy, MCD has not made significant progress on the implementation of the Parking Area Management Plans (PAMP). In 2020, MCD prepared plans for at least 17 colonies and submitted these to Delhi govt’s transport department. Except for four, approvals were not granted for the rest, MCD officials said. Now, MCD has decided to conduct a fresh surveys in the remaining areas as the situation on the ground has changed. Delhi govt has not commented on this matter. The existing circumstances raise questions over the implementation of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)’s direction until Aug 30. The committee has asked urban local bodies to develop ward-wise PAMP and increase or rationalise parking charges to discourage private vehicles during this period. Of the four approved plans, two were implemented in Lajpat Nagar III and Lajpat Nagar Market. Due to changes suggested by local people at the remaining two places — Gulmohar Park and Neeti Bagh — the plans remained stuck. The nod is still awaited for Anand Lok, Aurobindo Marg (IIT to AIIMS), Geetanjali Enclave, Green Park Extension, Kailash Colony, Kailash Hills, Punjabi Bagh banquet halls, Malviya Nagar, Panchsheel Enclave, Safdarjung Development Area, and Siddharth Extension Pocket-B from 2021. While the civic body claims a lack of support from local people, insufficient parking space and other factors affected the implementation of the plans, people argue that the authorities have no will. At Lajpat Nagar III, the parking signs installed for PAMP were being ignored. “The residents demanded changes, and there was resistance. As a result, the plan could not be rolled out properly, and funds spent went down the drain,” a resident said. People were also not in favour of parking vehicles away from their houses. In Lajpat Nagar II Central market, the market association was operating the parking when PAMP was implemented. “We ran the parking as per plan for three years, but recently the site has been tendered out to a private agency, and now, the new contractor will need to ensure the norms are fulfilled,” said Ashwani Marwah, general secretary of the Traders Association, Lajpat Nagar. MCD officials that as a priority, they plan to take up the project at Nizamuddin Basti, where stack parking is operational. “Hundreds come to the dargah in cars and buses. The plans will decongest the area,” said an official. Experts believe that PAMP will be successful only when the civic body ensures citizens' participation. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said that three pilot projects at Lajpat Nagar, Kamla Nagar and Krishna Nagar rolled out successfully. “Two could not survive because of a lack of willingness. The idea is not to legalise parking on internal roads but arterial and sub-arterial roads should be covered. If there is excessive resistance, then regulation and enforcement is an option to automatically decongest the city, which is a long-term objective. In Shahjahanabad, the plan is implemented, and in Karol Bagh, the plan was in force as long as the administration was supervising the project. If the civic body spends funds collected through the rationalisation of parking fees on upgrading parking infrastructure, then people will come forward to support,” she said. The Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, were notified in September of that year. Under the policy, civic bodies were to make PAMPs and regularise haphazard parking in residential and commercial areas. It also recommended a dynamic pricing mechanism for peak and non-peak hours. “Regarding the rationalisation of prices, we have prepared a preamble, and it is waiting for a nod from the standing committee. The city is busy throughout the day, and fixing peak and non-peak hours is not feasible. Increasing parking charges to discourage people from taking out their vehicles is the only solution,” an MCD official said.

तापमान बढ़ने से एनसीआर में जमीनी स्तर का ओजोन बढ़ रहा है: सीपीसीबी

हरियाणा : जैसे ही दिल्ली-एनसीआर में औसत तापमान 40 डिग्री सेल्सियस तक पहुंच जाता है, केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (सीपीसीबी) ने एनसीआर के कई हिस्सों में बढ़ते जमीनी स्तर ओजोन के लिए अलर्ट जारी किया है। सीपीसीबी के आंकड़ों के मुताबिक, एनसीआर में आठ घंटे तक वायु गुणवत्ता का स्तर राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानक 100 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति क्यूबिक मीटर को पार कर रहा है। सुबह 11 बजे से शाम 6 बजे के बीच स्तर में अधिकतम वृद्धि दर्ज की जाती है। यह ध्यान दिया जा सकता है कि आम तौर पर वायु गुणवत्ता का आकलन पीएम 2.5 या पीएम 10 जैसे कणों के संदर्भ में किया जाता है। लेकिन 2023 में, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने पहली बार जमीनी स्तर के ओजोन के लिए अलार्म बजाया, जिसमें कहा गया कि ओजोन एक अत्यधिक प्रतिक्रियाशील गैस जिसके गंभीर स्वास्थ्य परिणाम होते हैं। “हम दैनिक आधार पर वायु गुणवत्ता की बारीकी से निगरानी कर रहे हैं और ओजोन स्तर पर भी नजर रख रहे हैं। सेक्टर 51 मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन, जो औसतन सबसे खराब वायु गुणवत्ता दर्ज करता है, हमारे रडार पर है। हम प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड के निर्देशों का पालन करेंगे, ”गुरुग्राम के उपायुक्त निशांत यादव ने कहा।

