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Migration durch den Klimawandel wird schlimmer – DW – 19.04.2023

Der Klimawandel zwingt die Menschen zum Weiterziehen „Die Felder waren nicht für den Anbau geeignet. Der steigende Meeresspiegel und der zunehmende Salzgehalt beraubten die Menschen in den Kerngebieten der Sundarbans ihrer Haupterwerbsquellen – Landwirtschaft und Fischerei“, sagte Rai der DW. Eine beträchtliche Migration aus den Sundarbans hält immer noch auf einer dauerhaften, saisonalen und vorübergehenden Basis an. Laut Rural Household Survey wanderten über 25 % der Hauptverdiener einzelner Familien vorübergehend auf der Suche nach Arbeit aus. Die Sundarbans sind eine Gruppe tiefliegender Inseln im Golf von Bengalen, die sich über Indien und Bangladesch erstrecken und für ihre einzigartigen Mangrovenwälder berühmt sind. Die indischen Sundarbans haben insgesamt 104 Inseln, von denen 54 von Menschen bewohnt sind. Umweltschützer weisen darauf hin, dass die Küstenerosion und der steigende Meeresspiegel das Land in den Sundarbans allmählich zerfressen. Viele Menschen aus den Dörfern sind gezwungen, in Städte wie Kalkutta abzuwandern, weil ihr fruchtbares Land durch immer mehr Stürme und Überschwemmungen versalzen wird. Zunehmender Salzgehalt des Süßwassers im indischen Kochi Um dieses Video anzusehen, aktivieren Sie bitte JavaScript und erwägen Sie ein Upgrade auf einen Webbrowser, der HTML5-Videos unterstützt Kein politischer Plan, um zu helfen „Es gibt keine strukturierte Politik oder einen Aktionsplan der Regierung, um sozialen Schutz bei der Bekämpfung des Klimawandels und der damit verbundenen Migration zu bieten“, sagte Jayanta Basu, eine in Kalkutta ansässige Umwelt- und Klimaexpertin, gegenüber der DW. Der östliche Bundesstaat Odisha ist auch eine wichtige Quelle für Arbeitsmigranten, und der Klimawandel spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der zunehmenden Anfälligkeit und treibt die Menschen auf die Suche nach Arbeit. Im Laufe der Jahre war der Chilika-See, die größte Brackwasserlagune des Bundesstaates und ein wichtiges Vogelschutzgebiet, sich ändernden Umweltbedingungen ausgesetzt, was sich auf die Lebensgrundlagen der Menschen vor Ort auswirkte. „Die Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten sind begrenzt, nachdem extreme Wetterereignisse die Stadt Mangalajodi am Nordufer des Sees heimgesucht haben. Viele haben beschlossen, dauerhaft wegzuziehen“, sagt Sugyan Behera, der in der Tourismusbranche arbeitet, gegenüber der DW. Die Stadt hat eine Bevölkerung von 10.000 Menschen, die hauptsächlich in der Umgebung der Feuchtgebiete arbeiten. Die Klimamigration wird oft durch extreme Ereignisse – wie Stürme, Überschwemmungen und Dürren – oder langsam einsetzende Ereignisse – wie den Anstieg des Meeresspiegels oder das Eindringen von Salzwasser in landwirtschaftliche Flächen – beeinflusst. Ein im Dezember 2020 von ActionAid und Climate Action Network South Asia veröffentlichter Bericht zeigten, dass, selbst wenn die Weltgemeinschaft ihre Zusagen und Ziele zur Minderung von Treibhausgasen (THG) einhält, bis 2030 immer noch etwa 37,5 Millionen Menschen und bis 2050 geschätzte 62,9 Millionen Menschen in fünf südasiatischen Ländern – Bangladesch, Indien, Nepal, Pakistan und Sri Lanka. Höchste Anzahl von Verschiebungen Allein in Indien werden bis 2050 45 Millionen Menschen aufgrund von Klimakatastrophen zur Flucht aus ihrer Heimat gezwungen sein – dreimal so viele Menschen wie heute aufgrund von Extremwetterereignissen. Laut dem Bericht „State of India’s Environment-2022“ ist Indien das am vierthäufigsten betroffene Land der Welt, wenn es um die durch den Klimawandel verursachte Migration geht, mit mehr als drei Millionen Menschen, die zwischen 2020 und 2021 gezwungen sind, ihre Heimat zu verlassen. Die meisten Migrationen fanden in China statt, wo mehr als 5 Millionen Menschen aufgrund von wetterbedingten Katastrophen aus ihren Häusern vertrieben wurden. Sunita Narain, Direktorin des Zentrums für Wissenschaft und Umwelt (CSE), weist darauf hin, dass es angesichts der Auswirkungen der Klimakrise unerlässlich ist, in den Aufbau lokaler Klimaresilienz und den Schutz der Volkswirtschaften zu investieren. In einer umfassenden Studie in 15 Bundesstaaten stellte CSE fest, dass überall dort, wo eine solche Investition getätigt wurde, sie den Dörfern Vorteile brachte und gleichzeitig die Migration eindämmte. Tatsächlich begann in Dörfern, in denen die Wassergewinnung organisiert und ökologische Ressourcen zum Wohle der Einheimischen genutzt wurden, die Rückwanderung.

Heatwave in India & Asia: क्या जल्दी आ गई गर्मी ... भा रत समेत एशि या के कई देश क्यों जूझ रहे हैं गर्म पा रे से?

