• Down To Earth

Climate Change: Solutions are not unitary but collective

Next time you quench your thirst from a plastic bottle, remember you are choking the earth by adding 3 more ounces of carbon dioxide. The bottled water market in India was last estimated at USD 5.7 billion. At about INR 10 per bottle, this miniscule amount of carbon emission per bottle suddenly multiplies to a significant amount. This is the challenge and opportunity in India; every problem is magnified by the size of market or number of people but actions, however small at individual level can bring radical changes. Thus without climate awareness and action at grass root level, we will not overcome the climate challenge. In the last 5 years, we have witnessed ‘changes’ of epic proportions – be it a global pandemic or calamities due to climate change. As per a report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India experienced extreme weather events on 314 days in 2022, which claimed 3,026 lives, affected 1.96 million hectares (ha) crop area, 423,249 houses and killed over 69,899 animals. Extreme weather events could be heatwaves, cold waves, cyclones, floods, droughts, landslides caused by the changing climate. The Earth has been warming or cooling through the ages, scientific evidence suggests that the incremental rate of present heating over and above the paleoclimatic precedence is due to human activities — the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, among others. The global mean surface temperature of the Earth, measured between 1951 and 1980, was about 14°C. In 2020, concentrations of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) reached new highs, and it continues to increase. As the concentration of these gases rise, so does the Earth’s temperature. In 2021, the global mean temperature was about 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level (from 1850 to 1900). The years from 2015 to 2021 were the seven warmest on record. Climate change is for real and the only way to fight it is to delay. Delaying means to keep the global mean temperature constant for as long as possible. UN Sustainable Development Goal #17 talks about building partnerships at multiple levels and across geography because we cannot have a scenario where-in a few countries are meeting the SDG targets and the rest are not. Stakeholders at every level, i.e.: global, local and individual level have to come together and contribute if we want to delay climate change. The World leaders are meeting at the Conference of Parties (COP) every year to review and pledge their commitment to climate change. India has launched multiple programs like the National Solar Mission, National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, National Mission for Green India, etc. which will help India to be on the right track. Considering the majority of our population still depends on agriculture for livelihood, India could look at having a large-scale adoption programme for sustainable and regenerative agriculture. India’s continued industrialisation and urbanisation will make huge demands of its energy sector. As per a research at Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, India was the third largest national emitter in 2020 (behind China and the United States), emitting 2.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide, however, the per capita energy consumption in India is 0.6 tonnes of oil equivalent, which is only one-third of the global average. As our economy continues to grow, and is expected to Climate Change: Solutions are not unitary but collective touch 10 Trillion-dollar economy by 2035, proportional increase in carbon emission is inevitable if timely action is not taken. State and central level are establishing climate change cells at a local level to spread awareness and building capacity. But at an individual level, can commoners contribute? Factual and repeated communication is the need of the hour to up the ante on climate change. Misinformation and disinformation are widespread on the issue of climate change, hence it is imperative that authentic and scientific information is shared. Explaining the scale of the climate crisis is important, but it can seem overwhelming, leading people to lose interest. Although climate change is one of the greatest challenges humankind has faced, the fight against climate change is far from lost. A few years ago, the ozone layer was depleting, timely action has ensured it is healing now. Children can be positioned as change agents for climate change. The schools are doing a phenomenal job by introducing the Gen Z and Gen Alpha to concepts of climate change and sustainable development. The Gen Z and Gen Alpha have the power to influence the boomer generation and millennials to act on climate change. Educating the young minds on climate crisis, food security, renewable interventions, carbon finance and related topics through immersion learning, case studies, research projects, exchange programmes model help build perspectives rather than data. Considering India’s 1.4 billion population, a small change in an individual’s habit can result in a major change. Consider this, whenever we leave a plug point “ON” after switching an electrical appliance “OFF” with the remote, power is still being consumed in “stand-by mode”. It may seem no-crime, but these little wastages account for an unbelievable 5% of Mumbai’s power consumption. Inculcating a habit of responsible consumption (SDG 12) for a country with a massive population like ours is a must. The change is constant, and adapting is a lifestyle. Social distancing proved to be the best step against COVID, similarly, a sustainable lifestyle is the ideal means to tackle climate change. The solutions to challenges are not unitary but collective -people, process and mindset. To take on the big C we need to adapt to five effective C’s: 1. Culture – Behaviour stems out of the sustainable-centric mindset (avoid running taps when you are brushing your teeth or water, hop on a train than drive your car) 2. Codesigning – collaborating to find solutions (building a strong society-science connect and build global teams to solve problems) 3. Communicating – the information of ‘how’ and ‘why’ of tackling climate change (help dispel miscommunication and disinformation) 4. Curriculum – rooted in human-centric approaches (Universities/Schools have a critical role to play in building knowledge and skill sets) 5. Catalyst – walk the talk (practice sustainability, connect people with sustainability champions, coordinate activity invest in sustainable startups) To arrest climate change, we need to change ourselves!

