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NCDC survey on antibiotic use highlights need for properly monitoring critically important antimicrobials to mitigate AMR

A third of most commonly prescribed antibiotics were third generation cephalosporins, a class of critically important antimicrobials, findings show The findings of a new survey by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) underscored the need for directing more efforts for appropriate stewardship in antibiotic use practices, particularly Critically Important Antimicrobials (CIAs) and in mitigation of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial consumption tracking efforts, like seen for human consumption, should be considered for use of antibiotics in India’s food animal production sector. Currently, there is no data in the public domain on how much and what kind of antibiotics are used in food animals and crops. At the same time, there should be efforts towards conserving the use and effectiveness of Critically Important Antimicrobials (CIA), especially considering the weak and fragile global pipeline for new and future antibiotics. Out of overall antibiotic prescriptions, the third generation cephalosporins was the most commonly prescribed class of antibiotics (33.1 per cent), the NCDC survey found. Ceftriaxone was found to be one of the top antibiotics prescribed in this class, it added. According to NCDC guidelines, ceftriaxone is usually prescribed in the treatment of diseases such as enteric fever, biliary tract infections, acute bacterial meningitis, community acquired pneumonia, among others. Third generation cephalosporins are categorised as the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIA) by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to cephalosporins, aminoglycosides were also identified among the most commonly prescribed antibiotics (12.1 per cent) in the survey. Aminoglycosides are CIAs, according to the WHO classification. The commonly prescribed antibiotic identified in this class was amikacin. CIAs represent a class of antimicrobials in the WHO classification, categorised based on their importance in human medicine and the urgency to preserve their effectiveness in treating infectious diseases. HPCIAs constitute a subcategory within CIAs, signifying antimicrobials of the highest priority in preserving their effectiveness. Apart from cephalosporins and aminoglycosides, prescription of other CIAs belonging to the classes of carbapenems, penicillins, fluoroquinolones, glycopeptides and macrolides was also highlighted according to the survey results. An earlier report published by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2021, also highlighted the use of CIAs in food-producing animals in India. The third generation cephalosporins, including ceftriaxone, were found to be used in the Indian dairy sector, while aminoglycosides, including amikacin were reported in the Indian poultry sector. These antibiotics were being used to prevent, control or treat diseases, the research found. Widespread use of these important antibiotics both in food animal production and healthcare poses a potential threat, as it can lead to these antibiotics becoming ineffective soon. Recent data from the Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Surveillance Network of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as well as National Antimicrobial Surveillance Network (NARS-Net) of NCDC also showed a trend of increasing resistance towards CIAs, including third generation cephalosporins and aminoglycosides. This was the first multicentric point prevalence survey of antibiotic use at 20 NAC-NET sites. The report highlighting the results of the survey was released by Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, earlier last week. NAC-NET, the National Antimicrobial Consumption Network, is a network comprising 35 state medical colleges across India. It carries out surveillance of antimicrobial usage in healthcare settings and is coordinated by NCDC. This survey involved 20 NAC-NET sites across 15 states and two Union territories. It is one of the few studies in India that has adopted WHO’s Global Point Prevalence Survey methodology to monitor antibiotic use patterns. Out of 9,652 patients included in this study, 6,944 (71.9 per cent) were prescribed antibiotics. The total number of antibiotic prescriptions for these patients was 12,342, which means the average antibiotic prescription per patient was 1.8. The overall antibiotic use was recorded maximum in the Intensive Care Units and surgical wards. Over 55 per cent of the patients were prescribed antibiotics for prophylactic use, preventive purposes rather than to treat existing infections. This raises growing concerns regarding the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The report recommends hospitals to adopt standard treatment guidelines and to have well-defined antibiotic policies in place. It further highlights the need for conducting point prevalence surveys periodically in hospitals to monitor changes in antibiotic usage with time. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/ncdc-survey-on-antibiotic-use-highlights-need-for-properly-monitoring-critically-important-antimicrobials-to-mitigate-amr-93813

In a corner of Bangladesh, manual scavenging is impacting a treatment plant’s sustainability

