• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi gets the attention — but Kolkata’s air pollution is just as dangerous

Delhi’s air pollution problems often receive global attention, but Kolkata’s air quality often ranks among the world’s worst. Data show that levels of PM2.5 — small particulate matter that can enter the lungs and harm human health — can be dangerously high in Kolkata. PM2.5 pollution is associated with a long list of heart and respiratory diseases including cancer; data show lung cancer rates in Kolkata to be higher than in other cities. Transportation and diesel pollution are major contributors to Kolkata’s air pollution. Delhi’s air pollution crisis is one of the most talked-about global issues relating to environment and climate change. As a result, a multitude of efforts have been taken to alleviate the smog clouding India’s capital city — from the U.N. taking regular stock of the situation and suggesting steps to control the pollution to the national and local Delhi governments making and implementing policies on the ground — and in the air. However, the same sense of urgency goes missing when it comes to other Indian cities where the air is equally polluted, and at times even more so. Kolkata, one of the largest Indian metros with a population of more than 14 million, is one such city that has been grappling with severe air pollution in recent times. According to a 2022 report on global air quality, Kolkata was the second-most polluted city in the world in 2019 when taking the city’s population into account. During Diwali — India’s Festival of Lights — in November 2023 and throughout the winter, Kolkata’s air quality remained hazardous and unhealthy. Indians celebrate Diwali by burning fireworks, which release hazardous gases into the air. A 2022 study, which assessed air quality over the Indo-Gangetic Plains during the Diwali season, found that sulfur dioxide and pollution from fine particulates known as PM2.5 were the major pollutants produced by burning firecrackers. The study confirmed that emissions from fireworks significantly deteriorate air quality, affecting not just the night of Diwali but also subsequent days. In late 2023, on Nov. 8, four days prior to Diwali, Kolkata was the third-most polluted city globally after Delhi and Pakistan’s Lahore. Then, on Nov. 11, one day before Diwali, Kolkata’s air was reportedly the most polluted of all Indian metros. By Nov. 13, Kolkata once again ranked second in India, behind Delhi, and it was the fourth-most-polluted city worldwide. The bad air continued into 2024. According to the SwitchON Foundation, an environmental conservation group based in Kolkata, the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) has fluctuated in recent times from moderate to poor. By other standards, air quality in Kolkata can dip into the “very unhealthy” zone. According to AirNow, which uses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency categorizations, air quality is considered “good” if the AQI falls between 0 and 50. An AQI of 51-100 is considered “moderate,” 101-150 is “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” 151-200, noted in red, is regarded as “unhealthy,” and 201-300 as “very unhealthy” and 301 or more as “hazardous.” SwitchOn data show that Kolkata’s air quality in mid-January fluctuated between 195 and 271 the entire week — which would put it solidly in the purple “very unhealthy” category, according to AirNow’s ratings. What causes air pollution? AQI, which is a measurement of air quality in a specific area, is calculated based on the most dominant pollutant during a given period. Air pollution can be caused by a variety of pollutants, including gases, heavy metals, volatile organic substances, toxins and particulate matter suspended in the air. The size of a pollutant matters. Larger particulate matter (PM) such as dust, soot or smoke, are known as PM10, meaning they are 10 micrometers (µm) or less in diameter — just a fraction of the width of a human hair — and they are much more dangerous to human health. When considering the air quality in Kolkata, PM2.5 is the most prevalent. Due to their small sizes, both types of particulate matter can be breathed deeply into the lungs, potentially leading to various health problems, including heart disease, stroke and respiratory problems. Long-term exposure can result in lung cancer and adverse childbirth outcomes. It’s a key indicator for assessing air pollution impacts, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to a 2017 study published by MDPI, transportation in Kolkata was the major factor behind the city’s air pollution crisis, owing to an abundance of poorly maintained vehicles and the use of petrol fuel. The issue of vehicular pollution in Kolkata is largely due to the high volume of vehicles that travel daily on just 6% of the available road space. This leads to traffic congestion, which in turn lowers the average speed of vehicles and results in significant vehicular emissions. According to the 2017 paper, “The vehicular population in Kolkata has increased at an annual growth rate of 4%. … The heavy concentration of private motor vehicles has been one of the key reasons for congestion, increased travel times, pollution, and accidents.” Sasanka Dev, an environmentalist, echoed the same. “We have to impose some kind of control over the usage of diesel-run personal vehicles. Also, at a time when the number of vehicles has increased, enough road has not been built. Kolkata has the highest vehicular density among Indian cities,” Dev, joint secretary of Sabuj Mancha (Green Platform), a joint platform of multiple environmental groups in West Bengal, told Mongabay. There were reportedly 4.53 million vehicles plying 1,850 kilometers (1,150 miles) of road in Kolkata in 2023, bringing the number of vehicles per kilometer to 2,448. By contrast, despite having more than 10.3 million vehicles, Delhi’s road length totals 33,198 km (20,628 mi) resulting in vehicular density of less than 400 per km. A 2020 media report, stating West Bengal’s transport department records, revealed that more than 3.3 million vehicles in Kolkata and the surrounding area were run on diesel. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had previously called Kolkata the “diesel capital” of the world, with diesel constituting 45% of total oil consumption by car users in the city. The CSE reported noted that 65% of new cars in Kolkata were diesel, as were 99% of commercial vehicles in the city. CSE warned that black carbon emissions from diesel-run vehicles, with higher carbon content than vehicles run by petrol, were “several times more heat trapping than CO2”. According to the report, “Diesel cars emit seven times more particulates and five times more Nox [nitrogen oxides] and contribute toward formation of ozone – pollutants of concern in our cities.” Exposure to vehicle exhaust among people in Kolkata and Delhi is 3-4 times higher than the world average, according to the report. The European Commission had found that the total pollution expenses over the lifespan of a diesel car that is Euro IV compliant — meaning it adheres to standards introduced by the European Commission in 2005 aimed at cutting down emissions, specifically particulate matter — were significantly greater than those of petrol cars, the report further stated. The WHO categorized diesel emissions as a “class 1 carcinogen” for their strong link with lung cancer — ranking in the same class as tobacco smoking. According to a 2022 study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, Kolkata has one of the highest age-adjusted incidence rates (AAR) of lung cancer for Indian cities outsidse the Northeast (where access to medical facilities is lacking). Among males, the incidence rate of lung cancer in Kolkata was 22 in comparison with Delhi’s 11.8, Chennai’s 11.8 and Mumbai’s 9.5. For females, it was 7.0, while the Delhi rate was 4.0. In Chennai and Mumbai, the figure was 4.7 and 6.0, respectively. Incidences of lung cancer are not just limited to the capital city of Kolkata. A news report in February revealed that lung cancer made up around 14% of all cancer cases in West Bengal, a “worryingly high” rate when compared with the national average of 6%. Dev, 71, added that even though diesel and petrol prices are now almost at par, a few years ago, diesel was way cheaper. “This led to a massive increase in the number of diesel-run vehicles. As a result, more diesel is burnt and more heat-trapping CO2 is released, causing air pollution.” The CSE report suggested that replacing diesel vehicles with CNG was an opportunity to curb air pollution. But the entire state of West Bengal reportedly has only 46 CNG stations, in comparison with Delhi’s 470. Despite high vehicular intensity, nearly half of the working population in Kolkata commutes by bus, bicycle, train and other transit such as auto rickshaws or taxis. The CSE report found that more than one-fourth of the working population walked to their place of work. But due to the high air pollution, walkers and public transport users — who are part of the solution — are also suffering. “Kolkata needs a technology leapfrog, scaling up of public transport, integrated multi-modal transport options, car restraints and walking for clean air,” according to Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE executive director, research and advocacy, and the head of the CSE air pollution control campaign. Consequences of air pollution The WHO estimates that 4.2 million deaths globally are linked to ambient air pollution, mainly from heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. A 2020 paper published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, declared that short-term exposure to pollutants can worsen existing respiratory conditions like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic respiratory sputum, coughing, wheezing and breathing difficulties as well as preexisting cardiovascular diseases such as ischemia, arrhythmias and heart failure. This can lead to an uptick in hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department. “We don’t have to talk about any illnesses air pollution causes to understand its seriousness. It’s directly linked with lung cancer and increased mortality. That should be enough to ring the alarm bells now,” Dr. Aloke Gopal Ghoshal, a pulmonologist and medical director of the National Allergy Asthma Bronchitis Institute, told Mongabay. The former WHO Fellow continued, “Extremes of age — that is, children and senior citizens — suffer the most from air pollution. Air pollution causes irreversible damages to a child’s genes. Even if the air quality improves in later years of that person’s [life], the condition of their genes would not improve. We call this epigenetic change.” Other than its effects on human health, air pollution also has a direct impact on a region’s economy. In India, 1.67 million deaths were caused by air pollution in 2019. (In Kolkata, the 2022 global air quality report found, about 99 deaths per 100,000 people were due to exposure to PM2.5.) According to the findings in a Lancet study, the financial toll of premature deaths and morbidity caused by air pollution in India that year amounted to $28.8 billion (with a range of $21.4 billion to $37.4 billion) and $8.0 billion (with a range of $5.9 billion to $10.3 billion), respectively. “The high burden of death and disease due to air pollution and its associated substantial adverse economic impact from loss of output could impede India’s aspiration to be a $5 trillion economy by 2024,” the study warned.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Election In Pincodes: Ghaziabad votes amid bad air, in shadow of a trash mound