Ground level ozone rising in NCR as temperature rises: CPCB

As average temperature in Delhi-NCR reaches 40°C, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has sounded an alert for the rising ground level ozone in many parts of the NCR. According to the CPCB data, the levels in NCR are crossing the national ambient air quality standards of 100 micrograms per cubic metre for eight hours. The levels register the maximum increase between 11 am and 6 pm. The authority has identified six key air quality monitoring stations. Additionally, it has asked the authorities in Haryana and UP to tap their monitoring stations in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, and identify vulnerable ones as the ozone levels are predicted to rise further with soaring temperatures. CPCB’s data shows that the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Narela, Nehru Nagar and RK Puram saw high ozone levels. It may be noted that generally air quality is assessed in terms of particulates like PM 2.5 or PM 10. But in 2023, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) sounded an alarm for ground level ozone for the first time, stating that ozone is a highly reactive gas that has serious health consequences. “We are closely monitoring the air quality on a daily basis and are also looking out for ozone levels. The Sector 51 monitoring station, which on an average records poorest air quality, is on our radar. We will abide by the directives of pollution control board,” said Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, high concentrations of ozone near ground level can be harmful to people, animals, crops and other materials. Ozone can cause irritation in the respiratory system, aggravate chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis, reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off bacterial infections in the respiratory system and cause pulmonary complications. Unlike stratospheric ozone, which forms naturally in the upper atmosphere and protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, ground-level (or tropospheric) ozone is created through the interactions of man-made (and natural) emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides in the presence of heat and sunlight. Cars and gasoline-burning engines are key sources of these volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs also come from consumer products such as paints, insecticides, cleaners as well as industrial solvents and chemical manufacturing. Nitrogen oxides, the other chemical precursor of ozone, are produced whenever fossil fuels are burned and are primarily produced by motor vehicles and power plants. The sun’s direct ultraviolet rays convert these emissions into ground-level ozone. Health impact According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, high concentrations of ozone near ground level can be harmful to people, animals, crops and other materials. Ozone can cause irritation in the respiratory system, aggravate chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis, reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off bacterial infections in the respiratory system and cause pulmonary complications.

Govt issues alert on heat ailments: Anyone showing warning signs should take measures to cool down, says doctor

The state health department has published a few symptoms that should alert people about possibilities of heat-related ailments. Nausea and vomiting, headache, throbbing pain in the head, muscle cramps or weakness in muscles, rapid breathing, redness and dryness of face and the body temperature reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit are some of the symptoms that have been mentioned. The department posted the symptoms on X on Friday morning. Bengal health services director Siddhartha Niyogi said the advisory was meant to alert people. “Common people should know these symptoms. The heat and temperature has risen so much that common people should be aware of certain symptoms,” Niyogi said on Friday. Some of the symptoms mentioned in the advisory precede heatstroke. If people become cautious and take steps to cool down, it could avert a progression to heatstroke, said Chandramouli Bhattacharya, an infectious disease specialist at Peerless Hospital. “All the symptoms will come under the broad range of heat injury, heat exhaustion and heatstroke,” said Bhattacharya. Two of the symptoms mentioned in the health department’s X post are definite signs of heatstroke, he said. These are the body temperature rising above 104 degrees Fahrenheit and fainting after exposure to heat. “Anyone with these symptoms should immediately see a doctor or go to a hospital,” Bhattacharya said. The health department’s post, too, says anyone suffering from these two symptoms must visit a health centre or a hospital. The post also says one should visit a hospital if a muscle cramp persists for an hour or more and the other symptoms keep worsening. Calcutta has been in the grip of above-normal temperatures for at least the past fortnight. The maximum temperature recorded on Thursday was 41.6 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. On Friday, the maximum was 39.7, four degrees above normal. The extreme heat has triggered calls from scientists that the city’s authorities should prepare a heat management plan. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, the executive director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said the health department’s post mentioning the symptoms was an “important step”. “Tackling health emergencies is an important part of the heat management plan. As this comes from the state health department, it will be taken seriously. It will alert people about the possible health risks during very high heat conditions and heatwaves,” said Roy Chowdhury. Scientists earlier told Metro that such extreme heat will continue to recur and the authorities should take steps to make the community more resilient to such situations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations panel, said in its sixth assessment report (AR6 Synthesis Report) published last year that “human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperature reaching 1.1°C above 1850-1900 in 2011-2020”. The report said: “Global surface temperature has increased faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2000 years.” Some people also said merely posting some symptoms on X or issuing an advisory may not be enough. The government should find ways to disseminate the information to a greater number of people.

