• Renewable Energy

Plan to tap the sun near Najafgarh drain

NEW DELHI: A high-level committee, which was constituted to monitor the rejuvenation of Yamuna, has proposed to generate solar power along the Najafgarh drain by erecting pillars on its banks to install solar panels. A 6-km-long site, from Dhansa to Ghummanhera, is under consideration for installation of the solar panels. According to an initial assessment done by agencies, around 30 MW power can be generated by installing solar panels along the drain. "We have approached Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to examine the proposal and inform us if the project is economically viable. The site has trees of low height and their shadow will not impact the efficiency of solar panels," said a senior official. The official added that the priority of the committee was to rejuvenate Yamuna. "The plan of generating solar power will not impact the revival of the Najafgarh drain, which is an important part of the Yamuna rejuvenation project. However, if the plan of solar power generation is successful, we may implement it on other stretches of big drains like Supplementary and the one in Shahdara," said an official, adding that a team of SECI has conducted a survey of the Najafgarh drain. "The chief secretary had suggested that the power department and SECI can be involved for exploring the suitable options or funding for solar power generation," according to the latest minutes of the committee's meeting, which took place on August 10. Delhi Transco Limited has opined that a power purchase agreement for the project is feasible. "The matter is being pursued with DTL for confirmation so that it may be forwarded to SECI for further action on this issue. Detailed feasibility and potential are yet to be submitted by SECI," according to the meeting document. Data shows that around 9% of the power consumed by Delhi currently comes from the Sun. The draft Delhi Solar Policy 2022 plans to meet 25% of the annual electricity demand of Delhi through solar energy. Binit Das, programme manager, renewable energy, CSE, said, "In 2022, the state introduced its draft solar policy, which included an ambitious goal of achieving 6,000 MW of solar capacity by 2025. This target encompasses 750 MW of rooftop solar installations and 5,250 MW of utility-scale projects located outside of Delhi. The recent announcement of the project is a part of the broader utility-scale initiative launched last year." "Given Delhi's high population density, the implementation of solar projects within the city can be challenging. Projects like the one located along the Najafgarh drain offer a solution by generating renewable electricity without utilising valuable arable or habitable land. However, it's essential to ensure that the structural design is executed correctly to prevent issues related to cleaning and regular maintenance in the future."

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Pollution fight lags, Gurgaon meets only 33% of its greening target

GURGAON: While the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has framed a policy to improve air quality in Delhi-NCR, Gurgaon is lagging in one of its key components — increasing green cover. Data shows the city only achieved 33% (7.2 lakh) of its plantation target of 21.6 lakh saplings in 2023-24. With the monsoon season at its tail end, plantation drives are unlikely to be carried out after October. “The city’s plantation target has not been up to the mark. Landscaping and greening is crucial to curb air pollution. Gurgaon needs to pick up pace,” Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) chairperson P Raghavendra Rao said on Friday. The CAQM expert panel was formed in July last year to come up with a roadmap to address Delhi-NCR’s persistent air pollution problem. Some of the world’s most polluted cities fall in this landlocked region, where haze-enveloped skies have become an annual feature of the winter months. According to the policy on reducing dust pollution, CAQM recommends “longer-term systemic changes” such as street redevelopment plans for greening of roadsidess and central verges, and converting unpaved areas into green spaces. Screenshot 2023-09-02 090241 The agencies in the city had decided their plantation targets last year and submitted it to CAQM. According to the data, the GMDA was given the target to plant 10.5 lakh saplings, of which it has sown 1.6 lakh (16% of the target). GMDA’s nodal officer for environment and sustainability Subhas Yadav on Friday admitted that the authority had lagged behind. “We will carry out the maximum plantation work possible in the city till October,” he said. Similarly, MCG had a target to plant 5.2 lakh saplings, of which it planted 12%. The NHAI, which had to touch the count of 5 lakh, planted 3.5 lakh. The Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) completed 46% (13,000) of its targeted 28,000. But there were also agencies that exceeded their aims. The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation planted 30,600 saplings, 200 more than its target. The HSVP had to plant 29,950 saplings, but the figure it managed was more than three times higher -- 99,800 saplings. Despite this, the city – which is fast expanding its concrete footprint as population density continues to go up -- was far behind its total plantation target. At the same time, the city is also losing its forest cover to make way for urban clusters and infrastructure. According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Gurgaon lost 2.47sqkm of forest cover between 2019 and 2020. “ We definitely need more green spaces as these also filter rain, reducing air and water pollution. Green spaces help cool our cities, reducing the heat-island effect,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

From the India Today archives (2015) | Capital punishment: Delhi needs urgent pollution reforms