Ghaziabad The lane just off the main road is caked with hay and framed by open sewage lines. The sun beats down on flat-walled buildings that are struggling to keep their posture. Most of their windows are shut. At the far end, a metal wall cuts off the road, but being less than 10 feet high, it is dwarfed by a towering mass of filth. This is the infamous Ghazipur landfill. Surender Sharma zips down the street on his bicycle, stopping at the foot of the cramped lane that leads to his home – a shanty with a tin panel for a roof and a worn tarpaulin sheet for a door. Off his bicycle’s handle hangs a plastic bag of medicines. His chest has felt tight for two weeks, he says. “But I haven’t ever breathed freely.” The 49-year-old was born in a slum at the foot of the landfill. A pair of jet-black sunglasses, usually prescribed to patients after cataract surgeries, sit awkwardly on his face. “I also have an eye infection,” he says, pointing to a vial of eye drops. Sitting on the edge of a sewage line in front of the slum, Feroz Khan cuts him off. “It’s not just you. All of us have eye infections all the time,” says the 24-year-old, who lives near Jama Masjid and runs a dairy in Ghazipur. “And it’s not only our eyes,” Khan adds, pointing to two more people with bloodshot eyes standing by him. “Our skin, our hair -- all of it is ruined.” At the fringe of Delhi’s border with Ghaziabad, the Ghazipur landfill throttles life around it, casting a toxic shadow for miles around. Doctors have, for decades, underscored the harms of living in such a toxic setting – respiratory, digestive, skin and eye illnesses in the short term, as Sharma and Khan have experienced, and a raft of crippling ailments, including cancer, in the longer term. But from the cheek-by-jowl slums around the waste mountain to the gated colonies of Indirapuram that form the Ghaziabad constituency, Ghazipur is just the most visible identifier of an existence orchestrated by pollution – of the air, the water, and soil – and the surprising lack of public and political will to change the status quo. Top of the chartsA heavily industrialised city packed with over 27,000 factories and manufacturing units that spit out hazardous fumes and waste, Ghaziabad is a permanent fixture on national and global air pollution rankings. The 2023 World Air Quality Report by Swiss firm IQAir ranked Ghaziabad as the 35th most polluted city in the world, with an average PM2.5 (a microscopic pollutant that enters and settles in the lungs) concentration of 76.1μg/m³, 15 times above global safe standards. In November, this number spiralled to 191μg/m³, the equivalent of constantly breathing air thick with smoke from a dozen cigarettes. But much like the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR), the city’s travails with pollution are compounded by neighbouring towns. Apart from sharing a border with Delhi, the vast Ghaziabad parliamentary constituency spans five assembly segments – Ghaziabad, Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad (which together form Ghaziabad district) and Hapur. In many cases, the smaller towns don’t even have adequate monitoring systems to measure the toxins its inhabitants are inhaling. But on April 26, when Ghaziabad’s 2.6 million people vote in the Lok Sabha elections, none of this will likely make an impact. “Why will a political party bother?” asks Rakesh Singh, 52, a resident of Khoda in Ghaziabad. “ On the way to the main road, I have to ride my motorcycle through unpaved streets that kick up clouds of dust. I travel to the dairy farms in Ghazipur to get milk every other day. Who knows how contaminated the produce is?”. “Parties are only concerned with national issues. Nobody’s interested in addressing such local problems, whether it’s a general election or a civic one,” says his wife, asking not to be named. By the waysideThe Ghaziabad constituency was carved out of the expansive Hapur segment in 2008. In the elections since, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held a vice-like grip on the seat. In 2009, now defence minister Rajnath Singh won the contest by nearly 60,000 votes. The party’s margin swelled to 550,000 in 2014, when General (retd) VK Singh eased past the Congress’s Raj Babbar. He nearly equalled that winning margin in 2019, defeating the Samajwadi Party’s Suresh Bansal by around half a million votes. In such a seemingly lopsided contest, complex issues such as pollution – which neither have one source nor just one stakeholder, and which doesn’t bring immediate political returns – are often overlooked. Politicians admit that this is true. Sanjeev Sharma, the BJP’s Ghaziabad district president, says that pollution is much less of a voting issue than it should be. “We need a fix. Everybody in the administration is on the same page about this,” he said. “The issue comes up in meetings very often. Bureaucrats, MLAs, ministers, all raise the issue, but arriving at a consensus is a major hurdle.” The Congress agrees. The party’s district president Bijender Yadav stresses that “a clean environment has always been a key feature of the Congress’s developmental agenda”. “We will carve out more parks, plant more trees across the region and crack down on polluting units in Ghaziabad,” Yadav says. But Sanjeev Sharma is not too worried, because he knows that pollution won’t remotely move the vote-count needle. “No matter who the candidate is, we’re confident of sweeping this constituency by more than 500,000 votes.” From dust to dustA dollop of dust coats National Highway 709B in Loni. The corridor slices through the town of around half a million people and bridges Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh with Akshardham in Delhi. Known locally as Saharanpur Road, the highway is the backbone of the town’s economy. Street vendors, shops, offices and malls crowd either side of the sepia-stained street. Yet, even on an afternoon when the town’s local air quality index (AQI) monitors read in the respectable 160s, plumes of dust blur one’s vision. Bablu Mishra, 40, who runs an electronics store along the highway, points to a line of dusty washing machines, refrigerators and coolers. “And this is what it looks like when we cleaned every unit two hours ago,” he says. “Customers walk in and walk out instantly when they see the dust. They think we’re selling old products. Just think – would you ever buy anything so dirty for a special occasion?”. Neither Mishra nor his neighbours have much choice. “I’ve lived here for all 26 years of my life. This town has always been dusty and will remain dusty,” said Sunny, who asked to be identified by a single name and who owns a mobile phone store a few shops away from Mishra’s. Officials at the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) believe much of Loni’s difficulties are down to the construction of the Delhi-Dehradun highway, which started in December 2021. “Controlling dust along this stretch is the National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) responsibility. In November 2023, we fined them ₹25 lakh for letting pollution spiral out of control,” says Vikas Misra, UPPCB’s regional officer in Ghaziabad. The air is just as unforgiving in urban Ghaziabad, for a similar reason. Vikas Singh, 42, a resident of Lajpat Nagar colony, says the near-constant construction work in the city, coupled with the zig-zags of unpaved streets keep the air foul all year. “There isn’t a single local officer I haven’t approached for a fix to the air pollution. Forget the political parties. Even the bureaucrats don’t care.” Thick with industriesPolluting industries are another part of the puzzle. Factories with grey chimneys puff out dark smoke into the Ghaziabad sky at Vijay Nagar industrial area, flanked by residential properties and commercial units. “We’re resigned to breathing such air now, because we have to live with it. But ask anybody in Ghaziabad how long their AC lasts. A couple of years at best,” says Kaveri Pandit, a 24-year-old resident of Crossings Republik. Rakesh Singh from Khoda concurs. “It isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s also a major recurring expense. And if the air does this to an AC, you can only imagine what it’s doing to our bodies.” The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies industrial units into four categories based on the severity of their emissions – red, orange, green and white. Industries categorised red are, at least on paper, subject to the highest thresholds of pollution control measures and monitoring. According to a June 2023 report by UPPCB, 426 units in Ghaziabad were in the red zone. And even as authorities insisted that each of these units were subject to stringent checks, data from 2023 also showed that the city was able to only exact 27% of the fines imposed on its polluting units. Taken together – the landfill, the peri-urban areas choking with infrastructure dust, the urban heartland struggling to manage traffic and construction work, and the industrial areas spewing smoke into the air – Ghaziabad presents a microcosm of the hydra-headed problem that pollution poses in urban India. And it also shows how feeble the official response is in addressing this. “We have to fend off pollution at every step of our lives. But the administrative and civic apathy whenever we raise a concern is even worse. It’s better to take matters into our own hands and sort it out on a local level,” says Vikas Misra. The expert view is that Ghaziabad’s troubles germinated with poor planning. “Allowing industrial units to proliferate in and around residential areas massively increases people’s exposure to pollution, whether of the air or water,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, (research and advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment. “Such industrialisation also promotes development that will only suit these industries. Ghaziabad has, for instance, grown while facilitating the movement of private vehicles – wider roads, more flyovers, more underpasses – but not of pedestrians, or even public transport,” she adds. What’s left unsaid is that many of these polluting activities are key sources of income for large chunks of the population, creating barriers in generating public pressure for action. A 2023 paper by Shikhar Singh and Tariq Thatchill also pointed to two other reasons behind air pollution not becoming an election issue – sensitivity to personal costs from any climate mitigation steps, and hyper partisanship that allows voters to selectively blame politicians for health crises. A complex interplay of these factors is how these issues evade one election after another. Back at Ghazipur, Surender Sharma is only too aware of this, as he takes off his thick glasses to squeeze eye drops out of a green bottle. Khan, standing by his side, is irate. “This was once a park. We used to play here. It was the only patch of green in this place, so they thought it best to turn it into another dumping ground,” he says. But Sharma is calm. “We will all live and die in this squalor. And elections won’t change that.”

