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Editorial: Apathy in the air

A noxious mix of vapours in New Delhi is shaving off nearly 12 years from a resident’s life expectancy There is a familiar air to the global reports on air pollution. Year after year, ominous signals emanate from these surveys, bracketing Indian cities among the most polluted in the world, but it is again back to business as usual for policymakers. The latest report has warned that a noxious mix of vapours in New Delhi is shaving off nearly 12 years from a resident’s life expectancy. This reflects the pathetic state of affairs. The Air Quality Life Index 2023 report of the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) — which calculated the global loss in life expectancy across 245 countries and territories — found that Delhi, Noida and Gurugram were the worst global performers. In India, the northern plains — home to nearly 40% of the population — were found to be the worst performers with the average resident losing about eight years of life expectancy due to pollution. The deteriorating air quality reflects the failure of the current set of anti-pollution strategies. No country can achieve economic prosperity without taking care of public health. There is an urgent need to step up investments in state-specific air pollution control strategies to improve population health. Vehicles are one of the major sources of air pollution in India, especially in urban areas. According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment, vehicles contribute to 40% of the PM2.5 (Particulate Matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres) emissions in Delhi, 30% in Mumbai, 28% in Kolkata and 20% in Bengaluru. Industries are another major contributor to air pollution in India, especially in the northern and eastern regions. According to a report by Greenpeace India, 139 of the 287 coal-based thermal power plants in India violated the emission norms set by the Ministry of Environment in 2019. These plants emitted sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, lead and mercury. Power plants, factories and households that use coal, oil or natural gas as fuel also contribute to air pollution by emitting greenhouse gasses. According to the World Bank Group, India is the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, after China and the United States. In northern States, air quality is worsened by stubble burning, denuding of the Aravalli ranges and unchecked vehicular emissions. The government needs to take the health hazards of pollution seriously. Some of the major challenges in tackling air pollution in the country are weak enforcement and compliance with existing regulations and standards that can prevent polluting activities, inadequate financing and incentives for clean technologies, lack of proper research and innovation, low public awareness and mushrooming of unregulated small-scale industries without proper environmental permits or controls. There is a need to develop and promote low-carbon technologies such as solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells, wind turbines, biogas plants and electric vehicles that can reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.

Last-mile fleets are spearheading electrification in India

The world’s most populated country has had enough of pollution, and is now rapidly electrifying its mobility. That means something different in India than it does in Europe, though: the main vector for electrification are two- and three-wheeled light vehicles instead of cars. In August 2022, there were around 5.5 million two-wheelers and 8 million three-wheelers in India, typically powered by high-polluting combustion engines. The pollution they cause is so bad that, according to a 2022 study by CMSR Consultants, 78% of residents in six major cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata) said last-mile delivery vehicles were an important source of pollution, with 67% supporting the idea of switching to EVs. In the pandemic, both pollution and oil prices in India fell to historically low levels. Now they’ve crept up again. Simultaneously, electrification has regained momentum. According to Statista, the demand for electric two-wheelers alone will hit more than 8 million units by 2030. Both the Indian government and the last-mile delivery industry are aiming for even higher figures. In fact, that industry – which has ballooned in size thanks to the proliferation of e-commerce in India – is now spearheading electrification in India, supported by government incentives and international collaboration. However, the path towards electrification in India will be long. A report by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment that examines electric-vehicle sales since 2012 projects no more than 2.05 million units sold by 2030, mainly due to lack of infrastructure improvements. The International Energy Agency is even more pessimistic, predicting no more than 1.9 million EV sales in India by the same year. Electrification examples It’s not just environmental concerns that have kept electrification high on the agenda in India after the pandemic. The switch to EVs also offers considerable economic benefits. A study by Boston Consulting Group finds that total cost of ownership of a high-speed two-wheeler EV is around 35% lower than the same model with a combustion engine. And an electric three-wheeler is 25% cheaper than its diesel counterpart. India’s e-commerce and last-mile delivery industries have been aware of those benefits for a while now, and as a result are now boosting the share of EVs in their fleets. Here are some examples: Last year, the Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company Zomato partnered with Jio-bp, a joint venture of Reliance Industries and BP to help it electrify its entire fleet by 2030. As of 2022, the company had around 4,000 riders with EVs. The strategy of Zomato includes increasing awareness among its drivers on EVs across India and partnering with OEMs and leasing companies to electrify its fleet. Also in 2022, Amazon India partnered with TVS Motor, one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the country. This was to enhance EV deployment through electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers for last-mile deliveries. The roadmap of Amazon India is to add 10,000 EVs to its fleet by 2025, following Amazon's global strategy to adopt 100,000 EVs by 2030. Flipkart, the first Indian e-commerce company to introduce EVs to its fleet and join The Climate Group's EV100 initiative, has announced the goal of becoming 100% electric by 2030. Swiggy, India's leading on-demand convenience delivery platform, partnered with Taiwanese battery-swapping company Gogoro last August to switch to electric intelligent scooters. A rival, the online supermarket BigBasket based in Bangalore, aims to electrify 90% of its fleet. In August, Mærsk, a Danish shipping and logistics company, announced that it would deploy an additional 500 EVs to its fleet in 26 cities in India to ramp up electrification in first-, middle- and last-mile delivery in the country. Maersk took the first step in September 2022 by launching electric three-wheelers and four-wheelers in Mumbai, intensifying the importance of EVs in distribution logistics. UK-based Saietta has released a cost-effective Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) specifically for three-wheeled and four-wheeled light electric vehicles (LEVs) in collaboration with HCLTech. Saietta will start manufacturing the VCU in India and deliver over 80,000 units to Indian LEV manufacturers over five years.

Mumbai’s thespian is making climate change conversations more accessible, and how!

This is a theatre performance. A selfish one, to be very honest (sarcasm). The artist is a pessimist and knows that the world is ending. To be very blunt, people will die. And, she is out on a quest to find “Plan B/C/D/E” to save her beloved Mumbai, and everything which she associates with the city. At least, most of it. A theatre performance called “Plan B/C/D/E”, written-improvised-perfomed-(produced) by Meghana T, through her company, “Tafreewale”. Here she is to share our anxieties and come up with some bizarre ways to tackle climate change! All of them to save Mumbai. Meghana, a theatre practitioner from Mumbai. Interestingly, this is an improvised play, in theatre of the oppressed style. Hence, relies on the remarks and insights of the audience. I went for the show at Bangalore Creative Circus (BCC). People joined slightly later than the allotted time due to early morning drizzle, and Bangalore’s infamous traffic. Meghana welcomed them with some heartfelt humour layered with sarcasm. This tonality lingered all throughout the play. Some context The news on extreme weather events is a very common occurrence. As per a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India witnessed these events for more than 300 days in 2022. But, there is a certain feeling of helplessness or pessimism which seeps in when we see the news on heatwaves, sinking cities, droughts, or incessant rainfall leading to floods, or wildfires. We also think, what can we do to save whatever have? Will the bamboo toothbrush help, or carrying a non-plastic bottle change the fate of the climate? Or do we just think as if we’re the only one who has read about sustainable development in the school textbooks? The above-mentioned feeling is mostly described as, “climate anxiety or eco-anxiety”.

Expansion of renewable projects threatening India’s food security?