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Why Mumbai is hitting the headlines for air pollution

Experts say meteorological reasons could be behind the recent surge in Mumbai air pollution, but man-made factors cannot be underplayed or ignored. This winter, Mumbai has been more in the news for air pollution compared to the usual newsmaker Delhi — even overtaking the capital city in a recent survey that ranked India’s financial capital as the second most polluted city globally for a week between January 29 and February 8, 2023. Is Mumbai’s air pollution problem a one-off phenomenon or is the city gradually going the Delhi way? Experts say meteorological reasons could be behind the recent surge, but man-made factors cannot be underplayed or ignored. Mumbai versus Delhi One of India’s largest urban conglomerations, air pollution is not new to Mumbai and its busy surrounding areas. Much like Delhi and the national capital region, the greater Mumbai area houses polluting coal-based industrial belts, is home to mega infrastructure and housing related construction projects that generate dust, has a sizeable vehicular population which triggers automobile pollution, and has a huge slum and rural population, where bio-fuel and wood are extensively used. But unlike a land-locked Delhi, where the pollutants get trapped in winter because of calm winds and cold weather conditions, Mumbai has the advantage of being located beside the sea with strong surface winds, which helps in the quick dispersal of bad air. So, what really is happening this time, and over the past few years, that Mumbai is grappling with an increasing number of bad air days? The increasing air pollution levels in Mumbai are an indicator of a high emission load from industrial hotspots and the worsening transport situation in and around the mega city, says Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). “Being a coastal city with a higher dilution of pollutants, Mumbai manages to wash away its emission load. But the increasing air pollution is a testament to the polluting nature of the industries, the transport sector and waste management in the city, which need immediate attention," Dahiya says. Weather factor This month, Swiss air tracking index IQAir, a real-time air quality monitor that monitors the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, ranked Mumbai as the most-polluted city in India and second most polluted city globally during the week between January 29 and February 8, 2023. Delhi was not among the top 10 that week. Apart from the local triggers, Gufran Beig, founder project director, SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), also points to the changing meteorological factors that are at play. SAFAR is an air quality information service under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. “The unusual climate change-induced wind pattern has made Mumbai’s air quality worse in the past eight years. Although the present (IQAir) ranking is based on a few days of comparison, the larger issue is that we should speed up our implementing efforts in true spirit,” Beig, who is also chair professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, said. Mumbai had ranked 10th in the (IQAir) rankings on January 29 and climbed to the second spot on February 2 before falling again. It again climbed to the second spot on February 8. In fact, according to Beig, out of 92 days analysed by SAFAR till February 8 this year, Mumbai had 66 ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ air quality days in the winter of 2022-23 as compared to an average of 28 in the past three years. Beig said the reason for the prolonged pollution spell is part of a larger meteorological phenomenon that should be deeply analysed. The pollution triggers Other experts say while weather conditions are not in our hands, the authorities can certainly go all out to mitigate the local factors at play. “Mumbai’s problem is a combination of growing local pollution, meteorological factors and a change in the regional weather system. While we cannot control the natural forces, we can certainly adopt an ambitious plan for aggressive mitigation of local pollution sources,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). According to a 2020 study by CSE, which assessed four major industrial clusters surrounding Mumbai — the Trans-Thane Creek, Taloja, Ambernath and Dombivali —the massive use of coal in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is one of the key factors for the deteriorating air quality. Every year, two million tonnes of coal is burnt here, CSE says, calling for a clean fuel policy, strengthening of air quality monitoring and deterrence, and pushing unclean industries out of city limits, etc., to avoid a situation like Delhi. According to another CSE analysis based on real-time data from the working monitoring stations, the number of bad-air days in Mumbai doubled between 2019 and 2021, while good days were down by 20 percent. South Mumbai had the worst air in December 2021 with Mazgaon, which hosts the docks, topping the list. Khindipada at the edge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the north was the least polluted in that period, the study showed. “This underscores the urgency of scaling up action across all sectors to prevent further worsening and to arrest the trend in this region,” the report states. CPCB data also showed that the number of ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ days in Mumbai in November-January this winter was more than double compared to three previous winters. Dust pollution Dust pollution triggered by a slew of infrastructure and housing projects, which have resumed in full vigour after the Covid lockdowns, is another contributor to Mumbai’s deteriorating air quality. Construction dust seems to be one of the key reasons behind the surge in pollution this time, says Mumbai-based environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali. “Big infrastructure projects such as flyovers and private constructions are going on in full swing, where hardly any dust mitigation norms are followed.” Abdulali said detailed pollution mitigation plans are available and the authorities just need to implement them in earnest, adding simple measures such as sprinkling of water and dust screens are not followed. “Industrial pollution has always been there but it seems dust is playing a major role this time. As far as the weather factor is concerned, one can’t just blame it and do nothing,” said Abdulali, founder of the NGO Awaaz Foundation. In its budget for the year 2023-24, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — which identified road and construction dust, traffic congestion, industries, the power sector and waste burning as major contributors — announced a seven-step action plan to battle air