Even the most-hardened Delhiite would be shocked by a new report that the city’s pollution threatens to reduce lifespan by up to 12 years Every great city has its great joys and its great sorrows. So, Delhi, a radial melting pot of cultures that has history at every corner, greenery on every sidewalk, and changes clothes and colours with the seasons, has been plagued with debilitating concerns over women's safety, and with something noxious, deleterious, downright nasty, in the air. According to multiple surveys in recent years by organisations ranging from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the University of Surrey, and from the University of California at Berkeley to the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi, Kanpur and Mumbai, the city is now the most polluted in the world. An inglorious, undisputed leader in a dishonour roll that features 13 Indian cities among the top 20. A Delhi resident is today exposed to an average of 153 micrograms per cubic metre of PM 2.5—the smallest and most harmful of all measurable particulate matter—which is 15 times higher than the WHO’s recommended annual average. And while this data may seem too obscure to raise alarm bells, and the effects of pollution too insidious to rattle the cage, disease and death is looming. Preying first on the most vulnerable—children, seniors, those with respiratory disorders—and slowly devouring even the most hardy. The stench of smoke, burning of the eyes, smoggy mornings, hazy nights are all symptoms of a deeper malaise. Doctors associate high levels of suspended particulate matter and sulphur dioxide with increased mortality, morbidity and impaired pulmonary function. They say that fine particulates penetrate the respiratory system, and can alter the immune system, impair the liver and the kidney, and cause brain damage in children resulting in lower IQ, hyperactivity and lower concentration. The rise in carbon monoxide levels affects the cardiovascular system, particularly among children, and can attack the nervous system. Two studies endorsed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2012 said that one in five adults and one in four children in Delhi suffered from upper respiratory diseases, and that these numbers were on an upward trend. There is no dispute any longer that drastic action is needed. In this winter of discontent when the ambient air quality is at its worst, emergency measures have suddenly become the order of the day as Delhi has emerged all of a sudden as a test case for pollution reforms that will have implications for cities such as Gwalior, Patna and Ahmedabad that are suffering from similar problems. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has announced a series of half-measures—but measures nonetheless—to kick-start the fight. It has been buttressed by the judiciary, which has radical ideas of its own. So while one group has decided to restrict Delhi’s private four-wheelers to even and odd registration plates on alternate days, a battle of one-upmanship has begun in which the other wants to restrict or phase out diesel vehicles altogether. Ignoring the hue and cry and the logistic nightmare both these plans throw up, the executive and the judiciary seem determined to finally bell the cat. While this is a good issue to be squabbling over, some key questions remain: what does the cat really look like, how did it become so menacing, is the bell loud enough, and are they trying to bell the wrong cat altogether? Perhaps the first step towards understanding Delhi’s particular pollution problem is to understand the city—its aspirations, and its design. Delhi is primarily a network of localities, or a conglomerate of villages, linked by roads that intersect, bifurcate and overlap, like spaghetti in a bowl. It’s a series of concentric circles with numerous entry and exit points, and has almost no dedicated commercial centre, and no clear housing pattern. It is as long as it is wide, unlike Mumbai which has changed gradually from a straight line along the sea to a narrow isosceles triangle. Its population is growing at an alarming rate, having nearly doubled from 10 million to 20 million in the last two decades. And new satellite towns such as Gurgaon and Noida, which now form an ominous National Capital Region because of seamless urban integration, are also as commercial as they are residential. DESIGN FLAW It is, in other words, a landlocked cauldron of smoke, surrounded by an even smokier periphery, without the natural advantage of replenishing its air that coastal cities have. On top of that, it has an organic growth pattern that makes it arduous to provide a mass transit system that works for everyone because of a lack of clarity between where people live, and where they work. It is, as Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), puts it, “suffering from a design flaw”. And as Rahul Mehrotra, urban planner and professor of urban design and planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, describes it, “a victim of poor land-use planning”. It’s because of this haphazard structure that the greatest middle-class dream in Delhi is individual mobility, and the entire focus of its transport system has been to support private vehicles. To have made it in Delhi is to have wheels under you. The city, as a result, has a total of 8.8 million vehicles, and adds an average of 1,400 vehicles to its arsenal every month. This is more than the vehicles in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata combined, though about 60 per cent of these are two-wheelers. Another problem is that Delhi’s growth, and that of many other big Indian cities, has been so rapid that infrastructure has not been able to keep pace. “Typically, in India, the introduction of mass public transport is a rearguard action,” says the ever-cogent Mehrotra, “as opposed to avant garde action.” This is different from many other global cities where public transport, coupled with cheaper housing incentives, opened up newer, better-connected hinterlands. Infrastructure in Delhi has always tried to play catch-up with urbanisation rather than lead it. These factors make Delhi’s public transport system both more uncomfortable to use and more inefficient when compared with private vehicles. This double whammy is a crucial distinction, for there is no respite on either front—saving time or saving stress—for a majority of Delhi’s commuters who rely on public transport. In Mumbai, for example, if going from Andheri to Churchgate takes 45 minutes by train, it can take up to two hours by car. So, while a car may be more “luxurious”, it robs you of time. In Delhi, if going from South Delhi to Noida takes 40 minutes by car, it takes 90 minutes by train, including getting to and from the station. So public transport is not only more uncomfortable, it also wastes time. This is primarily why anyone who can afford to buy a private vehicle jumps at the idea in Delhi, as opposed to Mumbai, or other well-connected cities in the world, where vehicles are meant for family outings or weekend recreation. And this is why the AAP’s even-odd solution between January 1 and January 15 is likely to fail. For, while pollution is clearly important enough to override personal comfort, relying on the goodness of the people to embrace a more inefficient system for the “greater good” may be wishful thinking. Add to that the lack of capacity—according to Sarath Guttikunda of the advocacy site urbanemissions.info, it would take 13,000 new buses to take the additional load while the government has managed to arrange for only 6,000 extra buses so far—and this plan has all the makings of another urban bungle. The implications could be potentially disastrous for the larger cause because a hasty rollback due to improper implementation may potentially harm the fight against pollution rather than helping it. Not dissimilar to how the failure of the ambitious Bus Rapid Transit lanes created by the previous Sheila Dikshit government had ended up militating against the push for a more efficient bus service. EVENLY ODD What dilutes the even-odd formula, unless it’s used only as an emergency measure for limited time and with minimal exemptions, is that the numbers simply don’t add up. As Guttikunda explains, vehicular pollution depends on three principal factors—number of vehicles on the road, the distance each vehicle runs, and the emissions from each vehicle. So if 4.4 million of the 8.8 million vehicles in Delhi go off the roads because of the even-odd formula, the assumption is that it would lead to a 50 per cent reduction in vehicular emissions. But there is more to this than a simple division. Once you take into account the various exemptions that the AAP government is planning—for two-wheelers because they form one of the party’s principal constituencies, for women drivers because of safety concerns, and for patients and emergency vehicles such as ambulances and police vans—an estimated 2.5 million vehicles come back on the road, leading to a total reduction of just 2 million. Also, it has been noticed that wherever the even-odd formula has been applied—Mexico City and Bogota are examples—the run of each vehicle increases because it begins to make several rounds to cater to different members of a family. Even if a vehicle’s run increases by an average of 25 per cent, it brings emissions worth an additional 1.5 million vehicles back on the road, thus taking the grand total of reductions to a mere 500,000. Although there are some short-term advantages—fewer exhaust fumes in your immediate vicinity, and lower NO2 and particulate matter—it’s too much trouble for not enough gain. Only if conducted without exemptions for a short period of time—so that people do not buy newer cars or change registration numbers in multiple-vehicle homes—can the even-odd formula be somewhat successful. “We’re not in favour of any exemptions, other than for emergency vehicles,” says CSE’s Roychowdhury, who has met with the Delhi government to help iron out their even-odd formula and other strategies to combat pollution. Vehicular emissions, in any case, roughly account for 25 per cent of Delhi’s pollution, with construction activity and dust the main culprits. Diesel generator sets in homes and offices that spew pollutants through an unrefined motor in a bid to cover for poor power supply, industrial dumping and waste burning also add huge chunks to the pollution pie-chart. But this attempt by the AAP government is still being hailed as ground-breaking by experts, including Roychowdhury, with good reason. It is the first time that any restrictions are being placed on private vehicles in a country where car owners are in the habit of being pampered with a one-time all-India road tax, free parking in homes, cheap parking in markets, and no congestion charges. The move is an acknowledgement that the time to impose checks on vehicles has come, as other cities do across the world, and could serve as a precursor to making owning, maintaining, driving and parking a fleet of private vehicles more expensive and problematic than it currently is. An infinitely more efficient solution for vehicular pollution would be to implement Euro 6 emission norms for automobiles in India because that would bring down particulate matter emission by five times per vehicle over the Euro 4 norms that Delhi currently follows. This can be achieved by persuading oil companies to up their standards, without necessarily having to discard older cars immediately since a Euro 4 vehicle can run on Euro 6 fuels. The Delhi government is also promising to restrict the number of trucks entering the city, shutting coal-based power plants in Rajghat and Badarpur, enforcing the ban on trash burning, and penalising construction violators. But implementing these measures won’t be easy, especially since they will have to rely on the Delhi Police, which is not under the AAP government’s control and has, in fact, been openly inimical towards it. Even controlling the flow of trucks into the city, many of which use sub-standard or mixed fuels, will be a hard cross to bear despite the Supreme Court’s ‘green tax’ that attempts to discourage them from using Delhi as a thoroughfare. The court, on December 16, passed another order that banned the entry of trucks manufactured before 2005 from entering the city, and closing the entry points at NH1 and NH8 for trucks not bound for Delhi. A recent study by the CSE suggests that a total of 115,000 light commercial and heavy trucks enter Delhi every day. The court also stopped the registration of all luxury diesel vehicles larger than 2,000cc, such as luxury SUVs and MUVs, until March. This decision will have huge implications for the auto industry. “Air pollution needs to be tackled at the policy level first,” says Guttikunda. “One-off measures that place the burden on the consumers won’t have wide-reaching impacts.” The solutions he suggests are cleaner fuels; more reliable power supply, which will cut down diesel generator set use; picking up waste because it has the potential to be burned; dust- and pothole-free roads; and improving services that encourage walking and cycling. The important thing is the simultaneity of such measures, making the fight against pollution a crusade instead of piecemeal campaigns against individual contaminants. THE WAY OUT Strange as it may sound, India’s pollution conundrum is not too different from what the US had experienced between the 1940s and the 1970s. It was a time when southern California and the East Coast were both routinely engulfed by smog. On July 26, 1943, in the middle of the Second World War, the smog in Los Angeles was so severe that residents thought the Japanese had attacked using chemical warfare. Another significant incident of all was the Donora Smog in Pennsylvania in 1948. It claimed 20 human and 800 animal lives, and could have consumed thousands of others had the thick wall of smoke not been cleared by unexpected rain after four days. It prompted the beginning of a long fight against air pollution that eventually led to the US Clean Air Act of 1970 and to the creation of a strong United States Environmental Protection Agency, which was given the power to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to airborne contaminants. One of the major problems in India is that while central agencies have been tasked with monitoring pollution, they don't have a mandate to control it. The US Clean Air Act, for example, made it mandatory to develop ways to ensure better air quality across the country without any cost restraints. In India, the CPCB doesn’t have strong enforcement powers. It relies on the government or the courts to take the lead-as the Supreme Court did in 2001 by ordering that all public transport in Delhi must switch to CNG, dramatically improving air quality. But the lack of other reforms, and the sheer volume of vehicles coupled with a terrible central policy that encouraged the rampant production, sale and purchase of diesel vehicles, reversed the trend in 2007. Over the last year, the CPCB has started taking its monitoring role more seriously by setting up a real-time system to measure Air Quality Index (AQI) across eight pollutants in 11 cities. The aim is to make AQIs available for 22 state capitals and 44 other cities with a population exceeding one million. But it’s too little, too late. In all of Delhi’s seven monitoring centres, AQI readings have routinely breached 300 this December—anything above that is considered hazardous—and crossed 600 regularly at Anand Vihar in east Delhi. The solution, suggests Rahul Mehrotra, is to think macro. “Delhi needs imaginative inter-modal transport systems that link buses with metros, and taxis and autos with buses. You shouldn’t lose time and you shouldn’t have to walk more than a few metres to get to your next ride,” he says. Next, he asks for a transport system that is mindful of the relationship between where people live and where they work. “Land-use planning and transportation must go hand in hand. In fact, it should be the only parameter.” And finally, using public transport to develop the city by offering cheap housing near new mass transit systems. It’s important for Delhi that this season of heightened awareness portends holistic changes; that it isn’t an example of intense fire-fighting, only to be forgotten once short-term solutions provide meagre gains. The era of ignorant optimism is over. So, roll over P.B. Shelley and welcome to the grim new world of George R.R. Martin: Winter is coming; Spring may indeed be far behind. —with Kaushik Deka

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Exploring airshed management as a solution to India’s pollution woes