As India plans a diverse energy landscape with capacities from hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, and bioenergy, there are concens over large-scale renewable energy projects using agricultural and ecologically sensitive land, posing environmental and socio-ecological risks. As per data provided in the Lok Sabha last month, the Indian government has sanctioned 50 solar parks, with a total capacity of 37,990 MW across 12 states in India. Of these, 11 solar parks are complete and seven are partially finished. As India powers ahead with expanding its renewable energy capacity, there is a concern over how it will manage its dual priorities: achieving renewable energy targets while safeguarding food security in a country with a rapidly growing population. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar projects demand more land, often three to twelve times more, than that required for fossil fuel-based energy generation. In India, over 74 per cent of solar development In India is built on landcover types that have natural ecosystem preservation, or agricultural value, according to a study published in the Nature journal in 2022, conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC-India) and Microsoft. “We had reached out to multiple organisations and governments to provide us data on where all these solar and wind farms are going, but we always had difficulty getting the data. That’s when we thought of making use of this technology for our study,” said Shivaprakash Nagaraju, Senior Applied Scientist and one of the authors of the study. Deploying a mix of remote sensing satellite data and machine learning, the researchers began by compiling point labels of known solar farms and creating weak segmentation labels through human-machine interaction. This pixel-based data was then paired with the geo-referenced Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to train a supervised segmentation neural network and was further refined through Hard Negative Mining. Through this, they further estimated the timelines when these solar panels were installed and assessed the land use pattern prior to their installation. According to the study, more than 74 per cent of solar projects were on land with ecological preservation or agricultural value – 67.6 per cent of agricultural land and 18.7 per cent of natural habitat – with 38.6 per cent of agricultural land having the potential to cultivate seasonal crops such as kharif, rabi, and zaid along with 28.95 per cent of the land having plantation crop/orchards. Analysing the results of the study, Binit Das, Programme Manager, Renewable Energy, Centre for Science and Environment and not associated with the study, told Mongabay India, “Given the substantial land requirements necessary for achieving India’s ambitious RE goals to generate 420 GW of power from solar and wind projects, the study suggests potential environmental and socio-ecological risks. As a result, this effort might contribute to food insecurity in the years ahead, since the country will need approximately 400,000 hectares of land by 2030 to meet its renewable energy targets.” Currently, India’s non-fossil fuel installed capacity, including hydro and nuclear energy, is at 184 GW and the country needs 177 GW of renewable energy capacity in the next seven years – that’s more than 25 GW per year – to achieve its goal of 500 GW (gigawatt) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. As per the latest NITI Aayog projections, India’s total foodgrain demand is expected to increase to 215 million tonnes by 2033-34 to feed its population. In 2030, the estimated demand for food grain will be 252.05 million tonnes for the entire country, with 171.68 million tonnes needed in rural areas and 80.37 million tonnes in urban areas. The supply projection for the same period is 350.42 million tonnes. Bhargavi S. Rao, Senior Fellow and trustee at the Environment Support Group (ESG), points out that India requires about 225-230 million tonnes of foodgrains to feed its population in a year. But, due to incompetent policies and food wastage, India is unable to feed its population despite an increase in production which is testified by India’s 107th rank out of the 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index. Adding to the woes, a 2030 projection by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) states that climate change could cause a decline of 16 per cent in India’s food production, increasing the number of people vulnerable to hunger by 23 per cent. “When it is required for India to prepare well in advance for the upcoming food crisis, allocating large chunks of lands of ecological and agricultural importance for solar farms doesn’t make for a well-thought-out approach,” Rao emphasised. Rao explains, “Agriculture is an activity that is interwoven with a variety of other agro-pastoral livelihoods such as animal rearing, weaving, fishing, etc. that supplement the rural household economy and thereby guaranteeing nutritional security at the household level. Once land is diverted all other livelihood activities cease to exist and nutritional security at the household level will be depleted.” According to the Nature study, there have been at least 15 reported instances of conflicts associated with solar and wind energy projects in India since 2017. These conflicts have been on the rise, impacting the livelihoods of many individuals and the substantial investments made by renewable energy (RE) developers. India has a considerable potential for solar energy generation (~550 GW) on rooftops, artificial water bodies (such as canal tops and reservoirs), and spaces along national and state highways. A 2021 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis notes that protection of farmland is essential, but nurturing an Indian agrivoltaics sector could secure benefits to farmers and reduce pressure on other types of land. “Measures include supporting a major expansion of agrivoltaics research and incentivising agrivoltaics uptake where crops, soils and conditions are suitable and yields can be maintained or improved,” it recommends. Leveraging these resources could significantly reduce the land required for RE expansion and could result in fewer social, ecological, and environmental impacts compared to land with high ecological, agricultural, livelihood and biodiversity value. However, the study emphasises that harnessing renewable energy on these less conflict-prone lands won’t happen by chance; it requires intentional effort. Policymakers and decision-makers hold the responsibility of ensuring that chosen project sites do not compromise communities’ livelihoods, land rights, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems. “Understanding the factors associated with renewable energy development and predicting future expansion patterns will allow for the proactive identification of potential conflicts between renewable energy and other important land uses. This information can be used to guide renewable energy development toward areas with lower conflict, which will be important to avoid conversion to productive agricultural land and minimise the food-versus-energy controversy,” Das said.

India’s coal-fired power plants shun clean tech, with a little help from the government