To cut down vehicular pollution, CAQM seeks parking plan by Aug 30

New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management has asked urban local bodies in Delhi-NCR to develop ward-wise parking area management plan and increase or rationalise parking charges to discourage private vehicles by Aug 30. The commission said though the Supreme Court had directed formulation of a comprehensive parking policy in 2020, nothing had materialised on the ground. Vehicular pollution is one of the prominent sources of pollution in Delhi-NCR. According to a study carried out in 2018, the contribution of transport to PM2.5 in Delhi’s air was 39% and NCR’s air 13%. In an advisory dated April 24, CAQM said the Supreme Court on Aug 10, 2020, had directed the then five urban local bodies in Delhi and other authorities concerned in NCR to frame a detailed comprehensive parking plan for the region. The commission said the apex court also took cognizance of the high contribution of the vehicular sector towards the overall AQI in Delhi-NCR in a series of hearings during the winter months of 2023-24. “During the review meetings chaired by the cabinet secretary on Jan 17, it was recommended rational parking charges, congestion or peak hour charges may be considered for disincentivising use of private vehicles. However, in another meeting held on April 10, it was observed that the rationalisation of congestion and parking charges for private vehicles are yet to be taken up by the urban local bodies in Delhi and NCR,” said CAQM.  Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “This is a very important directive to restrain usage of personal vehicles and to tame congestion and pollution. This much-awaited strategy is needed to organise, demarcate and limit legal parking, penalise illegal parking and apply variable parking pricing to discourage peak time and long duration parking on the street. This requires ward-wise management plans to ensure provision of parking is not compromising the space meant for other road users like walkers, cyclists, green areas, etc. This requires urgent implementation.” We also published the following articles recently Polluting red soil not to be used at Shivaji ParkBMC advises against red soil at Shivaji Park for Maharashtra Day due to pollution. Pollution Control Board orders control. Local residents, April 20 letter, TOI, mechanical power sweeping machines, removal of red soil, Prakash Belwade involved.109574965 Racecourse land measured for Central Park planMahalaxmi racecourse land being measured by city survey for BMC's Central Park. 120 acres to be developed, 91 acres for RWITC. State cabinet approved. RWITC's lease expired in 2013.109448004 Parking row in Delhi's Mayur Vihar: Youth escapes bullet fired at him, man heldVedant narrowly escapes being shot in Mayur Vihar during a heated parking dispute. The 38-year-old suspect is arrested after firing a gun. The police intervene, leading to legal action against Chauhan.109469398

Editorial: High off the hog

NEW DELHI: Earlier this week, the Supreme Court said that the Centre should activate itself against FMCG companies if they employ misleading advertise As per the findings of an all-India survey done by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), 93% of children consumed packaged food, 68% lapped up packaged sweetened drinks more than once a week, and 53% ate these foods on a daily basis. Concurrently,