भा रत समेत एशि या के कई देशों के लो ग बेहा ल हैं. वजह गर्मी है जो इस बा र पहले आ गई. इस बा र एशि या ई महा द्वी प में इतनी गर्मी पड़ क्यों रही है? भा रत में पि छले हफ्ते 13 लो गों की ही ट स्ट्रो क से मौ त हो गई. बां ग्ला देश में ता पमा न ने 60 सा ल का रि कॉ र्ड तो ड़ दि या . था ईलैंड में भी गर्मी से दो लो ग मा रे गए हैं. दुनि या भर के वैज्ञा नि कों का मा नना है कि ग्लो बल वॉ र्मिं ग ही इस बुरे मौ सम की वजह है. संयुक्त रा ष्ट्र के IPCC की नई रि पो र्ट के मुता बि क जि तना ग्लो बल वॉ र्मिं ग बढ़ेगा . उतनी बा र ही मौ सम की मा र दो गुनी तेजी से बढ़ेगी . चा हे गर्मी हो या बा रि श. था ईलैंड के मौ सम वि भा ग ने कहा कि बुधवा र को वहां रि कॉ र्ड तो ड़ गर्मी थी . पा रा 44.6 डि ग्री सेल्सि यस पर था . था ईलैंड के मौ सम वि भा ग के डि प्टी डा यरेक्टर जनरल था ना सि ट इमा ना नचा ई ने बता या कि अगले हफ्ते तक के लि ए अधि क ता पमा न की चेता वनी जा री की गई है. क्ला इमेट पॉ लि सी इंस्टी ट्यूट क्ला इमेट एना लि सि स के सा इंटि स्ट फहद सईद कहते हैं कि था ईलैंड, ची न और दक्षि ण एसि या में इस बा र रि कॉ र्ड तो ड़ गर्मी पड़ने वा ली है. ये आपदा है आपदा . भा रत में ही टवेव से 31 सा ल में 24 हजा र लो गों की मौ त यूनि वर्सि टी ऑफ कैंब्रि ज के स्कॉ लर रमि त देबना थ की स्टडी के मुता बि क भा रत में गर्मी की वजह से 31 सा लों में 24 हजा र लो गों की मौ त हो चुकी है. गर्मी से वा यु प्रदूषण भी बढ़ा है. ग्लेशि यर भी पि घले हैं. भा रत इस समय कई तरह की प्रा कृति क आपदा ओं का सा मना कर रहा है.है देश के अलग-अलग हि स्सों में अलग-अलग तरह की प्रा कृति क घटना एं और आपदा एं देखने को मि लती हैं. ऐसा हर सा ल जनवरी से अक्टूबर के मही ने तक देखने को मि लता ह भा रत का 90% हि स्सा अत्यधि क गर्मी वा ले इला के में रमि त के मुता बि क भा रत का 90 फी सदी इला का अत्यधि क गर्मी वा ले खतरना क जो न (Extreme Heat Danger Zone) में आता है. भा रत अधि क गर्मी को बर्दा श्त करने के लि ए तैया र नहीं है. ही टवेव को आपदा में शा मि ल करना हो गा . ता कि लो गों के लि ए बेहतर प्ला न बना ए जा सकें. भा रत के सो शल डेवलपमेंट गो ल्स में गरी बी , भूख, असमा नता और बी मा री तो है लेकि न ही टवेव को लेकर कुछ खा स नहीं कहा गया है.है अधि क गर्मी की वजह से भा रत में आउटडो र वर्किं ग कैपेसि टी में 15 फी सदी की गि रा वट आएगी . 48 करो ड़ लो गों का जी वन बुरी तरह से प्रभा वि त हो गा . 2050 तक जी डी पी को 5.4 फी सदी का नुकसा न हो गा . भा रत में पि छले हफ्ते 13 लो गों की मौ त म्यां मा र समुद्री सतह से ज्या दा ऊपर नहीं है. का फी इला के नि चले हैं. यहां पर जलवा यु परि वर्तन का का फी ज्या दा असर दि ख रहा है.है यहां भया वह बा ढ़ आ रही है. या फि र अचा नक से बा रि श शुरू हो जा ती है. उधर भा रत की हा लत भी बहुत अच्छी नहीं है. महा रा ष्ट्र में पि छले हफ्ते 13 लो गों की मौ त ही टस्ट्रो क की वजह से हुई है.है उत्तर और पूर्वी रा ज्यों में पा रा 3-4 डि ग्री ऊपर भा रत में इस समय उत्तरी और पूर्वी इला के सा मा न्य से 3 से 4 डि ग्री सेल्सि यस ज्या दा ता पमा न बर्दा श्त कर रहे हैं. उत्तर-पूर्व में गुवा हा टी के लो गों को गर्मी महसूस हो रही है. वो इला का आमतौ र पर ठंडा रहता है. हा लत ऐसी है कि पूरे एशि या में गर्मी का नक्शा ला ल हुआ पड़ा है. यहां तक कि रूस का बड़ा इला का भी ज्या दा गर्मी बर्दा श्त कर रहा है. जल्दी गर्मी का आना सभी के लि ए खतरना क हम इंसा न कि सी भी मौ सम के लि ए उसके तयशुदा समय पर आने के आदी हैं. अगर मौ सम का समय बदल जा ए. तो लो ग बी मा र हो जा ते हैं.हैंफसलें खरा ब हो जा ती हैं.हैंव्यवहा र में बदला व आता है. जल्दी गर्मी आने से उन इला कों में दि क्कत हो गी , जहां पर इसे बर्दा श्त करने की व्यवस्था एं नहीं हैं. हर कि सी के पा स एसी या कूलर नहीं हो ता . अगर इला का हरा -भरा हो तो भी आप गर्मी से बहुत हद तक रा हत पा सकते हैं.हैंलेकि न शहरी इला के में यह संभव नहीं है. यूनि वर्सि टी ऑफ कैलि फो र्नि या के पर्या वरणवि द मि शेल मेंडेज कहती हैं कि कुछ जगहों पर ही टवेव प्रा कृति क घटना है.है लेकि न कई जगहों पर रा जनी ति क वि कल्प. अगर लो ग या सरका र चा हे तो दशकों में गर्मी को बर्दा श्त करने का इंफ्रा स्ट्रक्चर, नी ति यां या सुवि धा एं खड़ी कर सकते थे. पर आमतौ र पर ऐसा हो ता नहीं ह अल-नी नो ने कर दि या खेल, गर्मी की दौ ड़ेगी रेल अगर गर्मि यां देर से आती हैं, तब भी ज्या दा ता पमा न रहता है. ऐसे में ही टवेव की वजह से मरने वा लों की संख्या बहुत ज्या दा हो जा ती है. दुनि या भर के एक्सपर्ट ये मा नते हैं कि इस बा र चि लचि ला ती गर्मी पड़ेगी . सेंटर फॉ र सा इंस एंडएं एनवा यरमेंट (CSE) के मुता बि क ये सा ल अलनी नो (El-Nino) या एन्सो न्यूट्रल ईयर (ENSO-neutral year) हो सकता है.है मतलब ये कि इसकी वजह से गर्मी ज्या दा रहेगी . मॉ नसून में बा रि श भी सा मा न्य से कम हो गी . ( नेशनल सेंटर फॉ र एटमॉ स्फि यरि क सा इंस के रि सर्च सा इंटि स्ट अक्षय देवरा स ने CSE को बता या था कि अभी के हि सा ब से 2023 की गर्मि यां अल-नी नो या नी एन्सो -न्यूट्रल की तरफ इशा रा कर रहा है. अल-नी नो , ला -नी ना और न्यूट्रल फेज अल-नी नो सा उदर्न ऑसी लेशन के हि स्से हैं. जो वा युमंडली य सर्कुलेशन को बदलते हैं. अमेरि कन जि यो सा इंस इंस्टि ट्यूट के अनुसा र अल नी नो और ला नी ना शब्द का संदर्भ प्रशां त महा सा गर की समुद्री सतह के ता पमा न में समय-समय पर हो ने वा ले बदला वों से है,है जि सका दुनि या भर में मौ सम पर प्रभा व पड़ता है. अल नी नो की वजह से ता पमा न गर्म हो ता है और ला नी ना के का रण ठंडा .

वायु प्रदूषण : दिल्ली सरकार 15 मई के सम्मेलन में प्रदूषण स्रोत संबंधी अध्ययन रिपोर्ट साझा करेगी

अप्रैल (भाषा) दिल्ली सरकार अगले महीने एक अहम गोलमेज सम्मेलन का आयोजन करेगी जिसमें सभी साझेदारों के साथ वास्तविक समय में प्रदूषणों के स्रोतों की जानकारी साझा करेगी और दिल्ली-एनसीआर में प्रदूषण को कम करने के लिए रणनीति विकसित की जाएगी। पर्यावरण मंत्री गोपाल रॉय ने बुधवार को यह जानकारी दी। राय ने ‘पीटीआई-भाषा’को बताया कि यह सम्मेलन 15 मई को दिल्ली सचिवालय में आयोजित किया जाएगा। राय ने बताया कि इस सम्मेलन में वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन आयोग, केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड, सफर, संयुक्त राष्ट्र पर्यावरण कार्यक्रम, भारत मौसम विज्ञान विभाग, विश्व बैंक, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट, टेरी और एनसीआर (राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र) के राज्यों के प्रतिनिधियों को आमंत्रित किया जाएगा।

To combat marine litter, CSE launches Coalition of Coastal Cities

Marine litter is a serious trans-border issue. Global research estimates say that about 80% of marine litter comes from land-based mismanagement of solid waste that reaches the ocean bed through various land-to-sea pathways. Remaining 20 percent is the contribution of coastal settlements. One of the most common sources of marine litter is tourist and beach litter. Majority of these wastes is made up of multi-layered and low-value plastics, polystyrene, plastic products like cutlery and carry bags, cigarette butts, etc. These wastes are either not collected or are mismanaged and eventually leak into the oceans through the stormwater drainage system, canals and small and big rivers. India with its 7,517 km of coastline across nine states and 66 coastal districts is home to about 250 million people. The coastline has 486 census towns and 36 class I towns. It also hosts 12 major and 185 minor ports. A large amount of footwear waste like soles, synthetic bases and cloth bases are also being found in marine litter in India. Other contributors to marine litter include fishing communities (mostly fishing gear), flood waters, discharge of untreated municipal sewage, automobile and industrial waste generated at the coasts and waste from shipbreaking yards. To address the problem of trans-boundary marine litter and to focus on combating the scourge of marine litter across the country, a National Coalition of Coastal Cities has been launched by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The coalition was launched during the two-day National Consultation Workshop, organised and spearheaded by CSE at Nimli in Rajasthan that concluded on Wednesday. “The problem of marine litter is a serious trans-boundary issue. Eight million tonnes of plastic waste from 192 countries that have a coastline goes into our oceans every year. India with a 7,000-plus km coastline has a role to play in controlling this menace,” Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, was quoted as saying in a statement. She said about 90 percent of all the waste that ends up in the marine ecosystem is plastics. Out of 460 million tonne (MT) of global plastic production, close to 353 MT comes back as plastic, i.e., 8 MT (2.26 percent) of which is leaked into the marine ecosystem. Researchers at CSE said that in India, estimated extent of marine litter is about 0.98 metric tonne of trash per km stretch of the coastline with a concentration of 0.012 kg per square metre. Atin Biswas, programme director, solid waste management unit, CSE, said estimates indicate that about 15,434 tonne of plastic waste is leaked into South Asian seas every day accounting for a colossal 5.6 MT of plastic waste a year. Siddharth G Singh, programme manager, solid waste management unit at CSE, too said that tributaries of major Indian rivers are the pathways that carry around 15-20 % of plastic waste into the marine environment. India is the world’s second largest fish producing nation with about 2,50,000 fishing boats, 40,00,000 fisherfolk and 3,600 fishing villages. India’s coastline also has a rich biodiversity protected by about 4,120 km of mangroves. One of the key challenges worldwide is from abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). A large part of ALDFG is lost in deep seas making it difficult to recover. India has 174,000 units of fishing gear in operation, of which 154,008 units are gillnets/driftnets, 7,285 units are traps and the rest are fishing lines. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), India loses 15,276 tonne of gillnets annually. Biswas said that in 2021, 58,000 kg of ghost net was recovered from the beaches and the ocean bed. The scale of the threat can be gauged from the fact that out of 1,000 eggs laid by a female turtle only 10 are able to convert into adult turtles because of marine litter and ghost nets. Key problems identified in the workshop included absence of adequate research-driven data, lack of synergy in policy and practice among institutions connected to the causes of marine litter, and an unmet need for investment in a communication strategy to engage with citizens, fishing communities and industrial establishments. It was felt that policies like the single-use plastic ban and EPR (extended producer responsibility) need to be enforced stringently. The coalition will be a platform for further research, capacity building and advocacy on the subject.

