To be sure, this was the first Swachh Survekshan for the unified MCD which was set up by merging North, South and East MCD in May 2022 The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) was judged to be seventh cleanest region nationally among local bodies with more than 100,000 population, and the cleanest city within Union territories, according to the Swachh Survekshan report released by the Union ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Thursday. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) area, which covers more than 94% of city’s geographical area, was ranked 90 out of 446 urban local bodies in the category of cities with a population of more than 100,000, while the Delhi Cantonment Board area slipped two spots — ranking seventh out of 61 — in the cantonment category. To be sure, this was the first Swachh Survekshan for the unified MCD, set up by merging North, South and East MCDs in May 2022. This year’s survey also carried changed baseline levels, with urban local bodies being eligible to earn 9,500 points in various categories in comparison to 7,500 points in the 2022 version of the survey. Additionally, the latest survey clubbed urban local bodies in two categories — cities with more than 100,000 and those with populations fewer than this number. In contrast, for the 2022 assessment, cities were divided into two buckets: one with 100,000 to 1 million population, and the other with over a million population. Under the 2023 Swachh Survekshan, Indore and Surat secured the joint top positions, with both securing 9,348.39 out of 9,500 points. In comparison, NDMC was awarded 8,728.30 points while MCD got 6,114.70 points. Among the major areas where the MCD lost out was in landfill sites. The MCD’s project for biomining and bioremediation of the Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfills has been slow and has missed several deadlines. After multiple revisions, the latest deadline – from an initial one of 2019 — to clear these sites has been set at December 2024. HT earlier reported that the addition of fresh waste remains the main hurdle ahead of this project. NDMC was awarded 100% marks in this category as it does not have any dumpsite, its waste instead goes to the Okhla landfill – which falls under MCD. Delhi generates 11,328 tonnes of waste everyday with 11,000 tonnes per day (TPD) coming from MCD areas, 256 TPD from NDMC and 72 TPD from cantonment area. NDMC was judged to have the highest processing level at 100%, followed by MCD with 86% and Delhi Cantt at 75%. The report card awarded 71% marks to MCD for door-to-door waste collection and 99% to NDMC on the same parameter. Similarly, MCD got 86% marks for waste processing while NDMC had 100% on the same parameter. The only area where MCD outperformed NDMC is in waste segregation: MCD received 100% points for waste segregation, an area in which NDMC was awarded 87%. Domestic municipal waste comprises wet waste (kitchen) and dry waste (paper, bags, plastic etc). Though it is mandatory for households to segregate waste at a household level, source segregation remains minimal, said experts, expressing incredulity at MCD’s score. Even Indore secured 98% in this category. Atin Biswas, programme director of municipal solid waste sector in Centre for Science and Environment, said 100% points awarded to MCD for waste segregation cannot be true. “I have been living in Delhi for a long time and most of the segregation is done by the informal sector and waste pickers. The segregation level in the city would not be even 10% in reality. The survey should be more transparent and finding must be released for public feedback before rankings are fixed,” he said. The survey also awarded 100% marks to MCD on the cleanliness of waterbodies falling in its areas. An MCD spokesperson did not comment on the findings but the mayor’s office said cleanliness systems in the Capital were better than before. “According to the Swachh Survekshan-2023 report, Delhi has been ranked 28th this time among cities with a population of more than one million. Whereas according to the report of Swachh Survekshan 2022, north MCD ranked 37th, east MCD ranked 31st and south MCD ranked 28th. In such a situation, last year’s data clearly shows MCD has made a lot of improvement in the cleanliness system this year,” the office said in a statement.