pollution as part of a Clean Air Mumbai initiative. The measures include air purifiers at five crowded locations, implementation of measures to check dust pollution at construction sites and roadsides, sustainable and clean transport modes, waste control steps, urban greening, effective monitoring of air quality, and awareness campaigns etc. The BMC announced five more air quality monitoring stations. Mumbai has 20 active stations at present, which are not enough given the vastness of the city. No relief yet Prarthana Borah, director of CDP India, a not-for-profit that recommends how organisations can lessen their environmental impact, warned exposure to high levels of air pollution would lead to a variety of adverse health issues such as an increased risk of respiratory infections, heart diseases and even lung cancer. “Acknowledging the fact that air pollution affects several aspects of society and that addressing the problem benefits human health, the economy, ecosystems, and climate is the first step to tackle the issue,” Borah said. Dahiya also suggests the government should include sectoral emission load reduction targets to move towards better air quality levels. Though the situation is easing as of now with an increase in temperature, dust storms originating from the Thar Desert, border areas of Afghanistan and Gulf could start to haunt Mumbai and keep the AQI in poor shape, Beig warned. Mumbai’s air quality index (AQI) on February 16 was 199, which is considered moderate. Delhi, on the other hand, was 270 at poor. An AQI between zero and 50 is ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

• Director General Office

Joshimath: There will be more disasters, accept it

Each disaster has the same message: Learn to respect the mountains before you build tunnels, roads, and houses, notes Sunita Narain. The town of Joshimath, located at an altitude of 1,874 metres on the slopes of the Himalayas, is sinking. It is feared that not only this town but many settlements around could be in danger of being wiped out. People are being evacuated and governments are desperately looking for safe ground where they could be shifted temporarily. It is a human tragedy and is man-made. The fact is that the Himalayas are the world's youngest mountain ranges. This means that the slopes are unstable, built on moraine -- practically loose soil -- and so, prone to landslides and erosion. Combined with this is the fact that this region is in a highly seismic zone -- it is classified as the most earthquake-prone. Then there is the added factor of climate change, which is bringing more volatility because of unseasonal and extreme rain events. The bottom line is that this region is 'different' -- it is not the plains of India which are situated on alluvial soil; it is not the Indian peninsular region where there is hard rock; it is not even the slopes of the Alps, where mountains have aged. You will say this is kindergarten knowledge -- why do I need to tell you this? But I do, because we have completely lost the ability to plan keeping in mind the ecological uniqueness of the region. We have built mindlessly in the name of development. This is not to say that this region should not see roads, infrastructure, water, sewage, or housing. Rather, it is about the appropriateness of planning -- how these structures will be built, where and in what numbers -- and about ensuring that these plans are implemented. Take, for instance, the hydropower plants. There is concern -- of course, that is being furiously negated by dam engineers -- that the 520-Mw Tapovan-Vishnugad project is part of the reason for the soil collapse. In 2021, to this very date almost, the same area saw massive flash floods and landslides, which wiped out the Rishiganga hydropower project, killing some 200 people. Each disaster has the same message: Learn to respect the mountains before you build tunnels, roads, and houses. The fact is that this region has the ability to generate clean power from its mighty rivers. The question is, how many hydropower units should be built, and how the damage from these built projects can be minimised. This is where the faith of engineers is blind to the region's fragility. Or you could argue that they believe that all of nature is there to be dominated and re-engineered. I saw this first-hand when, in 2013, I was member of the high-level government committee to discuss these projects in the same region where this latest disaster has struck. The engineers had come up with a grand plan for some 9,000 Mw from 70-odd hydroelectric projects. According to their estimate (told with proud confidence), they would modify up to 80 per cent of the mighty Ganga and its tributaries in these moraine slopes through diversion in tunnels and then concrete structures and turbines for generating power. They told the committee they had 'planned' the projects so that the river would be left with some 10 per cent flow through the lean season. In this back-to-back project design, the river would be re-engineered to be a drain. This was their idea of development. The alternative I suggested, which, of course, was dismissed and relegated to a dissent note, was that the projects that had already been built should be redesigned by mimicking the river flow. This would mean that more energy would be generated when there was more water in the river and less during its lean times -- at all times, the river would flow and not be re-trained, as was their plan. We even showed, with the data that was provided by officials, that this would not result in loss of revenue for the projects. But it would mean that any future project would only come up if the river had excess water flow. It would mean many under-construction or proposed projects, including the Tapovan-Vishnugad plant, would be cancelled. This, of course, was not convenient to the dam proponents and I wrote then (and am repeating) that the engineers from the prestigious IIT-Roorkee manipulated data to convince the committee that all was well. Over this last decade virtually all the 70-odd projects are now being built, disaster or no disaster. So the issue on the table has to be our inability to use the knowledge for ensuring development that is ecologically appropriate and socially inclusive. Why is it that all the institutions set up to design projects -- and there are many located in this very region -- are unable to provide this technical advice? Is it because their 'science' has become so fossilised and arrogant that they cannot comprehend the 'nature' of their business? Or is it because policymaking has become so obstinate and obdurate that it refuses to entertain positions that are not in conformity with its chosen view? In this echo chamber there will be more disasters -- let's at least accept this. Sunita Narain is at the Centre for Science and Environment.