Repeated extensions of the deadline for installing equipment to control toxic sulphur dioxide emissions point to a government that is unable to face down a strong fossil fuel lobby. In Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, the cooling towers of the state’s largest coal-fired power plant dwarf everything around them. Smoke billows out of giant chimneys as the super critical thermal plant churns out electricity that meets a quarter of the state’s needs. The plant, run by the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company, or Mahagenco, has gained notoriety over the years for flouting emission norms. Locals have long complained of respiratory illnesses and deaths due to the plant's operations. A team of researchers, currently facing a defamation suit from MahaGenco, were able to link 85 premature deaths in Chandrapur and 62 deaths in Nagpur in 2020 alone to emissions from the power plant. In January 2022, the National Green Tribunal imposed an interim fine of Rs 5 crore on the Chandrapur thermal power plant for violating pollution norms. It was found that two of the plant’s five units were emitting nearly twice the sulphur dioxide allowed under limits prescribed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The other three were emitting five times more sulphur dioxide than the prescribed limit. The NGT ordered the plant to implement remedial measures within 3 months, barring which it would be penalized Rs 1 crore every month. This included installation of flue gas desulphurisation technology that would scrub sulphur dioxide and fly ash from the exhaust gases before their release. The power plant got away without paying any penalty. MahaGenco moved the Supreme Court, which stayed the NGT order. The matter is still pending before the apex court, and the power plant is yet to install any FGD scrubber systems. The Chandrapur power plant’s case is emblematic of how lax regulations have allowed thermal power producers—a powerful lobby with the likes of Adani Power, Jindal Power, JSW Energy and Vedanta (other than the government itself) as constituents—to get away with pumping toxic sulphur dioxide into India’s already polluted air. The country is the largest emitter of the gas in the world—two-thirds of which comes from burning fossil fuel in power plants. According to the World Health Organization, prolonged exposure to the pollutant can reduce life expectancy, weaken lung function and cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Sulphur dioxide emissions, carried by wind currents, can react with water and come down as acid rain to hurt larger ecosystems. Yet, India has continued to delay implementing norms that would force power plants to install FGD technology that reduces such emissions. As a result, the decades-old technology, which is widely present at power plants across major economies, has largely remained absent from India. A reply by Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state for environment, to the Rajya Sabha during the recent monsoon session of Parliament shows the scale of the problem. Only 23 of India's 600 thermal power plants have installed FGD systems, and only six claim to meet the sulphur dioxide emission limits. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, only 5% of the country’s thermal power capacity is in compliance with sulphur dioxide emission norms. It is hard to make a justification for why power plants are being given so much leeway on installation of a technology that has clear benefits. A June 2022 study done by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi found that FGD reduces sulphur dioxide emissions by 55% in a 60-80 km radius around the plant. Installation of the technology at NTPC's Vindhyachal plant in Madhya Pradesh was found to reduce emissions by 83-85%. These translate into huge savings for the exchequer too—it would have to spend less on public health emergencies arising out of air pollution. “It is the failure of the government in ensuring that pollution control regulations are implemented. They have never been able to penalize or shut down non-complying plants,” says Sunil Dahiya, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, who was part of the team that studied the effect of the Chandrapur plant’s emissions. “Instead, non-compliance has been rewarded with extension of deadlines and dilution of norms. That's what the problem is. There is no seriousness from the government or the industry to implement this.” And nothing explains this inaction better than the repeated revision of rules and the apathy of the Central Electricity Authority—the statutory supervisory arm of the power ministry—to the issue. Rinse and repeat India was already late to the party in bringing in norms to govern sulphur dioxide pollution when it first notified emission standards for power plants in December 2015. In contrast, the US started regulating such emissions back in 1990, and now has FGD scrubbers in 83% of its operational coal power fleet. China too, by 2013, had ensured 95% of its plants had the technology installed. Under the 2015 notification, all power plants had to comply with the new norms within two years. When the December 2017 deadline was close, it became clear that most plants would fail to meet it. In fact, right before the deadline, the power ministry submitted a recommendation to the environment ministry to extend it by 2 years for plants in Delhi-NCR region and 5 years for the rest of the country. The environment ministry accepted the recommendation and gave the plants more time to comply. Come 2019 and most power companies had still not installed FGD units at their plants. The Association of Power Producers, a lobby group, approached the Supreme Court in June 2020 seeking yet another extension—this time from 2022 to 2024. The Supreme Court refused to provide any relief and dismissed the application. Still, in March 2021, the environment ministry yet again amended the rules and extended the compliance deadline. It also set up a task force to classify thermal power plants into three categories based on their location and staggered the cutoff for implementation of FGD technology. The three categories are: Category A: plants within a 10-km radius of cities with a million-plus population Category B: plants within a 10-km radius of critically polluted areas Category C: All other plants While category A plants were still required to comply by 2022, those in B and C were given 1 and 2 more years, respectively. The power ministry, on its part, also proposed to levy an environmental compensation for non-compliance beyond the deadlines. But the threat did little to move the needle. Just two months before the expiry of the first of those deadlines, the environment ministry caved again. For a third time, it extended the cutoff to install FGD units. Power plants near populous cities and New Delhi would now have time till December 2024, while those in less polluting regions could complete installation of the technology by December 2026. Plants that did not comply with sulphur dioxide emission norms by 2027-end would be forced to shut down. “The power sector lobby has quite the heft, so it is not a surprise that they were able to successfully push for another extension,” says an official aware of power companies’ representations to the government, requesting anonymity. “This is not something new either. Coal-fired power producers have been lobbying for less stringent norms for a long time.” The CEA, too, has a part to play in the delays. The statutory body sets the technical standards for construction of plants, transmission lines and grid connectivity. And yet, it waited two years after the first notification was issued in 2015 to draft an implementation plan for installation of FGD scrubbers. It finally published the standard technical specifications in 2018, well after the first deadline had passed. Then it further undermined the existing deadlines in a June 2021 report, where it said that an “unworkable time schedule” was creating “unnecessary burden” on power companies. It suggested that power plants in category C be given time till 2035 to adopt new emission standards that were originally proposed in 2015. “That same report even tried to imply that we don't need FGDs at all. There have been all kinds of arguments that have been pushed forward to delay and do away with these norms,” says Dahiya. “CEA has been successful in getting multiple delays, and while they were at it, they suggested impractical timelines such as 2035.” Even with another extension, the picture still looks grim. The analysis by CSE in June found 43% of category A plants are unlikely to meet the December 2024 deadline. That said, there are signs of some action on the compliance front. As of April 2023, bids for FGD unit installation had been awarded for 36.3 gigawatt of power capacity, while bids had been invited for 14.6 GW. Feasibility studies were on for a further 11.49 GW of capacity.   Anubha Aggarwal, programme officer at the industrial pollution unit of CSE, says that non-compliance should be dealt with strictly as enough time has already been given to power plants. “Any violation of the norms at this stage should be considered as a deliberate act, signifying unwillingness to adhere to the norms.” That may turn out to be wishful thinking as power companies continue to highlight the challenges, in an attempt to make a case for further delays. Difficulties or excuses? When India extended the deadlines for a third time in 2022, it highlighted “techno-economic” constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons. The view mirrored that of the Association of Power Producers, which had been batting for an extension on similar grounds for the last 2 years. In July 2020, the lobby group wrote to the Prime Minister's Office seeking more time to complete the process. They said that the pandemic had led to supply disruptions of equipment from China. The group claimed that the industry is dependent on imports for 70-80% of emission-control components. It added that the “growing clamour for boycott of Chinese goods” was another hurdle. Industry body FICCI also put pressure on the government for an extension of the deadline for installation of emission-control equipment. A power industry executive, who asked not to be named, says there are a handful of reasons why movement has been slow on the FGD front. “There is no business case for this, so where is the incentive to install the technology? There is also a cost burden associated with this. It will lead to increased tariffs as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has allowed us to recover these costs from the consumers.” There’s more. “Another challenge that these activists don’t talk about is that it takes 2-3 three years to install FGDs. There will have to be planned shutdowns of power plants. With India's electricity needs rising rapidly, and renewable [power] still not contributing enough, can we afford shutting down plants for so long?” he asks. “Countries that have FGDs adopted them over two-three decades, our pace of adoption will still be faster.” But these claims don’t hold up anymore. According to an analysis done by ICRA, the per-megawatt cost of installing an FGD system is less than Rs 0.9 crore. That works out to just a tenth of the per-megawatt cost of setting up a power plant which, according to the power ministry, is Rs 8.34 crore on average. The ICRA analysis was based on the bids awarded for FGD installation by NTPC. Further, the extent of planned shutdowns is exaggerated, says Dahiya. “The construction work takes 18-24 months, but the plants are operational during that period. The synchronization takes about 2-3 months and that is when the plants have to be shut down. NTPC's Vindhyachal plant has clearly shown us the timeline," he explains. “These concerns have already been addressed for the past 7-8 years, but the power industry keeps citing them.” And the challenges on account of pandemic-related disruptions don't make much sense either. “It is unclear how one or two years of the pandemic would contribute to delaying the implementation process by 5-6 years,” says Nivit Yadav, programme director at CSE’s industrial pollution unit. And, finally, the health benefits that flow from installation of the technology counter all cost arguments. “The benefits of installing FGDs outweigh any cost of investment that is required,” says Dahiya. “If you don’t do it, the health damage and the economic cost that comes with it is way higher than whatever you are estimating FGD will cost. Every day that it is delayed, more people are at risk of losing their lives or having a degraded quality of life.” There is thus a clear need to improve stringency around regulation of thermal power plants. Necessary from an energy security perspective, they continue to cause immeasurable damage to public health. Will the government hold its ground when the next deadline approaches, or will we see another extension? Lead image by Rajat Baran/ The Morning Context. Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan/ The Morning Context.