India’s flagship programme to reduce air pollution has seen slow progress, spurring discussions on airshed-level management for air pollution control. Controlling air pollution beyond city or state lines, and across common airsheds, can help improve monitoring and management in rural areas too, which are left out of the programme, experts say. A new model for airshed governance by the Centre for Policy Research proposes having several “supra-state” institutions for each airshed which aren’t constrained by administrative boundaries, in order to better monitor and control air pollution. As the first phase of India’s National Clean Air Programme for tackling air pollution nears its deadline, with insufficient progress, experts recommend considering air pollution management at an airshed level, as opposed to limiting their actions to political and administrative boundaries. “Emissions from one place can affect people living in another place, but authorities can’t take action if the source of pollution is from across the border,” said Bhargav Krishna, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. The think tank recently released a policy brief recommending the airshed level approach where pollution is addressed over a common geographic area, irrespective of state boundaries, where a similar level of pollutants are trapped. “Given the scale and nature of the air pollution crisis in India, urgent systemic reforms that adopt an airshed level approach and facilitate inter-state regional cooperation are essential,” notes the paper, recommending regulatory architecture to address pollution at the airshed level. India’s cities are routinely ranked among the world’s worst when it comes to air pollution management. The country has 39 out of 50 of the world’s most polluted cities, with high 2.5 particulate matter (PM) levels, according to this year’s World Air Quality Report by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company. Every Indian, on average, loses 5.3 years of their life, because of air pollution, according to the latest Air Quality Life Index, an annual report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, released this week. A reduced life expectancy from air pollution exceeds threats from cardiovascular disease, high systolic blood pressure, smoking and child and maternal malnutrition. To tackle the problem of air pollution, the government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 for non-attainment cities with the worst air pollution levels, with the aim to improve scientific understanding of air pollution and curb emissions at source. The goal of the NCAP is for non-attainment cities to reduce PM levels by 20-30 percent by 2024, compared to 2017 levels. In September 2022, the central government renewed the NCAP, setting a target of 40 per cent emissions reductions by 2026. So far, progress under the programme has been underwhelming – only 39 out of the 131 cities have done apportionment studies to track down sources of pollution and less than 50 percent of the total funds allocated under the NCAP (Rs 652.61 crores) have been utilised. What is an airshed? An airshed, according to the World Bank, is a “common geographic area where pollutants mix and create similar air quality for everyone.” The World Bank’s analysis suggests the South Asian region has six airsheds, four of them falling in India. These are the west/central Indo-Gangetic Plain (including Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab (India), Haryana, part of Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh), the central/eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bangladesh) middle India 1 (Odisha and Chhattisgarh) and middle India 2 (eastern Gujarat and western Maharashtra). “Air pollution travels long distances within South Asia, crossing municipal, state, and national boundaries, depending on wind, climatology, and cloud chemistry. At any given location, PM2.5 in ambient air originates from several upwind sources extending over several hundred kilometers. This is especially true on and around the IndoGangetic Plain (IGP),” says the World Bank’s report. A 2021 study by researchers from IIT Roorkee found that “while the contributions of local sources (of pollution) were found to dominate in all IGP states, significant contributions were also seen from neighboring IGP states.” Leading contributors to the region were transport (40-50 percent share), industry (5-20 percent) and energy (5-40 percent) with wide variations within each state. “Delineation of an airshed has three basic steps: First, emission quantification to prepare a multi-pollutant emission inventory; second, analysis of meteorological data to evaluate variations and similarities at the local and regional levels; and third, performing air quality modelling to understand the pollution dispersion,” says a report on managing regional air quality by the Centre for Science and Environment. Monitoring air quality beyond cities India has a a network of 438 continuous air quality monitoring systems and another 883 manual stations set up by the Central Pollution Control Board across various cities. In an ideal scenario, India would require “at least 4000 continuous monitoring stations, around 2800 in the urban areas and 1200 in the rural areas, to truly represent the air quality trends,” noted a study from May this year, which proposes improving air quality monitoring for the NCAP through an airshed approach. The study divided 131 non-attainment cities into 104 airsheds, “collectively representing 164 cities and a total population of 295 million.” “These areas are what the city administrators must consider as their immediate vicinity with the potential to influence their air quality the most,” said Sarath Guttikunda, founder of Urban Emissions, a knowledge sharing platform on air pollution, and lead author of the study. Some cities had larger air sheds than others. Delhi, for example, had the largest of all airsheds, while the smallest were in Himachal Pradesh. “If we want to focus on urban air quality, talk to the city officials, and address local centric interventions, then we need to define an urban airshed, which the city administrators can comprehend. Here the city’s actions take center stage. In a regional problem, the states falling within an airshed have to address the problem at broader scales like inter-state cooperation for tackling the regional air pollution problem collaboratively,” Guttikunda added. The study also recommended broadening the scope of monitoring to beyond cities, noting that, “For NCAP to succeed, efforts to monitor and analyse pollution levels must expand to the rural areas.” In absence of requisite funding, the study says India can set up a “hybrid” air monitoring networks, which would include supplementing existing monitoring systems with low cost sensors and combining these readings with satellite measurements. “More monitoring stations mean more data that we have access to understand the problem spatially and temporally. This not only helps in understanding the trends, but also helps in validating the models developed for the city or the region. If we are deviating (from air quality norms), then why, which emission sources are responsible for this, can be studied,” Guttikunda said. Krishna of Centre for Policy Research, while talking to Mongabay India, also commented that air pollution management in India is currently city and urban centric, which leaves out management in rural areas, which are equally affected. “An airshed management approach can improve management in rural areas too,” he said. Airshed governance and its challenges According to the Centre for Science and Environment, before an airshed is designed, “there needs to be collective motivation and incentives to justify the need for airshed air quality management, as it requires a lot of time, resources and planning.” In other words, airshed management involves shared responsibilities across city and state lines. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), set up for the management of air pollution in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas from neighboring states, monitors air pollution and makes interventions periodically for state pollution control boards to follow. But it is only one such body that acts at a regional scale and is largely urban centric, with only four full time committee members heading it. The Centre for Policy Research has proposed setting up a network of institutions that could support the governance of airsheds in India, in the form of “supra state” committees which would have jurisdiction over each regional airshed. These committees would be in charge of rulemaking and planning, monitoring, and knowledge building for the region, while “implementation and enforcement would continue to remain with the SPCBs, ULBs and other agencies,” says the policy brief, released earlier this month. “This institution isn’t just going to be one that passes orders but will also be a knowledge generating institution, because it also takes in a lot of data to develop insights for state level regulators while working with them to effectively implement some of the policy directions,” explained CPR’s Krishna, who was one of the authors of the policy brief. “Unlike the CAQM, this composition of the committees will be substantially different and more diverse. It includes senior bureaucrats from the union government, chief secretaries of the various states in the region and state departments, local body representatives and experts from science, regulation, and health impacts. All of these stakeholders need to be represented in the leadership.” CPR says such committees don’t need to be constituted through an act of Parliament, as the CAQM was, but can be notified directly under the Air Act 1981 as ‘air pollution control areas’ by state governments. This way the committee’s purpose is aligned with the law. These committees “would be the first port of call to resolve any issue of jurisdiction, regulatory overlap or any other form of dispute relating to planning or regulation relating to air quality in the region,” says the policy brief. In case of violations, CPR proposes the committees refer defaulters to the National Gren Tribunal or the Union environment ministry for further action. The Ministry is empowered to issue binding directions to defaulters under the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986. But some experts say the concept of airsheds still needs to be better understood by governments before designing for their governance. Pratima Singh, senior research scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), says conversations about airsheds are still very nascent and have arrived at a time when states are designing their own state-level action plans for air pollution management, and learning more about where emissions are coming from. At the moment, most emission inventory studies are at the city level and not at a district, state or regional level. “If, for example, Andhra Pradesh has too much inbound transportation from Karnataka, then what are the solutions Karnataka can propose so that it doesn’t influence Andhra Pradesh? Within cities, departments don’t interact with each other, so how do we make sure governments collaborate on air pollution? Even if an airshed considers multiple states, implementation and coordination between states will be a big challenge,” said Singh.