Manual scavenging is still the mainstay of faecal sludge management in Lalmonirhat near the Indian border; the town’s FSTP is not able to work to its full capacity while the stigma of caste is perpetuated The safe, sustainable management of faecal sludge has become a major and difficult challenge as many developing countries begin to implement universal sanitation programmes. Bangladesh, which has recently had one of the most remarkable growth stories, has taken on this challenge head-on. The complexity of the task has been exacerbated by elements such as dense population, unplanned and fast growth, insufficient and frequently inaccessible service provisions and restricted sewage coverage. Bangladesh has made considerable progress in extending the coverage of sanitation during the past 10 or so years. But sanitation remains one of the country’s biggest concerns. The main drivers behind the increase in coverage of sanitation are government as well as non-governmental organisations, and other development partners working together in a well-coordinated manner. Due to the consistent efforts of all these stakeholders, 100 Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) for treatment and management of septic tank waste are in the pipeline to be constructed across various towns by 2025. Around 30 FSTPs have already been constructed. Only 15 of these are functional at present. As FSTPs are now being mostly operated and maintained, it is crucial to tackle the operationalisation hurdles and ensure smooth operations when the FSTPs are handed over to the municipality. Ground situation One of the 15 functional FSTPs is in Lalmonirhat district situated in the Rangpur division of northern Bangladesh, near the Indian border. The FSTP of 5 kilolitre per day capacity serves the district with a population of 75,000. The plant, constructed at a cost of 10 million Bangladesh Taka (BDT) or INR 75,54,000 under the Urban Governance Infrastructure Improvement Project (UGIIP-III) funded by Asian Development Bank, has been operational since August 2022. It is currently operated and maintained by the local municipality through its own revenue. As the FSTP is located within an existing solid waste landfill site, the resources are shared. The operator managing the landfill site handles the FSTP operations. Since commissioning, the plant has been facing challenges of low sludge load. It receives an average of two-three tanker trips or five kilolitres of sludge per week. This is way less than its designed capacity. Since Lalmonirhat has a population of around 75,000, the daily desludging potential — in the absence of a sewerage system — is around four-five trips per day. This gap in sludge load is hampering the efficient working of the plant besides posing a threat to its sustainability. The question around sustainability prompted Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to visit Bangladesh, to understand the ground situation and propose remedial actions. The intention of the trip was to explore the physical and financial sustainability of their faecal sludge and septage management projects. However, it revealed something more: sustainability was linked with untouchability in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country. Stigma of untouchability There are around 800-1,000 Dalits in Lalmonirhat. They are all involved in activities related to sanitation. Some 50-60 are actively engaged in manual scavenging. Their ancestors were non-Bengalis who were forced to migrate from the northern and southern parts of India (present-day Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh) to East Bengal (now Bangladesh) under the pretext of permanent government jobs by the British before the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent. The community lives a bittersweet life. On the one hand, they are the only ones entrusted with the cleaning of septic tanks. Manual cleaning of septic tanks is prevalent in approximately 50 per cent of the area since the households in Lalmonirhat are built and narrow lanes which vaccum tankers cannot access. The Dalit community is getting work on a daily basis and is earning as high as 40,000 BDT, which is a respectable amount in Bangladesh. On the other hand, they have forced to take up this work for generations, continue to live as the most marginalised and deprived section of Bangladeshi society, being termed ‘Untouchables’. “We are trapped in this infinite loop and our coming generations will be no different,” Bijoy, one of the manual scavengers working at the landfill site, told CSE. Bijoy is one of the few workers at the landfill site, who entertain demand-based emptying requests from locals. Even if someone from the community endeavours to take a different path for feeding their family — like opening up a small grocery shop or eatery or selling fruits or vegetables — the social discrimination and stigma associated with their traditional profession make it difficult for them to succeed. While the Dalits of Lalmonirhat continue to survive through regular boycott and everyday hardships, their livelihood is impacting the proper functioning and sustainability of the FSTP. As opposed to 10-15 desludging services per month provided by the municipality through 1,500- and 2,000 litre-capacity vacuum tanker vehicles, these people are called up for manual emptying of 40-60 septic tanks and pits per month. This averages 1-2 cleanings per day. Two-three scavengers are involved in each emptying activity and are paid 2,500-4,000 BDT, equally spilt among them. The sludge is either dumped in nearby open areas or disposed in dug holes, which are covered afterwards near the households by the scavengers. The FSTP, located on the outskirts of town, doesn’t provide conducive reason for the scavengers to take sludge to the plant as they don’t have any vehicles or hand-operated trolleys with them. In addition, lack of efforts from the municipality to guide or enforce them to take the sludge to the treatment plant also contribute to less sludge volume. Interventions The sustainability in question here is operational in nature rather than financial. While there may be other reasons that affect it, manual scavenging is the one which requires the most attention at the moment. At the institutional level, Bangladesh has the Labour Act, 2006 and 2015, National Occupational Health and Safety Policy, 2013 and The Dhaka Institutional and Regulatory Framework for Fecal Sludge Management, 2017. All these include guidelines about occupational health and safety for pit-emptying services. These provide formal manual scavengers with guaranteed income and partial health insurance. But they do not mention anything about informal workers. Article 15 of the Constitution of Bangladesh indicates that it is the fundamental responsibility of the State to attain steady improvement of standards of living through ensuring the right to work with reasonable wages in regards to quantity and quality of work. In reality, the misery of scavengers has remained static. Specific laws and regulations for the well-being of a sanitation worker are still non-existent. The existing laws have not talked much about enforcing mechanisms for the well-being of manual scavengers. There are a few non-profits — HEKS-EPER, Gram Bikash Kendra and Eco-Social Development Organization — who are working for uplifting the lives of these people. However, their efforts are contained, leaving a lot to be done. Lessons from neighbour India Bangladesh could learn a lot from India’s endeavour towards eradicating manual scavenging. While a lot could be said about India’s approach to tackle manual scavenging and its results, the resolve to address the issue by the government is unquestioned. In 2013, India passed the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act. This law effectively banned the employment of manual scavengers, the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment, and the construction of insanitary latrines. The Act’s amendment, passed in 2020, added modernisation of the existing sewage framework, the inclusion of non-sewage areas, proper treatment of faecal waste, and trained response units in case of an emergency. Meanwhile, the Centre undertook the process of mechanisation and rehabilitation under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme, 2021. National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation (NSKFDC), under the aegis of the Centre, acts as an apex corporation for the all-round socio-economic upliftment of sanitation workers, scavengers and their dependents throughout India, through various loan and non-loan based schemes. Apart from this, several national level campaigns to raise awareness about the issue have been launched till date: Safai Karmachari Andolan, Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan and Maila Mukti Yatra by Jan Sahas. While these were not overwhelmingly successful, steps in the right direction were initiated. For Bangladesh, the road to eradicate manual scavenging is a long one, filled with challenges along the path. However, in order to sustain the Faecal Sludge Management journey they have undertaken, measures to address manual scavenging should be on their priority list. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.