2014 like Flood Threat in Kashmir Persists | Environmental Dangers Looming Large

Rapid urbanization in Kashmir, encroachment of water bodies and adjoining river banks and disappearance of wetlands have disrupted the natural drainage patterns The recent report of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has called for taking more corrective measures to prevent 2014 flood-like disasters. The report has mentioned ‘haphazard developmental activities and infrastructure projects being implemented without sufficient consideration of environmental safety and sustainability.’ Then it has picked ‘mining operations on the flood plains of river Jhelum, construction of railway lines and poorly planned urbanization’ as threats to environmental safety and sustainability for the same reason. The report has also pointed out that ‘the developmental activities are carried out with little regard for environmental, geological, geomorphological and ecological conditions of the region’ and that 'the ongoing construction boom, fueled by indiscriminate mining of sand, gravel and boulders from riverbeds weakens the existing flood control infrastructure making the rivers more susceptible to flash floods.’ The report mentions that rapid urbanization in Kashmir, encroachment of water bodies and adjoining river banks and disappearance of wetlands have disrupted the natural drainage patterns. By way of corrective measures the report has called for construction of an alternate flood channel, improvement of the drainage system in urban areas, restoration of natural drainage in Jhelum basin, conservation and restoration of degraded wetlands in Jhelum basin, sewage treatment and city and town planning from the point of view of floods and earthquakes. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, a reputed and old environmental NGO had also pinpointed unplanned urbanization in the Jhelum basin as a major factor contributing to flooding, apart from unprecedented rainfall and lack of preparedness on the part of the then government authorities. CSE has also said that ‘ in the last 100 years, more than 50 percent of the lakes, ponds and wetlands of Srinagar have been encroached upon for constructing buildings and roads. The banks of river Jhelum have been taken over in a similar manner, vastly reducing the river’s drainage capacity. Naturally, these areas have suffered the most.’ CSE had also observed, ‘ the Kashmir floods of 2014 are a grim reminder that climate change is now hitting India harder. In the last 10 years, several extreme rainfall events have rocked the country and this is the latest calamity in that series.’ Status of Flood Control Measures Barring the project prepared for improvement of the carrying capacity of the existing flood spill channel in Srinagar, not much by way of other measures has been done. This project was phase 1 of the Flood Management Plan (FPM) costing about 399 crore. The phase 2 of FPM costing about 1600 crore is reportedly still unfunded. This however does not include the proposed alternate flood spill channel (Dogripora to Wullar) which, as of now, is non-doable due to very huge cost including cost of land acquisition. Some works under phase 2 have reportedly been started. In this scenario, barring a few thousand cusecs more of flood water that may get drained out through the improved flood spill channel, there would hardly be any decrease in the extent of devastation if similar rainfall, as in 2014, is experienced in the south Kashmir catchment areas causing a discharge of over one lakh cusecs in river Jhelum on entry into Srinagar. Flood protection works executed by the department in the valley since 2014 would generally have only localised impact to provide protection in the local area. Unplanned Development Unplanned development has been the bane of urbanization in Kashmir and also of rural expansion. The biggest culprit is construction of residential houses in an unplanned way. Only Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and possibly the new Tourism Development Authorities (TDAs) have master plans; most of rest of the towns don’t have. Despite a master plan in Srinagar for the last over 40 years, the city has expanded in all directions in violation of zonal and land use plans causing mushroom growth of unauthorized colonies. In the absence of master plans and land use plans for other towns, construction has been taking place in the most haphazard manner everywhere devouring valuable agriculture land. Although the residential houses being built are big and expensive, their construction is environmentally destructive, needing lots of stone, sand, cement, iron, timber and materials whose extraction and manufacture by itself is environment unfriendly and polluting. The local engineers have failed to provide alternative weather friendly and material friendly architectural designs for construction of residential houses in Kashmir. Unplanned construction prevents provision of satisfactory civic amenities like internal roads, lanes and drains which in turn result in sanitation problems and frequent water logging. Jammu and Kashmir has long neglected urban and rural land use planning and, barring exceptions in Jammu, Srinagar and a few major towns where some government authorized residential colonies have come up over the years, has no system in place to authorize construction of residential houses in identified and specifically earmarked colonies. Although prior permission for construction is required to be obtained under relevant laws in both urban and rural areas, there is no enforcement of the land use in the absence of land use plans. This is also leading to large scale diversion of agriculture land for construction which if not prevented will soon transform the valley of Kashmir into a chaotic concrete jungle with no land left for growing paddy or vegetables or fruit or flowers, a tragic scenario for Kashmir, the Jannat-e-Benazir and Switzerland of the East, whose God given natural beauty is still part of the folk lore. There is need for implementation of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) in Jammu and Kashmir, as the central law now stands extended but in the absence of a duly constituted RERA, implementation is perhaps not happening. A functional RERA will expectedly force the Municipal and Development Authorities to prepare land use plans for residential colonies and commercial centres and also implement those. Encroachments, a chronic problem The NIDM report has mentioned about the problem of encroachments on river banks, water bodies and wetlands resulting in blocking of natural drainage and consequent flooding. The CSE report mentions about loss of 50 percent of water bodies over the last hundred years due to encroachments. As of now Aanchar lake is almost gone, Wular lake (a Ramsar convention site) and Manasbal lake are fast shrinking, Hokersar wetland (Ramsar site) is struggling to stay afloat and Hygam wetland (Ramsar site) has reportedly turned into a marsh and been encroached by the locals for agriculture and construction. Banks of river Jhelum and its major tributaries like Lidder, Brengi, Sandran, Vaishav, Rambiara,, Romsho, Ferozpur Nallah, Sindh etc have also been encroached at many places resulting in narrowing down of water passage, siltation and blocking of adjacent low lying areas into which flood water would otherwise spill over in the event of river in spate. Within Srinagar city, Dal lake and Nigeen lake are managing to stay alive while Brarinambal is dying. Khushalsar has been sufficiently revived thanks to the efforts of that tireless conservation activist Sh. Manzoor Ahmed Wangnoo and his Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation (NLCO), the district administration of Srinagar and the divisional administration. Revival of the adjacent Gilsar waterbody is reportedly in the pipeline by the same team. Jhelum banks and the banks of khuls of the Jhelum system in Srinagar city are already encroached and contnuously facing threat of encroachment. It is high time that the entire river and lake systems within Srinagar city are brought under the control of a single authority namely Lakes Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) which may be rechristened as the Lakes and River Conservation Management Authority (LRCMA) to do away with the present system of dual control by LCMA and Irrigation and FC deptt. This restructuring would need strengthening of LCMA through transfer of posts, budget, equipment and machinery and sanction of additional manpower of engineers and experts. Challenges thrown by the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 The new Forest ( Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 has relaxed the provisions of the original Central Act of 1980 to facilitate diversion of forest areas for important development activities and for raising strategic linear projects of national importance and security related infrastructure. Before the August 2019 changes, J&K had its own Forest Conservation Act of 1987 which had rather strict provisions to prevent diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes. Its rules prescribed a strict and centralised administrative process for giving clearances for use of forest land for non- forest purposes and for felling of forest trees. That Act stands repealed and replaced by the Central Act of 1980. The amendments of 2023 have thrown new challenges for J&K, the Himalayan states and the North Eastern states having international border or line of control (LOC) as forests located within 100 kms from the International Border (IB), LOAC and LOC have now been exempted from the application of the provisions of the Forest Act, 1980 when raising strategic linear projects of national importance, defence related projects or a camp for paramilitary forces or public utility projects as may be specified by the central government and up to ten hectares when raising security related infrastructure. Although, the amendment Act says that the exemption shall be subject to such terms and conditions of planting trees to compensate for felling of trees undertaken on the lands, the real impact of these exemptions and changes will be seen in the next few years. For now, many forestry experts and environmentalists in the country have been critical of the amendments for according such blanket and unprecedented exemptions. Moreover, the amendments have also been criticised for excluding certain othe categories of forests from the application of the provisions of the Act, apparently against the spirit of Supreme Court’s Godavarman judgement of 1996. The UT government will need to estimate the likely impact of the amendments over the next 5 to 10 year time frame and prepare reafforestation and repair plans to compensate for the impact and the damages. The experts and environmentalists have cautioned that the relaxations allowed by the amendments of 2023 will open up rich and deep forests to various types of activities thereby endangering the forests themselves, the biodiversity and the livelihood of people who are dependent on forest produce. Environmentalists have also raised red flags in respect of the amendments in the Biological Diversity Act with the passage of the Biodiversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Although, J&K has been registering increased tree cover year after year during the last decade or so, this increase, creditable though, is largely due to social forestry undertaken by the government departments and local people themselves outside the demarcated forests and also due to conversion of agriculture land into orchards in Kashmir division. The coniferous forests in Jammu and Kashmir within the demarcated forests are in a state of decline and if no special efforts are made for reafforestation of coniferous forests, the glaciers, mountain lakes, streams and rivulets and nallahs will soon wane and dry up resulting in acute water shortages during summer with serious implications for agriculture and drinking water availability. The forest department in Jammu and Kashmir must not pat itself by the achievements of plantations outside the forest areas or even non-coniferous plantations within demarcated forest areas, its real test lies in reafforestation of coniferous forests to compensate for past deforestation and future deforestation consequent upon the new amendments. Need to educate the common people about the dangers of damage to our environmental assets and natural resources Unfortunately, there has always been unwillingness among the people in Jammu and Kashmir to concern themselves with common community issues in comparison to individual issues. J&K may be one area in the country which has least number of functional and dedicated NGOS working for societal issues and causes. Dependence on government has always been high in comparison with other states. It is therefore necessary for the more informed ones among us to educate the less informed, about the duty of each one of us to contribute to environmental protection. Protection of environment is also listed as one of the fundamental duties under Article 51A of the Constitution of India and as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 48A. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has handed a list of 75 life style actions as part of LIFE (life style for environment) which has also been included under India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). We need to make local people understand how adoption of LIFE cannot be delayed any further. The UT government through its various departments has the duty to educate common people about LIFE and encourage them to adopt the same in day today life. It is important to do everything possible to protect and conserve the forests of Jammu and Kashmir for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their progeny. And always remember the timeless advice of Nund Reshi ( Shaikh ul Alam) to the people of Kashmir that Ana posh teli yeli van posh - meaning, food will last as long as the forests last. That great saint had understood the linkage way back in fourteenth century AD.