चीन को पछाड़ कर दुनिया का सर्वाधिक आबादी वाला देश बना भारत : यूएन रिपोर्ट

‘डाउन टू अर्थ’ से साभार भारत 29 लाख की आबादी के अंतर से चीन को पछाड़ कर दुनिया में सर्वाधिक आबादी वाला देश बन चुका है। यूनाइटेड नेशंस पॉपुलेशन फंड (यूएनएफपीए) की द स्टेट ऑफ वर्ल्ड पॉपुलेशन रिपोर्ट, 2023 के अनुसार भारत की जनसंख्या 1,42.86 करोड़ (1.428 अरब ) तक पहुंच गई है, जबकि चीन की आबादी 142.57 करोड़ (1.425 अरब) है। यूएनएफपीए की बीते वर्ष की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक 2022 में भारत की आबादी 140.6 करोड़ थी। 2023 में इसमें 1.56 फीसदी की बढोत्तरी (142.86 करोड़) हो गई है। वहीं, बीते वर्ष की तरह ही भारत की कामकाजी उम्र मानी जाने वाली करीब दो-तिहाई आबादी 68 फीसदी है जो कि 15 से 64 वर्ष आयु के बीच है। 19 अप्रैल, 2023 को जारी यूएन की ताजा रिपोर्ट का शीर्षक “8 अरब जिंदगियां, अनंत संभावनाएं : अधिकारों और पसंद का मामला” रखा गया है। यूएनएफपीए इंडिया की प्रतिनिधि एंड्रिया वोजनार के मुताबिक दुनिया की कुल 8 अरब आबादी में भारत की 1.4 अरब आबादी का आशय है कि यहां 1.4 अरब संभावनाएं हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि भारत का यह आंकड़ा भारत की शिक्षा, सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य और स्वच्छता, आर्थिक प्रगति और तकनीकी दक्षता की कहानी है। सर्वाधिक युवा शक्ति वाला (25.4 करोड़ – 15 से 24 आयु वर्ग) यह देश में नई सोच, नए समाधान, इनोवेशन का बड़ा स्रोत बन सकता है। रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक अगर महिलाएं और लड़कियां, विशेष रूप से समान शैक्षिक और कौशल-निर्माण के अवसरों, प्रौद्योगिकी और डिजिटल नवाचारों तक पहुंच और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण रूप से अपने प्रजनन अधिकारों और विकल्पों का पूरी तरह से उपयोग करने के लिए सूचना और शक्ति से लैस हैं, तो प्रक्षेपवक्र आगे बढ़ सकता है। रिपोर्ट में यह भी कहा गया है कि 68 रिपोर्टिंग देशों में 44 प्रतिशत भागीदार महिलाओं और लड़कियों को यौन संबंध बनाने, गर्भनिरोधक का उपयोग करने और स्वास्थ्य देखभाल की मांग करने पर अपने शरीर के बारे में सूचित निर्णय लेने का अधिकार नहीं है। यह बताता है कि दुनिया भर में अनुमानित 257 मिलियन महिलाओं को सुरक्षित, विश्वसनीय गर्भनिरोधक की आवश्यकता है। यूएनएफपीए की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक भारत में 25 फीसदी आबादी 0-14 वर्ष आयु, 18 फीसदी आबादी 10-19 वर्ष आयु, 26 फीसदी आबादी 10-24 आयु समूह की है। जबकि 68 फीसदी आबादी 15-64 आयु समूह में है। वहीं 65 से अधिक आयु वाले सिर्फ 7 फीसदी लोग देश में हैं। 1978 से लगातार प्रकाशित होने वाली यूएन की इस ताजा रिपोर्ट में बताया गया है कि भारत की कुल प्रजनन दर (यानी गर्भ धारण कर सकने वाली प्रत्येक महिला पर होने वाला जन्म ) 2.0 है। जबकि भारतीय मर्द की औसत आयु प्रत्याशा 71 और महिला की 74 है। यूएनफपीए के प्रतिनिधि की ओर से कहा गया है कि परिवार नियोजन को प्रजनन लक्ष्यों के एक टूल के तौर पर नहीं इस्तेमाल किया जाना चाहिए। महिलाओं को प्रजनन के विकल्प मिलने चाहिए। यह स्वतंत्रता महिलाओं को मिलनी चाहिए कि वह कितने बच्चों को जन्म देना चाहती है। इतिहास बताता है कि प्रजनन नीतियां इस हिसाब से तैयार की जाती हैं कि वह न्यूनतम रहने वाली जन्मदर को बढाएं। यह नीतियां न सिर्फ निष्प्रभावी हैं बल्कि इनसे महिलाओं के अधिकार भी प्रभावित होते हैं। रिपोर्ट में इस्तेमाल किए गए सर्वे में पाया गया कि जनसंख्या से संबंधित सबसे महत्वपूर्ण मामलों की पहचान करने पर, 63 प्रतिशत भारतीयों ने जनसंख्या परिवर्तन के बारे में सोचते समय विभिन्न आर्थिक मुद्दों को शीर्ष चिंताओं के रूप में पहचाना। इसके बाद पर्यावरण संबंधी चिंताएं 46 प्रतिशत और यौन और प्रजनन स्वास्थ्य और अधिकारों और मानवाधिकारों की चिंताएं 30 प्रतिशत थीं। वहीं, भारत में उत्तरदाताओं की राय थी कि उनके देश में जनसंख्या बहुत अधिक है और प्रजनन दर बहुत अधिक है। राष्ट्रीय प्रजनन दर पर भारत में पुरुषों और महिलाओं के विचारों में कोई महत्वपूर्ण अंतर नहीं था