• Environment Education

Himachal adjudged best for 'green' efforts

The state has bagged the Best State Award and the GSP Gold Partner Award by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, under the Green School Programme (GSP). Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena said various activities were conducted to educate the students on the issue of environment conservation. OTHER WINNERS Solan has been selected for the Best District Award Govt Senior Secondary School, Himgiri, Chamba, has been adjudged best in the Land Section Award Two teachers from the state have also been selected for the GSP Ambassador Award The HP Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) as a nodal agency has established 3,000 eco-clubs in schools and 100 colleges under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme. It provides opportunities to the schoolchildren to redirect their consciousness and actions to create a more sustainable planet. Lalit Jain, programme in-charge, member secretary, HIMCOSTE, Lalit Jain will receive the awards at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on February 21. Innovative environmental projects such as rainwater harvesting development of herbal garden on the school campus, solid waste management (waste-to-wealth concept), beautification of the campus, setting up of science and environment model, demonstration lab for the conservation and protection of environment have been initiated in the eco-clubs. The council is also implementing plastic waste buy back scheme through 100 eco-club schools (ECS). Organising plantation campaigns through the ECS on the theme “Green Himachal Clean Himachal” has led to the plantation of about 26,106 plants of various species, said Lalit Jain.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi’s air most polluted of any capital city for fourth year in a row

Air pollution in Delhi, India’s capital and with upwards of 30 million people its largest urban agglomeration, continues to worsen. Each year it causes and aggravates debilitating, often fatal, conditions and illnesses among tens of thousands of people. Despite a brief respite from last July to September, Delhi’s air was found to be the foulest and most toxin-laced of any national capital in 2022 for the fourth year running. A measuring of Delhi’s air quality around 11 AM on February 7 of this year showed that Delhi’s Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 concentration was 171 micro grams per cubic meter, and the air quality index (AQI) was 223. Both figures are over five times above World Health Organization (WHO) recommended safe levels. PM 2.5 is used by scientists as the primary indicator of air pollution. It is a measure of the atmospheric concentration of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns or micrometres. AQI is composed of the particulate levels of eight pollutants of up to 10 microns, including sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and lead. Small solid airborne particles of less than 2.5 microns can travel deep into the respiratory system, causing severe respiratory and cardio-vascular problems. Exposure to Delhi’s poor quality air for even a short period of time can trigger heart attacks in people with cardiac problems, and wheezing, fatigue and other complications even among healthy people. PM 2.5 air pollution has caused an estimated 25,000 deaths in Delhi since the beginning of 2021. Poor air quality reportedly killed 6.67 million people around the world in 2019. 1.67 million people were killed in India alone, a grim figure surpassed only by China where 1.85 million people died due to air pollution, according to the “State of Global Air 2020” report released in October 2020. Despite the fact that on November 7, 2022, nearly all of Delhi's monitoring stations recorded air quality indexes of between 300 and 400, falling into the 'very poor' category at which “prolonged exposure” “may cause respiratory illnesses,” the authorities lifted all pollution controls. According to a recent report released by the University of Chicago in June 2022, individuals residing in Delhi could lose up to 10 years of life expectancy due to foul air. The World Air Quality Report released by Swiss organization IQAir in March 2022 found that 35 of the 50 cities in the world with the worst air quality are in India. No Indian city met the WHO’s safety air quality standards. Coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles are among the major sources of India’s air pollution. The problem worsens during winter, when northern cities, including the capital Delhi, are typically blanketed in choking smog. Indian authorities largely blame this health menace on the burning of crop stubble by poor farmers. This is a gross and wilful exaggeration. According to a study from March 2016 by Urban Emissions Info, all bio-mass combustion, including farmers’ activities, accounted for 20-35 percent of PM 2.5, while vehicular exhaust fumes, industrial emissions and construction activities accounted for 65 percent. There are methods to decompose paddy stubble without burning it, such as bio-decomposers or converting paddy stubble into fertilizers. Alternatively, it could be used for bio-mass energy generation and sustainable building construction. Rather than providing the necessary financing to implement such initiatives, the central and state governments spend their time blaming each other for the problem. Industrial and thermal power plants are a major contributor to air pollution in Delhi. Though coal usage in Delhi has been banned, only the large, regulated industries have shifted to natural gas. A recent study by the Delhi-based environmental research and advocacy think tank Centre for Science and Environment, entitled “Assessment of Industrial Air Pollution in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR),” showed that coal is still the most widely used fuel in the NCR. Around 1.4 million tons of coal are used by industry in the NCR annually. Faridabad, an industrial suburb of Delhi and part of the NCR, and neighbouring Ballabgarh reportedly house a total of 950 air polluting industrial units. If these industries were to develop or be provided with natural gas infrastructure, the use of coal could be stopped completely and air pollution, including green-house gas carbon emissions, significantly reduced. The same would be true if diesel generators, which are also a significant contributor to air pollution, were replaced by natural gas generators. However, since the provision of natural gas would require large-scale infrastructure investments, profit-oriented industries are resisting the conversion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” and Production Linked Incentive schemes are expected to catalyse a manufacturing boom across sectors from auto to consumer appliances. In the rush to attract investment, Indian authorities totally neglect the potential damage to the environment and human lives from profit-driven, unplanned and almost entirely unregulated industrialization. India’s far-right Bharatiya Janata Party government, like its Congress Party-led predecessor, pays lip service to the need to combat climate change and has even set aside funds to develop “green industries.” But the BJP and Indian ruling class are determined for both economic and geostrategic reasons to reduce India’s dependence on imported oil and natural gas, through a massive push to develop its abundant coal reserves—said to be the fourth largest in the world. The profit-oriented acceleration of coal mining and other polluting activities have been taking place with the blessing of the government, enabling billionaire tycoons such as Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani to profit handsomely. South Asia is home to the most polluted countries in the world. In addition to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan consistently rank among the five or ten countries with the foulest air, water and land worldwide. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia found air pollution to be the second most important risk factor for disease in India after malnutrition. More than 116,000 infants in India died within a month of birth in 2019 due to air pollution–outdoor and indoor–according to the “State of Global Air 2020” report. The report found that India had the highest burden of infant deaths due to air pollution, followed by Nigeria (67,900), Pakistan (56,500), Ethiopia (22,900), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1,200). According to a WHO assessment from 2018, 1.8 billion children worldwide–93 percent of all children under the age of 15–breathe air that is so filthy that it poses a major risk to their health and development every day. Air pollution-related acute lower respiratory infections claimed the lives of 600,000 children globally in 2016. In 2019, Bangladesh recorded the second-highest average PM 2.5 concentration in the world. A more recent study carried out between January and July 2021 found the average PM 2.5 was nearly 17 times the WHO limit and over four times Bangladesh’s permissible PM 2.5 benchmark of 65 micrograms per cubic metres of air. The air pollution generated by South Asia’s industries and cities spreads across the entire subcontinent, with blankets of smog simultaneously impacting Delhi, the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, and Pakistan’s Punjab province. Similarly, toxin-laden air hovers between Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal and Jharkhand. Air pollution can therefore only be dealt with on an international basis, but the rivalries between South Asia’s capitalist states makes any effective cooperation impossible. Rather than allocating much-needed resources to implement air pollution abatement measures to save millions of lives, the ruling elites in India and the other South Asian states have dismantled even the most minimal environmental safeguards in order to compete as the cheapest location for industrial investment. In India and South Asia as a whole, air pollution takes a much more severe toll on the health of the poorest and most vulnerable layers of the population. Wealthier people can more easily access technologies like air purifiers and can remain indoors on days with poor air quality. The impact of air pollution is therefore exacerbated by glaring levels of social inequality. In the same way that global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fight against the mounting attacks on democratic rights and the imperialist-instigated war in Ukraine are class issues, so too is environmental destruction. It is impossible to overcome the disastrous effects of air pollution, including greenhouse gasses, without the working class taking political power, putting an end to the profit system and reorganizing socioeconomic life on the basis of scientific planning and democratic control. Only socialist production that is not limited to a single nation-state, but coordinated across the entire planet, can solve the problem of the destruction of environments suitable for human habitation by profit-driven capitalism.

• Industrial Pollution

Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine

The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. SPECIALS Home / West Bengal Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. ByNiladry Sarkar|17 Feb, 2023 Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asias Largest Proposed Coal Mine As India's West Bengal state plans to begin operations in what could be Asia's largest coal mine, indigenous and Dalit people who face eviction are making people aware about the dirty fuel's role in the climate crisis. Representational photo of Itapara colliery in West Bardhaman district's Asansol. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. ADVERTISEMENT "We don't want any project. We are farmers and live a peaceful life here. The government is saying we will be rehabilitated but it will not provide us with land to grow crops. We are Adivasis [indigenous people] and we need land and forest to survive," 36-year-old Sumi told a group of seven-eight women who had gathered at her house when this correspondent visited. Sumi is a member of a group called Project Affected People's Association (PAPA). It describes itself as an "environmental organization working against the climate crisis and fighting for people affected by projects" and consists only of people from indigenous and Dalit communities. Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder. Born out of a movement against a private coal mine in West Bengal's West Bardhaman district in the late 1990s, PAPA has spread its wing across the Raniganj Coal Field (RCF) region, educating indigenous and poor people affected by coal projects about their rights and the impact of mining on their health and on the environment. It is now supporting the indigenous people who are opposing the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal mines. The region has witnessed large scale protest ever since the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), a company owned by the West Bengal state government, began its preliminary works following the allotment of the coal blocks to it by the Union government in December 2019. PAPA has been at the forefront of the resistance. Beside WBPDCL, in the initial stages, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, were also allocated chunks of the two coal mines to run thermal power plants in their respective states. With time, all other state-owned companies backed out of the project and the Government of India handed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks fully to West Bengal. The West Bengal government had initially planned to supply coal from the blocks to four thermal power plants in Murshidabad, Purulia and Birbhum districts. Even though it's not clear if more power plants in the state would be supplied from Deocha-Pachami as the state has been given ownership of the entire 2.1 billion tonnes of estimated coal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in June 2021 that the proposed mine would usher in a golden era for the state and West Bengal would not face scarcity of coal for the next 100 years. "At a time when the Indian government is aiming to cut emission intensity of our GDP by 45% by 2030, it is absurd that a state government has been allowed to begin working on the world's second largest coal mine when we all know what coal power plants do to our climate," said Swaraj Das, PAPA's general secretary. According to a 2020 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India's coal-based power plants generate 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, that