• DTE-Hindi

मानव विकास सूचकांक: 134वें पायदान पर भारत, जीवन प्रत्याशा में गिरावट

संयुक्त रा ष्ट्र द्वा रा जा री नवी नतम मा नव वि का स सूचकां क (ह्यूम ह्यू न डेवलपमेंट इंडेक्स) में भा रत को 193 देशों की सूची में 134वें पा यदा न पर रखा गया है। सूचकां क वर्ष 2022 के आंकड़ों पर आधा रि त है। इस सूचकां क में भा रत को कुल 0.644 अंक दि ए गए हैं। जो भा रत को मध्यम मा नव वि का स वा ले देशों की श्रेणी में रखता है। वहीं दूस दू री तरफ स्वि टजरलैंड को इस इंडेक्स में 0.967 अंकों के सा थ पहले स्था न पर रखा गया है। इससे पहले 2022 में जा री मा नव वि का स सूचकां क में भा रत को 0.633 अंकों के सा थ 132वें पा यदा न पर जगह दी गई थी । मतलब की इस बा र भा रत दो पा यदा न नी चे आ गया है। वहीं यदि अंकों के लि हा ज से देखें तो भा रत के स्को र में 2021 के मुका बले 0.011 अंकों का सुधा र आया है। 2022 में,मेंभा रत का लैंगि क असमा नता सूचकां क (जी आईआई) 0.437 रहा , इस इंडेक्स में भा रत ने प्रगति दर्ज की है। यदि वैश्वि क औसत 0.462 और दक्षि ण एशि या ई औसत 0.478 से तुलना करें तो भा रत का प्रदर्शन बेहतर हुआ है। बता दें कि इस इंडेक्स का कम मा न इस बा त का सूचक है कि महि ला ओं और पुरुषों के बी च असमा नता कम है। वहीं यदि 2019 की तुलना में देखें तो भा रत ने मा नव वि का स में उल्लेखनी य प्रगति दर्ज की है। जहां 1990 के बा द से देश में जन्म के समय जी वन प्रत्या शा में 9.1 वर्षों का इजा फा हुआ है। इसी तरह स्कूली शि क्षा के अपेक्षि त वर्षों में 4.6 वर्ष की वृद्धि हुई है। इतना ही नहीं इस दौ रा न स्कूली शि क्षा के औसत वर्षों में भी 3.8 वर्ष की वृद्धि दर्ज की गई है। गौ रतलब है कि इससे पहले 2019 के लि ए जा री मा नव वि का स सूचकां क (ह्यूम ह्यू न डेवलपमेंट इंडेक्स) में भा रत को 189 देशों की लि स्ट में 131वें स्था न पर रखा गया था । वहीं पि छले वर्ष भा रत इस लि स्ट में 130वें पा यदा न पर था । कहीं न कहीं यह इस बा त को भी दर्शा ता है कि भा रत इस लि स्ट में लगा ता र नी चे आ रहा है। यह मा नव वि का स सूचकां क, मा नव वि का स के ती न प्रमुख आया मों स्वस्थ लंबा जी वन, शि क्षा तक पहुंच और जी वन गुणवत्ता को मा पता है। इनकी गणना चा र प्रमुख संकेतकों जी वन प्रत्या शा , औसत स्कूली शि क्षा ,स्कूली शि क्षा के अपेक्षि त वर्ष और प्रति व्यक्ति सकल रा ष्ट्री य आय पर आधा रि त है। 2019 की तुलना में जी वन प्रत्या शा में आई गि रा वट आंकड़ों के अनुसा र जहां वैश्वि क स्तर पर 2022 में जन्म के समय जी वन प्रत्या शा 67.7 वर्ष दर्ज की गई थी । वहीं 2019 में यह आंकड़ा 70.9 वर्ष जबकि 2021 में 67.2 वर्ष दर्ज की गई थी । ऐसे में यदि 2019 से तुलना करें तो देश में औसत जी वन प्रत्या शा में 3.2 वर्षों की गि रा वट आई है। देखा जा ए तो जी वन प्रत्या शा के मा मले में जो रुझा न वैश्वि क स्तर पर सा मने आए थे उन्हें भा रत से जुड़े आंकड़ों में भी स्पष्ट तौ र पर देखा जा सकता है। इसके लि ए कहीं न कहीं को रो ना जि म्मेवा र था , जि सने देश में जी वन प्रत्या शा पर गहरा आघा त कि या है। आंकड़ों के मुता बि क देश में शि क्षा प्रा प्ति के औसत वर्षों को देखें तो वो 2022 में 6.57 वर्ष दर्ज की गई थी । बता दें कि 2021 में यह आंकड़ा 6.7 वर्ष दर्ज कि या गया था । हा लां कि देश में स्कूली शि क्षा के अपेक्षि त वर्षों में इजा फा दर्ज कि या गया है जो 2021 में 11.9 वर्ष से बढक़र 2022 में 12.6 वर्षों पर पहुंच गया । इसी तरह देश में प्रति व्यक्ति सकल रा ष्ट्री य आय से जुड़े आंकड़ों को देखें तो वो 6,951 डॉ लर दर्ज की गई है। वहीं 2021 में यह 6,590 डॉ लर दर्ज की गई थी । मतलब की इसमें पि छले वर्ष की तुलना में इजा फा दर्ज कि या गया है। आंकड़ों के मुता बि क यदि 1990 से 2022 के बी च, भा रत के मा नव वि का स सूचकां क के मूल्यों को देखें तो वो 0.434 से बढक़र 0.644 पर पहुंच गया है। मतलब की इन ती न दशकों में इसमें 48.4 फी सदी का बदला व आया है। समृद्ध और वंचि त समुदा यों के बी च बढ़ रही असमा नता की खा ई इस बा रे में संयुक्त रा ष्ट्र वि का स का र्यक्रम (यूनी डी पी ) ने जो नई रि पो र्ट ‘ब्रेकिं ग द ग्रि डलॉ क’ जा री की है, उसके मुता बि क यह सही है कि जहां 2020, 2021 में को रो ना महा मा री के का रण मा नव वि का स की रा ह में बड़ी गि रा वट दर्ज की गई थी , लेकि न अब 2023 में गा ड़ी दो बा रा पटरी पर लौ ट रही है। यही वजह है कि वैश्वि क स्तर पर मा नव वि का स अपने रि कॉ र्ड स्तर पर पहुंच गया है, लेकि न सा थ ही समृद्ध और वंचि त समुदा यों के बी च असमा नता की खा ई और गहरी हुई है। एक तरफ जहां समृद्ध देशों में अभूतपूर्व वि का स हुआ है, वहीं दुनि दु निया के सबसे कमजो र देशों में से करी ब आधे देश, वि का स की रा ह में को वि ड संकट से पहले के स्तर से भी नी चे चले गए हैं। बता दें कि 2020 या 2021 में अपने मा नव वि का स सूचकां क में गि रा वट दर्ज करने वा ले 35 सबसे कमजो र देशों में से 18 अभी 2019 के स्तर पर नहीं लौ ट पा ए हैं। रि पो र्ट के अनुसा र वि का स की रा ह में मौ जूद इस वि षमता के चलते सबसे कमजो र देश पी छे छूट रहे हैं। इससे असमा नता एं बढ़ रही हैं और रा जनैति क ध्रुवी करण को बढ़ा वा मि ल रहा है। रि पो र्ट के मुता बि क एक तरफ जहां स्वि टजरलैंड , नॉ र्वे और आइसलैंड जैसे देश रा ष्ट्री य स्तर पर मा नव वि का स सूचकों में सबसे आगे हैं। वहीं सेंट्रल अफ्री कन रि पब्लि क, दक्षि ण सूडा न, सो मा लि या , ना इजर, चा ड, मा ली , बुरुंडी , यमन, बुर्कि ना फा सो जैसे देश अभी भी बेहद पी छे हैं। कुल मि लकर देखें तो अफ्री की देशों में स्थि ति सबसे ज्या दा खरा ब है। वहीं यदि ओईसी डी के सभी 38 देशों की बा त करें तो इन सभी ने 2023 में 2019 की तुलना में मा नव वि का स सूचकां क में बेहतर प्रदर्शन कि या है। मा नव वि का स को सबसे अधि क हा नि अफगा नि स्तान व यूक्रेन में हुई है। अफगा नि स्ता न में ह्यूम ह्यू न डेवलपमेंट इंडेक्स 10 वर्ष पहले के स्तर पर पहुंच गया है, जबकि यूक्रेन में यह 2004 के बा द से अपने सबसे नि चले स्तर पर है। वहीं सभी वि का सशी ल क्षेत्र 2019 से पहले के मा नव वि का स सूचकां क के रुझा नों के अनुसा र अपनी सम्भा वना ओं को पूरा नहीं कर पा ए हैं, और भवि ष्य में भी उनकी वि का स प्रक्रि या को झटका लगने का खतरा है। रि पो र्ट की मा नें तो इसके लि ए को वि ड-19, यूक्रेन में जा री युद्ध और जलवा यु परि वर्तन और पर्या वरण से जुड़े का रक जि म्मेवा र हैं। इन सबने मि लकर लो गों के जी वन पर व्या पक असर डा ला है, रा जनैति क, वि त्ती य और जलवा यु से जुड़े संकटों ने को रो ना की मा र झेल रही आबा दी को संभलने का मौ का ही नहीं दि या । (डाऊन टू अर्थ)