Heat Action Plans: What They Are, Why We Need Them

Recent assessment of Heat Action Plans at city, district and state levels revealed several gaps, including that they are underfunded and not built for local contexts. Kochi: At least 11 people died and more than 600 others suffered from heat-related health issues after they had to stand out in the open on Sunday, April 16, for more than five hours to attend a government award function in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai. As per some reports, local officials said that the event – which has come under fire for several reasons, including the lack of adequate arrangements to deal with the heat – went against existing Heat Action Plans. What are Heat Action Plans, and why do we need them? Hot, hotter, hottest India’s summers are hot, but they’re also getting hotter. February this year, for instance, was the hottest on record in India since 1901, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Heat waves are now more frequent across many parts of India. As per the IMD, a heatwave is said to occur when the average maximum temperature is 4.5-6.4º C above the long-term average (or above 40º C in the plains, 30º C in hilly areas, or 37º C in coastal areas). India recorded 280 days of heat waves across 16 states in 2022 – the most ever in a decade – as per a report by the Centre for Science and Environment. Maharashtra itself experienced four heat waves in two summer months last year. The IMD warned in February this year that in the months to come – from March to May – there was an “enhanced probability” for the occurrence of heat waves in many parts of central and adjoining northwest India. Currently, as of April 17, the IMD issued a heat wave alert for up to five days in parts of eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Jharkhand and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Schools and colleges have remained closed as the heat wave progressed in West Bengal and Tripura. Science shows that climate change plays a major role in the increased occurrence and intensity of these heat waves. For instance, climate scientists found that climate change made the heat waves that swept across large parts of India and Pakistan in May last year a whopping 30 times more likely. The impacts of heat waves on human health include dehydration, dizziness, exhaustion, stroke and even death. Heat Action Plans Given how much heat waves impact people, especially the poor and other vulnerable sections, governments and administrations have begun developing Heat Action Plans, which are documents that list preparatory, adaptive and responsive measures for government departments to tackle the heat and its impacts. Odisha’s 2022 state Heat Action Plan developed by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, for instance, provides Standard Operating Procedures for different departments and district administrations and also includes steps such as rescheduling working hours for daily wage labourers, provisioning drinking water and first aid facilities at temporary working sheds, changing school timings, and so on. The city of Ahmedabad implemented South Asia’s first HAP in 2013 after a heatwave in 2010. This, scientists found, may have prevented more than 1,000 deaths due to heat in 2014-15. However, there are many gaps in HAPs in India, found a recent assessment of 37 HAPs at city, district and state levels by the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These included being underfunded and not being built for local contexts. The assessment also found that HAPs are not sufficiently transparent. There is no national repository of HAPs and very few HAPs are listed online, the report noted. The report recommends creating a national repository of HAPs within the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and that independent, and publicly accessible external evaluations of their performance be conducted regularly. Focus areas In December last year, the Union government said that the NDMA and the IMD are working with 23 states that are prone to heatwave conditions to develop state-level action plans. These include Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. HAPs are a new policy instrument and are currently spreading, Aditya Valiathan Pillai, associate fellow at CPR and one of the co-authors of the report on HAPs, wrote in an email to The Wire. It is crucial that areas like Delhi and other hot north Indian states, and humid areas which could present a high risk of mortality during a heatwave, have coverage, he said. Do any specific levels of HAPs – such as at the state, district or local levels – take priority? Not necessarily, according to Pillai. “So the idea is not to privilege HAPs at one level over the other but to figure out ways of making them work together in complementary ways,” he wrote in an email to The Wire. “So in a state, you would want the state and city/district HAPs to be designed to speak to each other.” That’s because each level of government handles different things (as per the Constitutional division of powers), Pillai clarified. If one wants to protect agriculture from heat, for example, you need an insurance mechanism which will need to be at the state level because of the scale it will need to involve and because agriculture is a state subject. “But setting up cooling centres would of course be better at the local level,” he wrote. To make our HAPs more effective and impactful, it is necessary to incorporate granular scale heat vulnerability and hotspot mapping assessments by leveraging the latest advancements in geospatial technology and field-based assessments, said Shreya Wadhawan, Research Analyst, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). This involves mapping heat-sensitive areas based on land use, vegetation fraction, built-up areas, adaptive capacity, and population characteristics, she wrote in an email to The Wire. “Further, it is essential to recalibrate forecast models to region-specific thresholds for energy and water demand, crop, and health impacts to enable impact-based heat forecast alerts. This will help decision-makers plan in advance to address the issue of heat stress,” she wrote.

Heat kills

The death of 11 people at an event in Navi Mumbai from a heatstroke is a grim reminder of what the summer has in store for India. Already, warnings have been issued by experts and several states have cautioned citizens not to step outdoors in the hours between noon and 4 p.m. The event at Navi Mumbai was held when the temperature was recorded at 38.2 deg C, not unusual for this time of the year, but clearly the intensity of a spell that commenced as early as February took its toll. Last year, when temperatures had soared to 50 deg C and above in parts of the sub-continent, scientists had warned that these extreme conditions had been exacerbated by climate change. This year, the outlook is grim and the India Meteorological Department has warned of the enhanced probability of “above normal maximum temperatures” over most parts of the northeast, east and central India and some parts of the northwest. The average temperatures in February in central India were 29.5 deg C, around 2 deg C above normal. While the government has alerted states to put in place health action plans, the efficacy of such measures is questionable. Heatwaves have cascading effects, not just on health but on ecosystems, agriculture, water and power supplies. Already, there are projections of power shortages forced by the weather, and of a reduction in wheat production which could hit both domestic availability and exports from the world’s second largest producer. India is well aware of the consequences of such conditions. Last year, the Centre for Science and Environment had estimated that localised climate events on 241 of 273 days until October had claimed at least 2,755 lives, affected at least 1.8 million hectares of crop and killed nearly 70,000 livestock. A measurement called wet bulb reading, which combines air temperature and relative humidity, gauges heat stress on the human body. A wet bulb reading of 35 deg C is said to be the threshold beyond which humans cannot survive. A report by the World Bank last November had warned that India could become one of the first countries in the world where this threshold would be reached, and there are reports that Nagpur has already recorded wet bulb readings of above 32 deg C this year, with the summer not having yet reached its peak. For now, administrations across the country have put in place measures to mitigate human suffering. West Bengal has announced a closure of schools while Odisha has asked classes to be concluded before noon. While welcome, these measures are likely to provide little relief. Economic activity must go on, and suffering will be a consequence. But outdoor events of the kind held in Navi Mumbai must be avoided.

In harm’s way: Mathura Road, IIT-Delhi, Gurgaon among five ozone hotspots

NEW DELHI: Mathura Road, Lodhi Road, IIT-Delhi, Dhirpur in north-west Delhi and Gurgaon are among the ozone hotspots in April so far, according to an analysis conducted by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the forecasting body under the Union ministry of earth sciences. The five locations exceeded the eight-hour standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb) on most days in April. Of these, Gurugram reported the highest level of ozone as exceeded 100 ppb on most days. Ozone is a harmful gas that is found in two regions of the atmosphere. Up in the stratosphere, it protects the Earth from sun’s harmful rays. In the troposphere, which is the layer of atmosphere that humans live in, the presence of more than permissible level of ozone can harm health and plants. It can inflame a person’s airways, cause chest pain and wheezing in healthy humans. For people with asthma or lung diseases, the effect can be much worse. The analysis by SAFAR found that Delhi University, Pusa and T3 at IGI Airport were the stations that recorded low ozone concentration. SAFAR’s analysis said that April 8-10 saw the highest average ozone that crossed 60 ppb. “Some stations saw high levels of ozone mainly due to an increase in volatile organic compounds (VOC). The sources of VOC are natural sources and vehicle exhaust. High temperature also plays an important role,” said Gufran Beig, the founder project director of SAFAR. “If the temperature rises to 40 degrees Celsius or above, the production rate of ozone will increase and hence, in the coming days, we may see further rise in ozone,” Beig said. He added that ozone toxicity is higher than particulate matter and the health impact is immediate. “Those with respiratory conditions, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and particularly children with premature lungs and older adults are at risk when the ozone level increases more than the permissible limit of 50 ppb,” he said. Ground level ambient ozone is produced from the complex interaction between nitrogen oxides and VOCs that are emitted by vehicles, power plants, factories and other combustion sources. The compounds undergo cyclic reactions in the presence of sunlight to generate ground-level ozone, according to a study done by the Centre for Science and Environment last year. Anumita Roychowdhury, the executive director for research and advocacy at CSE, said: "Increase in the number of days exceeding ozone standard is a predictable trend in summer in Delhi. It has not drawn adequate regulatory attention. Stringent measures are needed. Ozone is not directly emitted by any source. But gases from different sources react under the influence of sunlight to form ozone. Even short duration exposure can worsen symptoms in people suffering from asthma and respiratory conditions.”