is 1.1 gigatonne of CO2 every year. A third of India's GHG emissions and almost half of India's fuel-related CO2 emissions are also due to coal-fired power plants. The inability of existing coal-fired power plants in West Bengal to control pollution as found by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has only exacerbated PAPA's fears. CREA reported in December 2022 that not a single coal-based power station in West Bengal has installed sulphur dioxide emission control technology. More than 40% of West Bengal's coal-based power generation units have not even awarded contracts for installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) to eradicate sulphur compounds from exhaust emissions, CREA said. The remaining 60% have also failed to retrofit SO₂ control measures. We reached out to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board for its comments on CREA's claims. Public Relations Officer Arup Guchait had not responded to our phone call or our email by the time of publishing. We will update the story when he responds. Sumi claims to be among the women who were allegedly beaten by the police for resisting a pro-coal mine rally in Mohammedbazar in December 2021. For those who will be displaced if the coal mines become a reality, the West Bengal government's rehabilitation package includes a 700-square-foot house or Rs 7 lakh ($8,459), Rs 13 lakh ($15,710) per bigha (0.33 acre) and government jobs for landowners. PAPA, with 20 years of experience in struggling for resettlement and economic rehabilitation for affected people, is wary of government promises. A look back at its history PAPA came into being informally in 1996 when a group of indigenous and Dalit people came together to demand jobs for locals in a coal mine operated by Bengal EMTA Coal Mines Limited (BECML), a joint venture company of the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) and WBPDCL, in the then undivided Bardhaman district. Even though PAPA had failed to ensure jobs for locals in the Bengal EMTA mine, their experience came handy when the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned Integrated Coal Mining Limited (ICML) came to the area. At least 700 families lost land due to the project. But due to PAPA's struggle, one member from every family that lost land was given a permanent job at the ICML mine, while several others were also hired on a contractual basis. "We managed to get jobs for almost 300 people," recalled Swaraj Das. SPECIALS Home / West Bengal Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. ByNiladry Sarkar|17 Feb, 2023 Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asias Largest Proposed Coal Mine As India's West Bengal state plans to begin operations in what could be Asia's largest coal mine, indigenous and Dalit people who face eviction are making people aware about the dirty fuel's role in the climate crisis. Representational photo of Itapara colliery in West Bardhaman district's Asansol. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. ADVERTISEMENT "We don't want any project. We are farmers and live a peaceful life here. The government is saying we will be rehabilitated but it will not provide us with land to grow crops. We are Adivasis [indigenous people] and we need land and forest to survive," 36-year-old Sumi told a group of seven-eight women who had gathered at her house when this correspondent visited. Sumi is a member of a group called Project Affected People's Association (PAPA). It describes itself as an "environmental organization working against the climate crisis and fighting for people affected by projects" and consists only of people from indigenous and Dalit communities. Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder. Sumi Tudu (third from left among seated), and her neighbours, resist the proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine project. Born out of a movement against a private coal mine in West Bengal's West Bardhaman district in the late 1990s, PAPA has spread its wing across the Raniganj Coal Field (RCF) region, educating indigenous and poor people affected by coal projects about their rights and the impact of mining on their health and on the environment. It is now supporting the indigenous people who are opposing the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal mines. The region has witnessed large scale protest ever since the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), a company owned by the West Bengal state government, began its preliminary works following the allotment of the coal blocks to it by the Union government in December 2019. PAPA has been at the forefront of the resistance. Beside WBPDCL, in the initial stages, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, were also allocated chunks of the two coal mines to run thermal power plants in their respective states. With time, all other state-owned companies backed out of the project and the Government of India handed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks fully to West Bengal. The West Bengal government had initially planned to supply coal from the blocks to four thermal power plants in Murshidabad, Purulia and Birbhum districts. Even though it's not clear if more power plants in the state would be supplied from Deocha-Pachami as the state has been given ownership of the entire 2.1 billion tonnes of estimated coal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in June 2021 that the proposed mine would usher in a golden era for the state and West Bengal would not face scarcity of coal for the next 100 years. WBPDCL has started constructing a power station in the initial phases of its work in Deocha-Pachami. "At a time when the Indian government is aiming to cut emission intensity of our GDP by 45% by 2030, it is absurd that a state government has been allowed to begin working on the world's second largest coal mine when we all know what coal power plants do to our climate," said Swaraj Das, PAPA's general secretary. According to a 2020 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India's coal-based power plants generate 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, that is 1.1 gigatonne of CO2 every year. A third of India's GHG emissions and almost half of India's fuel-related CO2 emissions are also due to coal-fired power plants. The inability of existing coal-fired power plants in West Bengal to control pollution as found by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has only exacerbated PAPA's fears. CREA reported in December 2022 that not a single coal-based power station in West Bengal has installed sulphur dioxide emission control technology. More than 40% of West Bengal's coal-based power generation units have not even awarded contracts for installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) to eradicate sulphur compounds from exhaust emissions, CREA said. The remaining 60% have also failed to retrofit SO₂ control measures. We reached out to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board for its comments on CREA's claims. Public Relations Officer Arup Guchait had not responded to our phone call or our email by the time of publishing. We will update the story when he responds. Sumi claims to be among the women who were allegedly beaten by the police for resisting a pro-coal mine rally in Mohammedbazar in December 