• Rural Water-Waste Management

Environmentalists urge govt to solve sanitation problems in Himalayas

Most Himalayan towns lack sewerage systems; millions of litres of grey water seeps into the clayey, loamy soil, making landslides inevitable The Centre and governments of Himalayan states should focus on sanitation systems in the Himalayas as well besides taking stock of wanton illegal construction and heavy tourist inflow, an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based thinktank, has urged. An analysis of a few destinations with high influx of tourists in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim by CSE shows that most Himalayan towns do not have sewerage systems. For instance, only 31.7 per cent of households in Uttarakhand are connected to the sewerage system; the rest depend on on-site sanitation systems. Most households in the towns analysed also have faulty toilets, from which black water seeps into the ground and also affects springs—the prevalent water source in the region. Similarly, most households and small hotels are adopting soak pits to manage grey water—wastewater from bathrooms and kitchen. In some towns, grey water is allowed to flow in unlined open drains, which in turn seeps into the ground. Each hill town receives 150 litres per capita of water supply and 65-70 per cent of this is converted into wastewater, according to guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin. Millions of litres of grey water are thus forced into the ground, which is feared to further weaken the topsoil. “In most towns analysed by CSE, the soil is clayey, loamy or metamorphosed schists, phyllites and gneiss. All these are either loose soil or weak rocks. As the huge amounts of water and wastewater seep through the ground, it would make the clayey and loamy soil softer and prone to landslides,” said Sushmita Sengupta from CSE. She added that in the fragile Himalayas it is important to understand the soil and rock below to decide on the type of structures required for managing grey water. Areas analysed Type of on-site sanitation system Quantum of sewage/ wastewater generation Actual population Floating Population Status of grey water management in rural areas Type of soil Uttarakhand1,2 Bhimtal nagar panchayat in Nainital town 36% households linked to sewer system; 64% depend on on-site sanitation system (2% have septic tank with soak pit, 4% lined tank with no outlet, 40% open bottom tank and 18% damaged* containment) Faecal sludge and Septage from on-site sanitation system: 5 kiloliters a day Waste water flowing through sewer system (which consists of grey water, faecal sludge, urine, etc.): 1.3 million litres a day 14,882 200,000 per year, with 1,639 per day tourists during peak season that lasts from mid-April to mid-August Grey water in non-sewered areas is discharged into open drains, which ends up in natural waterbodies of the city Loamy clay, rocky Bageshwar municipality Households depend only on on-site sanitation system (6% on septic tanks connected to soak pits, 14% on fully lined tank without any overflow outlet, 40% connected to open bottom tank, and 40% damaged* containment) Faecal sludge and Septage from on-site sanitation system: 12 kilolitres a day Waste water (Grey Water as the town is non-sewered) 3 million litres a day 25,045 2,500 tourists visit per day for 30 days during the peak season of January to participate in Uttrayani Mela No storm water drains in the city. Grey water is disposed of through open drains or soak pits connected with bathroom, kitchens Silt loam, loam, rocky Doiwala municipal council in Dehradun Households depend only on on-site sanitation system (9% households – septic tanks connected to soak pits, 1% have fully lined tank without any overflow outlet, 2% connected to open bottom tank, and 88% damaged containment). Fecal sludge and septage from on-site sanitation system: 26.6 kilolitres a day Waste water (Grey water as the town is non-sewered): 6.6 million litres a day 61,370 Upto 2,000 per day Grey water disposed of through soak pits connected with bathroom and kitchens or open drains, leading to agricultural fields and the Saung river Clay, loamy clay, sandy clay Srinagar nagar palika in Pauri Garhwal district 36% households linked to sewerage system. Of those depending on on-site sanitation system, 30% have containment with septic tank connected to soak pit or drains, 24% have open bottom tank and 10% have fully lined tanks Faecal sludge and septage generated from on-site sanitation system: 11.3 kilolitres a day Wastewater flowing through sewer system: 4.7 million litres a day 44,000 10,000 per day during peak season of Chota Char Dham Yatra that lasts from April to June In non-sewered areas, grey water is discharged into nallahs connected to sewage treatment plants. Those not connected end up in water streams. Some households have connected their septage overflow into drains. Rocky, loamy sand Devprayag nagar palika in Tehri Garhwal district 56% households linked to sewerage system. Of those depending on on-site sanitation system, 26% depend on lined tank with open bottom, 12% on septic tanks, 6% on fully lined tanks. Of Eight public toilets, 4 are functional (2 connected to sewer network, other 2 to septic tanks) and the rest being considered for renovation. All the 13 hotels, resorts and most houses that cater to the pilgrimage tourists are connected to septic tanks Faecal sludge and septage generated: 1 kilolitres a day Wastewater generated: 3.3 million litres a day 3,059 Peak season is May to October, when 2,000 tourists visit per day Almost 55% conveyed to sewage treatment plants; rest through open drains that ends up in river Rocky, loamy Bhowali nagar palika parishad in Nainital 16% HHs depend on septic tanks connected to soak pits. 30% have open bottom tanks with no outlet or overflow, 54% households have damaged containment systems with no outflow. Faecal sludge and septage generated: 3.3 kilolitres a day Wastewater generated: 0.8 million litres a day 8,457 Up to 1,600 on any peak day during April to August Faecal sludge emptied directly into the sewer manhole in Haldwini city, which further enters into Gaula river without treatment. Grey water is disposed-off through open drains leading to the natural water bodies of the city Loamy clay, rocky New Tehri in Tehri nagar palika 89% households have sewerage connections. 8% connected to community septic tanks and 3% have damaged fully lined tanks Faecal sludge and septage: 8 kilolitres a day Wastewater generated-2.2 million litres a day 20,696 902 tourists per day throughout the year Almost 90% households conveyed to STP through sewer lines and no open drains in the town Loamy, silt loamy, rocky Haldwani nagar nigam in Nainital district Around 20% households have sewerage network. 50% depend on septic tanks connected to soak pits. 8 % fully sealed tanks and 12% open bottom circular tanks and 10 percent damaged containment systems Faecal sludge generated: 110 kilolitres a day Wastewater generated: 31 million litres a day 2,80,604 10,000 per day throughout the year. Grey water carrying through open drains and waste water from sewer lines is disposed at Gaula river without treatment. Clay, loamy clay and rocky Dehradun 34% households connected to sewer network. 12% depend on septic tanks connected to soak pits. 11% depend on septic tanks connected with open drains. 10% depend on open bottom tanks. 33% depend on damaged containment systems Fecal sludge and septage generated: 320 kilolitres a day Wastewater generated: 92 million litres a day 804,379 4,500 per day Gray water in most households directed to soak pits directly and few areas are served with nine nullahs and two storm water drains. Gray water is directed to these through small drains following natural gravity Clay, loamy clay, sandy clay HIMACHAL PRADESH Rural areas of Hamirpur district3 Majorly twin pit and septic tanks in rural areas 12.75MLD in Hamirpur4 423,338 (census 2011) Data not available Soak pits and open drains Rocky Kasauli Cantonment5 Sewer systems connected to sewage holding tanks at 1.5-2 km distance. No information available on treatment Not available 3,500 No floating population Soak pit Clay, loamy clay, rocky Shimla district 29% households depend on faulty septic tank that overflow into open drains. 65-70 %- sewer network 59.19MLD6 This is as per the latest estimates given to NGT. However as per the city sanitation plan very less of the collected reaches the treatment plant and is flowing in open polluting the water bodies.7 224,000 76,000 person throughout the year Grey Water flows in open drains to river Clay, loamy clay, rocky. SIKKIM8 Rural areas of Sikkim More 90% households have septic tanks without soak pits (holding tanks). 2-3% depend on twin-pit; The settlement in rural areas are scattered. No faecal sludge treatment plant; deep burial of emptied fecal sludge. 455,962 Majorly soak pits and kitchen garden Loamy and clayey sand and lateritic Urban areas of Sikkim Households in Mangan, Geyzing and Namchi are connected with septic tanks and now shall be connected to sewer lines. Most households in the remaining 3 districts are connected to sewer lines Not available 150,000 About 0.3 million per month with peak months ranging from March to May and October to December Flows through natural open drains to rivers *Damaged toilets: Containments (fully lined tanks, partially lined tanks and pits, and unlined pits) failed, damaged, collapsed or flooded, with no outlet or overflow