PM2.5 load uneven: Fewer ‘good’ days in 2023 than last four years

Gurgaon: The city’s PM2.5 levels met the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) of 60 micrograms per cubic metre on just 115 days in 2023, according to Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). PM2.5 levels were in the ‘good’ category (up to 30 µg/m3) on nine days in 2023. In contrast, 2022 reported 40 such days. In 2021, PM2.5 levels were ‘good’ for 21 days; in 2020, for 49 days; and in 2019, for 31 days. According to CREA data, the city’s PM2.5 levels met NAAQS norms on 109 days in 2022. The figure stood at 159 days in 2021, 173 days in 2020 and 122 days in 2019 (see graphic). The pollutant levels were ‘satisfactory’ (30-60 µg/m3) for 106 days in 2023, up from 69 days in 2022 but a dip from 2021 (138 days). There were seven ‘severe’ pollution days (when PM2.5 levels were above 250 µg/m3) last year — against just two in 2022 and five in 2021. The average PM2.5 concentration in 2023 was 90 µg/m3, the same as the year before. Both were much higher than the NAAQS, which is 40 µg/m3. The annual PM2.5 concentration was 92 µg/m3 in 2021, 82 µg/m3 in 2020 and 94 µg/m3in 2019. PM2.5 refers to air particles that are 2.5 microns in diameter, which is approximately 1/30th the width of a strand of human hair. It consists of fine, toxic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and cause heart disease, stroke and other respiratory diseases. PM2.5 data is a parameter widely used for assessing the impacts of air pollution on health. “While there has been a notable decline in the frequency of ‘poor’ air quality days in Gurgaon, the number of days with ‘good’ air has decreased too. This suggests that while there has been some improvement in managing peak pollution episodes, the same persistent sources of pollution continue to compromise the city’s air quality for a majority of the year,” said Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at CREA. He added, “Overall pollution levels have not seen a decrease since 2020. This implies a rise in the number of vehicles and heightened contributions from regional sources such as industries, power plants and construction activities, among others. The city requires a comprehensive action plan with targeted reductions in emission loads within the broader airshed.” According to experts, the analysis reflects that the gradual long-term improvement in annual PM2.5 levels since 2018 came to a halt in the last two years. “With a dip in stubble burning, an increase in rainfall between March to June, the annual pollutant levels should have improved. Instead, adverse meteorological conditions, specifically lower wind speeds, exacerbated the situation due to persistently high local pollution. The city had been experiencing a consistent decline in its annual PM2.5 levels since 2018. There was a drastic drop in 2020 due to lockdowns imposed during the pandemic. It increased slightly in 2021, but in the last two years, there has been no improvement,” said Shubhansh Tiwari, a research associate at Centre for Science and Environment. As many as 11 Haryana cities are in the top 50 most polluted cities around the world, according to the 2021 World Air Quality Report. These include Hisar (with the average PM2.5 that year at 89 µg/m3), Faridabad (88.9 µg/m3), Rohtak (86.9 µg/m3), Jind (84.1 µg/m3), Gurgaon (92 µg/m3), Dharuhera (75.8 µg/m3), Charkhi Dadri (73.9 µg/m3), Yamunanagar (73.3 µg/m3), Sonipat (68.7 µg/m3), Kurukshetra (68.1 µg/m3) and Ambala (65.3 µg/m3).

Delhi trying out bio enzymes as solution to air pollution crisis

During the pilot, a solution created by dissolving the bio enzymes in water in 1:5000 ratio was sprayed in Rohini and Wazirpur using anti-smog guns of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Public Works Department in three eight-hour cycles from ... Vivek Chattopadhyaya, Principal Programme Manager of the Air Pollution Control Cell at the Centre for Science and Environment, suggested testing the bio enzyme-based technology indoors and comparing results to rule out the impact of meteorological co...

Delhi trying out bio enzymes as solution to air pollution crisis

The Delhi government is exploring the use of bio enzymes to address the issue of air pollution with a pilot project conducted in Rohini and Wazirpur showing a reduction in particulate matter pollution by 30 to 55 per cent. 'While the application of bio enzymes for wastewater treatment and reducing contamination at landfill sites is known, this is possibly the first instance of using this method to combat air pollution in India,'' said Podilapu Mounica Kavya from R R Geocycle Private Limited, the firm that conducted the pilot in December. During the pilot, a solution created by dissolving a litre of bio enzymes in 5,000 litres of water was sprayed in Rohini and Wazirpur using anti-smog guns of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Public Works Department in three eight-hour cycles from December 16 to December 24, a report submitted by the firm to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said. The results revealed a 55 per cent drop in PM2.5 levels and a 32 per cent decrease in PM10 levels on average, it said. However, within three hours of discontinuing spraying of the bio enzymes, PM2.5 levels rose by 62 per cent and PM10 levels by 51 per cent on average. The continuous spraying of the solution for seven hours showed better results with the PM2.5 and PM10 levels dropping by 60 to 65 per cent. The concentration of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide also decreased notably while ozone levels showed an increase, according to the report. Indonesia has also experimented with bio enzymes to control air pollution in Jakarta and Bali. R R Geocycle Private Limited's Kavya said the cost of bio enzymes is Rs 2,000 per litre and spraying them across Delhi would amount to an expenditure of Rs 40 crore over 45 days. Mukesh Khare, a professor at IIT-Delhi and a researcher on air pollution issues, said that using bio enzymes to reduce air pollution is unheard of. He said that while algae screens (biofilters) are used in the West for localised air purification, this bio enzyme approach is innovative. Khare, however, cautioned about the potential impact of bio enzyme spraying on ecology. He stressed the need for an academic committee to review it. Vivek Chattopadhyaya, Principal Programme Manager of the Air Pollution Control Cell at the Centre for Science and Environment, suggested testing the bio enzyme-based technology indoors and comparing results to rule out the impact of meteorological conditions and other interventions. He emphasised the necessity of ensuring the safety of bio enzymes with regard to health. The effect on the respiratory system and other organs in animals and humans should be determined and a credible third party should certify the technology before widespread use, he said. Unfavourable meteorological conditions combined with vehicular emission, paddy straw burning, lighting of firecrackers and other local pollution sources contribute to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi-NCR every winter. Delhi's air quality ranks among the worst in the world's capital cities. A report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago in August had said that air pollution is shortening lives in Delhi by almost 12 years.