• Renewable Energy

A climate-smart village

Zakariyapura village in Borsad taluka, Anand district, Gujarat has become a model for other villages across India by embracing small-scale biogas facilities in every household that owns milch cattle. In a typical biogas facility, cow dung undergoes anaerobic (absence of oxygen) digestion by bacteria, with the help of conventional technology, to produce biogas comprising 50-55 per cent methane and 30-35 per cent carbon dioxide. Minor amounts of hydrogen sulphide and moisture are also produced. This gas serves as a direct cooking fuel, effectively replacing traditional sources such as wood and fossil fuels like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). These flexible biogas plants are easy to instal and can be set up quickly, are portable, demand minimal maintenance and are more cost-effective compared to conventional biogas digesters. The initiative can be traced back to 2019 when officials from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) facilitated meetings and educational visits for women from Zakariyapura to observe flexible biogas units in an adjacent village, Mujkuva, situated in Anklav taluka of Anand district. Witnessing these flexi biogas plants for the first time inspired them to bring similar models to their own village. With the assistance of NDDB, all 368 households with livestock were equipped with flexi biogas plants of 2 cubic metres capacity. Each of these plants requires about 50 kilogrammes of animal dung daily. The cost of setting up a plant was between Rs 30,000 and Rs 32,000. NDDB paid for half the cost, while the households contributed the remaining. This contribution can be recovered through the sale of slurry. All 368 biogas plants have been geotagged and two villagers from the local community have been trained to address any immediate operational problem. The installation company, in collaboration with NDDB personnel, conducted a series of training sessions to educate local women on plant operation, maintenance and the potential economic and environmental advantages. Women dairy farmers already being a part of a milk cooperative in the village facilitated their efforts to persuade all women farmers to adopt these decentralised biogas units. A noteworthy development in the village is the establishment of a centralised slurry processing centre. Each biogas digester produces approximately 80 litres of slurry every day. In March 2020, the village, along with adjacent Mujkuva, pioneered India’s first women-managed manure cooperative, aiming to acquire, process and market slurry-based fertiliser. To ensure fairness, a transparent slurry procurement system was implemented similar to that of milk, where women farmers are compensated based on the quality of slurry supplied (ranging from Rs 0.25-2 per litre), assessed using predefined rate charts based on dissolved solids and electrical conductivity measurements. Unlike milk collection, where farmers deliver milk to a central point, the cooperative arranges for the collection of slurry directly from the farms or households, minimising effort for the women managing the biogas units. NDDB has developed a slurry applicator with a 3,500 litre capacity for efficient collection from these plants. Payments for slurry sales are deposited directly into the individual beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The centralised slurry processing facility in Vasna near Borsad town has deployed a dewatering machine to separate the slurry into liquid and solid components. These components are then enriched and transformed into useful biofertilisers such as phosphate-rich organic manure, micronutrient-rich liquid and others. NDDB has granted the cooperative the rights to utilise the SuDhan trademark for marketing fertiliser products under the SuDhan brand. The effectiveness of the slurry was validated through research conducted at the Anand Agricultural University in Gujarat. “I have utilised SuDhan fertilizers like PROM, Root Guard and MRL in banana and potato crops. Their use has led to increased crop yield and improved crop quality compared to previous years,” said Vinubhai, a local resident. The implementation of these plants has yielded numerous economic, environmental and societal benefits. Each biogas plant produces gas equivalent to around two LPG bottles per month, sufficient to fulfil the cooking needs of a five-person family three times a day. Every plant generates slurry, which is either sold for processing or utilised as organic fertiliser in their own fields. The monthly revenue from slurry sales typically ranges from Rs 1,500-2,500. In total, the biogas system helps households save between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,500 per month. The innovation has also relieved women from the burden of collecting firewood and dealing with soot in their homes and utensils, allowing them to dedicate their time to other activities such as tailoring, embroidery and educating their children. The initiative in Anand, known as the dairy hub of India, can serve as the catalyst for another ‘white revolution’, focusing on the utilisation of animal waste rather than solely milk. Building on the success of this model, NDDB has planned to replicate it in 11 other locations across India. DTE Views expressed are personal

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Paddy Burning Dips, Impact Doesn’t

An analysis by scientists at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, shows that paddy residue burning counts decreased in neighbouring states in the winter of 2023 but its impact in Delhi’s air quality was more than 2021 and 2022 due to meteorological conditions. The Decision Support System, which is the forecasting body under the union ministry of earth sciences and developed by IITM, calculates the contribution of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 levels. IITM scientists who analysed the data of the last three winters said the contribution of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 level was higher during the peak burning season from Oct 22 to Nov-end in 2023 as against the same period in 2022 and 2021. The data shared by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the national capital region and adjoining areas stated that the total fire counts in Punjab, Haryana, UP-NCR, Rajasthan-NCR and Delhi were 71,304 in 2021, 49,922 during 2022 and 36,663 in 2023 for the period from Sept 15 to Nov 30. IITM said that in the winter of 2023 — from Oct 22 to Nov 30 — the contribution of stubble burning was above 10% in 58% of days, more than 15% in 44% days and over 20% in 30% days. However, the contribution of pollutants generated farm fires to Delhi’s air was over 10% for 32% of days each in 2022 and 2021. The impact of the farm fires on PM2.5 levels was above 15% in 30% of days in 2021 and 18% of days in 2022. Sachin Ghude, a scientist at IITM, said: “Although the fire counts were less, meteorological conditions were conducive for the accumulation of emissions released from stubble burning and their transport from burning sites to Delhi.” Experts said that wind movement played an important role in determining the impact of the emissions intrusion in Delhi’s air. Wind direction and speed are crucial factors. The north-westerly wind direction is favourable for the transport smoke from stubble burning sites to Delhi. Transfer of smoke from states to Delhi also depends on speed of transport level winds. If local winds are calm, it aggravates the stubble intrusion. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “This shows controlling crop burning can help to reduce peak pollution during some part of the season in winter. But this also means other sources dominate for most part of winter that requires urgent attention and action.”