• Down To Earth

Rising climate risks

India must estimate and publicise the large gap between the commitments of developed countries and their fair obligation for mitigation The average global temperatures in June and July 2023 were the highest in recorded history. Forest fires are becoming more widespread, burning nearly twice as much tree cover today as they did 20 years ago. The average global ocean temperature has smashed records for May, June and July. At home, the Centre for Science and Environment has estimated that extreme weather events were reported at some place or the other on 314 out of 365 days in 2022. Clearly, climate risks are not mere future threats. Thirty years of global cooperation for climate risk mitigation has not worked. Between 1990 and 2019, global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have gone up from 30 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) to 48 billion tonnes of CO2e. The increase in GHG emissions is almost entirely attributed to developing countries, which were exempt originally from significant mitigation responsibility. This growing role of developing countries in GHG emissions is not a violation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In fact, at the first meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC in 2005, the Berlin mandate recognised the “legitimate needs of the developing countries for the achievement of sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty”. It also acknowledged that “the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries, that the per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low, and that the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs”. However, a modification is necessary and that is to exclude China’s emissions from the developing country emission estimates. Between 1990 and 2019, China’s per capita emissions shot up from 2.8 to 8.9 tonnes of CO2e, surpassing the per capita emissions of Western Europe in 2019. China’s emissions increase during this period represents 54 per cent of the total global increase in emissions. There is no justification for lumping together China and India, as is commonly done by Western activists, since India’s per capita emissions in 2019 are still lower than what China’s per capita emissions were in 1990. My submission is that the fundamental challenge for climate risk management still is the need for stronger action by developed countries, with just one modification — include China in this group. Between 1990 and 2020, the emissions of GHG of the Annex 1 developed countries did decline by about 2724 million tonnes of CO2e. But it is worth noting that much of this is because Russia and the East European countries, which were part of Annex 1, experienced a massive decline in emissions, not because of climate-friendly policies but because of the collapse of their energy-intensive industries. In fact, their emission reductions account for over 80 per cent of the Annex 1 country emission reductions. Only the Western European countries show a significant fall in emissions, mainly after 2007. The developed countries and China are still the major problem for managing climate risks. The per capita emissions were 12.4 tonnes of CO2e in 2019 for Annex 1 countries, and 8.9 tonnes for China, well above the emissions of 2.5 tonnes of CO2e by India and 4.3 tonnes CO2e by other developing countries. Since climate risks depend on cumulative emissions, one must also note that the liability and responsibility of Annex 1 countries is even greater if one looks at the emissions before 1990. Unfortunately, climate justice has not driven global climate diplomacy and the Paris agreement has shifted the focus of climate diplomacy in two ways — diluting the top-down pressure on mitigation on the developed countries, and including the developing countries in mitigation promises. The neglect of climate justice is also manifest in the net-zero announcements of the high-emitting developing countries. Looking ahead at the future, keeping the global temperature increase below 1.5°C would require the total global emissions to stay below 500 billion tonnes of CO2e, which works out to an average of 1.8 tonnes per capita between now and the target net-zero date. A calculation reported some time ago in this paper shows that the current net-zero dates announced by the major emitters would mean “the emissions of US will amount to 5-7 tonnes, 4-6 tonnes for China, 2-3 tonnes for the EU and UK, 5-8 tonnes for Russia , and 4-5 tonnes for Japan. India is rather better placed to meet this goal as its average per capita per year emissions will be in the 1.5-2.3 tonnes range1”. Please note that this does not involve any liability for historical emissions, which the US and other developed countries have stoutly refused to accept. The possibility that we will not contain the global average temperature increase below 1.5- 2°C is becoming more probable. The threat of climate change leading to the global ecosystem crossing some critical tipping points is now real. We need major changes in production and consumption patterns in both developed and developing countries, which will not be done voluntarily by those with the power to make decisions in governments and corporations. In some ways, the challenge is greater in developed countries, where the present production and consumption patterns enhance climate risks. In developing countries, on the other hand, the main issue is reorienting future development, which is easier than redesigning the already existing patterns of production and consumption. The simple fact is that our dependence on an agreement between national governments to contain climate risks has not worked. The answer lies in promoting a mass movement for climate risk reduction in the developed world and China. One outcome of the past 30 years of climate cooperation is the growth in the number of activist groups, science-based monitoring groups, and legal impact, like the Netherlands court judgments on Shell and on the government enforcing substantial emission reduction obligations. But the most influential non-governmental organisations and research bodies with a global perspective are based in the developed West. They often reflect the biased views of Western powers about who is falling short on commitments and responsible for escalating climate risks. What we need is the broadening of these pressure generating developments with greater global participation by developing country activist groups and research-oriented organisations, particularly in India. Our goal should be not just to publicise what we are doing, but to estimate and project globally the large shortfall in the announced commitments of the US, China, and other developed countries relative to what their obligations should be under a fair distribution of mitigation responsibility. We must shift the focus of global opinion more towards pressure on the Annex 1 countries and China. This is not an excuse for missing out on what we can and should do for climate risk mitigation and adaptation. It is basically a call for incorporating more specific terms about what climate justice requires by way of “common but differentiated responsibility”.

• Down To Earth

Unplanned development across Kashmir can have serious consequences: MHA

Report calls for more corrective measures to prevent 2014 flood-like disasters The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has stated that unplanned development across Kashmir could have serious consequences. The report of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs, has called for taking more corrective measures to prevent the 2014 flood-like disasters. The report talks at length about the haphazard developmental activities, including economic and infrastructure projects, taking place without sufficient consideration for environmental safety and sustainability. “These activities include mining operations on the floodplains of the River Jhelum, construction of railway lines, and poorly-planned urbanisation,” the NIDM report reads. It states that most of these developmental activities are carried out with little regard for the environmental, geological, geomorphological, and ecological conditions of the region. “The ongoing construction boom, fuelled 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 states. According to the report, the rapid urbanisation in Kashmir, encroachment of water bodies in land adjoining river banks, and the disappearance of wetlands have disrupted the natural drainage patterns. While the existing flood control infrastructure in Kashmir was overwhelmed during the 2014 floods, leading to a hazardous situation in the region, the report calls for long-term measures. These measures include the construction of an alternate flood channel from Dogripora to Wullar, improvement of the drainage system in urban areas in the Jhelum basin, restoration of natural drainage, conservation and restoration of degraded wetlands in the Jhelum basin, sewage treatment, and city and town planning that considers flood and earthquake vulnerability, among other structural and non-structural measures. Executive Director, NIDM, Taj Hassan in the foreword of the report says that the 2014 flood caused 287 deaths, adversely affecting around 20 lakh people. “It paralysed Srinagar city for several days. Central government, several states, and union territories came forward to help J&K. The documentation of the 2014 Kashmir flood has drawn lessons for future course of action and for managing similar events in a well-coordinated manner,” he writes. The 2014 floods also severely affected the healthcare system with 102 institutions of the Directorate of Health Services in Kashmir being impacted. After the 2014 devastating floods, an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had said that unprecedented rainfall, unplanned urbanisation and lack of preparedness are the basic reasons behind the floods. “In the last 100 years, more than 50 per cent of the lakes, ponds and wetlands of Srinagar have been encroached upon for constructing buildings and roads. The banks of the Jhelum River have been taken over in a similar manner, vastly reducing the river’s drainage capacity. Naturally, these areas have suffered the most,” the CSE had said. Elaborating on the unpreparedness of J&K in dealing with such events, the CSE officials had said that J&K does not have a flood forecasting system and “its disaster management system is also rudimentary”. “The Kashmir floods 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,” the CSE had said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

'Next EV policy to focus on charging infra, making incentives attractive'

NEW DELHI: Transport commissioner Ashish Kundra on Monday said the next EV policy will focus on expanding the charging infrastructure, ramping up demand for two-wheelers and making subsidy schemes more attractive. The current Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, 2020, which expired August 8, has been extended till a new policy is notified. "We will try to sync the incentives for two-wheelers with the cab aggregator scheme in the next policy," Kundra said during a summit on clean transport, organised by International Council on Clean Transportation and India's G20 Secretariat. The cab aggregator scheme, which is at the stage of inviting suggestions from stakeholders, allows only electric two-wheelers as taxis. According to the EV policy, two-wheelers are eligible for a ₹5,000 subsidy per kWh of battery capacity. Three-wheelers are eligible for a ₹30,000 subsidy, regardless of overall cost or battery capacity. Subsidy for four-wheelers - ₹10,000 per kWh of battery capacity - was available only for the first 1,000 EVs registered under the scheme. Kundra said the government will go for an ambitious electrification target, under which 80% of the bus fleet would be electric by 2025. He said light- and medium-duty trucks or goods vehicles that are into intra-city operations could be targeted in the policy. "For instance, garbage tippers or even school buses could be looked at," he added. The two-wheeler and three-wheeler cargo segments would grow at a fast face, said Kundra. Cars could see a slower trajectory, but if the charging infrastructure expands fast, it could be a game changer, he added. NCRTC MD Vinay Kumar Singh said the USP of this mode of transport system is its speed as people can travel up to 90-100kmph. NCRTC, he added, would create a "network of networks", interlinking different modes of public transport. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy, CSE, said combining buses with electricity would not just decarbonise the fleet, but also mass commuting. ICCT India MD Amit Bhatt said, "Through our collaborative endeavours, we are setting the stage for transformative dialogues, nurturing sustainability and cultivating innovative strategies that will chart India's path toward decarbonisation."