Thermal power plants in Delhi-NCR not following government order to use biomass to generate electricity: CSE

A recent (February 2023) notification by the Environment Ministry has given these plants more leeway to delay meeting the directives, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which conducted the study, said. Many coal-based power plants in Delhi-NCR have made very little progress on complying with directions to use biomass or agricultural residue for electricity generation, according to a new study released on Thursday. A recent (February 2023) notification by the Environment Ministry has given these plants more leeway to delay meeting the directives, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which conducted the study, said. In October 2021, the Union Ministry of Power had mandated the plants to replace five to 10 per cent of the coal they use for electricity generation with biomass or agricultural residue. This was done to address the twin challenge of stubble burning and emissions. These plants had to achieve five per cent of co-firing by September 2022, and escalate it to seven per cent the following year. However, hardly any progress has been made by the plants in Delhi-NCR, the green think tank said. The 11 coal-based power plants in Delhi-NCR, in addition to adhering to the ministry's policy, were also given a separate direction by the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) in September 2021 to co-fire biomass. Any non-adherence to the CAQM directive is considered an offense 'punishable with imprisonment' for a term that may extend up to five years or with fine of up to Rs 1 crore or both as per the CAQM Act, 2021. "Our study shows that cumulatively, less than one per cent of the coal consumed per year in these 11 plants had been replaced with agro-residues until December 2022," Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, industrial pollution, CSE, said. The key reasons for this include a huge demand-supply gap. The power plants surveyed by CSE have pointed out that they do not have reliable long-term supply of pellets. The Indira Gandhi thermal power plant in Jhajjar, Haryana, has invited manufacturers to set up a biomass pellet making unit on its premises, but the facility is yet to come up.

Villages in WB’s Alipurduar gasp for air as pollution from Bhutan takes toll

A bottle of cough syrup and a few strips of medicines, packed in a polythene packet, were kept on a table next to the cot, on which 54-year-old Chameli Singh Bathyal was taking a nap. A resident of Rangamati, a small village at Kalchini in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district tucked amidst tea gardens and forests, crisscrossed by rivers and streams, has been suffering from recurring cough and breathlessness over the past four years. “You see that? That’s the Pasakha Industrial Estate (PIE) in Bhutan. The smoke and polluted water they release are taking a heavy toll on villagers living on this side of the border. I’m suffering from cough and breathlessness over the past four years at least. Now it is getting more frequent and intense. Acidity and diarrhea occur frequently and my body aches,” she said, sitting up on the cot and pointing to the door. PIE is Bhutan’s first major industrial town and is located in a valley surrounded by hills on three sides. Because of its close proximity to the Indian border, availability of minerals such as quartz, dolomite and limestone, good road connectivity with Phuentsholing, PIE has become a major attraction. There are around 40 industries, including silicon-carbide plant, ferro-silicon factories, cement, steel and alloy industries. Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in a report for the Bhutan government, said in some places inside the PIE, the PM10 level reached a maximum of 466 micrograms per metre cube, at least four times above the daily permissible limit in India. The level of PM 2.5 was also hovering around 4–5 times above the daily permissible limit according to Indian standards. “There are substantial uncontrolled fugitive emissions of dust particles along with gases from the industries,” the report said, attributing the high emissions to burning of fossil fuels and air polluting industries in the area. Chameli’s room faces the PIE at Phuentsholling in Bhutan, right across the Indo-Bhutan border. A small rivulet, locally known as ‘Singhi jhora’, follows adjacent to the industrial estate. Singhi with Bhalu jhora and Basra, all originating in Bhutan and polluted – meet a few kilometres downstream and form the Kaljani river, which flows into Jaldapara National Park and Buxa Tiger Reserve. The stretch of the Kaljani river from Bitala to Alipurduar was tagged as unfit for bathing by the central pollution control board but was delisted in 2022 as the water quality claimed to have improved. While the winding and downhill village road leads to the Singhi rivulet a few metres below, the PIE is just a stone’s throw from the Bathyal’s house and one can even see the smoke billowing out of the chimneys. “The smoke is less now. Come in the evening and you will get the true picture, because that’s the time when they release the smoke in full throttle. We need to close the doors and windows,” said Dhiraj Singh Bathyal (62), her husband, who also complained of breathlessness and frequent cough. Mohan Subba, a local youth, who works in the pump-station on the bank of the Singhi jhora, said that he frequently suffers from diarrhea and other gastro-intestinal problems including acidity. “We all drink the same water knowing well that it is not clean. We also catch small fishes that are found in these waters. The water is pumped out from the Singhi jhora stream and supplied to the villages. We have no other option. The industrial estate dumps their waste water into the stream,” said Subba. Locals said that there are around 11 villages close of the Indo-Bhutan border in Kalchini block in which at least 22,000–25,000 people, mostly tea garden workers, live with many suffering from lung ailments, gastro-intestinal problems and skin-diseases. “Almost every other villager you come across in this part of Kalchini would tell you the same story and the same problems. The industrial pollution, soot and dust from the PIE have made life miserable here,” said Jairaj Lama, a resident of central Dooars. Locals like Lama and Subba even claimed that such is the pollution level, that if it doesn’t rain for a few days, the leaves of the trees get brown and wrinkled. The tin-roof of the village huts gets rusty and corroded after every six months. “The trees, the tea plantations and the grass all get covered with a layer of dust and soot if it doesn’t rain. And, when it rains, the PIE releases more smoke as the pollution gets subdued,” said Minati Thapa, a local resident and a tea garden worker. Kalchini block in Alipurduar has around 21 tea estates of which the Central Dooars Tea Estate in Rangamati is just one. Most of the people are tea garden workers earning around ₹2,500 to ₹4,000 per month. While locals have been complaining about the problems over the past few years, the Cooch Behar Himalayan Nature Development Society, an NGO working on this issue since 2014, moved a PIL in the Supreme Court in May 2019. As the pollution was coming from across the border, the union environment ministry, ministry of external affairs, the state pollution control board, the central pollution control board and the Alipurduar civic body were all made parties. “Before filing the PIL, we had written letters to everyone including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), ministry of external affairs and union environment ministry among others. But everyone has been passing the buck,” said Mahendra Thapa, general secretary of the NGO. But, till date, nothing has been done and the villagers of Rangamati and its adjoining areas continue to suffer. “The division bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice BR Gavai heard the case once in July 2019. But that’s it. The matter was never heard again. It is still pending,” said Sukriti Kashyap, environment lawyer and the petitioner’s counsel. Locals continued to rue the fact that not much has been done in this regard by both political leaders and the administration. “I am not aware of the issue. No one informed me, if they approach me, I will definitely take it up and pursue it,” said John Barla, union minister of state for minority affairs and a BJP MP from Alipurduar. “This doesn’t come under the purview of the CPCB. It is an international matter. The matter was referred to the MoEF&CC,” said a senior official of the CPCB.

CSE Report Hints At The Bottlenecks In India’s Bio-CNG Production Read more at: https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/cse-report-hints-at-the-bottlenecks-in-indias-bio-cng-production

Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based think tank, hinted towards several bottlenecks which are throttling the growth of bio-CNG (a biofuel) in India. The latest study showed that there are problems in the assured takeaway of the bio-CNG produced by the producers, almost no procurement of the biogas fertilizer, produced during the production of bio-CNG in the factories, unregulated biomass supply chain, financing bio-CNG initiatives at a higher cost, inefficient source segregation of feedstock, low in-house manufacturing of plant equipment and lack of single-window clearance for such projects. Bio-CNG, called Compressed Bio Gas (CBG), is produced by removing the impurities in biogas like carbon dioxide. Bio-CNG is used directly in CNG vehicles and as a cooking gas in the city gas distribution networks. Moreover, its bio-fertilizer, produced as waste, is also used as an excellent organic source of fertilizers. The report said bio-CNG is one of the best renewable energy sources to decarbonize the gas ecosystem. “Compressed biogas (CBG), which can be integrated into the existing gas infrastructure, provides the easiest route to decarbonizing natural gas applications. The use of biomethane reduces the total cost of ownership of the energy system as the infrastructure for distribution and usage is already in place. Additionally, anaerobic digestion produces not only biogas, but also digestate that can be utilized as a renewable biofertilizer locally, either directly or after upgrading. The CO2 that needs to be separated from the biogas to obtain biomethane can also be valued as a co-product,” the report said. The study recommended that expanding city gas distribution with their linkage with the CBG could offer significant benefits like a reliable market for the sector. In addition, the CSE report claimed that the government should develop a policy where a fertilizer company can purchase these bio-CNG fertilizers at a fixed price.