Deadline looming, but only 149 of 4k DG sets modified to use cleaner fuels

Gurgaon: Winter is coming, and so is the deadline to retrofit diesel generator sets to cut down pollutants. Still, just 149 (less than 4%) out of the 3,890 large DG sets operating in the city have been converted so far. Beginning October 1, diesel generators can’t be operated in NCR – not even for essential services – if they haven’t been retrofitted with emission control devices or converted to run on cleaner fuels, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had announced in June. Government data shows that north Gurgaon has 1,676 DG sets and south Gurgaon has another 2,214. In total, just 149 have been converted or retrofitted according to CAQM guidelines. Many of these generators are operating in housing societies and institutes such as hospitals and offices across the city. With such a low conversion rate, CAQM may be left with no option but to allow relaxation in the deadline. Asked about the lack of adherence with just around three weeks left to the October deadline, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) chairperson P Raghavendra Rao told TOI that officials have been asked to sensitise the public about the norms and comply with the guidelines. CAQM set the guidelines earlier this year to phase out diesel generators – a key source of emissions in Delhi-NCR. The commission also announced additional restrictions in using DG sets when it enforces the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) during the winter months. At the turn of winter every year, Delhi-NCR turns into a chamber of hazardous pollutants that get suspended in the air due to a combination of meteorological conditions, low temperatures and high emissions. CAQM norms say DG sets with capacity between 19kW and 125kW will have to operate on dual-fuel mode from the next month, but these devices can only be used for a maximum of two hours a day when GRAP is in effect. DG sets with a power capacity of 125kW to 800kW will have to run on dual-fuel mode and will also have to be retrofitted with emission control devices (ECDs). Gensets over 800kW have to be retrofitted with dual-fuel kits or with ECDs, but these too can be operated up to 2 hours a day if GRAP is in place. There is no bar to new gensets (up to 800kW) that adhere to CAQM’s standards, the order said. According to data collected by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the organised sector in NCR adds 1.2 lakh DG sets every year, and another 30,000-40,000 machines are annually bought by the unorganised sectors. Diesel, when it is used up in a generator, emits oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide along with tiny pollutants called particulate matter. These emissions deteriorate air quality and are hazardous to health when inhaled, especially for people with existing respiratory ailments. Still, CAQM’s efforts to phase out DG sets over the years has been resisted by residents’ associations and industry representatives, who say the cost of modifying the devices is high or switching to cleaner fuels isn’t an option when there is no availability of piped natural gas (PNG) in some areas. “A DG set of 500kW needs Rs 12 to 15 lakh for conversion. Also, the CAQM’s revised guidelines make it mandatory for everyone, including societies and hospitals, to modify their generators. Emergency services and lifts in common areas of societies can’t be shut down,” said Praveen Malik, RWA president of SARE Homes in Sector 92. The HSPCB chairperson said pollution board teams will carry out surprise checks at societies, industrial units, hospitals and commercial hubs from the next month. “If anyone is found violating the norms, notices will be served. The party will be given time to respond to the notice and penalty will be imposed accordingly,” Rao said. Experts told TOI on Monday that the only lasting way to stop people from using generators is to ensure that power backup isn’t needed at all. “What needs to be done is to ensure that the hospitals, industries and housing societies get uninterrupted electricity supply during winter. This will lower their dependency on DG sets. Diesel emissions are carcinogenic to humans as its DG sets are operational in close proximity to human beings. That’s why emissions need to be controlled and they should be run on dual fuel kits,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhary, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE).