• DTE-Hindi

बढ़ते तापमान की वजह से शहरों में पक्षियों की विविधता में आ रही गिरावट

शहरों में बढ़ती गर्मी केवल इंसानों के लिए ही खतरा नहीं है। इसका असर दूसरे जीवों पर भी पड़ रहा है। ऐसा ही कुछ पक्षियों के साथ भी देखने को मिला है। कॉर्नेल यूनिवर्सिटी और झेजियांग विश्वविद्यालय के शोधकर्ताओं द्वारा किए नए अध्ययन से पता चला है कि शहरों में बढ़ता तापमान, पक्षियों की विविधता में गिरावट की वजह बन रहा है। इस रिसर्च के नतीजे 14 अगस्त 2023 को जर्नल साइंस ऑफ द टोटल एनवायरनमेंट में प्रकाशित हुए हैं। रिसर्च से पता चला है असहनीय गर्मियों में केवल इंसान ही नहीं पक्षी भी शहरों को छोड़ देते हैं। जब शहर गर्म होते हैं तो पक्षी ठंडे उपनगरों की ओर चले जाते हैं। इसकी वजह से शहरों में पक्षियों के प्रजनन और गैर-प्रजनन सीजन के दौरान उनकी विविधता घट जाती है। हालांकि रिसर्च में यह भी सामने आया है कि यह प्रभाव उस सीजन में ज्यादा देखने को मिलता है जब पक्षी प्रजनन नहीं कर रहे होते हैं। चीन के 336 शहरों में पक्षियों पर किए गए इस अध्ययन में यह निष्कर्ष सामने आए हैं, कि शहरों में बढ़ती इमारतें और कंक्रीट गर्मी को बरकरार रखती हैं, जो सीधे तौर पर पक्षियों की विविधता में गिरावट से जुड़ा है। इस बारे में कॉर्नेल लैब और अध्ययन से जुड़े एक शोधकर्ता फ्रैंक ला सॉर्टे ने प्रेस विज्ञप्ति में जानकारी दी है कि यह अपनी तरह का पहला अध्ययन है जो दर्शाता है कि कैसे अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट विभिन्न मौसमों में सीधे तौर पर पक्षियों की विविधता से जुड़ा है। बता दें कि शहरों में जिन जगहों पर कंक्रीट या पक्की संरचनाएं होती हैं वहां का तापमान दूसरे हरे भरे क्षेत्रों की तुलना में अधिक होता है। ऐसा इसलिए है क्योंकि शहरों में इमारतें, सड़कें और अन्य बुनियादी ढांचे जो कंक्रीट से बने होते हैं वो अन्य प्राकृतिक चीजों जैसे पेड़-पौधों, जल स्रोतों आदि की तुलना में कहीं ज्यादा मात्रा में सूर्य की गर्मी को सोख सकते हैं। चूंकि यह संरचनाएं ठोस कंक्रीट की होती हैं इसलिए यह इस गर्मी को वापस बड़ी मात्रा में उत्सर्जित करती हैं, जिससे उस क्षेत्र में अन्य प्राकृतिक क्षेत्रों की तुलना में तापमान कहीं ज्यादा होता है। इसी को अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट कहा जाता है। वैज्ञानिकों के मुताबिक हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट शहरी क्षेत्रों में दिन के तापमान को आठ डिग्री सेल्सियस तक बढ़ा सकता है। इसकी वजह से थोड़ी दूरी पर ही तापमान में भारी अंतर देखने को मिल सकता है। चीन ही नहीं भारत सहित पूरी दुनिया में बढ़ती गर्मी से जूझ रहे हैं शहर इस बारे में ला सॉर्टे ने जानकारी दी है कि “अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट केवल चीनी शहरों तक ही सीमित नहीं है।” उनके मुताबिक इस अध्ययन में जो सामने आया है संभवतः ऐसा दुनिया के अन्य बड़े शहरों में भी हो रहा है जहां बहुत ज्यादा सड़कें और इमारतें है साथ ही हरियाली की कमी है। रिसर्च के अनुसार शहर कितना भी बड़ा हो या कहीं पर भी हो, गर्मी के चलते पक्षियों की विविधता कम ही रहती है। भारतीय शहरों में बढ़ती गर्मी को लेकर सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) द्वारा किए एक अध्ययन से पता चला है कि देश में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता और हैदराबाद जैसे बड़े शहर हीट आइलैंड प्रभाव के चलते अपने आसपास के बड़े क्षेत्रों की तुलना में बहुत ज्यादा गर्म हैं। यहां अन्य शहरी गतिविधियों के अलावा, यातायात, उद्योग और एयर कंडीशनिंग द्वारा उत्पन्न गर्मी और स्थानीय कचरा हीट आइलैंड प्रभाव को जन्म दे रहा है। अपनी इस रिसर्च में वैज्ञानिकों ने चीन में पक्षियों की विविधता को लेकर चल रहे अध्ययन से मिली जानकारियों का उपयोग किया है। साथ ही इसमें उन्होंने यह भी जानने का प्रयास किया है कि शहर अपने आसपास के उपनगरों की तुलना में कितने अधिक गर्म हैं। वैज्ञानिकों का सोचना था कि जब पक्षी प्रजनन नहीं कर रहे होते हैं तो शहरों में उनकी विविधता अधिक होती है, लेकिन ऐसा नहीं है। इस बारे में अध्ययन और झेजियांग विश्वविद्यालय से जुड़े वैज्ञानिक जियायु वू का कहना है कि “हमें यह जानकर हैरानी हुई कि गैर-प्रजनन मौसम के दौरान पक्षियों की विविधता में कमी और भी अधिक थी।” “हमारा सोचना था कि अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट की वजह से पक्षियों के लिए सर्दियों में, खासकर ठंडे शहरों में गर्म रहना आसान हो सकता है। ऐसे में हमें उम्मीद थी कि इस दौरान पक्षियों की विविधता अधिक होगी।” हालांकि इसके विपरीत चीन के दक्षिण, उत्तर और उत्तर-पश्चिमी हिस्सों में प्रजनन और गैर-प्रजनन दोनों ही सीजन में पक्षियों की विविधता पर अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट ने नकारात्मक प्रभाव डाला था। शोधकर्ताओं का मानना है कि पहाड़ों पर अल्पाइन वातावरण में रहने वाले पक्षियों में अनुकूलन से बढ़ते तापमान के प्रति सहनशीलता बढ़ सकती है, जिससे स्थानीय पक्षी क्षेत्र के शहरी क्षेत्रों में फल-फूल सकते हैं। रिसर्च के अनुसार जिस तरह से जलवायु में बदलाव आ रहे हैं, उसकी वजह से शहरों के और भी अधिक गर्म होने की आशंका है। इसकी वजह से इन शहरी इलाकों में रहने वाले पक्षियों के लिए चुनौतियां बढ़ जाएंगी। यह पक्षी पहले ही बढ़ते प्रदूषण और उजड़ते आवासों जैसे खतरों का सामना कर रहे हैं। हालांकि वैज्ञानिकों का मत है कि पेड़-पौधे शहरों को ठंडा रखने में कुछ हद तक मदद कर सकते हैं। लेकिन अध्ययन में यह भी सामने आया है कि चीन के अधिकांश हिस्सों में यह अर्बन हीट आइलैंड इफेक्ट के प्रभावों की भरपाई करने के लिए पर्याप्त नहीं है। यही वजह है कि चीन के ज्यादातर हिस्सों में पौधों के बावजूद शहरों से निकलने वाली गर्मी पक्षियों के लिए समस्याएं पैदा कर रही है। (downtoearth में ललित मौर्य की रिपोर्ट; साभार)

• Down To Earth

पूरे कश्मीर में अनियोजित विकास के गंभीर परिणाम हो सकते हैं: गृह मंत्रालय

गृह मंत्रालय (एमएचए) ने कहा है कि पूरे कश्मीर में अनियोजित विकास के गंभीर परिणाम हो सकते हैं। गृह मंत्रालय के राष्ट्रीय आपदा प्रबंधन संस्थान (एनआईडीएम) की रिपोर्ट में 2014 की बाढ़ जैसी आपदाओं को रोकने के लिए और अधिक सुधारात्मक उपाय करने का आह्वान किया गया है। रिपोर्ट पर्यावरण सुरक्षा और स्थिरता के लिए पर्याप्त विचार किए बिना होने वाली आर्थिक और बुनियादी ढांचा परियोजनाओं सहित बेतरतीब विकासात्मक गतिविधियों के बारे में विस्तार से बात करती है। एनआईडीएम रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है, "इन गतिविधियों में झेलम नदी के बाढ़ के मैदानों पर खनन कार्य, रेलवे लाइनों का निर्माण और खराब योजनाबद्ध शहरीकरण शामिल हैं।" इसमें कहा गया है कि इनमें से अधिकांश विकासात्मक गतिविधियाँ क्षेत्र की पर्यावरणीय, भूवैज्ञानिक, भू-आकृति विज्ञान और पारिस्थितिक स्थितियों को ध्यान में रखते हुए की जाती हैं। रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है, "नदी तलों से रेत, बजरी और बोल्डर के अंधाधुंध खनन के कारण चल रहा निर्माण कार्य मौजूदा बाढ़ नियंत्रण बुनियादी ढांचे को कमजोर करता है, जिससे नदियाँ अचानक बाढ़ के प्रति अधिक संवेदनशील हो जाती हैं।" रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, कश्मीर में तेजी से हो रहे शहरीकरण, नदी तटों से लगी भूमि में जल निकायों के अतिक्रमण और आर्द्रभूमि के लुप्त होने से प्राकृतिक जल निकासी पैटर्न बाधित हो गया है। जबकि 2014 की बाढ़ के दौरान कश्मीर में मौजूदा बाढ़ नियंत्रण बुनियादी ढांचा चरमरा गया था, जिससे क्षेत्र में खतरनाक स्थिति पैदा हो गई थी, रिपोर्ट में दीर्घकालिक उपायों की मांग की गई है। इन उपायों में डोगरीपोरा से वुलर तक एक वैकल्पिक बाढ़ चैनल का निर्माण, झेलम बेसिन में शहरी क्षेत्रों में जल निकासी प्रणाली में सुधार, प्राकृतिक जल निकासी की बहाली, झेलम बेसिन में खराब आर्द्रभूमि का संरक्षण और बहाली, सीवेज उपचार और शहर शामिल हैं। नगर नियोजन जो अन्य संरचनात्मक और गैर-संरचनात्मक उपायों के साथ-साथ बाढ़ और भूकंप की संवेदनशीलता पर भी विचार करता है। एनआईडीएम के कार्यकारी निदेशक, ताज हसन ने रिपोर्ट की प्रस्तावना में कहा है कि 2014 की बाढ़ में 287 लोगों की मौत हुई, जिससे लगभग 20 लाख लोगों पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ा। “इसने कई दिनों तक श्रीनगर शहर को ठप कर दिया। केंद्र सरकार, कई राज्य और केंद्र शासित प्रदेश जम्मू-कश्मीर की मदद के लिए आगे आए। 2014 की कश्मीर बाढ़ के दस्तावेज़ीकरण ने भविष्य की कार्रवाई और इसी तरह की घटनाओं को अच्छी तरह से समन्वित तरीके से प्रबंधित करने के लिए सबक तैयार किया है, ”वह लिखते हैं। 2014 की बाढ़ ने स्वास्थ्य सेवा प्रणाली को भी बुरी तरह प्रभावित किया और कश्मीर में स्वास्थ्य सेवा निदेशालय के 102 संस्थान प्रभावित हुए। 2014 की विनाशकारी बाढ़ के बाद सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) के एक विश्लेषण में कहा गया था कि अभूतपूर्व वर्षा, अनियोजित शहरीकरण और तैयारियों की कमी बाढ़ के मूल कारण हैं। “पिछले 100 वर्षों में, इमारतों और सड़कों के निर्माण के लिए श्रीनगर की 50 प्रतिशत से अधिक झीलों, तालाबों और आर्द्रभूमि पर अतिक्रमण कर लिया गया है। झेलम नदी के किनारों को भी इसी तरह से कब्ज़ा कर लिया गया है, जिससे नदी की जल निकासी क्षमता काफी कम हो गई है। स्वाभाविक रूप से, इन क्षेत्रों को सबसे अधिक नुकसान हुआ है, ”सीएसई ने कहा था। ऐसी घटनाओं से निपटने में जम्मू-कश्मीर की तैयारी के बारे में विस्तार से बताते हुए, सीएसई अधिकारियों ने कहा था कि जम्मू-कश्मीर में बाढ़ पूर्वानुमान प्रणाली नहीं है और "इसकी आपदा प्रबंधन प्रणाली भी अल्पविकसित है"। “कश्मीर की बाढ़ एक गंभीर अनुस्मारक है कि जलवायु परिवर्तन अब भारत को और अधिक प्रभावित कर रहा है। पिछले 10 वर्षों में, कई अत्यधिक वर्षा की घटनाओं ने देश को हिलाकर रख दिया है और यह उस श्रृंखला में नवीनतम आपदा है, ”सीएसई ने कहा था।