Estimating the potential of community forest rights: What makes implementation challenging

Given the complexity of land and forest settlement in India and the poor quality of land records and maps available, generating an estimate is not an easy task Even after 16 years, implementation provisions under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, have been far from satisfactory. One of the many reasons for non-implementation is a lack of clarity about where and how much forest land might be eligible for Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) claims. Consequently, there is no “target” that state governments must reach and against which their performance can be measured in terms of recognising CFRR. To address this gap, researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) have estimated the potential area that could be marked for granting of CFRR and locations of villages with this potential in four states: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Given the complexity of land and forest settlement in India and the poor quality of land records and maps available, generating an estimate of how much land could come under CFRR and where is not an easy task. A crude estimate can be made from village land use data provided in the census’ village amenities tables. This pertains to the forest area within a village’s revenue boundary. But an estimate based on data from census tables is likely to be significantly lower than the actual area where communities traditionally exercised community rights, especially in central India. This is because the process of forest “settlement” (notification and demarcation) followed in these states resulted in large tracts of forests being demarcated as Reserve Forest (RF) and being kept outside the revenue settlement, thereby not being part of any revenue village and therefore not showing up in the census tables. These large RF patches have many settlements inside them, and of course have many more abutting or adjacent to them. Field data shows that residents of these villages (inside and adjacent to the forest area) were using these forests and exercising customary rights over them. The researchers, therefore, estimated the CFRR potential area in two parts. All villages having more than 10 hectares (ha) of forest area within their revenue boundaries as per Census 2011 were identified and they formed one part of the estimate. The second part began by identifying those villages that are in or adjacent to RF patches that are outside village revenue boundaries. Then, using a thumb-rule that the customary boundaries of these villages should extend at least 2 km into the forest, the team identified and estimated the area in such a buffer to forest-adjacent villages using GIS. This 2-km figure is a very approximate thumb-rule, based on field observations about the areas that are likely to be under customary use and management. The total CFRR potential is the sum of the areas in both parts. Based on the analysis, the team estimated that in each of the four states, CFRRs should be recognised in around 11,000 to 19,000 villages; additionally, it should cover more than 50,000 sq km each in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and more than 20,000 sq km in Jharkhand. Across these four states, some 60,000 villages could potentially claim CFRR under FRA over an area of at least 1,83,000 sq km. This amounts to 70-90 per cent of the recorded forest area in these states. This will potentially benefit the livelihoods of a total of around 62.6 million people, including some 23.6 million belonging to Scheduled Tribes and 6.6 million belonging to Scheduled Castes (as per Census 2011). When compared with the actual CFRR area recognised, it is clear that while Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have made some progress, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are lagging far behind. The ATREE team has also developed a WebGIS portal to make the maps of these CFRR potential areas publicly available. The WebGIS displays state, district, tehsil and village boundaries for the four states. For comparison, it also presents, where possible, information on “CFRR potential realised” which villages have received CFRR, of what kind, and over how much area. Some features of WebGIS include indication of potentially claimed and unclaimed forest areas, village search function, display of basic census population and land use data of a village, the ability to use Google or Bing satellite imagery as base map and an area measurement tool. Shruti Mokashi is a post-doctoral research associate and Sharachchandra Lele is a distinguished fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bengaluru. Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth This first appeared in State of India’s Environment, an annual publication by the Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment

Our broken system of environmental clearance

Ranking is an instrument to reward the best performers — but more importantly, it signals the best way to do things. So, when the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) says that it will rank the state environmental impact assessment authorities based on the speed at which environmental approvals are given, it basically implies that all it cares about is the "clearance" of projects, not the quality of the assessment or the ability to ensure that the environmental impacts of development projects are mitigated. ou could argue that time taken is not an indicator of the level of scrutiny — and that MoEFCC's notice is designed only to hold the assessment committees accountable and to ensure that projects are not unnecessarily delayed. But it is not that simple. The fact is this "ranking" is the final nail in the already built coffin of environmental assessments. Over the past decade or so, government after government has systematically decimated the process of decision-making that would allow for assessment or scrutiny. It is a sham and a farce, and in my view this direction by the ministry — set up to purportedly safeguard environmental interests — has only made its contempt for its self-built process apparent. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) started way back in 1994, when development projects were few and the process remained uncontested. The rot took hold from the early 2000s when "building" projects were included in this system of scrutiny. There is no question that construction, especially large-scale housing, infrastructure or commercial projects, have a massive environmental footprint. They add to water usage, wastewater generation, traffic, and to solid waste. The problem was the system was never upgraded to handle the huge volume of "building" projects. This led to delays and high transaction costs — corruption, in other words. So in 2006, MoEFCC decentralised, and outsourced the work to states. It replicated the central system at the state level, setting up the state environmental impact assessment authorities. A maze of categories — projects falling into A, B, BI and B2 — were created, with overlaps and a good measure of discretion thrown in. All in all, the quality of scrutiny has not improved and development projects are not more environmentally compliant. EIA has become a convoluted exercise, designed for futility. Why do I say this? Just consider how fundamentally flawed the process is today. The project proponent is expected to pay consultants to do the EIA, which is based on the terms of reference (ToR) approved by the Central or state environmental impact assessment authority. Category A projects come to the Centre and B go to the state, where the state authority then decides if it is B1 (projects requiring detailed assessments) or B2 (that do not require detailed assessments). The committee can approve the ToR, ask for more information or reject it. After this, the EIA is done, which, in turn, requires the involvement of at least 12 functional area experts and management and monitoring plans. The draft EIA is in English and its summary in the regional language, which is then put out for public consultation. A detailed process is in place for holding the public hearing, which would be crucial for "listening" to local objections. Then all this goes to the appraisal committee, which has to scrutinise the draft, ask for more information, and accept it with conditions or reject it. In actual fact, projects are rarely "rejected". In our analysis of projects between July 2015 and August 2020, of the 3,100 projects submitted, only 3 per cent were not recommended. Even these would come back with more information. In this way, proponents are asked — and more so in controversial projects — many times to come back with more data and more clarifications. Finally, the committees "clear" the project, and in most cases, to protect themselves they do so with a fistful of conditions that will never really be monitored. The faceless committees are not held responsible for the project post clearance; their "job" ends with this clearance. So, you really cannot hold them responsible for the quality of the decision taken. The monitoring is then left to the understaffed regional offices of MoEFCC — state pollution control boards are not empowered to monitor impacts as this clearance is done under the Environmental Protection Act and not under the laws governing air or water. In all this, there is duplication, lack of scrutiny and no real intent to ensure that projects are implemented keeping in mind environmental interests. So, when we defend this broken system of "clearances" it only adds fuel to the fire of the extremely false narrative of environment versus development. In reality, environmental interests have already been given a bypass and development has become mindless, without any regard for what can be done to mitigate and manage harm. (Writer is Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the Editor of Down To Earth magazine. She is an environmentalist who pushes for changes in policies, practices and mindsets;