भारत की बढ़ती एंटीबायोटिक चुनौती

ऐसे समय में जब बड़ी फार्मास्युटिकल कंपनियां नए एंटीबायोटिक्स पर अनुसंधान और विकास से कतरा रही हैं, यह छोटी और मध्यम स्तर की बायोफार्मास्युटिकल कंपनियां हैं जिन्होंने इस अंतर को भरने का बीड़ा उठाया है। लेकिन इन कंपनियों को अपनी खुद की भारी चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। जब तक इन चुनौतियों पर ध्यान नहीं दिया जाता और उन पर काबू नहीं पाया जाता, तब तक दुनिया एक गंभीर संकट में बनी रहेगी, जिसमें जीवन रक्षक एंटीबायोटिक दवाओं की टोकरी तेजी से छोटी होती जाएगी। यह बात सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) द्वारा 24 अगस्त को आयोजित एक वैश्विक वेबिनार में विचार-विमर्श से सामने आई। एंटीबायोटिक अनुसंधान और विकास में संकट पर चर्चा करने के लिए सीएसई द्वारा आयोजित श्रृंखला में यह दूसरा वेबिनार था। वेबिनार में अपने उद्घाटन भाषण में, सीएसई महानिदेशक सुनीता नारायण ने कहा: “हमारे पास मौजूद एंटीबायोटिक दवाओं को संरक्षित करने की जरूरत है, लेकिन घातक प्रतिरोधी संक्रमणों के इलाज के लिए हमें नई एंटीबायोटिक दवाओं की भी जरूरत है। जबकि बड़ी फार्मास्युटिकल कंपनियां अब उत्सुक नहीं हैं, यह छोटी और मध्यम स्तर की कंपनियां हैं जिन्होंने जिम्मेदारी ले ली है। उनके हाथ में एक बड़ा काम है और बहुत कुछ इस बात पर निर्भर करता है कि उन्हें कैसे समर्थन दिया जाता है।'' नारायण रोगाणुरोधी प्रतिरोध (एएमआर) पर ग्लोबल लीडर ग्रुप के सदस्य हैं। एंटीबायोटिक प्रतिरोध एक मूक महामारी है। एंटीबायोटिक्स अप्रभावी हो रहे हैं और उपचार के विकल्प कम हो रहे हैं - स्वास्थ्य, आजीविका और अर्थव्यवस्था पर असर पड़ रहा है। दुनिया भर में, 2019 में, लगभग पाँच मिलियन मौतें इससे जुड़ी थीं। नारायण द्वारा संचालित, वेबिनार - 'छोटे और मध्यम स्तर के एंटीबायोटिक डेवलपर्स: उनके सामने आने वाली चुनौतियाँ और आगे का रास्ता', भारत में स्थित डेवलपर्स पर केंद्रित था और वासन संबंदमूर्ति, वरिष्ठ उपाध्यक्ष, ग्लोबल ऑपरेशंस, बगवर्क्स रिसर्च सहित प्रमुख हितधारकों और विशेषज्ञों को एक साथ लाया। इंडिया प्राइवेट लिमिटेड; जितेंद्र कुमार, प्रबंध निदेशक, जैव प्रौद्योगिकी उद्योग अनुसंधान सहायता परिषद (बीआईआरएसी), जैव प्रौद्योगिकी विभाग, भारत सरकार; सचिन भागवत, वरिष्ठ उपाध्यक्ष, ड्रग डिस्कवरी, वॉकहार्ट रिसर्च सेंटर; टी एस बालगणेश, अध्यक्ष, गंगाजेन बायोटेक्नोलॉजीज प्राइवेट लिमिटेड; और अमित खुराना, निदेशक, सस्टेनेबल फूड सिस्टम्स प्रोग्राम, सीएसई। वेबिनार श्रृंखला सीएसई मूल्यांकन- 'ए डेवलपिंग क्राइसिस' पर आधारित है, जो डाउन टू अर्थ (16-31 जुलाई) में प्रकाशित हुआ था। मूल्यांकन से पता चला कि वैश्विक एंटीबायोटिक पाइपलाइन प्री-क्लिनिकल और क्लिनिकल विकास चरणों में कैसे कमजोर है। 15 उच्च आय वाली दवा कंपनियों के अनुसंधान एवं विकास फोकस को समझने के लिए उनकी क्लिनिकल पाइपलाइन के विश्लेषण से पता चला कि अधिकांश बड़ी दवा कंपनियों ने नए एंटीबायोटिक दवाओं के अनुसंधान एवं विकास को लगभग छोड़ दिया है। छोटी और मध्यम स्तर की दवा कंपनियों ने जिम्मेदारी ली है, लेकिन उन्हें चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। “भारतीय छोटे और मध्यम एंटीबायोटिक डेवलपर्स को कई चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। अगर उनकी चिंताओं पर ध्यान दिया जाए तो वे वैश्विक पाइपलाइन को फिर से जीवंत करने में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभा सकते हैं, ”सीएसई के अमित खुराना ने कहा। वेबिनार में बोलने वाले एंटीबायोटिक डेवलपर्स ने दवा विकास के वैज्ञानिक, वित्तीय और नियामक पहलुओं से संबंधित अपनी चुनौतियों पर स्पष्ट रूप से प्रकाश डाला। दो पारंपरिक जीवाणुरोधी एजेंटों को विकसित करने में लगी बायोफार्मास्युटिकल कंपनी बगवर्क्स के वासनसंबंदमूर्ति ने कहा, "एंटीबायोटिक इनोवेटर्स के लिए बड़ी फंडिंग के अलावा, वैश्विक स्तर पर नियामक सामंजस्य की आवश्यकता है ताकि इनोवेटर्स उत्पन्न डेटा का अच्छी तरह से उपयोग कर सकें।" “हमें भारत में इनोवेटर दवाओं के लिए क्लिनिकल परीक्षण खोलने की आवश्यकता है। हमें त्वरित अनुमोदन मार्गों की भी आवश्यकता है ताकि यह स्पष्ट हो कि जीवन रक्षक एंटीबायोटिक्स कैसे योग्य हो सकते हैं। यह बहुत सारे नवप्रवर्तन को बढ़ावा देगा और कंपनियों को खोज के क्षेत्र में मदद करेगा,'' उन्होंने कहा। वॉकहार्ट के सचिन भागवत ने कहा, "समर्थित होने वाली परियोजना का चयन करते समय सही संतुलन बनाना महत्वपूर्ण है - अल्पावधि में वंचितों के लिए एक व्यवहार्य और अच्छी तरह से विभेदित उत्पाद और लंबी अवधि के लिए अधिक विफलता जोखिम वाली एक अभिनव दवा के बीच।" चार पारंपरिक एंटीबायोटिक्स विकसित कर रहा है। “खोज प्रतिभा को पोषित करने पर जोर देना होगा। यदि मौजूदा स्थिति जारी रही, तो हम सभी संसाधन लगाने के बाद भी बहुत कुछ नहीं कर पाएंगे, ”उन्होंने आगाह किया। धन जुटाने की वास्तविक समस्या पर प्रकाश डालते हुए, गंगाजेन्स के टी.एस. बालगणेश ने कहा: “भारत और पश्चिमी दुनिया में रोगज़नक़ों में प्रतिरोध का स्तर भिन्न हो सकता है; अगर वहां यह कोई बड़ी समस्या नहीं है तो पश्चिमी हित फंड देने के इच्छुक नहीं होंगे। इससे हम पूरी तरह से भारतीय स्रोतों या पड़ोसी देशों के स्रोतों पर निर्भर हो जाते हैं।” गंगाजेन बायोटेक्नोलॉजीज एक बायोलॉजिक्स कंपनी है जो गंभीर जीवाणु संक्रमण के इलाज के लिए प्रोटीन जीवाणुरोधी और बैक्टीरियोफेज जैसे गैर-पारंपरिक उपचारों पर ध्यान केंद्रित करती है। “व्यावसायीकरण की समस्या विकास की समस्या से भिन्न है। कई स्तरों पर दिक्कतें हैं. हमें इसे तोड़ने और उनमें से प्रत्येक को संबोधित करने की आवश्यकता है, ”उन्होंने कहा। चिंताओं पर प्रतिक्रिया देते हुए, बीआईआरएसी के जितेंद्र कुमार ने अपनाई गई कई पहलों पर प्रकाश डाला। “हम इस क्षेत्र का समर्थन करने के इच्छुक हैं क्योंकि एएमआर एक महामारी है