• DTE - Web

Climate forecast for the Greater Horn of Africa region, focusing on the period from October to December 2023

Climate forecast for the Greater Horn of Africa region, focusing on the period from October to December 2023. Details The Greater Horn of Africa region is predicted to experience heavy rains from October to December 2023. The forecast was released by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) during the 65th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF65). The forecast attributes the wet conditions to El Niño and the developing Indian Ocean Dipole. ICPAC provides climate services to 11 East African countries and is accredited by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Forecast Details Wetter-than-usual conditions due to El Niño are expected across most parts of the Greater Horn of Africa. Southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, and southern Somalia are likely to experience heavy rainfall. Drier conditions are forecasted for isolated areas of southwestern Uganda and southwestern South Sudan. Below-average rainfall is expected for various areas, including Eritrea, central and northern Ethiopia, Djibouti, Western Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Northern Uganda. The vital rainfall season occurs from October to December and contributes significantly to the annual total rainfall. Regional Variations Early rainfall is anticipated for eastern Kenya, southern Somalia, and eastern Tanzania. Rainfall may be average or delayed in northern Somalia, western Kenya, Uganda, southern South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, and north-western Tanzania. Temperature Impact El Niño is predicted to increase temperatures in many parts of the world, including Africa. Potential Blessings and Curses Increased precipitation may contribute to flooding after experiencing heavy rainfall from March to May 2023. While heavy rains can benefit farmers and the agriculture sector, they can also lead to challenges. Desert locusts are proliferating in parts of the region, posing a threat. Extreme weather-led devastation is a possibility, as seen during the 2015-16 El Niño event. Governments and disaster management agencies are advised to prepare for torrential rains-led landslides, flash floods, and other challenges to save lives and livelihoods. About Greater Horn of Africa The Greater Horn of Africa is a geographic region located in the eastern part of the African continent. It encompasses several countries and is characterized by diverse topography, cultures, and climates. This region holds significant geopolitical and environmental importance. Geographical Scope Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended. The Greater Horn of Africa region includes countries situated in the northeastern part of Africa. It spans across a vast area, extending from the Red Sea coastline to the Great Lakes region. Countries in the Region The Greater Horn of Africa includes the following countries: Burundi Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Uganda Topographical Diversity The region exhibits diverse topography, including highlands, lowlands, plateaus, and rift valleys. It is home to various prominent geographical features such as the Ethiopian Highlands and the East African Rift System. Cultural and Ethnic Diversity The Greater Horn of Africa boasts a rich tapestry of cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. Each country within the region has its own unique cultural heritage and traditions. Climate Variability The region experiences a wide range of climatic conditions due to its diverse geography. Climates range from arid and semi-arid in the lowland areas to temperate and tropical in the highlands and equatorial regions. Socioeconomic Challenges and Opportunities Challenges Poverty: Many countries in the region face high levels of poverty, with limited access to basic services and resources. Political Instability: Some countries have experienced political conflicts and instability, affecting regional peace and development. Food Insecurity: The region's agricultural sector is vulnerable to climate fluctuations, contributing to food insecurity. Health Challenges: Health issues such as disease outbreaks and limited healthcare infrastructure pose challenges to public well-being. Opportunities Natural Resources: The region is rich in natural resources, including minerals, agriculture, and renewable energy potential. Economic Growth: With proper management, these resources can contribute to economic growth and development. Tourism: The diverse landscapes and cultural heritage offer potential for tourism growth. Environmental Considerations Climate Patterns and Variability The region is impacted by various climate phenomena, such as El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, leading to variable rainfall patterns. These patterns influence agriculture, water availability, and livelihoods. Conservation Efforts The Greater Horn of Africa region includes important biodiversity hotspots, prompting conservation efforts to protect unique ecosystems and species. Conservation initiatives address challenges such as habitat loss, poaching, and deforestation. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/after-3-years-of-drought-greater-horn-of-africa-to-get-early-heavy-rains-courtesy-el-nino-91403

• DTE - Web

Africa meets to deliberate on integrating health into climate agenda head of COP28

Lilongwe, Malawi | KIRAN PANDY | Various stakeholders from Africa gathered in Malawi to deliberate on integrating health into the climate agenda ahead of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to be held in Dubai later this year. On August 22, 2023, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), ministers and various climate change and health stakeholders from the continent came together to develop a unified African position on health in the UNFCCC negotiations. The need for integrating health and climate change considerations into policies and systems took centre stage on the inaugural day. The three-day Regional Workshop on Climate Change and Health will also contribute to the Africa Climate Summit to be held in Kenya in early September 2023. The discussions centred mainly around the link between climate change and health, particularly in Africa. The speakers explored how these factors intersect and impact one another, underlining the need for coordinated action. The speakers called for engaging communities, ensuring adaptation and facilitating transparent communication as critical strategies for success toward a healthier and resilient future. Dr Githanji Gitahi, CEO of nonprofit AMREF Health Africa and one of the co-hosts of the event, underscored the need for a paradigm shift in addressing climate justice and called for integrating health into climate justice dialogue. While Ephraim Mwepya Shitima, chairperson of AGN, called for charting a course that enhances resilience and sustainable development, Malawi’s health minister, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, called for escalated funding to safeguard both the health and the future of communities in the African continent. Moreover, the speakers called for optimising domestic resources and effective allocation to address the vulnerabilities. “Africa has come together to advocate for a common position that transcends boundaries, resonates through diverse sectors and rallies for escalated funding. This funding is the lifeline needed to safeguard both the health and the future of our communities,” Chiponda said in her resounding call to action. Dr Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, echoed the views of the Malawian health minister and flagged the gaps in funding for health. In the global multilateral funding systems, just 0.5 per cent of funding is allocated to the health sector. In addition to this, less than half of the required needs for water, sanitation and hygiene financing are met, he stated. So, there is a need to advocate for more significant funding to bridge these gaps, especially given mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, especially within the African context, he reminded. With just 100 days left for COP28, the Africa regional meeting is vital since tens of millions of Africans have been bearing the wrath of climate change in the form of heat stress, extreme weather and increased transmission of infectious diseases, alerted the IPCC in its sixth assessment. Around 1,839 climate-related disasters in the continent from 1970-2021 claimed at least 733,585 human lives and caused $43bn in economic losses, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Though countries in the region are highly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change and associated health impacts, they are the least prepared to address these crises, according to the World Health Organization. The health sector, significantly affected by climate change, will undoubtedly have far-reaching impacts in amplifying existing health inequalities. This will significantly affect the progress of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the 2063 Africa Agenda as well. The regional meet is, therefore, timely and is expected to help shape policy decisions, drive advocacy efforts and guide collaborative actions. Source: downtoearth.org