Gurgaon: Why your plush new home is in a heat trap

First half of April and the temperature is already hitting 40 degrees. It's that time of the year when weather becomes the inevitable conversation starter. Summers have been getting hotter, but the urban heat island effect is making saunas out of our cities, which in turn is turning our modern apartments into hot boxes, especially if the neighbourhood is all concrete. That's how most of the city's new sectors, along the Southern Peripheral Road and Dwarka Expressway, have been shaping up, an explosion of concrete that's lavish and ritzy but in a landscape that's largely tawny and soaked in dust. The Aravalis skirt the SPR sectors, its scrubby, green coat visible almost from everywhere. But it can't offset the local heat island effect. For that, the city needs trees along its roads, large parks or other buffers like waterbodies to break the concrete chain. "The urban heat island effect must not be mistaken as a tropical climate issue - it is a very urban issue that is linked with the way we plan and design our cities. The reason is rampant construction, concretisation and shrinking of green spaces and water bodies in cities - this is leading to a trapping of heat," Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment, told TOI. Other than helping to keep temperatures from rising, green spaces also help improve air quality and public health. Green spaces also filter rain and act as heat sinks. While there are some big parks in Gurgaon, none has come up in the new sectors so far. The 2014 Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation guidelines suggest a norm of 10-12 square metres of open space per person. This means a 25-35% allocation of a city's area is to be earmarked as recreational and open spaces, in addition to environmentally sensitive areas. So why, then, is this vital aspect of city design being ignored? Originally, when the new sectors were coming up in 2013, urban development authority HSVP had a plan to acquire 1,924 acres of land for development of open spaces, according to the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan 2031. However, these plans never came to fruition, leaving the new sectors bereft of parks, except those developed privately within some of the plush condominiums. Since 2020, when the Covid pandemic changed the dynamics of life and work, the population has been growing quickly in the new sectors. People who had invested in flats here began moving in, which bumped up pressure on realtors to deliver more housing units hit by various delays. Around 70,000 housing units have been sold in the new sectors and thousands more are at advanced stages of completion. "Currently, it feels much warmer living inside the house (on the 15th floor) though the weather outside is still bearable. In summer, the tiled floors emanate heat. I don't feel the difference in the evenings because all the concrete around radiates heat. So, ACs are on virtually through the day," said Shibashish Rudra, a resident of Sector 81. A notice for acquisition of 1,294 acres across 13 villages, mainly in sectors 76-95 and sectors 99-102A, was issued by the previous government in 2013. But HSVP failed to award compensation for the acquisition within the stipulated three years, nullifying the acquisition process that would cost the authority around Rs 8,000 crore, an amount the cash-starved department is in no position to pay. Later, when the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) took over these areas, it too had a similar plan to develop parks but ran into trouble with funds. "There was a plan, but we do not have enough funds to buy land in the new sectors now," said Subhash Yadav, additional CEO, GMDA. Badshapur MLA Rakesh Daultabad wrote to chief minister Manohar lal Khattar last year to develop two parks in the new sectors. "It is requested that two town parks may kindly be announced to be developed by GMDA in newly developed sectors in an area of 50 acres each i.e. one town park for sectors from 82 to 95 and the other town park for sectors 96 to 115. The land and funds for these parks/green spaces may kindly be provided by HSVP under EDC/IDC components. The town parks may be announced and named as Azadi ka Amrit Town Parks," Daultabad suggested in his letter. Gurgaon has six large parks, which are all located in the developed areas of the city - Tau Devi Lal Park (Sector 22, 30 acres), Palam Vihar Janam Divas Park (18 acres), Leisure Valley Park, (35 acres); Tau Devi Lal Botanical Garden (Sector 52A, 63 acres), Netaji Subhash Park (Sector 14, 20 acres) and Aravali Biodiversity Park (350 acres, Nathupur). Experts have pointed out time and time again that cities need to have climate resilient buildings. Anjal Prakash, one of the lead authors of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, says, "Waterbodies and open green spaces act as carbon sinks, which means they help reduce temperature. In our cities, we find that gradually, open spaces are reducing in the greed for development. If we measure temperature in a city, we will find that areas which are closer to the green spaces have lower temperature compared to areas which have concrete structures." He said the IPCC report ha underlined the need for 'blue and green' infrastructure in urban areas - 'blue' refers to water bodies like rivers, canals, ponds, wetlands, floodplains and water treatment facilities, and 'green' to trees, lawns, hedgerows, parks, fields and forests. "In Gurgaon, buildings are designed as if we are living in Manhattan. We have a completely different climatic condition here. It's tropical and thus the buildings have to be climate efficient. Yes, the concept of green buildings is something we have been seeing, but it costs a lot to make one. What we are doing in Gurgaon is just copy-pasting the western concept without taking into consideration that we will end up using more air conditioners to cool the glass buildings," Prakash said. Experts also stressed on investing in and promoting nature-based solutions like green roofs, artificial water shed infrastructures (lakes and ponds), increase in tree cover, etc. that can mitigate the harsher impacts of urban heat islands. Abinash Mohanty, sector head, climate change and sustainability at IPE Global, said lack of planning with a sustainable vision is the weakest link in our urban matrix. "There is no denying that megalopolises like Delhi-NCR are grappling with real and imminent environmental and climate problems. Inadequate green space planning will have serious repercussions on urban quality of life. Investing and promoting nature-based solutions like green roofs, artificial water shed infrastructure (lakes and ponds) and increasing the tree cover can mitigate the harsher impacts of urban heat islands," he said. RWA and real estate developers have developed green areas within compounds, but those are limited in size and don't provide the same larger community access as a public park does. "We have created two ponds in the green belts near our society, which are getting water from the STP. We have created a rainwater harvesting system and also developed 16% of the total area into a green cover," said Praveen Mallik, RWA president, SARE Homes.