Nations failed to reach consensus on Article 6 for regulating carbon markets

Among other risks, a further delay in operationalising Article 6 could mean voluntary carbon markets and discretionary bilateral arrangements will keep filling the void Two weeks of high-tension drama at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai ended in a stalemate. The 197 countries participating failed to land a deal on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which would have allowed them to trade carbon credits generated from projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions to reach their climate targets mentioned in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). One carbon credit represents 1 tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced or removed from the atmosphere and sold by a host country to a buyer. More than 66 per cent of nations plan to use carbon credits to meet their NDCs, according to the World Bank. Countries could not reach a consensus as the proposed rules under negotiations lacked strong environmental and human rights guardrails. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 describes a set of nine paragraphs on how countries can “pursue voluntary cooperation” to reach their climate targets. COP28 discussed three topics: Article 6.2, a decentralised system where countries are allowed to forge bilateral agreements; Article 6.4, a centralised market system that provides common standards to validate, verify and issue high-quality carbon credits before trading; and Article 6.8 covers non-market approaches, where cooperating entities can reach climate adaptation and mitigation goals without trading. Though Article 6 was agreed upon in 2015, it was only in 2021 at COP21 that countries created a rulebook. But guidelines were far from comprehensive. In the following years, countries were tasked with setting stringent rules to operationalise the market and non-market approaches. What happened at COP28? Article 6.2: It allows countries to trade carbon credits, known as Internationally Traded Mitigation Outcomes, through mutual agreements. In Dubai, the goal was to offer further guidance to fully operationalise the framework agreed upon at COP21. The negotiating drafts released at COP28 were heavily debated among countries. Despite several iterations of the text and multiple meetings, countries could not reach a consensus due to a divergence of views. For instance, some parties objected to the possibility of revoking authorisation on sold credits. There could be issues if a host country is allowed to revoke some of its sold credits and count them towards their climate target. “This raises a risk of double counting if the credit is already traded,” Jonathan Crook, a policy expert on global carbon markets at Carbon Market Watch, told Down To Earth (DTE). During the negotiations, the United Kingdom voiced its reservations against revoking authorisation on credits as it could hurt business. However, the bloc of countries comprising Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay disagreed. It supported the option of withdrawal of authorisation in the case of human rights violations. Even though rules have not been agreed upon, countries have already signed bilateral agreements. The United Nations Environment Programme Copenhagen Climate Centre has recorded 67 bilateral agreements between seven different buyers (Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and Norway) and 42 host countries. Bilateral deals between countries further complicate the quest for a uniform and transparent approach to carbon trading. Article 6.4: Under this, host countries that develop an emission reduction or removal project need to submit their proposal to the Supervisory Body (SB), a United Nations panel tasked with overseeing the market. Once approved by the host country and SB, these projects can earn carbon credits. These credits can be sold to countries, companies or even individuals to reach their climate targets. The various draft negotiating texts released at COP28 were also heavily debated. The texts contained recommendations provided by the SB on setting up standards for methodologies (to calculate emission reductions from projects) and removals (projects that remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere). Carbon removal projects can be nature-based, which uses forests, mangroves, and agricultural soil or technology-based solutions, such as deploying big machines to capture and store carbon dioxide. At a meeting held on December 11, the European Union commented that the draft text was not sending a strong signal that carbon markets can contribute towards emission reductions. The other issue raised was the definition of removals. Blocs such as the African Group, the European Union and Russia said they did not want the SB to revisit the definition of removals. The SB defines removals as outcomes of processes that “remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere through anthropogenic activities and destroy or durably store them”. Experts have pointed out that the definition of removal has loopholes. For instance, “there is still no information on the amount of time needed to store carbon dioxide,” Crook told DTE. This could pave the way for projects that temporarily store carbon. On December 13, the concluding day of the taks, no deal was reached. The absence of a clear decision means another year of uncertainty in carbon markets. The already existing voluntary carbon markets, which help corporations offset their emissions, may continue to fill the void. But their effectiveness remains questionable. An earlier investigation by DTE and the Centre for Science and Environment found that voluntary carbon market projects may not benefit people or the climate. There are other concerns. A further delay in operationalising Article 6.4 could mean that Article 6.2 will attract more projects as it has reached a much more advanced stage of negotiations. “Article 6.2 has no guaranteed standards on environmental integrity as they are set between two countries,” Injy Johnstone, research associate in Net Zero Aligned Offsetting, told DTE. The draft will be reworked and presented at COP29. Article 6.8: The negotiating text for this article, which focuses on non-market approaches, was adopted at COP28. The emphasis was on recognising the work done by the Glasgow committee on non-market approaches (a work programme established in 2021 to implement the framework for non-market-based cooperation for mitigation and adaptation actions in the countries’ NDCs). Countries also discussed the failure to implement a web-based platform to exchange ideas on non-market-based approaches. Unfortunately, procedural discussions under Article 6.8 lacked depth and the non-market mechanism continues to be overshadowed by the predominant focus on market-based solutions.

Community Chargers key to accelerating EV adoption in India

The transportation sector accounts for 14% of India’s CO2 emissions, and 90% of emissions and energy consumption from transportation are attributed to vehicles. According to the Centre for Science & Environment, vehicles contribute to 17% of overall air pollution in Delhi. It is therefore important to address vehicular emissions, especially in a fast-developing country such as India, where vehicles will continue to grow with rising affluence and growing aspirations of Indians. There is a global consensus that EVs offer the most optimal solution to combat vehicular emissions, thanks to zero tailpipe emissions, and highly-efficient conversion of grid power. With a rapidly increasing share of renewable energy in India’s grid, EVs indicate a roadmap towards net zero mobility. Therefore, accelerating the shift to EVs is imperative for India. Charging Infrastructure – Critical Enabler India is among the most rapidly expanding EV markets today, with a total EV adoption of 28 lakh vehicles, encompassing 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, cars, and electric buses across the country. Over one lakh EV cars and SUVs were purchased in the last 18 months alone, with 75% of EV owners using their vehicles as a primary mode of transport, with the average EV being driven 26 days a month. There are EVs plying across all states in India but they still account for less than 2% of new car sales. The Government has set an audacious target to transition 30% of new car sales to EVs by 2030, which implies roughly a 20x growth in EV volumes from the current levels. Case studies from across the world show that ubiquitous and convenient charging infrastructure is a pre-requisite for driving EV adoption. Conversely, growth in charging infrastructure results in exponential growth in EV adoption. Therefore, as India strides boldly into the era of electric vehicles (EVs), accelerating the growth of charging infrastructure becomes a critical imperative. Charging Patterns – Home is where the charging happens Understanding how people charge their EVs is crucial for developing an optimal charging network. Telematics data retrieved from Tata EVs show that 93% of EV charging occurs at home and primarily overnight, which aligns well with people's daily routines. This statistic also highlights that early EV adoption in India was primarily driven by individuals with dedicated parking spaces at home, who enjoy the convenience of charging at home. Deeper adoption of EVs in line with reaching 30% EV penetration requires solutions also for those EV intenders without dedicated, covered parking at home. This includes renters who would not easily get permission from landlords to install chargers in their parking spaces. Community Chargers: The Game-Changer As India’s EV adoption grows to 30%, it will become imperative for apartment communities/ Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) in major cities to take the lead to set up common chargers for use by their residents. These “Community Chargers,” installed in common parking spaces within RWA premises, allow any resident to seamlessly charge and pay using an app or an RFID. A single Community Charger in an RWA can serve up to 5 EVs, as most EVs will only need to charge 1-2 times a week. Community Chargers will save significant wiring costs for RWAs and residents. In addition, the installation of a Community Charger can come at no cost to the RWA, as several Charge Point Operators (CPOs) are happy to install Community Chargers without seeking any chargers from the RWA, as they can earn from the charging tariff set on the Community Chargers. In addition, if the RWA so desires, Community Chargers can also become a source of revenue for the RWA through service fees/ revenue sharing on charging tariffs. For real estate developers, enabling Community Charging in new buildings will make them EV-ready, and open the building up to a range of highly sophisticated and modern EV buyers. Community Chargers are also convenient and beneficial to EV owners. For example, Community Chargers in many cities are permitted to have their own electricity meter, which would make power available at a concessional EV charging tariff, which is often lower than the domestic tariff paid by EV owners. In addition, renters and EV intenders with open/ stacked parking can leverage the Community Chargers in their RWA premises, and thus can go EV without worrying about charging at home. Finally, with a Community Charger installed on campus, residents can choose to buy an EV without wondering if their RWA would approve/ object to the installation of chargers in parking lots. Thus, Community Chargers offer a win-win-win solution for all stakeholders in the EV ecosystem. Catalysing Change: Community Chargers as Transformers Community Charging emerges as a practical solution to driving EV adoption, by bringing scalable, convenient charging infra right to an EV intender’s doorstep. The journey from less than 2% EV adoption to 30% this decade requires collaborative ecosystem efforts, with Community Charging at the forefront of this transformative shift. RWAs, building developers, and CPOs should come together to drive Community Chargers to pave the way for the next wave of exponential growth of EVs in India, and thus contribute significantly to reducing emissions in India. Balaje Rajan is the Chief Strategy Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. Views expressed are those of the author.