• Renewable Energy

On a wind and a prayer: India’s offshore energy plans hit a viability wall

India plans to issue tenders to develop 37 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 The first tender for developing 4 GW of offshore wind capacity off Tamil Nadu’s coast has seen multiple delays and is yet to take place The country—already late to the offshore wind energy party—is looking to enter the space against the backdrop of offshore wind In July 2022, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) laid out plans for the country’s belated entry into the world of offshore wind energy. Its strategy paper outlined a plan to install 37 GW of offshore wind energy along India’s coastline by 2030. In November of that year, MNRE even put out a draft tender for the lease of seabed sites Charting a course for offshore energy Despite the Indian government introducing its National Offshore Wind Energy Policy back in 2015, progress has been painstakingly slow ever since. In 2018, NIWE came up with guidelines for wind power assessment studies and surveys for offshore. “Nothing much has happened after that. The government is still struggling with the technology and [lack of] confidence from investors as well as buyers of this costly power,” Binit Das, programme manager of the renewable energy unit at New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), tells The CapTable. That’s not to say that progress has ground to a halt. While the first offshore wind tender has, at least thus far, failed to materialise, the government has taken several policy steps to facilitate the introduction of offshore wind energy. For instance, in April, it implemented subsidies for the laying of undersea cables and the operation of the specialised vehicles required to set up and maintain offshore wind energy infrastructure. The following month, the Ministry of Power widened the scope of its 25-year inter-state transmission fee waiver for renewable energy projects to include offshore wind generation as well. This will apply to all offshore wind energy projects commissioned before 2033. Authorities are also working to iron out the kinks that have held up the tendering for offshore wind energy projects. Earlier this month, MNRE updated its strategy paper to clearly state that infrastructure to transmit offshore wind energy to the mainland would be the responsibility of the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and its subsidiary Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL). This was believed to be a major sticking point between the government and potential bidders for offshore wind projects. The revised strategy also adjusts the government’s offshore wind auction targets. The total capacity the government hopes to auction off by 2030 stands at 37 GW—just over half the 72 GW potential NIWE’s studies have indicated is possible off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu—with 4.5 GW expected to be auctioned in the year ending March 2024. While the following fiscal is expected to see projects with a total capacity of 3.5 GW up for tender, the years ending March 2026 and March 2027 will see the auctioned capacity doubling. India’s targets are undoubtedly ambitious. As of July, India’s renewable energy sources had an installed capacity of close to 180 GW, including large hydro. That means the country needs to add a capacity of about 45 GW every year to reach the aforementioned goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy by 2030, including 140 GW from wind energy.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

‘If we can land on the moon, can’t we keep air pollution in check?’ Experts wonder

Experts who gathered at the recently concluded India Clean Air Summit-2023 emphasized the need for collective action to arrest the rising levels of air pollution in the city A report released earlier this year by Green Peace India found that in Bengaluru air pollution levels were dangerously high. The air quality was five times worse than WHO standards. Yet another study by the Centre of Science and Environment showed that the city had one of the fastest worsening PM 2.5 levels. Given the alarming situation, experts who gathered at the recently concluded India Clean Air Summit-2023 organised by the Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS) at the Center for Study of Science Technology and Policy (CSTEP), emphasized the need for collective action to arrest the rising levels of air pollution and reverse the downward trend. “This is the only living planet we know of so far. Since we have only one earth, we have to protect it,” said Prof P.G. Diwakar, ISRO Chair Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), at the summit. “Many cities in India have a very serious problem of air pollution. The world standards are different, and we are quite away from it.” He noted how lockdown showed us the impact we could make. For example, the satellite imageries of Delhi during the period showed even the inroads clearly, which is not the case usually. “It becomes important for us to change the mechanisms by which we live. It Is everybody’s responsibility that we live by standards that don’t pollute the environment. If we could land on the moon, why can not we keep air pollution in check?” he wondered. Importance of technology A pilot project of Geo Artificial Intelligence and Random Forest technologies has been launched in Bengaluru by NIAS to monitor and predict the city’s air quality. Fifty sensors would be procured and put up in educational institutions for monitoring, assessment and prediction of air quality. The importance of technology and accurate data in developing models to improve air quality was one of the points experts brought up repeatedly during the summit. “It is necessary for us to see that we have well distributed and strategically placed observation points so that we get ground observations on the kind of pollution happening on the ground...We also need to bring in weather data. We are working on AI-based models,” Prof Diwakar said. Dr. B. Sengupta, Former Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, echoed similar sentiments. “Technology will lead us towards improving air quality. It is important to follow technology and science-based approach,” he said. Dr. Sengupta, also presented a comprehensive list of suggestions for the state authorities to consider. He emphasized on the need of calibrating the instruments at air quality monitoring stations. While there are about 500 online continuous monitoring stations and around 1,500 manual stations, instruments are often not calibrated. This affects the quality of data generated in turn impacting policy formulation. According to him, it was such flawed data that put Begusarai in Bihar on the list of one of the most polluted cities last year despite the absence of any major polluting industries and relatively low number of vehicles in the city. Dr. Sengupta’s suggestions also included preparing action plans to address the 43 critically polluted areas identified by CPCB, out of which eight are in Karnataka, and control emissions from the 17 categories of highly polluting industries. Use of clean fuels, vehicular emission control, use of electrical vehicles, and decarbonisation of industries were some of the other highlights of his list. Initiatives for improvement State officials too agreed with the experts on the urgency of the situation and highlighted some of the efforts being put in. Eshwar Khandre, Minister for Forest, Ecology, and Environment, noted that our collective survival was at stake due to climate change, and therefore, we have a collective duty to protect what is available for future generations. He added that rapid urbanisation was a boon and a bane simultaneously. “When I became minister, I made a commitment that I will contain environmental degradation, try to reverse it, control pollution, and promote sustainable development in the state. For that I need cooperation and support from all of you,” he said. He pointed at the high pollution levels Delhi experiences in winter and added that measures needed to be taken to stop Bengaluru going down the same path. “Every year during winter New Delhi turns into a gas chamber. Bengaluru can also go down that path before which we should arrest the downward spiral and reverse the trend,” he said, noting that within three months of coming to power the government had ensured planting of 2.5 crore saplings across the state. In June, the minister had announced plans to plan five crore saplings in the state annually with the target of achieving 25 crore saplings within five years. Ecofriendly initiatives Dr. Shanth A. Thimmaiah, chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), noted how Karnataka was leading eco-friendly initiatives harvesting of solar energy. “We should all think about how we can reduce the burning of fossil fuel and implement eco-friendly initiatives like renewable energy, solar harvesting and various other alternate power generation means. Karnataka is already generating about 5,300 megawatts of energy through solar,” he said, highlighting various initiatives by KSPCB. Karnataka, for example, is the second state in India to implement the GreenCo rating whereby which industries would be given rating based on their environmental performance indices. The best performers would be identified by CII and the board would recognise and reward them, Dr. Thimmaiah said. KSPCB has also introduced an Institute-Industry-Authority (IIA) model which, according to Dr. Thimmaiah, would look at bridging the gap between research institutions and industries. “We created a resource development (R&D) division in the board because institutes have the capacity to do R&D on a pilot scale. The pollution control board is trying to interlink institutes and industries. The problems faced by industries will be communicated to institutes by the pollution control board. That way the institutes can do research, innovation, and come up with solution which then industries can implement at a larger scale.” Air pollution in rural areas While the narrative on air pollution mostly focuses on cities, there is also the issue of air pollution in rural areas, noted Dr. R. Subramanian, sectoral head - air quality, CSTEP. “People often burn agricultural waste, and there is also residential burning which exposes women and young children to air pollution. So, there’s significant inequity in the pollution loads. How do we address that? That should be part of our Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - that is access to clean energy in homes and reducing air pollution in those homes,” he said. According to him while schemes like Ujjwala Yojana aiming to make cooking fuel available in BPL households in rural areas, it was equally important to ensure that people stick to the behaviour. “There are also other individual actions we can take like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, minimising the AC use, using public transportation or carpooling and so on. Every little bit helps. At the same time, we do want strong government actions to support those individual actions to make it sustainable for people to make the switch and keep sticking to that switch.

• Sustainable Habitat

Solution to minimize heatwaves in Urban India

The study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) explores the impact of different urban forms on heat resilience. Key findings and recommendations include: Morphology Influence: Areas with open highrise, open midrise, and compact midrise urban morphologies show lower land surface temperatures (LST), indicating better heat resilience. Low-rise areas with sparse vegetation tend to have higher LST. Blue/Green Infrastructure: Greenery, like trees, shrubs, and grass, enhances microclimates. Effective vegetation cover (EVC) reduces LST; trees with thick foliage are more effective. Floor Space Index (FSI): Higher FSI correlates with lower LST. Increased FSI results in decreased temperatures. Street Orientation: North-south-oriented streets have higher LST due to sun exposure, offering guidelines for urban planning. Cooling Solutions: Different urban forms can have distinct zoning regulations for heat resilience, such as shaded walkways, cool roofs, and high EVC. Adapting Urban Plans: Cities should amend building by-laws and master plans based on factors influencing heat gain. Impact on Energy Consumption: A 1°C temperature decrease can lead to a 2% reduction in the city’s power consumption. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/road-to-cool-cities-codes-based-on-unique-urban-form-can-be-helpful-91367#:~:text=Urban%20form%2Dbased%20codes%20can,regulations%20with%20contextual%20cooling%20solutions.

• DTE-Hindi

अल नीनो के असर से बारिश कम, अब 15 सितम्बर से आसार