The balance between expanding renewable projects and feeding India’s population

India aims to install 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, shifting focus to achieve 50% non-fossil fuel capacity by that time. As India plans a diverse energy landscape with capacities from hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, and bioenergy, there are concens over large-scale renewable energy projects using agricultural and ecologically sensitive land, posing environmental and socio-ecological risks. Over 74% of solar development in India was built on landcover types that have natural ecosystem preservation, or agricultural value, found a study from last year mapping solar locations. As per data provided in the Lok Sabha last month, the Indian government has sanctioned 50 solar parks, with a total capacity of 37,990 MW across 12 states in India. Of these, 11 solar parks are complete and seven are partially finished. As India powers ahead with expanding its renewable energy capacity, there is a concern over how it will manage its dual priorities: achieving renewable energy targets while safeguarding food security in a country with a rapidly growing population. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar projects demand more land, often three to twelve times more, than that required for fossil fuel-based energy generation. In India, over 74% of solar development In India is built on landcover types that have natural ecosystem preservation, or agricultural value, according to a study published in the Nature journal in 2022, conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC-India) and Microsoft. “We had reached out to multiple organisations and governments to provide us data on where all these solar and wind farms are going, but we always had difficulty getting the data. That’s when we thought of making use of this technology for our study,” said Shivaprakash Nagaraju, Senior Applied Scientist and one of the authors of the study. Deploying a mix of remote sensing satellite data and machine learning, the researchers began by compiling point labels of known solar farms and creating weak segmentation labels through human-machine interaction. This pixel-based data was then paired with the geo-referenced Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to train a supervised segmentation neural network and was further refined through Hard Negative Mining. Through this, they further estimated the timelines when these solar panels were installed and assessed the land use pattern prior to their installation. According to the study, more than 74% of solar projects were on land with ecological preservation or agricultural value – 67.6% of agricultural land and 18.7% of natural habitat – with 38.6% of agricultural land having the potential to cultivate seasonal crops such as kharif, rabi, and zaid along with 28.95% of the land having plantation crop/orchards. Analysing the results of the study, Binit Das, Programme Manager, Renewable Energy, Centre for Science and Environment and not associated with the study, told Mongabay India, “Given the substantial land requirements necessary for achieving India’s ambitious RE goals to generate 420 GW of power from solar and wind projects, the study suggests potential environmental and socio-ecological risks. As a result, this effort might contribute to food insecurity in the years ahead, since the country will need approximately 400,000 hectares of land by 2030 to meet its renewable energy targets.” Currently, India’s non-fossil fuel installed capacity, including hydro and nuclear energy, is at 184 GW and the country needs 177 GW of renewable energy capacity in the next seven years – that’s more than 25 GW per year – to achieve its goal of 500 GW (gigawatt) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. As per the latest NITI Aayog projections, India’s total foodgrain demand is expected to increase to 215 million tonnes by 2033-34 to feed its population. In 2030, the estimated demand for food grain will be 252.05 million tonnes for the entire country, with 171.68 million tonnes needed in rural areas and 80.37 million tonnes in urban areas. The supply projection for the same period is 350.42 million tonnes. Bhargavi S. Rao, Senior Fellow and trustee at the Environment Support Group (ESG), points out that India requires about 225-230 million tonnes of foodgrains to feed its population in a year. But, due to incompetent policies and food wastage, India is unable to feed its population despite an increase in production which is testified by India’s 107th rank out of the 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index. Adding to the woes, a 2030 projection by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) states that climate change could cause a decline of 16% in India’s food production, increasing the number of people vulnerable to hunger by 23%. “When it is required for India to prepare well in advance for the upcoming food crisis, allocating large chunks of lands of ecological and agricultural importance for solar farms doesn’t make for a well-thought-out approach,” Rao emphasised. Rao explains, “Agriculture is an activity that is interwoven with a variety of other agro-pastoral livelihoods such as animal rearing, weaving, fishing, etc. that supplement the rural household economy and thereby guaranteeing nutritional security at the household level. Once land is diverted all other livelihood activities cease to exist and nutritional security at the household level will be depleted.” According to the Nature study, there have been at least 15 reported instances of conflicts associated with solar and wind energy projects in India since 2017. These conflicts have been on the rise, impacting the livelihoods of many individuals and the substantial investments made by renewable energy (RE) developers. India has a considerable potential for solar energy generation (~550 GW) on rooftops, artificial water bodies (such as canal tops and reservoirs), and spaces along national and state highways. A 2021 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis notes that protection of farmland is essential, but nurturing an Indian agrivoltaics sector could secure benefits to farmers and reduce pressure on other types of land. “Measures include supporting a major expansion of agrivoltaics research and incentivising agrivoltaics uptake where crops, soils and conditions are suitable and yields can be maintained or improved,” it recommends. Leveraging these resources could significantly reduce the land required for RE expansion and could result in fewer social, ecological, and environmental impacts compared to land with high ecological, agricultural, livelihood and biodiversity value. However, the study emphasises that harnessing renewable energy on these less conflict-prone lands won’t happen by chance; it requires intentional effort. Policymakers and decision-makers hold the responsibility of ensuring that chosen project sites do not compromise communities’ livelihoods, land rights, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems. “Understanding the factors associated with renewable energy development and predicting future expansion patterns will allow for the proactive identification of potential conflicts between renewable energy and other important land uses. This information can be used to guide renewable energy development toward areas with lower conflict, which will be important to avoid conversion to productive agricultural land and minimize the food-versus-energy controversy,” Das said.

NBT conclave todiscuss roadmapfor UP’s growth

Lucknow: The pace of UP’s progress and the future roadmap for development will be discussed threadbare at NBT’s ‘UP Rising Conclave’ to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Hotel Taj Mahal, Lucknow, on Monday. In the inaugural session, the CM will throw light on UP’s achievements, the changed scenario and the efforts being made to realize people’s aspirations. Deputy chief ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya will discuss the government’s priorities, steps taken in infrastructure and health sectors, and plans for social inclusion and its impact. The first session of the conclave will focus on ‘Ease of Living: Infrastructure, Green Energy and Environment’ in which experts will discuss the changes and expectations in the lives of people after the introduction of better infrastructure facilities, schemes, and their implementation. Awanish Awasthi, advisor to the CM, will present a picture of infrastructure development in UP and how it has changed the state. Director of IIM-Ahmedabad, Bharat Bhaskar, will discuss conditions necessary for ease of living, the nature of policies and measures to make it more inclusive. AKTU vice-chancellor JP Pandey will talk about coordination of technology and ‘ease of living’. Program manager, ‘Clean Air and Mobility’, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Shambhavi Shukla, will present the roadmap for environmental conservation for inclusive development. The next session will focus on dimensions of cleanliness and health, followed by challenges before medical sector, availability of doctors and makinghealth facilities affordable. KGMU VC Dr Sonia Nityanand, VC of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University P Sanjeev Mishra, member of National Medical Commission Dr Yogendra Malik and CEO of Apollomedics Dr Mayank Somani will be present.

India’s growing antibiotic challenge

At a time when big pharma is shying away from research and development on new antibiotics, it is the small and medium scale biopharmaceutical companies that have taken up the cudgels for filling this gap. But these companies are faced with enormous challenges of their own. Until these challenges are addressed and overcome, the world will continue to be in a dire predicament in which it will see its basket of life-saving antibiotics rapidly becoming smaller and smaller. This emerged from the deliberations at a global webinar organised on August 24 by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).This was the second webinar in a series being conducted by CSE to discuss the crisis in antibiotic research and development. In her opening speech in the webinar, CSE director general SunitaNarain said: “We need to conserve the antibiotics that we have, but we also need new antibiotics to treat deadly resistant infections. While the big pharmaceutical companies are no longer keen, it’s the small and medium scale companies which have taken up the responsibility. They have a huge task at hand and a lot depends on how they are supported.”Narainis a member of the Global Leader’s Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Antibiotic resistance is a silent pandemic. Antibiotics are becoming ineffective and treatment options are reducing -- impacting health, livelihoods and economies. Worldwide, in 2019, about five million deaths were associated with it. Moderated by Narain, the webinar – ‘Small and Medium Scale Antibiotic Developers: Challenges they face and the way forward’, focused on developers based in India and brought together key stakeholders and experts including Vasan Sambandamurthy, senior vice president, Global Operations, Bugworks Research India Pvt Ltd; Jitendra Kumar, managing director, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Sachin Bhagwat, senior vice president, Drug Discovery, Wockhardt Research Centre; T S Balganesh, president, GangaGen Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd; and Amit Khurana, director, Sustainable Food Systems Programme, CSE. The webinar series is based on a CSE assessment– ‘A Developing Crisis’, -- published in Down To Earth (July 16-31). The assessment had showed how the global antibiotic pipeline is weak across the pre-clinical and clinical development stages. Analysis of the clinical pipeline of 15 high-earning pharmaceutical companies to understand their R&D focus showed thatmost big pharmaceutical companies have all but quit the R&D of new antibiotics. It is the small and medium scale pharmaceutical companies have taken up the responsibility, but they are facing challenges. “Indian small and medium antibiotic developers are facing multiple challenges. They can play an important role in rejuvenating the global pipeline, if their concerns are addressed,” said Amit Khurana from CSE. The antibiotic developers who spoke at the webinar clearly highlighted their challenges related to scientific, financial and regulatory aspects of drug development. “In addition to the big funding for antibiotic innovators, there is need for regulatory harmonisation at the global level so that the innovators can well use the data generated,” said VasanSambandamurthy from Bugworks, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing two traditional antibacterial agents. “We need to open up clinical trial testing for innovator drugs in India. We also need accelerated approval pathways so that it is clear how a life-saving antibiotics can qualify. It will spur alot of innovation and help companies across the discovery space,” he added. “It is important to strike a right balance while selecting a project to be supported -- between a viable and well differentiated product for the unmetneed in the shortterm and an innovative drug carrying more failure riskfor the longer term,” said Sachin Bhagwatfrom Wockhardt, which is developing four traditional antibiotics. “There has to be emphasis on nurturing the discovery talent. If the current situation continues, we won’t be able to do much even if we put in all resources,” he cautioned. Highlighting a real problem of sourcing funds, T S Balganesh ofGangaGensaid: “The level of resistance in pathogens may vary in India and the western world; western interests would not be keen to fund if it is not a major problem there. This makes us completely dependent on Indian sources or sources from neighbouring countries.” GangaGen Biotechnologies is a biologics company focusing on non-traditional therapies such as protein antibacterials and bacteriophages for treating serious bacterial infections. “The problem of commercialisation is different from the problem of development. There are problems at several levels. We need to break it down and address each of them,” he added. Responding to the concerns, Jitendra Kumarof BIRAC highlighted several initiatives that have been adopted. “We are keen to support this area as AMR is a pandemic and definitely a crisis. We have been working on it and will do whatever is possible from our side,” he assured. CSE researchers, in their assessment, had called for critical reforms to stimulate the antibiotic R&D ecosystem for a sustainable and equitable antibiotic access. There is a need for greater public financing, a coordinated response from nationalgovernments and striking the right balance in public-private partnership for antibiotic development. They had highlighted that antibiotics have attributes of a ‘global public good’ despite not fitting into the strictest definition. “We need to see how public funding is used not just for innovation but also to make sure to get these drugs out on the table. This is where we will need to look at our priorities, target what we need and see if we are able to use it for the rest of the world,” said Narain. (Centre for Science and Environment)