• Director General Office

कल आपके शहर की भी हो सकती है बेंगलूरु जैसी हालत

पहले बेंगलूरु को झीलों के विशाल नेटवर्क से पानी की आपूर्ति मिलती थी जो बारिश का पानी इकट्ठा करने और बाढ़ कम करने के लिए विशेषतौर पर बनाया गया था। कुछ साल पहले बेंगलूरु में ‘इक्सक्रीटा मैटर्स’ पर हमारी रिपोर्ट जारी करते समय, मैं शहर के जल और गंदे नाली के पानी का प्रबंधन करने वालों के साथ एक जोश से भरी चर्चा में शामिल हुई थी। इस चर्चा का मुद्दा शहर में जल प्रबंधन का ढांचा था जो हमारे शोध के अनुसार किफायती और टिकाऊ नहीं था। हालांकि इंजीनियर इस बात से असहमत थे। उनके अनुसार वे पाइपलाइनों के माध्यम से लगभग 100 किलोमीटर दूर से कावेरी नदी का पानी प्राप्त करने में सफल रहे थे और इसलिए उनके पास चिंता करने का कोई कारण नहीं था। उनका मानना था कि उन्होंने सब कुछ अपने नियंत्रण में कर रखा है। अब जब यह अत्याधुनिक तकनीक वाला शहर गंभीर जल संकट की ओर बढ़ रहा है, ऐसे में संभव है कि ये लोग फिर से अपने विकल्पों पर पुनर्विचार करने के साथ ही उस पर आगे दोबारा काम करें। तथ्य है कि अन्य शहरों की तरह ही बेंगलूरु भी एक ऐसा ही शहर है जिसे आईना देखने के लिए मजबूर होना पड़ रहा है कि अधिक लागत वाले इंजीनियरिंग समाधानों वाली बेहतर जल आपूर्ति का सपना किस तरह गलत है। जलवायु से जुड़े जोखिम वाले इस दौर में यह स्थिति और खराब होने वाली है क्योंकि अब बारिश अधिक चरम स्तर पर होने के साथ ही अधिक परिवर्तनशील हो जाएगी। पहले बेंगलूरु को झीलों के विशाल नेटवर्क से पानी की आपूर्ति मिलती थी जो बारिश का पानी इकट्ठा करने और बाढ़ कम करने के लिए विशेषतौर पर बनाया गया था। इसके बाद फिर इस खोज का विस्तार हुआ। इसकी पहली आधिकारिक जल आपूर्ति प्रणाली, शहर से लगभग 18-20 किमी दूर अर्कवती नदी पर हेसरघट्टा झील से जुड़ी थी और इससे आगे यह 35-40 किमी दूर टीजी हल्ली जलाशय से जुड़ी थी। लेकिन यह सब पर्याप्त नहीं था और 1974 के आसपास महत्त्वाकांक्षी कावेरी जल आपूर्ति योजना की परिकल्पना की गई थी जिसके तहत पानी को लगभग 490 मीटर की ऊंचाई तक पंप करने की योजना थी और इसे 100 किमी से अधिक दूर ले जाने की बात भी थी। जब मैंने शहर के इंजीनियरों से बात की तो वे इस चमत्कारिक इंजीनियरिंग परियोजना के चौथे चरण में थे और जैसा कि मैंने कहा, उन्हें इसमें चिंता करने का कोई कारण नहीं दिखता था। मैंने लगभग एक दशक पहले, लंबी दूरी तक पानी पहुंचाने की लागत के बारे में बात की थी। शहर को पानी पहुंचाने के लिए पहले से ही बहुत ज्यादा बिजली की जरूरत थी, जिससे शहर के जल और सीवर बोर्ड की पहले से ही कमजोर आर्थिक स्थिति और खराब हो रही थी। जैसे-जैसे दूरी बढ़ती गई, वैसे-वैसे पानी की बरबादी की मात्रा भी बढ़ती गई। आधिकारिक सूत्रों के मुताबिक एक दशक पहले तक यह लगभग 40 प्रतिशत थी। इसका मतलब यह हुआ कि लोगों के लिए पानी की आपूर्ति की लागत बढ़ रही थी और वित्तीय स्थिति अनिश्चित थी। लेकिन ऊपरी स्तर पर सब ठीक था। शहर ने अपने नागरिकों के लिए शत-प्रतिशत जल आपूर्ति का दावा किया और यह संकेत भी दिए कि समस्याएं चाहें जो भी हों लेकिन कावेरी के चौथे चरण के तहत इन्हें सुलझा लिया जाएगा। मैंने उनका ध्यान कुछ तथ्यों की ओर दिलाया जिनको लेकर वह गंभीर नहीं थे। पहला, यह कि शहर और उसके आसपास के इलाकों में भूजल का उपयोग बढ़ रहा था जिससे यह साफ पता चल रहा था कि जलापूर्ति की स्थिति उतनी ठीक नहीं है जितना दिखाया जा रहा था। दूसरा, यह कि शहर का तेजी से विस्तार हो रहा था और इस विस्तार की रफ्तार के साथ ही जल और जल निकासी के बुनियादी ढांचे का तैयार होना असंभव था और यह इस वृद्धि के साथ तालमेल नहीं रख पाएगा। तीसरी, सबसे महत्त्वपूर्ण बात यह थी कि गंदे पानी का उपचार नहीं किया जा रहा था जिसके चलते झीलों और झरने के जाल में प्रदूषण बढ़ रहा था। हालांकि, इंजीनियर भविष्य को लेकर आशावादी थे। उन्होंने दावा किया कि उन्होंने हर उपलब्ध तकनीक का उपयोग करके पहले ही रोजाना 72 करोड़ लीटर गंदे पानी की उपचार क्षमता तैयार कर ली है और इससे वे तकनीकी रूप से लगभग सभी तरह के गंदे पानी का उपचार करने में सक्षम होंगे। लेकिन जब मैंने बताया कि आधी से भी कम क्षमता का उपयोग किया जा रहा है तब उन्होंने मुझसे कहा कि यह कुछ समय की बात है और जल्द ही पाइपलाइन नेटवर्क का विस्तार होगा और सब ठीक हो जाएगा। अब आइए आज की स्थिति पर नजर डालते हैं। वर्ष 2010 में, शहर की पानी की आवश्यकता लगभग 112.5 करोड़ लीटर प्रतिदिन आंकी गई थी जो अब दोगुने से भी ज्यादा बढ़कर 260.0 करोड़ लीटर प्रतिदिन हो चुकी है और कावेरी अब भी आधी जल की आपूर्ति करती है और बाकी जल की आपूर्ति अब भी भूजल के माध्यम से होती है। दूसरे शब्दों में, मांग में आई तेजी के मुकाबले आपूर्ति कम ही रही है और ऐसे में लोगों के पास पानी की आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित करने के लिए गहरी खुदाई करने के अलावा कोई विकल्प नहीं बचा है। बारिश की अनियमितता बढ़ने के साथ, ये स्रोत तेजी से सूख रहे हैं। लेकिन पाइपलाइन के सपने दिखाने और उसे बेचने वाले इस संकट को नहीं समझ पाए हैं। शहर के मुख्य जल प्रबंधक अब कावेरी परियोजना के पांचवें चरण पर दांव लगा रहे हैं और उनका कहना है कि इसकी शुरुआत बहुत जल्द हो जाएगी और इससे पानी से जुड़ी सभी चिंताएं दूर हो जाएंगी। जहां तक गंदे पानी और मल आदि का सवाल है इसकी कहानी भी कुछ ऐसी ही है और इसका बुनियादी ढांचा दोगुने से भी ज्यादा हो गया। केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड की वर्ष 2021 की इन्वेंट्री के अनुसार, शहर में अब रोजाना 166.8 करोड़ लीटर गंदे पानी की उपचार क्षमता है और रोजाना 42.5 करोड़ लीटर की उपचार क्षमता निर्माणाधीन है। लेकिन इसका क्षमता उपयोग 50 प्रतिशत के स्तर पर स्थिर है, यानी दूसरे शब्दों में कहा जाए तो अधिक गंदे पानी आदि को रोका जा रहा है। लेकिन पानी की जरूरत दोगुनी होने के साथ ही गंदे पानी आदि की मात्रा भी बढ़ गई है और अधिकांश गंदे पानी को रोका नहीं जा पा रहा है और न ही इसका उपचार किया जा रहा है। लेकिन, आप इंजीनियरों से बात करें तो वे आपको बताएंगे कि यह सिर्फ समय की बात है और सब ठीक हो जाएगा। सभी घर जुड़ जाएंगे, गंदे पानी को रोका जाएगा और इसे उपचार संयंत्रों में ले जाकर फिर नदियों में स्वच्छ पानी बहाया जाएगा जो चमत्कारिक तरीके से बदला हुआ होगा। यही हमारी जल से जुड़ी योजना की असली समस्या है। हम यह समझने में असमर्थ हैं कि पानी और कचरे से जुड़े इस पूरे कारोबार में बदलाव लाने की कितनी जरूरत है और इसमें कितना अवसर है। इस व्यवस्था बेहतरी के लिए रोकने की जरूरत है। सच तो यह है कि बेंगलूरु में पर्याप्त बारिश होती है और यहां कई झीलें हैं जो इस पानी को फिर से जमीन के नीचे तक पहुंचा सकती हैं। ऐसे में हमारा भूजल सुरक्षित हो सकता है। अगर ऐसा हो तब भारी बारिश के समय भी शहर के अमीर और प्रभावशाली लोगों को बाढ़ में डूबने से बचने के लिए तैरना नहीं पड़ेगा। बारिश की हर बूंद का इस्तेमाल सूखा पड़ने दौर में किया जा सकता है। तब शहर अपने गंदे पानी की निकासी वाली प्रणाली का प्रबंधन अलग तरीके से कर सकता है। पाइपलाइनों के जरिये गंदा पानी ले जाने पर भरोसा करने के बजाय, यह सुनिश्चित किया जा सकता है कि गंदे पानी और मल का हर एक बूंद टैंकरों द्वारा इकट्ठा किया जाए और फिर इसका उपचार करने के बाद इसे झील के बुनियादी ढांचे में डाला जाए और फिर से इसका इस्तेमाल किया जाए। लेकिन इसके लिए जल इंजीनियरों को जमीनी हकीकत को समझना होगा और उन्हें भविष्य के लिए जल प्रबंधन पर पुनर्विचार करना होगा। यह सिर्फ बेंगलूरु की कहानी नहीं है। यह स्थिति आज भले ही उनकी है लेकिन ऐसी स्थिति कल आपके सामने भी बन सकती है। (ले​खिका सेंटर फॉर साइंस ऐंड एनवायरनमेंट से संबद्ध हैं)

• Director General Office

An order in the making

In 2024, we must rework trade rules for a different kind of globalisation. This is important both for the economies in the Global South and the fight against climate change. Many yesterdays ago, when the world was discussing the possibility of a climate crisis, it was also negotiating a new trade agreement. In early 1990, when the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was agreed at the Rio Summit, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was also set up and global rules to facilitate free trade between nations was signed on. The deal was simple: the cost of manufacturing would come down when goods were produced in countries with lower labour costs and environmental standards. The export-economies would drive prosperity in the still-developing world, but most importantly in the rich world where consumers would benefit from cheaper goods and the boom in services. The tectonic shift came in 2001, with the acceptance of China into WTO. China had massive workforce; no trade unions; little environmental safeguards; and an authoritarian government. After joining WTO, China’s share of global CO2 emissions rose from 5 per cent in 1990 to 21 per cent in 2019. Trade boomed but the age of global prosperity did not come, and an increased trade meant that CO2 emission increased. In 20 years, this idea of globalisation has soured—the proponents of the grand scheme are turning their backs to the idea of unfettered global trade, which was designed to be without distortions of subsidy and support by national governments. The question is how will these new globalisation rules take shape in a climate-risked and war-torn world? Today the most hyped issue is US’ position against China. This is being talked about as the fight against autocratic and undemocratic regimes (which is true). But the real reason is to gain control over resources and technologies needed for the future, including the green economy that the world so desperately needs. China today dominates the supply chains for batteries; it processes over half of the world’s lithium, cobalt and graphite; and it is an established leader in solar energy. To fight this “enemy”, the US has decided to give up all its ideological qualms about subsidies; the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is providing finance to companies to manufacture low-carbon products in the US. The issue is if the western world’s mission to break this stranglehold will lead to higher costs of the green transition and even delay it? Or will it be successful in doing the impossible—securing access to rare minerals and rebuilding its manufacturing industry, despite the higher costs of labour and environmental standards. This could lead to de-globalisation or localisation as more countries decide to maximise their advantage as holders of natural resources, and technology and the knowledge that goes with it. It is also a possibility that there are new breakthroughs in technology, which would make the China-dominated supply chain redundant. For instance, there is talk about sodiumion batteries that could take down the need for lithium batteries. It is the same in India. We have decided—and rightly so—to invest in local capacity for solar industry. The Indian government has announced fiscal incentives for solar cell and module manufacture and imposed higher import duties on Chinese products. It is difficult to say, as yet, if this will impede India’s ambitious renewable programme, as domestic production may not be able to keep pace or be cost-competitive. On the other hand, there is an obvious advantage in building our industry. The gradual closing of the free-trade world will also have implications for Indian industry’s exports. All in all, there is a new game in town and we need to see if this time around the rules of trade will work for or against the people and the Planet. DTE The writer is the Director-General of CSE and editor of DownToEarth. Views expressed are personal