Delhi trying out bio enzymes as solution to air pollution crisis

The Delhi government is exploring the use of bio enzymes to address the issue of air pollution with a pilot project conducted in Rohini and Wazirpur showing a reduction in particulate matter pollution by 30 to 55 per cent. "While the application of bio enzymes for wastewater treatment and reducing contamination at landfill sites is known, this is possibly the first instance of using this method to combat air pollution in India," said Podilapu Mounica Kavya from R R Geocycle Private Limited, the firm that conducted the pilot in December. During the pilot, a solution created by dissolving the bio enzymes in water in 1:5000 ratio was sprayed in Rohini and Wazirpur using anti-smog guns of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Public Works Department in three eight-hour cycles from December 16 to December 24, a report submitted by the firm to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said. The results revealed a 55 per cent drop in PM2.5 levels and a 32 per cent decrease in PM10 levels on average, it said. However, within three hours of discontinuing spraying of the bio enzymes, PM2.5 levels rose by 62 per cent and PM10 levels by 51 per cent on average. The continuous spraying of the solution for seven hours showed better results with the PM2.5 and PM10 levels dropping by 60 to 65 per cent. The concentration of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide also decreased notably while ozone levels showed an increase, according to the report. Indonesia has also experimented with bio enzymes to control air pollution in Jakarta and Bali. R R Geocycle Private Limited's Kavya said the cost of bio enzymes is Rs 2,000 per litre and spraying them across Delhi would amount to an expenditure of Rs 40 crore over 45 days. Mukesh Khare, a professor at IIT-Delhi and a researcher on air pollution issues, said that using bio enzymes to reduce air pollution is unheard of. He said that while algae screens (biofilters) are used in the West for localised air purification, this bio enzyme approach is innovative. Khare, however, cautioned about the potential impact of bio enzyme spraying on ecology. He stressed the need for an academic committee to review it. Vivek Chattopadhyaya, Principal Programme Manager of the Air Pollution Control Cell at the Centre for Science and Environment, suggested testing the bio enzyme-based technology indoors and comparing results to rule out the impact of meteorological conditions and other interventions. He emphasised the necessity of ensuring the safety of bio enzymes with regard to health. The effect on the respiratory system and other organs in animals and humans should be determined and a credible third party should certify the technology before widespread use, he said. Unfavourable meteorological conditions combined with vehicular emission, paddy straw burning, lighting of firecrackers and other local pollution sources contribute to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi-NCR every winter. Delhi's air quality ranks among the worst in the world's capital cities.