The impact of food on climate

The problem is that there are two distinct agricultural worlds It all boils down to fuel and food. I am talking about the emissions that have “forced” the world’s climate to change, leading now to catastrophic events. While we discuss the contribution of the energy system — fossil fuels that emit long-living carbon dioxide — we don’t talk enough about the other elephant in the room — agriculture and the food we eat. This is because more than any other economic sector, agriculture creates a divide between the world that emits for survival and the one that emits for luxury. In 2018, some 11 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions were from the food the world produced; of this, the bulk of the emissions (roughly 40 per cent) were from enteric fermentation in the digestive systems of ruminant livestock. Food-producing animals emit methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. Another 26 per cent of the agriculture-related emissions were nitrous oxide from livestock manure applied in fields or dumped. Synthetic fertilisers used in crops then added 13 per cent nitrous oxide and methane emissions from rice cultivation contributed 10 per cent of the total agriculture-related emissions. The problem is that there are two distinct agricultural worlds. One, the industrial-agriculture model, where food is manufactured in factory farms; the size of animal holdings and the amounts of chemical inputs used to produce such food is massive. This intensive food-farming system has an ownership pattern that differs from the subsistence agriculture of the other world. In this other world, farmers with small landholdings are engaged in growing food for their consumption or for their livelihood. It is the same for livestock — a few cattle or other animals kept in homestead farms. India, for instance, has the distinction of having the world’s largest livestock population, which is also in the hands of very small farmers. Livestock contributes 25-50 per cent of an individual farmer’s income, according to the official data. It is thus crucial for their economic security. That said, the overall emissions of the large numbers of cattle and other ruminants could be significant. According to the “2021 Third Biennial Report” of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, methane emissions from enteric fermentation add up to 8 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. What then is the answer for controlling methane emissions? And how will it differ from the other world’s actions? This is the same when it comes to rice production in our world; it is grown by small farmers in areas of high rainfall, where the fields are also used for recharging groundwater. This is not to say that the rice grown in water-scarce regions of our world, including states like Punjab and Haryana, is ecologically sound. But we cannot discount the role of rice in nutrition and livelihood for millions in this (our) world. And remember, as we discuss this, farmers are also the first victims of climate change. In our world, it is a multi-fold crisis that threatens their very survival. First, the increasing cost of agricultural inputs and the lack of public infrastructure, including for irrigation, hits their livelihood. Second, increasing food costs are unaffordable to most consumers and governments step in to import food from intensive farming systems that are also invariably subsidised. Farmers lose out. Then third is the fact that farmers are being hit again and again by extreme weather events; their crops are lost to floods, drought, pest attacks, and unseasonal cold and heat. We, therefore, need to discuss agriculture and climate change in the differing contexts of the two worlds. Currently, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is pussyfooting around the question of food. This is because it refuses to confront the beast of intensive food-farming systems, which are also linked to the excessive eating of meat in the other world. Of course, action is not easy. The Netherlands government learnt this when it decided to cut nitrous oxide emissions, which would require farmers to drastically reduce livestock, convert to green farms, or shut down. It led to widespread protests, which then contributed to the fall of the government a few months ago. New Zealand, where cows are highly productive and contribute almost half the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, has proposed a “burp” tax — farmers would have to pay based on the number of cattle and feed. But there is opposition because this would invariably lead to lower cattle numbers for farmers. So, the tax has been deferred and the country continues to count its emission reductions without factoring in the agriculture sector’s contribution. The meat question is equally touchy. The meat interests are as powerful as the fossil fuel industry, if not more so. But let’s at least accept that this is what is at stake. The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment sunita@cseindia.org, @sunitanar

Clean facts on India’s electric vehicles challenge

World EV (Electric Vehicles) Day falls on September 9 and marks a social media campaign to popularise EVs. It is part of a global drive to replace internal combustion engines with EVs to reduce fossil fuel dependency and serves as an occasion for nations to assess the progress they have made in this regard. By 2030, the Indian government hopes to ensure that 30 per cent of private cars, 70 per cent commercial vehicles and 80 per cent two- and three-wheelers are EVs. It was a target set in 2021 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and a NITI Ayog backed study estimated that India could see at least 50 million EVs on the road at the beginning of the next decade. But this may be a difficult target to achieve. A recent independent analysis by the clean air and sustainable mobility team at Centre for Science and Environment pegs annual EV sales in 2030 at 2.05 million. The International Energy Agency estimates annual EV sales of 1.9 million in India by 2030. Currently, according to MoRTH’s website, India has over 2.8 million registered EV vehicles. Till now this year’s EV sales have touched over 8 lakh. But much of the sales have been in the two and three-wheeler segments. 434, 914 of the former and 246, 270 of the latter accounted for bulk of the sales. A little over 38,000 cars were sold and 812 EV buses found buyers. According to experts, current government schemes are based on demand-side support and subsidy, providing buyers incentives. It is felt the government should consider setting electrification targets for the supply side or automobile manufacturers. Also, the long-term focus must be on 100 per cent switchover to EVs, thus existing vehicles must be replaced by EVs rather add more vehicles to the already congested roads.

India’s Progress Towards Electric Vehicles

World EV (Electric Vehicles) Day, observed on September 9, serves as a reminder of the global efforts to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In line with this, the Indian government has set ambitious targets to increase the adoption of EVs in the country. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) aims to ensure that by 2030, 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial vehicles, and 80% of two- and three-wheelers in India are EVs. The NITI Aayog, a policy think tank in India, estimates that by the beginning of the next decade, there could be at least 50 million EVs on Indian roads. However, achieving these targets may prove challenging. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment suggests that annual EV sales in India by 2030 may reach 2.05 million, while the International Energy Agency projects sales of 1.9 million EVs in the same period. Currently, there are over 2.8 million registered EVs in India, with sales of over 800,000 vehicles recorded so far this year. The majority of these sales have been in the two- and three-wheeler segments, with cars and buses contributing smaller numbers. Experts believe that the government’s current support and subsidy schemes focus on incentivizing buyers rather than setting electrification targets for automobile manufacturers. They suggest that a long-term approach should prioritize a complete transition to EVs, replacing existing vehicles instead of adding more to the already congested roads. As India works towards its EV goals, World EV Day serves as an important occasion for the nation to evaluate its progress and continue its efforts to promote sustainable mobility. Sources: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NITI Aayog, Centre for Science and Environment, International Energy Agency