• Renewable Energy

Sugarcane Byproduct for India's Compressed Biogas Production

• Director General Office

Bengaluru's story today; your city's tomorrow

Some years ago in Bengaluru, at the release of our report “Excreta Matters”, I got into a spirited discussion with the city’s water and sewage managers. The issue was the paradigm of water management in the city, which our research showed was unaffordable and so unsustainable. The engineers disagreed. According to them, they had managed to secure water from the Cauvery, being brought from some 100 km away through pipelines, and so had no reason to worry. They believed they had it all in control. Now as this hi-tech city hurtles towards a crisis of severe water scarcity, maybe, just maybe, these wise men will reconsider and rework their options. The fact is Bengaluru is just another city that is being shown the mirror — the dream of perfect water driven by high-cost engineering solutions is going horribly wrong. And this, in an era of climate risks, where rainfall will become more extreme and more variable, is only going to get worse. Bengaluru in the now distant past used to get its water supply from its vast network of lakes, designed to collect its rain and to mitigate floods. Then the search expanded, its first official water supply system was sourced from Hesaraghatta Lake on the Arkavathi river, 18-20 km from the city; then further to the T G Halli reservoir, 35-40 km away. But all this did not suffice and around 1974 the ambitious Cauvery Water Supply Scheme was conceived. By that, water would be pumped up to a height of some 490 metres and transported over 100 km. During my interactions with the city engineers, they were deep into stage 4 of this engineering marvel of a project and, as I said, they did not see any reason to worry. I spoke of the cost of transporting water over longer distances. About a decade ago, the city required huge power to pump the city, which was eating into the fragile economics of the city’s water and sewerage board. Also as the distance increased, so did the water loss — a decade ago, these were roughly 40 per cent, according to official sources. All this meant the cost of the water supplied to people was going up, and the finances were precarious. But on the surface, all was well. The city boasted 100 per cent water supply to its citizens and, whatever the problems, Cauvery stage 4 would sort it out. But I pointed out they were discounting the following facts. One was that groundwater usage was increasing in the city and its surrounding areas, which suggested that water supply was not so perfect. Two, the city was exploding and this expanding water-sewage infrastructure would be a pipedream and not keep up pace with growth. Three, most importantly, by their own admission, the bulk of the sewage generated was not being treated and this in turn was adding to the pollution in its intricate network of lakes and streams. But again, engineers were sanguine about the future. They boasted they had already built a sewage treatment capacity of some 720 million litres a day (MLD), using every available technology possible. This technically would be able to treat almost all the sewage generated. But when I pointed out that less than half the capacity was being utilised, they told me it was only a matter of time. Very soon the pipeline network would expand and all would be well. Now, let’s cut to today. In 2010, the city’s water requirement was estimated at some 1,125 MLD, and that has more than doubled to 2,600 MLD. And while the Cauvery still supplies half of it, the rest is now from groundwater. In other words, the explosion of demand has remained unmet and people have had no option but to dig and dig deeper to secure their water. With increased variability of rainfall, these sources are drying up, and fast. But the pipedream sellers have not understood the crisis — the city’s chief water manager is now banking on the fifth stage of the Cauvery project, which will be commissioned, he says, very soon and this will end all water worries. The sewage story is similar. Infrastructure was more than doubled. According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s 2021 inventory, the city now has a sewage treatment capacity of 1,668 MLD and another 425 MLD is under construction. But capacity utilisation remains stagnant at 50 per cent — and so in other words, more sewage is being intercepted but as water needs have doubled, so has sewage generation and still the bulk is not being intercepted and not being treated. But again, speak to the engineers and they will tell you that it is only a matter of time when all will be well. All the homes will be connected, sewage intercepted and taken to treatment plants, and discharged clean into rivers, which will be miraculously transformed. This is the real crisis of our water planning — the inability to understand the need and the opportunity for the change in the way we do this water-waste business. This is what needs to be punctured — for good. The fact is Bengaluru has enough rain; it has lakes that can recharge this water; this can make its groundwater secure so that even in times of extreme rain events its rich and powerful denizens do not have to swim to avoid drowning in the flood. Every drop can be used for the coming period of scarcity. Then it can do its sewage differently. Instead of believing that it can transport sewage with pipelines, it can ensure that every drop of excreta is collected by tankers and then treated and reused — once again by using the same lake infrastructure to recharge. But for this water engineers have to come down to earth and rework and rethink water futures. This is not just a Bengaluru story; it is theirs today and yours tomorrow. The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment sunita@cseindia.org, X: @sunitanar

• Down To Earth

Himalayas in dire straits : SoE report

• Down To Earth

Himalayan mountains in dire straits: Study

Overall, the Himalayas have already lost more than 40 per cent of their ice, and are likely to lose up to 75 per cent by the end of this century. The western Himalayas had lost 8,340 sqkm of permafrost area between 2002-04 and 2018-20; about 965 sqkm of area disappeared in the Uttarakhand Himalayas between 1970-2000 and 2001-17 Between 2013 and 2022, the Himalayan region in India accounted for 44 per cent of all the disasters reported in the country. Floods, landslides and thunderstorms – 192 in all – constituted the bulk of these incidents. In fact, the cloudbursts and torrential rains experienced in the region in 2023 are curtain-raisers to a future that is already upon us, and will become more pronounced with every passing year. Between 2013 and 2022, the Himalayan region in India accounted for 44 per cent of all the disasters reported in the country. Floods, landslides and thunderstorms – 192 in all – constituted the bulk of these incidents. In fact, the cloudbursts and torrential rains experienced in the region in 2023 are curtain-raisers to a future that is already upon us, and will become more pronounced with every passing year. This assessment of the Himalayan region and the impacts of climate change that it is encountering is a key focus of the recently released State of India’s Environment 2024 report. The report is prepared and released every year by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. This year, the SOE 2024 (as the report is referred to in short) was unveiled at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue, an annual conclave of environment-development journalists attended by over 100 mediapersons and subject experts from across the country. The Dialogue is organised every year by CSE. Between April 2021 and April 2022, 41 incidents of landslides were recorded across the country: 38 of these happened in Himalayan states, with Sikkim witnessing the highest number (11). Writes Kiran Pandey, head of CSE’s Environment Resources Unit in the recently released CSE report: “A close look at the data shows an uncomfortable trend. In recent decades, these disasters are occurring more frequently and getting more severe, causing a significant loss of life and damage to property.” The worst long-term – and relentless -- damage isbeing seen in the upper reaches of the Himalayas. The rise in average surface temperatures in the Himalayas is causing glaciers to melt rapidly and retreatat an accelerating rate. The Hindu Kush Himalayas has seen a 65 per cent faster loss of glacier mass, according to a study by the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). During 2010-19, glaciers in the region lost a mass of 0.28 metre of water equivalent per year (m we) in comparison to 0.17 m we per year in the period 2000-09. The Karakoram Range, which was known to be stable, has also started showing a decline in glacier mass, losing 0.09 m we per year during 2010-19. The State of India’s Environment 2024 report quotes Izabella Koziell, ICIMOD’s deputy director general: “The glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a major component of the Earth system. With two billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere are too vast to contemplate. We need leaders to act now to prevent catastrophe.” Overall, the Himalayas have already lost more than 40 per cent of their ice, and are likely to lose up to 75 per cent by the end of this century. The western Himalayas had lost 8,340 sqkm of permafrost area between 2002-04 and 2018-20; about 965 sqkm of area disappeared in the Uttarakhand Himalayas between 1970-2000 and 2001-17. The loss of permafrost can lead to infrastructure damage. “We are already seeing the effects of this, for example, in landslides caused by thawing permafrost,” says Dr Miriam Jackson, ICIMOD’s senior cryosphere specialist, and one of the speakers at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Is India doing enough to woo Tesla?

Tesla has long eyed the Indian market, but it didn't want to invest in local production until the government addressed tariff-related issues. Prime M "This policy is designed to attract global investments to promote local manufacturing with adequate value addition and to specifically build the e-carmanufacturing," Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at Center for Science and Environment, told DW.