New Research Raises Fresh Doubts About India’s River Linking Plans

In October this year, the Indian forest department gave final clearance for a project to transfer water from the Ken river as it flows through the state of Madhya Pradesh to the nearby Betwa river. The Ken-Betwa river interlink, which would involve damming the Ken and laying a canal to the Betwa, is supposed to be the first of 30 proposed river interlinks which would fundamentally transform India’s river systems. The original idea was conceptualised in the 19th century by Arthur Cotton, a British general and irrigation engineer. Cotton suggested connecting all of India’s major rivers to enable better irrigation and navigation, and to capitalise on what was seen as the paradoxical phenomenon of having floods in one part of the country while other areas faced drought. Post independence, despite official enthusiasm for large infrastructure projects, including hydropower dams, this particular approach did not gain any significant traction. In 1980 the Ministry of Irrigation (now subsumed under the Ministry of Jal Shakti) prepared a National Perspective Plan (NPP) “for transferring water from water surplus basins to water-deficit basins”, but no further government action followed. In 2002, however, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who was the President of India at the time, made a speech mentioning the subject. Using the speech, Ranjit Lal, a senior lawyer to the Supreme Court, filed a public interest litigation in September 2002, and the court pronounced a judgement soon after asking for the project to be accelerated. Decisions made based on secret data In 2012, the Supreme Court came back to the subject and declared in its judgement that that “these projects are in the national interest, as is the unanimous view of all experts, most state governments and particularly, the central government”. But environmental experts who were consulted on the project as members of an expert committee set up as part of the Supreme Court judgements have regularly raised concerns. Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, a network of activists working in the water sector, was a member of the Ministry of Water Resources’ expert committee on river interlinking from 2009 to 2011. He told The Third Pole that while most of the committee members were government appointees who agreed with the project, independent experts like him, water management pioneer Rajendra Singh and watershed conservationist Vijay Paranjape often dissented. One of the major issues for Thakkar was the use of secret hydrological data. “When I asked for the data as a member of the expert committee, I was told that the Ken is part of the Ganges basin, an international basin, and [since] hydrology figures of international basins are a state secret, these cannot be made available [even to the committee members],” he said. “The hydrology data pertaining to the Ken basin and the Betwa basin is neither in the public domain nor has it ever undergone any independent public scrutiny. In fact, the rainfall data of districts the Ken and the Betwa pass through, in the previous four years (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020), is not appreciably different. So why has the Ken basin been categorised as having surplus water?” Bhopal Singh, director general of the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) which is entrusted with the river linking project, disputes this. He told The Third Pole: “the project was based on detailed hydrological and simulation studies duly accounting [for] the upstream/downstream needs, environmental flows, etc., in the Ken basin.” “The hydrological studies were done by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, and examined and reviewed by the Central Water Commission,” Singh added. The NWDA website carries a detailed project report based on a NIH study conducted in 2003-04, but the study itself is not included. Singh told The Third Pole that “the entire modelling cannot be shared”. New science may upturn old models Another urgent issue is that science has moved a far pace from Cotton’s time, and the impact of interlinking rivers may be much more complicated than was appreciated in the 19th century. Subimal Ghosh, institute chair professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay’s Department of Civil Engineering and convener of the Interdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies, explained that atmospheric water has traditionally not been factored into consideration of water cycles. A recent study which Ghosh co-authored found that adjacent river basins do not exist in isolation, and moving water from one to another may have additional impact due to atmospheric water. The study builds on the fact that towards the end of the Indian summer monsoon, when the soil is saturated and evapotranspiration (the supply of moisture from the land to the atmosphere) is fairly high, recycled precipitation contributes to about 25% of monsoon rainfall. If water from one basin were to be used to irrigate another basin, the combination of increased evapotranspiration and wind could reduce the late monsoonal rain by 12% in some arid regions of the country, and increase rainfall up to 10% in other parts. “Now we know for certain that altering the terrestrial water cycle can impact atmospheric processes,” said Ghosh. He argued that there is “an urgent need to include rigorous model-guided evaluation of hydro-meteorological consequences” for projects like river interlinking. In response, Singh of the NWDA said that they could not comment on a hypothetical study. “Considering the scale of meteorological and hydrological cycles in the country, these inter-basin water transfers to water-short areas are minor in nature … As far as the Ken-Betwa link is concerned, the majority of harnessed flood water shall be utilised in the Ken basin itself and some water shall be utilised to fulfil the water needs of other regions including recharge of existing tanks in the Bundelkhand region,” he added. The illusion of water surplus A deeper problem, according to Thakkar, may be that the river basins classified as having a water surplus are only regarded as such because they are less developed. He pointed out that districts in the upper Ken basin are largely devoid of water-intensive agriculture, and with few dams built for storage. In contrast, the lower Betwa runs through agricultural districts where water-intensive crops are grown, with a fair number of dams. The surplus, he said, is only an illusion created by the different levels of water utilisation in different geographies. “Now dams are sought to be built in the upper Betwa region, which will create a shortfall in the existing lower Betwa basin dams,” said Thakkar. “That shortfall is proposed to be rectified by water from the Ken basin.” In response, Singh said that the Ken-Betwa link is not only about the inter-basin transfer of water – the central premise of river interlinking from Cotton’s time to the Supreme Court decisions – but also about conserving flood water. Most rainfall occurs in a few days during the monsoon, and “there are hardly any flows in the Ken during the non-monsoon period,” said Singh. “The region is also not very rich in groundwater due to hard rock and marginal alluvium terrain. We expect this project to stabilise the availability of water and improve water management in the region particularly during drought years.” Major downstream impacts of river interlinking Singh’s vision of the total utilisation of water raises its own issues, according to Depinder Kapur, director of the water programme at the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi. “The more river waters we use for agriculture and irrigation and urban consumption, the less will be left to enter the sea, especially in peninsular India where rivers aren’t fed by Himalayan waters,” said Kapur. According to a 2018 study, if all 30 proposed river interlinking projects in the country are fully implemented, the average annual discharge by the affected basins will reduce by 73%. While the study focused on impacts to wetlands and estuaries, which would be deprived of key sources of water, there would also be major ramifications for the ocean. A significant fall in the flow of fresh river water into the sea would disrupt the upper layer of water in the Bay of Bengal, which is made up of low-salinity and low-density water that helps maintain a sea surface temperature higher than 28 degrees Celsius. This high surface temperature in turn creates low-pressure areas and intensifies monsoon activity, explained Mihir Shah, distinguished professor at Shiv Nadar University and former chair of a new National Water Policy drafting committee set up by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019. “Rainfall over much of the [Indian] subcontinent is effectively controlled by this layer of low-salinity water. A disruption in this layer because of the massive damming proposed by the river interlinks … could have serious long-term consequences for climate and rainfall in the subcontinent, endangering the livelihoods of a vast population.” Rivers carry more than water, and sediment would also be held back by new dams built for river interlinking. This is a critical concern for the deltas of the Ganga–Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri basins, home to more than 160 million people who would be deeply impacted by sea level rise due to climate change. A new study of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta found that the approximately 1 billion tonnes of sediment that rivers currently carry each year would increase by 34-60% in the 21st century because of more monsoon rainfall. More sediment in the delta would help to offset sea level rise and naturally sustain the delta. But, as the 2018 study pointed out, if all dams involved in the proposed river interlinking projects are built, this sediment load would fall by 87%. Singh of the NWDA responded by saying that sediment trapping by reservoirs and their impact on deltas was “always exaggerated without proper scientific study”. While suggesting that such impacts would be “nominal”, he told The Third Pole that the NWDA had “already initiated system studies of the proposed link projects to study the likely impact of climate change on hydrology and water availability, demand patterns, surface and ground water interactions”. Looking ahead, with the Bharatiya Janata Party having returned to power in Madhya Pradesh in the November 2023 elections, and with river interlinking having been featured in the party’s 2019 general election manifesto, it seems likely that work on the Ken-Betwa link will be prioritised as evidence of the plan making progress. Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Rajasthan.