Breaking the mould

Delhi government’s vision to clear the three dumpsites of the city by the end of 2024 can be materialised seamlessly by focusing on innovative complements to bioremediation and involving waste pickers, currently working in inhumane conditions, for source segregation of waste Atop Okhla landfill site, as MCD’s garbage trucks unload the filthy waste, throngs of waste-pickers on the ground and a kettle of kites from the sky would pounce, almost simultaneously, on the dumped thrash. They both understand the utility of that waste in feeding themselves and their families. The tragedy is not that many of the older rag pickers have been sustaining their families through one of the most dangerous and despicable ways possible, for decades, but that they draw a blank when asked what keeps them clung to this profession! For the younger ones — as young as 8-year-old — it is a natural process of being wired into what is “meant for them”. The real rebels could be found among teens, though many of them have now submitted to the idea that there is no better workplace for them that could yield as much for their labour — a sum which they put at Rs 600-700 a day. In this article, we shall draw a picture of what the life on landfills and in surrounding areas looks like, how viciously the life and livelihood of those living, feeding and working on landfills are intertwined with the massive structures. Besides assessing the viability and current status of Delhi government’s claim to flatten the three landfill sites in Delhi by 2024, we shall retrospect what it would mean for a generation of ragpickers. The life on landfills Shashank Kalra visits landfills across the country, treating them as pilgrimage sites — something which allows time for retrospection and self-transformation. That is exactly what landfills of Delhi do, but only for those who pay occasional visits. For those going there daily to pick waste and make some money, it has been a workplace, a risky and life-degrading adventure that unfolds on a daily basis in a place equivalent to hell, if something by that name exists! At Bhalswa, Moidul, Akhtar, Zahid, Mushtaq, Zamil — all in their teens, all non-matriculate, and all soaked in filth and dust — share an innocent camaraderie. Zamil, the youngest in the group (13 years old), is the only one whose studies are continuing. Akhtar, considered to be the most educated and sensible, is curious to learn good things, and believes in ideals, but has his fate tied to the landfill. Despite the life of adversity they live, their conversations are all fun and loaded with natural wit. Zahid, the most rowdy and hilarious, when asked why not some other hygienic work, gave a direct reply, “give us one, we’ll do”, firmly knowing that it was not coming. While all others prefer to work from morning to evening, Zahid would choose to work the night shift, tying a torch on his head to traverse the risky terrain. They all work under the unstated guardianship of a proudly humorous man in his late thirties who would spell numerous pseudonyms to hide his real name. Eight-year-old Sudhir, talking in his innocent, soft tone without lifting his head up, would continue separating useful metals from his magnet-collected thrash, hoping to find a pair of gloves some day on the dumpsite that would keep him safe from blades. Sudhir’s parents are working on the other side of the landfill, and he has no idea where his native village is! Working beside him, two siblings, Sachin (15) and Sanjana (12), have one answer to each question — an impeccable laughter. Also Read - Boomeranged! Buddhan Shah, after being tricked by an auto dealer in his native village near Sasaram, Bihar, tried his luck at several works in different mega cities. Now, he is at Bhalswa dumpsite, which provides a “guaranteed” livelihood. Still, he wants to escape it in the first chance he gets. Buddhan takes care that no one from his village should know what work he does. He also has a strong vow to keep — he will never let his children be exposed to such kind of work, no matter what it takes. At Bhalswa, majority of the ragpickers — mostly Muslims — are from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. At Okhla, they mostly hail from West Bengal and Assam, with a minuscule portion coming from Bihar. While acknowledging the problem of hygiene, most of them see rag picking as a work where there is enough freedom and “decent” money. However, 22-year-old Sohail (name changed on request), doesn’t like to work here. Unlike others, he can’t “eat in a stingy air where even breathing is a task in itself.” He, along with his about-to-turn-18 friend, will move back to Tamil Nadu once the “rage against north Indian migrants cools down”. Buddhan Shah, who worked at Ghazipur dumpsite for some time before coming to Bhalswa, said “the condition there is worse than here (Bhalswa) because of the dumping of flesh from the adjoining fish and frozen meat market.” There are thousands of ragpickers working, without any safety gears, parallelly to the companies that are awarded tenders to cut and flatten the landfills. The question is: shouldn’t the government have a plan to channelise their labour in a more fruitful way, while keeping them away from the life-threatening structures? Averse to environment and economy The dumpsites are a persistent source of emission of greenhouse gases. More threateningly, these are constant sources of methane, a gas which is 84 times more potent than the carbon dioxide. Dumpsites also pollute the groundwater in a significant manner. Owing to vertical pressure of the waste load, a filthy and toxic black liquid keeps flowing from the bottom portions of the dumpsites. The liquid — known as leachate — if not treated properly could lead to high levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD) & Iron (Fe), apart from other toxic pollutants, in the groundwater. Dumpsites are also a source of economic loss. As per a study conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IIT-Delhi, the three landfills in Delhi inflict an economic damage of around Rs 450 crore — Rs 156 crore at Bhalswa, Rs 151 crore at Okhla and Rs 142.5 crore at Ghazipur. Cumulatively, of course, the damages caused by the dumpsites have been much beyond what could be measured in monetary terms. Tall claims vs reality Delhi’s Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot, while presenting this year’s budget, reaffirmed that the “government targets the removal of all three mountains of garbage in Delhi in just two years. Okhla landfill (is) to be removed by December 2023, Bhalswa landfill by March 2024, and Ghazipur landfill by December 2024.” He further added that “Rs 850 crore loan will be given to the MCD for removal of mountains of garbage.” However, in a review meeting involving Kejriwal and civic officials last week, it was noted that the target of processing 10,000 tonnes of waste per day at Okhla dumpsite was not on track. The CM sternly asked the officials to come up with a plan in 15 days. Meanwhile, The Hindu has quoted a senior civic official saying that MCD is unlikely to clear the Okhla Sanitary Landfill by the end of this year. Delhi generates around 11,300 tonnes of waste each day, out of which only 8,170 tonnes is processed at WTE and other facilities. In addition to the waste generated on a daily basis, Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur dumpsites hold 42 lakh tonnes, 71 lakh tonnes and 78 lakh tonnes of legacy waste, respectively. Just like the processing of daily MSW, the treatment of legacy waste, too, is proceeding at a sluggish pace. As per DPCC’s annual report for 2021-22, the Timarpur Okhla Waste management Company Ltd. had a waste processing capacity of 1,950 TPD (tonnes per day) and generated 23 MW of energy. East Delhi Waste Processing Company Ltd. in Ghazipur had the waste processing capacity of 1,300 TPD and generated 12 MW of electricity. The corresponding figures for Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd. on Narela-Bawana Road were 1,300 TPD and 24 MW. The cumulative waste-processing capacity of the three WTE plants was 4,550 TPD. In addition, the fourth WTE plant was inaugurated in October last year at Tehkhand — with a waste processing capacity of 2,000 TPD, generating 25 MW of electricity. Proposals are underway to build more WTE plants and engineered Sanitary Landfills, and to expand the capacity of the existing WTE plants. Experts, however, emphasise on more efficient alternatives/complements to tackle the dumpsite menace. Innovation as the key Conventionally, there have been two main scientific routes to reclaim land from the landfills — capping of the legacy waste, and the combination of biomining and bioremediation. Capping refers to closing of the garbage material using soil and other components. Biomining refers to extraction of useful metals and other solid components through decomposition of biodegradable waste under the action of microorganisms, air and sunlight. Bioremediation refers to decomposition, excavation and segregation of legacy waste to single out refuse-derived fuel (RDF) — a category of solid waste with high calorific value, which can act as fuel for a variety of purposes. Inert and recyclable wastes are also separated in the process. In July 2019, the National Green Tribunal adjudicated that capping of legacy waste may lead to grave environmental and health consequences in the Indian context, thus leaving biomining and bioremediation as the most preferable methods of dumpsite remediation. Source segregation of waste To fulfil Delhi government’s objective of removing “all three mountains of garbage in just two years”, the focus has primarily been on bioremediation of legacy waste. Richa Singh, a domain expert at CSE, pointed out that “about 50 per cent of the total waste generated in the country is disposed of in the dumpsites without any treatment. It is practically impossible to remediate the legacy waste dumpsites if the city keeps adding new waste daily.” This is indeed a major lacuna. The Bhalswa dumpsite is bi-compartmentalised in two segments. While the work of bioremediation of legacy waste is proceeding with an “impressive” pace on the larger segment, MCD trucks keep dumping new waste on the adjacent, relatively smaller segment. Ragpickers working there for decades are convinced that by the time the larger segment is dealt with, the smaller one will acquire a humongous size. Richa Singh proposes a seemingly simple and meaningful solution to break this vicious cycle. She highlights the imperative of source segregation of waste, saying that “this is non-negotiable and the success of any waste treatment technology depends on the quality of feedstock (waste)”. Notably, the composition of waste at a dumpsite affects the efficiency and viability of the bioremediation process at the site. Strictly cautioning against the occupational hazards that waste pickers may face while working on dumpsites, Singh suggests that “the informal sector (waste pickers) can be employed in door-to-door collection of waste from the households and sorting and segregation of the dry fraction of municipal waste. There are various models in the country such as SWaCH in Pune where the waste pickers’ cooperative is responsible for collecting and segregating the waste from the households. The cooperative is completely owned by its waste picker members. An agreement between Pune Municipal Corporation and SWaCH was formulated for decentralised waste management in Pune. Today, around 3,700 waste pickers are a part of SWaCH, covering over 9.5 lakh properties and diverting huge quantities of waste from reaching the landfills. Similar models can be adopted in other cities as well.” Biogas plants — a potential gamechanger Furthermore, in a recent letter written to the Delhi government, the Indian Biogas Association (IBA) proposed that “biogas plants can be set up under the PPP model and the government can invite interested entrepreneurs to set up biogas plants at landfill sites.” The Delhi government should respond proactively to this precious suggestion. As per IBA, setting up of a biogas plant at each entry point of landfills will not only reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but also make savings of Rs 750 crore by cost-effectively using the resources and generating biogas and organic fertilizer. Experts have been emphasising on this strategy for quite a long time. Richa Singh believes that “50 to 60 per cent of the MSW generated in the country is wet biodegradable waste; converting that into bio-compressed natural gas (CNG) can be a game-changer.” The success story of Indore bears testimony to her conviction. Singh illustrates: “Indore in Madhya Pradesh has installed a bio-CNG plant and produces 17,000 kilograms of CNG every day by treating 550 tonnes of biodegradable/wet waste. Reportedly, they are earning more than Rs 50 crore from bio-CNG and carbon credits as revenue.” The government has to turn its focus towards innovation and technology to fulfil its commitment of clearing the dumpsites. It is a fact that the pace of bioremediation and biomining has been “sluggish”. At the same time, an ever-increasing quantum of new waste is being dumped at the landfills — leaving us with a circle without ends. Even if through extraordinary efforts, and at a huge financial cost, the government manages to reclaim large swathes of land through conventional practices, one is curious to ask, why not achieve the same outcomes innovatively, at lower expenses! Bhanpur Khanti: Notoriety to fame Six years back, when the train passengers passing through Madhya Pradesh would pinch their nose shut, it would infamously mean that Bhopal station was about to arrive. The foul smell would come from the 37-acre Bhanpur Khanti dumpsite. But today, there are no traces of that pungent identifier because, through efficient micro-planning and some back-breaking endeavour, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation managed to eliminate the dumpsite from the map of the city! The almost five-decade old dumpsite had 7.5 lakh tonnes of legacy waste while the city still generated 800 tonnes of waste on a daily basis. Firm in its resolve, in 2018, the BMC planned the minutest details to rid the city of this notoriety. It used a hybrid method of dumpsite remediation — garbage from 21 acres of land would undergo biomining and the rest 16 acres would be bio capped. The capped portion was topped with a geo-membrane and a grass layer. A proper gas collection system was put in place along with a leachate treatment plant with a capacity of 50 kilolitre per day (KLD). The waste segregated after biomining at the 21-acre land was diverted to recycling plants (recyclable waste), waste-to-energy plants (RDF) and construction sites (inert waste). In three years, the 21-acre land was reclaimed and generated Rs 380 crore in revenue for the municipal body, which is much higher than the cost incurred on remediation — 42 crores. The remaining 16 acre of land has been converted into a green park. What the BMC did after the completion of the remediation process is even more inspiring. A mechanism for four-way source segregation — wet, dry, sanitary and domestic hazardous — of waste was institutionalised, and a sanitary landfill at the outskirts of Adampur was engineered. Today, Bhopal is counted among the cleanest cities of India with a robust waste disposal mechanism. Bhopal is, however, just one example.