• Director General Office

BS Manthan: From trade & startups to China+1, here's what happened on Day 2

On Day 2 of the Business Standard annual summit, Manthan, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Amitabh Kant, and various industry stalwarts graced the occasion. Beginning with Goyal, the event streamlined India’s vision and challenges in its journey to be a developed nation by 2047. Here’s a look at how the event unfolded on the final day of the event: Trade policy calibrated with growth but open for expansion: Piyush Goyal India's trade policy is calibrated with its growth trajectory yet open for more expansion, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. At the Business Standard Manthan in New Delhi, Goyal said, "We have to look at our growth trajectory and calibrate the trade policy as the country moves through this cycle of growth." India needs to internationalise its economy and look at a greater degree of engagement with the world and rapid growth in exports. "We will be doing $2 trillion of exports by 2030. I have no doubt we will achieve it," he said. Goyal also said that in the recently signed European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the four countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, have committed an additional $100 billion to create 1 million direct jobs in India in the next 15 years in lieu of market access. India must not brand itself with China-Plus-One tag It would be wise for India not to make its strategy around ‘China-Plus-One’, the trend of global companies avoiding investing only in the communist nation and diversifying their businesses to other places, said three foreign and defence policy experts. Kicking off the discussion, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran said China-Plus-One was not about Western and global multinationals abandoning China, uprooting their facilities and shifting to countries like India, adding that Plus One had more to do with these businesses directing most of their fresh investments to other locations. The three panelists concurred that China-Plus-One was either misunderstood as a wholesale movement away from China or at the least overplayed. India needs to develop in such a way that its dependency on China reduces, former Indian high commissioner to the UK, Nalin Surie said. According to former national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, India's choice was not between import substitution and complete dependency on China. Instead, he proposed that India should adopt its own China-Plus-One strategy for imports, under which it would find alternative sources and diversify. "India needs a de-risking or China-Plus-One strategy for itself," said Menon. Long road ahead for India in meeting green energy targets India needs to find a balance between its plans to become a developed country by 2047, clean energy and the environment, said a panel that discussed fossil fuel, clean energy and India’s stance in climate talks. The experts included Vivek Dewangan, chairman and managing director of REC Ltd; Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment; Ulka Kelkar, executive director at Climate, WRI India, and Derek M. Shah, senior vice-president & head-green energy business at Larsen & Toubro. India is standing at a crucial juncture and it is imperative to adapt to rapid economic growth along with addressing the vulnerability to environmental issues, Narain said Talking about India’s aspirations to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047, Kelkar said that no country in the world has become rich by remaining energy poor. She pointed out that there are some major problems at hand currently. India’s aim to tackle climate change cannot be only through carbon-lens. “As climate change risk starts manifesting, policy-making will have to become more adaptive, and decentralised. Even the new energy infrastructure or transport infra will be at risk due to climate change,” she said. On the issue of financing in the renewable energy sector, Narain said: “Indian industry is getting far more aware about the needs to transform, to take on actions which are good for them as well as the environment. Scale up needs to happen in sectors such as iron, cement, steel. There’s a lot the industry can do to decrease their carbon footprint.” However, she said that green energy financing is still lagging from the private sector. Luxury industry fuelling India's economic growth Pushpa Bector, executive director of DLF Retail, said the luxury industry is a catalyst for economic growth. Drawing parallels with other developing nations, she said luxury signifies confidence in consumer evolution and reflects a nation's readiness to embrace the finest things in the world. In India, the luxury market is projected to reach $200 billion over the years, with the retail segment alone accounting for $60-70 billion. Kapil Chopra, former president of The Oberoi and founder of Postcard Luxury Hotels and Resorts, said India's economy is in an aspirational phase. As the economy grows, there is a trend of people aspiring for better experiences. Alexis De Ducla, director at Mathieu Lustrerie, said India has a rich heritage of art, culture, and craftsmanship. Recent developments in terms of investment and policy have boosted customer confidence in the country. The panelists agreed that luxury in 2047 will redefine a developed India by not only reflecting economic prosperity but also by embodying sustainability, craftsmanship, and a unique Indian identity that resonates globally. Viksit Bharat can't thrive without nourishing farm policy To make India "Viksit Bharat" by 2047, it needs to focus on building human capacity before prioritising infrastructure-led development, Ajay Vir Jakhar, the chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, said. Jhakhar called for the revision of India's current agriculture policy and the need to address issues such as the trust deficit between farmers and the government, filling vacancies in agriculture universities, and addressing climate change disruptions. Agri economist Ashok Gulati added that without a strong and quality agricultural output, the Vikisit Bharat workforce will be affected. "People have to be fed and fed well. 35 per cent of Indian children below the age of five are stunted. They will become the new workforce," he said. Gulati also noted that this could have an impact on their earning capacity, which will be a roadblock for India's economy. We need more Adanis, Ambanis, Marutis for India to grow: Amitabh Kant For India to achieve 'developed nation' status, Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog), Government of India, stated that the country needs to have more large businesses like Adani and Ambani. Kant highlighted India's ability to achieve consensus across diverse issues in the multilateral forum of G20, showcasing its leadership role among emerging markets. He discussed India's contributions ranging from economic growth to Sustainable Development Goals, digital public infrastructure, and addressing the Russia-Ukraine crisis. When questioned about India's trajectory towards becoming a developed country by 2047, Kant emphasised the importance of driving growth across various sectors. He stressed the need for aggressive measures to promote manufacturing, sustainable urbanisation, and enhance agricultural productivity. Giving highest value for money key to Maruti's success: RC Bhargava Giving average Indians the maximum value for their money was one of the keys behind Maruti India’s success, its 89-year-old chairman RC Bhargava. “What has kept Maruti on top are two factors. The first is that we have always tried to understand the Indian customer, and the Indian customer is not just the customer who has multiple houses or multiple kinds of assets all over the world, but we are looking at the Indian customer right from the bottom, and we try to cater to all segments of the market. We have tried to do that throughout,” he said. Reflecting on historical challenges and policy frameworks, Bhargava acknowledged the nuanced dynamics of operating within a regulated environment. Despite critiques, Bhargava credited initiatives like the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) for expediting the localisation of component manufacturing, underscoring the interplay between regulatory pressure and industry evolution. No country like India for tech companies, says Amazon India head Amazon Vice-President and India Manager Manish Tiwary said that there is no better country in the world for technological innovations than India. Talking about the large companies' outlook for India at 2047, Tiwary remarked that due to excellent demographic diversity and quick adoption of technology, India is well poised to become a developed nation by 2047. "I can't think of any country which is better poised. I wouldn't be surprised if we hit developed status before 2047," he added. When asked about the competitive landscape in the country, Tiwary replied that with the current penetration of e-commerce so low, there are no worries as of now. "If you look at e-commerce, the reality is penetration is only 1-2 per cent. Fashion is 0.5 per cent. You start worrying about competition when penetration is 97-98 per cent. More players will help the ecosystem get better. We have a long way to go before we worry about competition," he added. Plenty of funding for right startups: Rajesh Magow As the startup industry grapples with a prolonged period of funding challenges, Rajesh Magow, the CEO of travel company MakeMyTrip, provided reassurance that there is ample capital available for the “right” type of startups. Offering advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Magow emphasised the importance of adopting a long-term perspective when starting a business. “Whoever is looking at starting the business, you can't think in terms of two, three, five, or 20 years…The three, five, or 10-year view is from the investors’ lens. They have fund compulsions, they look for exit periods, etc., but not for the founding or management team," he said. Startups generate more employment than big companies: Sanjeev Bikhchandani Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the founder of Info Edge and co-founder of Ashoka University, discussed the growth of Info Edge from a startup to a tech giant, and the crucial role of startups in India's development. Sharing insights from his entrepreneurial journey, Bikhchandani recounted the inception of Info Edge and its evolution into a successful startup. He emphasised the role of startups in driving employment generation and innovation, challenging conventional notions of growth and success. Using Zomato and Policybazaar as examples, Bikhchandani said that they generated thousands of jobs. However, since this was not in the formal sector, they were not counted. "But, that is also livelihood, and it was done by a startup," he said. He added that big companies had a limit to how much employment they could generate. Referring to the term "unicorn," Bikhchandani said, "I don't like the term 'unicorn'. I think it's rubbish. You measure a company's health by looking at revenue, profits, customer base, and sustainable growth." Must decentralise power from states to local govt: Montek Singh Ahluwalia On the path to making India a developed nation by 2047, there is a need to decentralise power further from states to more local authorities, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission said. He said that India needs to work on health and education to make India a developed nation. "These are 100 per cent state subjects. Now the problem is that in the delivery of these services, is not at the state level. It's at the lower level," he said. Ahluwalia also said that the debate should not be about Centre versus states but whether it is even a problem or not. Arvind Subramanian, the former chief economic advisor, pointed out that the gap in the relations between states and the Centre has widened since the high growth period of the 2000s. He said that growth has led to divergent growth between the states and has ultimately turned the "amicable" into a "less amicable" union.