Has Delhi Reached The Environmental Limits Of Economic Growth

For the first time since I arrived in Delhi about 40 years ago, I skipped winter in the city for two months expressly to avoid air pollution and stayed in a coastal town. I would have been away longer if I could have helped it. This would have been unimaginable about 10 years ago. I loved Delhi winters—the chill, the fog, the charcoal fires and aromas wafting from tandoors. But the charm is now cl Under Supreme Court orders, polluting industries were forced out of the capital. Coal-based power plants in the city have closed down. From the beginning of 2022, industries in the capital region were barred from using coal. Their annual consumption was at least 1.4 million tonne, the Centre for Science and Environment—an environmental activist group—reported in an article. For cooking, the reside

India Unpreparedness For Disasters

It is unfortunate that the climate change and global warming are not getting the attention it deserves. Global conferences set long term goals, which are too little too late. UN convention on climate change comes out with targets year after year and latest global conference, CoP28 held in December last has again come out with some targets to achieve near net zero emission of methane and drastic reduction in use of fossil fuel by 2050. All these are fine but the question is whether the world will be liveable by then in view of massive destruction floods and droughts cause to humanity. Is global administration really serious or is it that these conferences end up as mere talking shop. Take the case of recent floods in Tamil Nadu. First the cyclone caused havoc in Chennai and its four neighbouring districts with a rainfall of around 40 cm in just one or two days when these areas receive just 20-25 cm of rains in the northeast monsoon spanning over two months in November-December. In 2015 cyclone, the worst in 100 years, Chennai received around 50 cm of rain. These are unprecedented events, which are worst than cloudbursts, that happen in Himalayas. This Chennai rain was followed by yet another disaster in four southern districts of Tamil Nadu including Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi. These four districts too had around 40 cm of train in a day or two when average rainfall during this time of year is around 2-2.5 cm. This year it might have been Chennai but the fact of the matter floods are ravaging most of the metropolitan cities one year or other due haphazard development, be it Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru and many more. More importantly, these disasters have become a regular phenomenon and India witnessed an extreme weather event almost every other day in the first nine months of 2023. Close to 3000 people have been killed. Over 80,000 houses destroyed, 1.84 million hectares crop area devastated. More than 92,000 livestock snuffed out. It is therefore not only Tamil Nadu, but the entire country is suffering from extreme weather disaster, which included extreme heat, cold waves, cyclones and lightning to heavy rains, floods and landslides. According to New CSE Down to Earth assessment between January one and September 30, 2023, such events hit the country with tenacious and frightening regularity and impact on 86 per cent of the days. Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of extreme events in this period and Bihar, the highest number of deaths. These statistics were released by the centre for science and environment and Down to Earth as part of pre-COP28 assessment of extreme weather events in India in 2023. These are mindboggling numbers and indicate the frequency and expanding geography of extreme weather events in the country. It also shows that what the country has witnessed in 2023 is new “abnormal” in a warming world, according to Sunita Narain, CSE director general. As the extreme weather was witnessed on 235 days of the 273 days from January one to September 30 2023, no state in the country has been spared, be it southern states, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, east and northeast. Added to this, this is cyclone and floods in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in December of 2023. What is more alarming, according to Sunita Narain is that it is not about a single event, but about the increased frequency of such events. An extreme event that we used to witness once every 100 years, has now begun to occur every five years, or even less. This is breaking the back of poorest people, who are the worst affected and fast losing their capacities to cope. Also comparative analysis made in the report indicates that 2023 was worse than 2022 in the sense all the 36 states and union territories were affected in 2023 as against 34 in 2022. Besides, the extent of cropped areas that has suffered damages has widened. It was limited to 15 states in 2022 and in 2023, 20 states were affected. These are very serious issues but there seems to general apathy among the public, politicians, administration and people who matter. Take the case of condition in Delhi during winter months due to air pollution. Year after year, there seems to be no serious effort. Everybody blamed the other party for scoring brownie points without making any concerted effort to find a solution. This is true of the recent Tamil Nadu floods. Everybody seemed to be interested in some short time gain out of such natural calamities rather than trying to find a permanent solution to mitigate this huge human problem for the common good of the society at large. Apart from ,depoliticising this grave issue, good Samaritans should join hands to create awareness and make every person do their bit to arrest this trend as otherwise it could disastrous for future generations. (IPA)

India's Drive Towards Sustainability Stalls With Missed Fuel Efficiency Targets

There's a growing focus on environmental sustainability in India's automotive industry, but the latest data indicates a shortfall in meeting the fuel efficiency benchmarks. Indian manufacturers have fallen short of the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) targets for the fiscal year that concluded on March 31. CAFE is a critical gauge of a vehicle's carbon emissions, and the collective performance of these automakers yielded an average of 116.78 grams of CO2 per kilometre, slightly above the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) goal of 113 grams per kilometre. This deviation from the target marks the first time India has not met its fuel efficiency goals since the policy's implementation five years ago. The implications are significant, potentially affecting the nation's aggressive climate objectives, including a 45% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, relative to 2005 levels. Despite concerted efforts, the lag in India's progress toward these targets is becoming evident. The government is taking a meticulous approach to evaluate the situation, as confirmed by a high-ranking official. While there's acknowledgement of the industry's improvement from a previous figure of 130 grams per kilometre down to the current 115-116 range, the mere proximity to the target is insufficient. Delays in public disclosure of the CAFE scores have been attributed to the late submission of individual automaker scores. It was only recently that manufacturers provided their data in the required format to the International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT), which then relayed the information to MoRTH. When compared to global standards, India's ambitions seem modest. Europe's stringent fuel economy benchmark stands at 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre, according to Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. European nations have been more successful in transitioning to electrified powertrains, despite vehicles with larger, heavier engines.