2021. For those who will be displaced if the coal mines become a reality, the West Bengal government's rehabilitation package includes a 700-square-foot house or Rs 7 lakh ($8,459), Rs 13 lakh ($15,710) per bigha (0.33 acre) and government jobs for landowners. PAPA, with 20 years of experience in struggling for resettlement and economic rehabilitation for affected people, is wary of government promises. A look back at its history PAPA came into being informally in 1996 when a group of indigenous and Dalit people came together to demand jobs for locals in a coal mine operated by Bengal EMTA Coal Mines Limited (BECML), a joint venture company of the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) and WBPDCL, in the then undivided Bardhaman district. Even though PAPA had failed to ensure jobs for locals in the Bengal EMTA mine, their experience came handy when the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned Integrated Coal Mining Limited (ICML) came to the area. At least 700 families lost land due to the project. But due to PAPA's struggle, one member from every family that lost land was given a permanent job at the ICML mine, while several others were also hired on a contractual basis. "We managed to get jobs for almost 300 people," recalled Swaraj Das. The RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned ICML coal mine in West Bardhaman district's Asansol area. Even though tribals form about 8.9% of India's total population, a 2014 report by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said among 2.55 million people who were displaced by mining projects in India between 1950 and 1998, 1.33 million--52.5%--were tribals. Only 25% of them were resettled by the government. Since 1973, CIL and its subsidiaries displaced 86,728 people, of which 14,487 were tribals. According to a 2021 paper jointly published by the Calcutta Research Group on Migration and Forced Migration, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, and several other institutions in India, more than a million people have been displaced in the Jharia-Raniganj coal belt of the Damodar valley, which straddles the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. "Eastern Coalfields had acquired about 30,000 acres of land in Jharkhand between 1980 and 1985, displacing more than 32,750 families, whereas only 11,901 displaced people could be offered jobs," the paper noted. It is due to this experience of mining companies that local communities fear and suspicion prevails over the government rehabilitation package in Deocha-Pachami. Swaraj Das claimed landless indigenous people have never benefited from rehabilitation and resettlement schemes. "While land losers [those who used to own land] get rehabilitated into dingy quarters far away from their homes and are given an underpaying job, most Dalits and tribals don't have proper documentation to claim ownership of lands they have tilled for generations," he explained. In case of loss of homestead, Coal India Limited has to, as per its rehabilitation and resettlement policy, pay cash compensation after valuation of the land and structure as per the method prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act of the concerned state government. Rs 3 lakh ($3,268) is also to be paid if CIL cannot provide an alternate location. Landless tribals, who are dependent on forest produce, are entitled to receive 500 days minimum agricultural wage and 25% higher rehabilitation and resettlement benefits if moved out to a separate district. However, landless tribals rarely receive those benefits. A 2017 paper by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, that studied West Bengal's largest coal producer, the Sonepur Bazari mine, found that tribals rarely construct pucca [brick and mortar] houses for themselves and the valuation of their kuccha [mud and thatch] houses amounts to little. "With no land rights and their livelihood snatched, landless tribals are left with a meagre sum at a faraway location from their home. Thus, begins a new challenge to restart a new life," explained Swaraj Das. Most of them do not even qualify for 500 days of minimum agricultural wage. They need to produce a tribal identity certificate issued by the local Sub-Divisional Officer. The NIRD&PR paper found 80% of tribals don't have that identity proof. Learning from the past, PAPA is now educating tribals in the bDeocha-Pachami region about the importance of tribal identity cards and patta (title deed) of their lands. The demand for land rights has taken centrestage. Maku Hasda, a landless indigenous woman and a member of PAPA for over two years now, fears her family will be on the street if the Deocha Pachami coal mine is turned into reality. "I have been demanding patta [title deed] for the small patch of land where I grow crops. Other than that, my family has this mud house. How much do you think this would fetch me?" she asked, while showing her home and cattle shed in Mohammedbazar CD Block's Dewanganj village. Local media reports suggested Birbhum district administration was distributing patta to people who have agreed to give away their land for the Deocha-Pachami mine. Birbhum Additional District Magistrate (Zilla Parishad) Koushik Sinha, who is overseeing the issuance of title deeds for the Deocha-Pachami project according to the District Magistrate's office, said he was not authorised to speak about the issue to the media. District Magistrate Bidhan Roy also refused to comment on why only landowners were being given title deeds when the demand for it was raised by landless tribals. No livelihood Even if she is offered the patta of her land, Hasda is not ready to leave her home for a new place. "How much money will we get? It would only be a lakh or so for one katha (about $1,200 for 1,361 square feet) as per the rate offered by the West Bengal government. We cannot buy another piece of land at that price. But the one we have now is an asset. After our death, our children would at least have something to work for." This is a fear shared by most Adivasis in Deocha Pachami. For forest dwellers, staying away from agriculture and forest lands turns their life upside down. Thirty-year-old Hasda has found a new voice with her association with PAPA. "The government doesn't care about our culture. We worship forest and despite knowing that, they are destroying it for a mine. Remains of our earlier generations are buried where they are planning to dig holes." Like Sumi Tudu, she was also among women who were allegedly beaten by the police for taking part in protest marches. She believes her activism with PAPA is a reason why her patta is not being granted, while it has been granted to hundreds in the region. "It can't be a coincidence that my husband [a daily wager] can't also find work anymore since I started working for the organisation," Hasda alleged. Her husband used to work in an illegal stone quarry, a major source of livelihood in the region. About 3,000 such workers are also entitled to compensation from the state government. She said PAPA made her and her neighbours aware about the importance of land rights and she said she wouldn't leave her village without resistance. Indigenous peoples, even if they don't resist a mining project, are subjected to occupational dispossession before physical eviction, said the 2017 paper by NIRD&PR. It