• Down To Earth

Unplanned growth, flawed notification endanger Delhi wetlands

Have you been to the Surajpur wetland, near Surajpur village in Gautam Budh Nagar district? Located in the midst of an expansive industrial city under the administrative purview of the Greater Noida Development Authority, it reveals itself as a mosaic of a sprawling lake, towering trees and thousands of birds, many flying in from distant lands. As you enter the wetland, the guards tell you not to go beyond the second viewpoint. It is untamed territory, the domain of many wild animals, they warn. However, all has not been well in this sanctuary of nature. In January 2024, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Department (UPPCB) collected samples of untreated waste from an industrial unit adjacent to the Surajpur wetland, after several environmentalists alleged that hundreds of trees in a 20-acre area of the wetland had been destroyed due to effluent discharge. This was not the first time. Samples had been collected a year ago and tests had indicated the presence of high levels of heavy metals in untreated effluents. Much of this was being discharged in a drain connected to the wetland. This, environmentalists say, has caused significant loss of biodiversity in this prominent birding hotspot. “In the month of January, it came to our notice that a number of trees were destroyed in the Surajpur Wetland. There are factories and a residential area called Surajpur nearby from where effluents flow into the wetland, leading to waterlogging. Additionally, an attached drain has overflowed, causing extensive damage to a number of trees,” says Vikrant Tongad, an environment conservationist who has extensively worked for the protection of Surajpur Wetland. A study sharing satellite images has revealed a considerable reduction in the wetland area over the past 13 years. The deterioration has largely been a consequence of escalating urbanisation and construction of towering modern buildings in Greater Noida, wherein wetlands are increasingly being encroached. What we stand to lose when we lose our wetlands A wetland is land area that is saturated with water, either throughout the year or at different intervals of time during the year. They are typically shallow, thus, allowing the sunlight to penetrate into the surface facilitating plant growth through photosynthesis, making them one of the most biologically productive ecosystems on the planet. Wetlands occupy around 6% of the Earth’s surface in total. However, despite their small footprint, they are critical freshwater habitats. Himanshu Thakkar, Coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, River, and People (SANDRP) says, “Wetlands perform a number of functions. For instance, they facilitate groundwater recharge, function as biodiversity hotspots, and provide livelihoods, reduce the flooding in the city, and change the microclimate around it. From a climate change point of view, they act as carbon sinks. They are extremely important for the ecology of the city.” Historically, however, wetlands were considered to have little to no value, and were largely deemed as wasteland. As a result, they were either drained or transformed into the so-called more productive land. The perils of Delhi’s wetlands Surajpur is a manifestation of a much larger problem. According to Vikrant Tongad, there are rarely any remaining wetlands in Delhi. There is a common belief among people that wetlands are merely marshlands with limited utility, so that they are often dismissed due to concerns such as mosquito breeding. As Vikrant points out, current rules for the conservation and management of wetlands in India were notified only in 2017, replacing the earlier 2010 guidelines. “Delhi is under immense population pressure. The city demands systematic management, including protection of areas surrounding wetlands from the encroachment of highways, construction, and buildings,” he says, “Surajpur, for instance, is an important biodiversity habitat. While people go to these places to see birds, have picnics, and spend time there, very few of them are actually willing to work for its protection. Out of the funds authorities invested, some were used, and the rest misused.” Tongad is currently in a legal tussle to ensure that those responsible for discharging treated or untreated effluents into the wetland are held accountable. He has filed a case in the Supreme Court against the National Green Tribunal (NGT)’s decision to exclude the six low-lying areas near the Surajpur wetland from being categorised as wetlands. The NGT had ruled that in the absence of any revenue record, it cannot recognise these areas as wetlands. However, according to the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, all wetlands — regardless of their characteristics such as location, size, ownership, biodiversity or ecosystem services values — are eligible for notification and by extension, protection under the Rules. There are only a few exceptions to this, such as river channels, paddy fields, and human-made water bodies specifically constructed for drinking water, aquaculture, salt production, recreation, and irrigation purposes. Over the past century, India has lost 50% of its total wetlands. According to the Wetland Authority of Delhi (WAD), the national capital is reported to have over 1000 wetlands and waterbodies. However, none of them are officially notified, leaving them critically exposed to exploitation. According to data accessed by the Hindu, the Wetland Authority of Delhi has even received requests from some of the 16 agencies that own water bodies in the city (see table below), seeking the deletion of around 22.2% of the total water bodies in its records, citing encroachment or drying up as a reason. “Delhi has expanded exhaustively over the years, while the NCR area is developing at a really fast pace. There is nothing much for Delhi to lose anymore, because it has already lost most of its water resources over the past years. It has been mostly due to urbanisation, new construction, increasing population, and infrastructure,” repeats Pranab J. Patar, a Delhi-based environmentalist. Gaps in notification process Pranab also adds that a number of water bodies are left out of the notification process because of a policy lacuna and the unscientific nature of its process. Consequently, it is easy for encroachers to occupy that space or use that for waste dumping. Both the state and central government authorities contribute to the notification process. Wetlands are notified under the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. However, the notification process can extend over months or years, depending on the complexities involved and the efficiency of the relevant government departments. Besides, communities and stakeholders may also resist notification, fearing restrictions on activities like farming and construction. “For example, Bhalswa lake was a unique oxbow lake, which is not the case anymore because one of its arms has been turned into a dumpsite. This is again because notifications were happening during the dry season. The water level was low and depleted, leaving much of the catchment area dry. The authorities considered it to be a dry and barren land and left it out of the notification,” says Pranab, illustrating how legitimate wetlands get left out of the ambit of protection. According to India Water Portal, all wetlands of Delhi are vulnerable to aggressive infrastructural change and expansion of built-up areas. The study by the portal recommended an alternative, ecosystem based approach for city planning. An approach that would focus on sustainable development and include planning for the conservation and management of urban water bodies. It also emphasises the importance of geospatial analysis to understand and evaluate the situation of wetlands, and accordingly devise appropriate solutions. The aftermath of neglecting wetlands In July last year, a large part of Delhi was swamped in floodwaters from the river Yamuna, as its water level rose to a 45-year high mark. Visuals of the flooded capital took the internet by storm, where several claimed that the river Yamuna was reclaiming its historical course. The floods reportedly caused an economic loss of over Rs 10,000 crores. However, The State of India’s Environment 2023 report from the Centre for Science and Environment released earlier that year had spotted the danger signs already. It highlighted that the Yamuna floodplain originally had over 600 wetlands and water bodies, but more than 60% of them now lacked water. Embankments had disconnected river-fed water bodies from the Yamuna, raising the risk of flooding. Encroachment was rampant too. Notably, the Akshardham temple, constructed in 2000, and the Commonwealth Games Village in 2010, were built on the floodplains. Many people residing on the floodplains had converted the area into agricultural fields for their livelihoods. “There needs to be much stronger governance of wetlands. Even the judicial bodies are not very stringent. Urbanisation cannot be sustained without the wetlands. Wetland areas should be demarcated using satellite or physical mapping. Stronger rules and regulations should be brought to protect them. Continuous monitoring and local governance is crucial, and the help of the general population is key,” says Himanshu Thakkar. In an order dated June 2022, the Wetland Authority of Delhi issued detailed directions to all government authorities on how to expedite protection and restoration of water bodies in Delhi in a time-bound manner. This not only placed strict prohibitory orders on activities detrimental to the health of water bodies, but also emphasised proper identification. “Identify all water bodies, ensure listing and preparation of brief documents of all water bodies in the concerned jurisdiction as per the definition of Wetlands in Wetland Rules, 2017 with the Master list of the Wetland Authority of Delhi, so that none of the water bodies in Delhi is left unlisted, unmapped and documented under the statutory framework,” says the order. What can you do for the wetlands in your city? According to Himanshu, it is crucial for people to familiarise themselves with nearby wetlands. This involves preventing garbage dumping, sewage discharge, and encroachment, while also minimising personal waste generation through segregation and recycling.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Making Indian Cities Walkable

Indian cities grapple with shrinking spaces for pedestrians. In 2021 alone, pedestrian fatalities in India exceeded those of the EU and Japan combined, as reported by Bosch Limited. Shockingly, almost 99 per cent of Indian pedestrians are at risk of road injuries according to the same report. To make our cities more walkable and safer, a strategic urban planning overhaul is crucial. Prioritising pedestrians, restoring footpaths, and creating secure environments are vital steps forward. Manisha Natarajan in conversation with Mr Anupam Yog - Managing Partner at XDG Labs Pvt Ltd, Ms. Anumita Roychowdhury - Executive Director at the Centre for Science and Environment, and Mr Vivek Pai - Director at Sustainancy Consultants Pvt Ltd, for the right solutions.

• Down To Earth

Davis And Shirtliff Calls For Increased Investment In Water Projects For Food Security

Davis and Shirtliff has urged development partners and governments to escalate investment in water projects in drought-prone regions of Kenya to prevent conflicts and foster peaceful coexistence among communities. The firm stated that collaboration between the public and private sectors will continue to play a crucial role in ending extreme poverty, often leading to conflict in arid and semi-arid areas of the country as well as other parts of Africa. The Group CEO, George Mbugua,said the partnership will also help achieve sustainable development through technology, food security, climate change response, and the improvement of livelihoods through job creation and economic activities. “Counties in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas (ASALs) often experience perennial conflict occasioned by the absence or scarcity of this precious resource. However with investments in key water infrastructure and effective management, water will serve as the ultimate pathway for prevention of conflict, peace building and economic success,” said Mbugua. He further stated that targeted mapping of all water infrastructure and the deployment of necessary infrastructure technology will move communities from rain-fed agriculture, which will boost food security. “Even during rainy seasons, we know that in no time the water comes and goes leaving communities in arid and semi-arid regions back to the drawing board. But with the globally decreasing cost of solar PV modules and recent technological advances, solar installations are becoming increasingly popular for remote sites in Kenya and beyond, helping expand water access in every part of the country,” he added. In 2023, through the Improving Lives initiative, the company implemented 46 sustainable water projects impacting over 210,000 individuals in West Pokot, Marsabit, Turkana, Samburu, Taita Taveta, and Kajiado Counties. The group’s initiative has so far reached more than 1.2 million people across Kenya and other parts of Africa. According to the 2023 State of Africa Environment report, compiled by India’s Centre for Science and Environment in collaboration with Kenya’s Media for Environment, Science, Health, and Agriculture (MESHA), critical water basins across Africa are depleting due to unsustainable usage, becoming focal points for water competition and conflicts. ADVERTISEMENT. SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING. The report further warns that if the decline in natural capital, such as water basins, continues, approximately 1.5 billion Africans could face food insecurity by 2030.Another 1.2 billion people will also be exposed to water pollution, heightening tensions between countries and communities that share water resources. “More than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. Yet, out of 153 countries that share rivers, lakes, and aquifers with their neighbors, only 24 countries report having cooperation agreements for all their shared water,” noted Mbugua.