The Indian villagers who lost their homes to the sea

The gentle roar of the ocean lulled Indian mother-of-two Banita Behra to sleep each night, until one day the encroaching tide reached her doorstep. Behra is among hundreds of people from the disappearing and largely abandoned coastal village of Satabhaya, whose displaced former residents have been officially recognised by the government as climate migrants. She grew up watching helplessly with her neighbours as rising seas, driven by climate change and upriver dams, slowly claimed the land around them. "We were doing well there. We used to catch fish," the 34-year-old told AFP. "But the sea came nearer and took away our homes." Satabhaya is the hardest-hit of several rural idylls along the seafront in eastern Odisha, a state that has also been battered in recent decades by tropical cyclones and floods of increasing ferocity. Behra's home is now underwater, 400 metres out to sea, while a few of her neighbours who refused to move live in makeshift thatched huts by the new shoreline. A weathered brick wall is all that remains of what was once a seaside temple to Panchubarahi a locally revered Hindu deity supposed to protect worshippers from natural disasters. Last year the Odisha government announced funds for a resettlement colony in Bagapatia, 12 kilometres inland from their village, giving each family a small plot of land and $1,800 to build a new house. Authorities said the scheme was the first of its kind in India for those forced to leave their homes by climate change. But life in Bagapatia has been tough for the new arrivals: without seas to fish and farmland to cultivate, many are depressed by having lost their self-reliance and way of life. In order to survive, most of the community's men have had to take jobs to work as labourers out of state. Behra's husband is now away 10 months of the year, working on the opposite side of the country and sending money home to provide for their two young children. "We miss him, some days I feel like crying," she said. "But what can we do?" Rising global temperatures driven by human activity have led to a consequent rise in global sea levels with the melting of polar ice caps. Odisha, where millions of people live in coastal settlements along the Bay of Bengal, is particularly vulnerable to the encroaching waters. Satabhaya sits at the mouth of the mighty Mahanadi River Delta and its coasts were once replenished by earth carried by the currents from inland. But an upriver dam-building spree in the decades since India's independence from Britain in 1947 drastically cut the amount of sediment deposited where the waterways met the sea. That left Odisha's coasts vulnerable to erosion and lacking a critical defence against rising sea levels. Across the state, sea levels increased by an average of 19 centimetres in the five decades to 2015, according to a 2022 paper coauthored by researchers from the state's Berhampur University. Tamanna Sengupta of India's Centre for Science and Environment think-tank told AFP that Odisha had the highest number of villages severely impacted by coastal erosion in the country. The crisis had been worsened by the "growing frequency and intensity" of cyclones and floods in the area, she added. "Locals have been displaced and those who remain are at risk of losing their homes to intensifying floods," Sengupta said. India remains heavily reliant on coal for energy generation and is the world's third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, the gas chiefly responsible for rising global temperatures.

Bengaluru’s Water Future

I wrote last time how Bengaluru’s water crisis is human-made. This crisis is not about the lack of water, but about how the city managers have invested in a system that is both capital- and resource-intensive and how this leads to unsustainable water supply and inadequate sewage management. This crisis is then exacerbated by climate change, which is adding to greater variability in rainfall and extreme rain events. What, then, is the way ahead? The key to a water-secure future for Bengaluru, and indeed for all our cities, is that water supply must be affordable. Only then can it be sustainable. In the case of Bengaluru, water is sourced from the Cauvery, some 100 km away, pumped up and transported. This means the cost of water is high. Worse, the longer the distance, the more is the water leakage. In the case of Bengaluru, water leakage is roughly 50 per cent. In Delhi, which also sources its water from a distance and then transports it across the length and breadth of the city, the loss is a whopping 60 per cent. This means, the water that is finally available after leakage or loss, is even more expensive to supply. This also means, industries and households either do not get the supply as the agencies cannot invest in new pipelines; or, if the cost of water is high, they prefer to look for other options—from tankers to digging borewells. In Bengaluru, it is estimated that half the water supply comes from its underground aquifers. The problem is, groundwater is not accounted for—the water and sewage boards discount its usage because they do not control its supply. In most cases, they do not even have any estimation of how much water is being sourced from below the ground, as against the “officially” supplied and billed water. The only way to do the math is to estimate the water demand of the city—this is done on a per capita basis, assuming a quantity for each person’s requirement in different classes of cities. Bengaluru and Delhi, for instance, have recommended water supply of 150 litres per capita per day and 15 per cent over and above this, for leakage. The gap between the “official supply” and demand is then assumed to be from groundwater. But this is often underestimated because the massive losses are not measured. In the case of Bengaluru, the gap is 50 per cent; it will be safely 60-70 per cent after accounting for water leakage. This is where the opportunity lies. If city managers accept that aquifers are a critical source of drinking water and make it part of the city’s water-secure future, it will change the equation. The question then would be how groundwater can be used sustainably. This is where the answer of recharging through rainwater becomes the real kicker. Conservation of lakes, and not just cosmetic beautification, becomes a necessity. The fact is, lakes and other waterbodies are sponges of a city; they hold excess rainwater and recharge the groundwater for times of scarcity. As climate change raises the specter of more rain in fewer days, all cities will need to drain their flood. If cities do this in a way that helps recharge their aquifers, they can survive prolonged periods of water scarcity and drought. Bengaluru, like most other cities of India, had an intricate system of lakes, so that the overflow of one would spill to the next and then the next. But this was studiously discounted because our highly trained water managers only focus on “big” engineering solutions of transporting water in pipelines. The city, over the past many decades, has been fighting a battle to protect its waterbodies—but losing to land development and also to pollution. The 2011 report on lakes submitted to the state high court estimated that there were 189 lakes in Greater Bengaluru and said that not only the lake but even the catchment and drainage need to be protected—without any real success. Lakes can be protected only if they become part of the water-wise futures of our cities. If Bengaluru did not have the mirage of bringing water from 100-km away Cauvery, it would have invested in the protection of its local water systems—from rainwater harvesting to lake conservation. These would then have been part of the water supply infrastructure, making water supply less expensive and thus more affordable. This, in turn, would have required water boards to rework the paradigm of sewage management so that the wastewater could be intercepted locally, taken to treatment plants and then used to recharge lake water. The fact is, we discharge as much as 80 per cent of the water that is supplied as sewage. Its availability is more secure than water transported over distances. This is why excreta matters. But all this requires changing the mindset of our water managers, and I am not sure how many more droughts this will take. (Writer is Director General of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist who pushes for changes in policies, practices and mindsets; https://www.downtoearth.org.in)