মহানগৰীত ভয়াৱহভাৱে বৃদ্ধি পাইছে বায়ু প্রদূষণ Air pollution in guwahati: ভয়াবহ বায়ু প্ৰদূষণৰ কৱলত পৰিছে গুৱাহাটীকে আদি কৰি অসমৰ কেবাখনো জিলা । Central Govt environment and forest ministry য়ে প্ৰকাশ কৰিছে এক ভয়ংকৰ তথ্য । মহানগৰীত ভয়াৱহভাৱে বৃদ্ধি পাইছে বায়ু প্রদূষণ Air pollution in guwahati: ভয়াবহ বায়ু প্ৰদূষণৰ কৱলত পৰিছে গুৱাহাটীকে আদি কৰি অসমৰ কেবাখনো জিলা । Central Govt environment and forest ministry য়ে প্ৰকাশ কৰিছে এক ভয়ংকৰ তথ্য । Read more at: https://www.etvbharat.com/assamese/assam/state/kamrup-metropolitan/air-pollution-is-on-the-rise-in-the-city/assam20240111230018569569022
Close to 50% of the days in 2023 were 1.5°C warmer than 1850-1900, compared to just over 20% in 2016 The year 2023 was the first in history when every day the average daily temperature was at least a degree higher than the average of the preindustrial period from 1850-1900. Close to half the days in 2023 were in excess of 1.5°C warmer than 1850-1900. This was the case for just over 20 per cent of the days in 2016, the previous warmest year on record, stated the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Services on January 9, 2024. It was from December 2-15, 2015, when for the first time, the temperatures consistently exceeded the average of 1850-1900 by at least 1.5°C. Two days in November 2023 were more than 2°C warmer. This was the first time the 2°C threshold was surpassed, said EU Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) in the yearly climate summary Global climate highlights 2023. This annual report with concise analysis of the climate of the past year, noted that in 2023, the average temperature surpassed that of 2016 by 0.17°C, thus replacing 2016 as the warmest calendar year on record. According to the ERA5 dataset, the global-average temperature for 2023 was 14.98°C. In fact, 2023 was the warmest year on record by a “huge margin”. This suggests that the climate is significantly changing. The observed rise in global temperature was mostly ascribed to the ongoing increase in carbon dioxide emissions, which was further exacerbated by the reappearance of El Niño, a natural climate phenomena. The carbon dioxide values in 2023 are roughly 2.4 parts per million (+/- 0.4 ppm) higher than those in 2022, according to CCCS data. As a result, the average annual carbon dioxide concentration for 2023 was roughly 419.3 parts per million. Warm temperatures over the ocean were linked to a sizable portion of the temperature anomaly increase from May to August of 2023. The transition from La Niña to El Niño over the Pacific Ocean and the overall warming of the Atlantic and Indian oceans are linked to the temperature anomalies over the tropical ocean, which changed from negative in 2022 to positive in 2023. Significant contributions from land and ocean are linked to the exceptionally large anomalies in the last four months of 2023, mainly from the northern extratropics (especially over land) and the tropics (especially over ocean). Why this worrying Elevated temperatures in 2023 led to flooding, wildfires, drought and extreme heat, causing widespread damage to lives and livelihoods worldwide. Attribution studies by the World Weather Attribution Network revealed that extreme weather events experienced across all major continents – Africa, Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania — would have been nearly impossible without the influence of human-induced global warming. For instance, the devastating Cyclone Freddy, with a major impact on Madagascar and Mozambique, and Storm Daniel, which led to floods in Libya, have been attributed to climate change. India experienced extreme weather events on 86 per cent of days from January to September 2023, according to an assessment by the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth. But 2024 could be warmer still than 2023, according to scientific forecasts. There is a high likelihood of surpassing the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold within the next 12 months, said the EU CCCS. The 12 consecutive months ending in January and / or February 2024 will exceed the 1.5°C level, according to EU CCCS and emphasised on the urgency of addressing the escalating climate challenges. The storm Henk and the extreme floods in the UK during the first week of 2024 has a link with climate change, showed scientific studies. Climate change is leading to warmer and wetter winters in the UK, stated by the Oxford University in 2014. The recent devastating floods in Democratic Republic of the Congo, said to be the worst in 60 years, has been said to be the marker of climate change, according to the experts in a media report. “I have been involved in flood modelling and resilience for 40 years and in recent years flooding appears to have been getting worse, particularly in terms of rainfall intensity and more frequent flood events. These changes in weather patterns would appear to be as predicted by climate meteorologists and those specialising in climate change,” said Roger Falconer, emeritus professor of water and environmental engineering, Cardiff University. Way forward In 2015, 195 countries committed to addressing climate change through the Paris Agreement, which set the stretch target of 1.5°C. By the end of the century, the accord seeks to keep global warming “well below” 2°C and “pursue efforts” to keep temperature under the safer 1.5°C level. But the world’s progress towards Paris Agreement targets have fallen short, according to the largest-ever UN assessment. The final text on Global Stocktake adopted at COP28 proposed key actions to keep the global temperature rise within the ambit of 1.5°C. Going forward, a strong political will, with effective policies and actions are needed to adapt and prepare for the challenges in the warming world. 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. 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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
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.
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).
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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