IISER Bhopal develops material to break down chemical warfare agents

Bhopal: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal (IISER Bhopal) researchers have developed an effective photocatalyst, a substance that absorbs a wide range of solar energy and light to quicken chemical processes in laboratories and industries. The findings of this research have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Angewandte Chemie (D.O.I: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202312910) in a paper co-authored by Prof Abhijit Patra, department of Chemistry, IISER Bhopal, and his research scholars, Shilpi Jaiswal, Dr Arkaprabha Giri, Dr Dependranath Mandal, and Madhurima Sarkar. This new, sustainable development contributes to harnessing a renewable energy source for detoxifying harmful substances such as chemical warfare agents. Chemical warfare agents include mustard gas simulants like ‘2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide’ (CEES) and nerve agents, which are highly poisonous chemicals that affect a person’s nervous system. This research represents a significant advancement in the field of ‘Photocatalysis’, a process where a substance (a photocatalyst) is used to change the rate of a chemical reaction when exposed to light. While many different types of photocatalysts are used in various industries for effective light harvesting, they all suffer from a drawback in that they only absorb UV or high-energy parts of light. The novel photocatalyst developed by IISER Bhopal researchers solves that problem. The newly-developed material called ‘UC-POP-Au’ displays remarkable strength and catalytic efficiency as it absorbs the entire spectrum of light, making it a more potent catalyst during chemical processes. Explaining the scenarios in which the photocatalyst can be deployed in the real world, Prof Patra said, “The current investigation unveils a novel direction in the development of advanced light-harvesting porous organic polymer nanocomposite materials, showing potential applications in designing smart protective coatings against chemical warfare agents under natural sunlight conditions.” Speaking on the technical aspects of this research, Prof Patra added, “We have developed an innovative design approach that involves the integration of plasmonic and upconversion nanoparticles with a conjugated porous organic polymer, which opens up new vistas towards artificial light harvesting.” The photocatalyst can be used five times over. No significant change in the catalytic activity was observed during multiple uses. The research team from IISER Bhopal is now further expanding the scope of their work in developing advanced materials for harnessing light energy to break down other toxic chemicals. We also published the following articles recently IISER Bhopal Researchers develop material to break down chemical warfare agents like Mustard GasResearchers at IISER Bhopal have developed a highly efficient photocatalyst called UC-POP-Au. This novel material absorbs the entire spectrum of light, making it a potent catalyst for chemical processes. It combines near-infrared absorbing upconversion nanoparticles and visible light absorbing gold nanoparticles with a UV rays absorbing conjugated porous organic polymer. The photocatalyst has been tested and shown excellent performance in detoxifying mustard gas simulant. It is also reusable and can be used multiple times without a significant loss in catalytic activity. The research team is now exploring the application of this photocatalyst in creating personal protective equipment and other industries.106551041 Chemical or organic? Your choice mattersThe root cause of the decline in food quality can be attributed to the loss of micro-nutrients due to the use of chemicals in food production. Over the years, the focus on increasing production has led to a decrease in the nutritive value of food. A comparison of nutrient content in cabbage and spinach from 1914 to 1992 revealed a significant decline in calcium levels. Lab testing by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found that macro and micro nutrients have decreased in grains, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and buffalo milk. This decline in nutrient levels may be linked to the increase in cases of diabetes, hypothyroidism, and hyperlipidemia. The bioavailability of micro-nutrients from naturally grown food is higher than synthetic supplements, making it crucial for maintaining overall health.106610417 Massive fire breaks out in chemical factory in Navi MumbaiA massive fire erupted at Mehk Chemicals Pvt Ltd, a chemical factory in MIDC Pawane, Navi Mumbai. Fire tenders are working to control the fire at the facility. No casualties or injuries have been reported.106530626

Chemical or organic? Your choice matters

Do you find tomatoes less tasty than before? Do you feel a few batches of cilantro are missing their favourite aroma? Are you often changing your rice brand in search of that particular smell that you are familiar with when you were a kid? If you find answers to all these questions in affirmative, let’s try to find the root cause that is affecting the food quality. If micro-nutrients add taste and aroma to food, it’s the chemicals that are being used to push production that is robbing food of its nutrient value. Over the years though production could be increased, in that effort, quality and nutritive value were lost. natural farming An analysis of nutrients present in a cabbage and spinach in 1914 and 1992 revealed that calcium content in cabbage came down from 248mg/ 100 g in 1914 to mere 47mg/100g in 1992. The value must have gone further down in the last 30 years making it almost devoid of essential nutrients. natural farming A lab testing of various crops by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that the macro and micro nutrients have gone down drastically not only in grains and vegetables but also in fruits, eggs and buffalo milk. Deficiency diseases have been identified long back but the recent spurt in cases of diabetes, hypothyroidism and hyperlipidemia are something that have no explanation and a section of medical experts has started linking them with not just food habit, but the kind of raw materials available. narural farming “If the vegetables and fruits we eat are devoid of iron, calcium, magnesium zinc and other trace micronutrients, how can we expect to be fit?” asked Siddhartha Jaiswal, co-author of the paper on nutrition that won first prize at nutrition conference at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 2018 for drawing the link between healing and naturally grown food which could be helpful for the patient during ERAS (Enhance recovery after surgery) period and restorative health since bioavailability of micro-nutrients obtained from food is higher than synthetic food supplement. natural farming 2 YRS OF TURNING GREEN I was introduced to the idea of natural farming around two years back while attending village meetings of women selfhelp groups (SHG) where we were told how cow dung and urine can be used to make organic fertilisers. Initially, I was a little sceptical, but then gave it a try on my small farmland. During the process, I faced a problem sourcing the organic fertilisers for my land and that is when I started manufacturing it. I learnt how cow urine collected in a tank can be fermented with small amount of gram flour and jaggery to be used as liquid manure. I also learnt the technique of manufacturing Shivansh Khad by collecting farm waste and weeds and fermenting it with cow dung. Gradually, my farm became a bio-resource centre (BRC) which supplies Jeevamrit, Ghanjeevamrit, Shivansh Khad and bio pesticides such as Neemastra, Brahmastra and Agneyastra to farmers. The BRC, managed by a group of women entrepreneurs now, has become an additional source of income for them.