Down to earth: report: Fishy deaths, The mystery of large-scale fish fatalities in the Yamuna near Agra and the conflicting official theories

Mr. Prabhanjan Verma under the title “Down to earth: report: Fishy deaths, The mystery of large-scale fish fatalities in the Yamuna near Agra and the conflicting official theories”. Such incidents are common and in the subsequent period, occurrence of incidents has become more frequent and prominent, particularly, close to some townships or populated area.

The curious case of Delhi’s disappearing water bodies

The area next to the primary school run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in East Delhi’s Khichripur is like many other parts of the city: a group of shacks, stinking from the overflowing waste dump, and the cattle rummaging through it. But the nondescript neighbourhood successfully hides a secret – it used to be a water body. Like many others, the location has been categorised for years in Delhigovernment records as an “encroached” water body, without any chance of recovery. It is a small part of the larger story of how water bodies have disappeared from the city’s landscape. Despite Delhi witnessing the worst flood in its history last year, there seems to be no improvement in the miserable state of water bodies in the city, which could hold extra water and help in flood mitigation. Deletion requests In fact, the situation is actually getting worse. Official data accessed by The Hindu shows that the different government agencies that control these areas have requested the ‘deletion’ of 232 water bodies – over 22% of the 1,045 water bodies in Delhi – from the official records, due to encroachment and other reasons. The number of deletion requests received by the Wetland Authority of Delhi (WAD) has increased from 214 in 2022 to 232 in 2024. Data shows that there is hardly ever any recovery of water bodies from such encroachments. Despite calls and messages, the Delhi government did not offer any official comment on the issue. However, a Delhi government official said that they have not yet deleted any water body from the official list despite requests by different government bodies. Ground truthing on Over a year ago, Geospatial Delhi Limited (GSDL), a Delhi government-owned company, used satellite images to identify 321 more water bodies in Delhi. However, the details of these water bodies and who owns them are yet to ascertained, multiple officials confirmed to The Hindu. “After the GSDL sent the list of 321 more possible waterbodies, the Delhi government confirmed using GPS coordinates that these were other than the 1,045 waterbodies as per the existing list. The list was then forwarded to the Revenue Department to do a ground truthing exercise, to confirm their status, but the department is yet to complete the exercise,” an official source told The Hindu. The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has also sent a list of eight more possible water bodies to the WAD, but these are also yet to be confirmed. If all the water bodies are confirmed as different from existing ones, then the total number of water bodies in the city could reach 1,374. No wetlands notified The government is also supposed to notify water bodies that fit the definition of “wetlands”, so that they can get legal protection from encroachments or waste dumping, and to facilitate efforts to rejuvenate them. However, not a single wetland has been “notified” in Delhi, seven years after the Union government came out with the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, which made it mandatory for all States and Union Territories to form State wetland authorities and identify and notify all wetlands, according to officials. Wetlands are vital parts of the hydrological cycle, which support rich biodiversity and provide a wide range of ecosystem services such as water storage, purification, ground water recharge, flood mitigation, erosion control, and microclimate regulation. Victims of unplanned growth Delhi has largely lost its wetlands to unplanned growth and encroachment, according to experts. Depinder Singh Kapur, director of the water programme at the Centre for Science and Environment, said that Delhi had started losing its wetlands from the 1970s, when migration and urbanisation increased. “There were a lot of wetlands along the Yamuna’s floodplains and almost every village in Delhi had ponds. But most of them have been filled up and built over, either by the government or private individuals illegally,” he said. Mr. Kapur said that the government should try not only to monitor existing water bodies, but should also create new ones. “Selected areas should be converted to water bodies, rather than using it for commercial purposes,” he said.