noted, "The continuous processes of land acquisition have reduced the availability and quality of agricultural land." The paper further noted that mining authorities begin to convert uninhabitable lands first for mining, creating an "economically depressed area for the survival of the adivasis". The landless communities are thus indirectly forced to move to non-agriculture based sectors, mostly as daily wage labourers. "[Since landless tribals] are not absorbed in the formal mining sectors. The status of daily wage labourer [sic] remains the same, whereas a shift is found from agriculture-based sector to non-agriculture based sector." Substantiating the same, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs report noted, "[Landless indigenous people] who lost their livelihood due to acquisition of CPRs [common pool of resources] and forest land were probably not considered eligible for compensation." A similar situation could unfold in Deocha-Pachami as well. The Government of West Bengal has officially identified 3,010 families for rehabilitation so far. But local media reported in 2020 about allegations raised by locals that WBPDCL missed several households during its social impact assessment survey. Locals fear many people would be left out for compensation. The 2011 Census estimates the number of households in the marked 19 villages to be 4,400 with more than 21,000 people, including over 9,000 tribals. But with mining engulfing every other source of livelihood, locals--especially poor tribals and Dalits who fail to secure a formal job in mines for being landless--are forced to become part of the casual labour force involved in illegal mining activities flourishing across coal belts in India, explained Manik Bauri, one of the founding members of PAPA in West Bardhaman's Barabani. The NIRD&PR paper referred to coal belts as a "single industry region". Illegal coal trade and smuggling "A very tiny percentage of locals is formally inducted in coal mines here, while some are engaged in petty daily wage jobs under local contractors. As a result, most take refuge in the illegal coal mining sector. We don't have any other source of livelihood," said Manik Bauri. According to a 2019 media report, there are about 3,500 illegal coal mines in Asansol Raniganj area, employing about 35,000 people directly and another 40,000 indirectly. "The decline of common pool resources such as forests and grazing land in a mining region is directly responsible for unauthorized mining," wrote researcher Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt in her 2018 paper titled 'Unintended Collieries: Theorizing People and Resources in India'. "Generally, women or children collect coal from leftover soils that companies dig out for open cast mines. Some also cross fences to steal directly from mines. We then sell it to either middlemen or directly to buyers across Asansol," explained L. Soren in Itapara. Residents of the village have been deprived of all kinds of welfare measures and benefits under government schemes. Jamini Tudu, a neighbour of Soren, claimed villagers do not get work under MGNREGA despite having job cards, have not received cash compensation to build a house under the PM AWAS Yojana, and have not been provided with free gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme either. "The mine has destroyed our jungle and farmlands. Our place of worship is also gone. Our family is now dependent on stolen coal. If the company cannot resettle us and give rehabilitation, we are not moving anywhere," said Jamini. Tapu Bauri, a worker at the Itapara gram panchayat, said that most residents don't have their job cards and gas books linked with Aadhar. "We have been telling them to link their Aadhar cards with everything, but they don't listen to us. And what can I say about the Awas Yojana? Everyone knows what's happening across West Bengal," Bauri said, hinting at the alleged corruption in the housing scheme. Environmental degradation Professor Lahiri-Dutt wrote that other than the direct conversion of farm and agricultural lands, environmental decay due to mining has also resulted in cessation of agriculture activities in the region. Formal mines can at least be taken to the National Green Tribunal or any other court of law if any violation of environmental or forest laws is observed, said PAPA's Swaraj Das. "What can you say against stakeholders of the illegal coal trade? They can only be stopped by security forces." Legal or illegal, coal mining of any form starts damaging our ecosystem as the process of land acquisition begins, wrote Sribas Goswami, of Serampore College in West Bengal's Hooghly district, in a 2013 paper. Compensatory afforestation, which mining companies must undertake for converting forest lands into coal mines, does not help either as "no forest can be compensated in a year or two". "Damage to greenery results in more barren land, more erosion, and loss of surface water bodies by siltation, hence decrease in irrigation potential of the region which triggers the cycle of land degradation." In another paper, published in 2015, Goswami said unscientific cutting of shallow coal seams by illegal miners causes problems on the surface, massive dust and noise pollution and underground fires resulting in huge emission of noxious gases and burning of coal seams. Environmental degradation and ecological changes caused by coal mining are directly associated with the health and safety of people living along collieries and miners. They are subjected to extreme environmental hazards that aggravate the problem of ill health, Goswami wrote. "Majority of the children suffer from moderate malnutrition and are found to have vitamin and iron deficiencies in particular. Mining communities, who have inferior access to balanced diet, easily fall prey to the chain of malnutrition, poor health and weakness which make them prone to diseases." Another major threat posed by illegal mining is land subsidence. According to a World Map Forum paper, 43% of homes in the Raniganj coalfield area suffer cracks due to earth subsidence incidents. The philosophy of "More Coal, More Hole" has led to unscientific mining across the coal belt, resulting in land subsidence. When centuries-old abandoned and closed underground tunnels are exploited with unscientific mining operations of present days, land subsidence incidents occur, an IJRDO-Journal of Business Management paper, co-authored by former director (personnel) of CIL Anup Krishna Gupta with two Jadavpur University professors, noted. Instead of CIL's R&R policy, victims of land subsidence incidents are entitled to rehabilitation under a 'Master Plan' approved by the Government of India in 2009 on the direction of the Supreme Court. However, claiming benefits is easier said than done. PAPA is currently leading a movement to get about 150 families, including 50 indigenous households, in Andal CD Block in West Bardhaman district rehabilitated under the 'Master Plan' after a subsidence incident in 2020 destroyed their homes. With the aim to stop the perilous impact of mining on environment and pollution caused by it, PAPA is demanding 'No More Coal'. Apart from fighting for rights of people affected by mining projects, PAPA is now educating them about the effects of coal mining on climate and their health. "Adivasis are very protective of their forests. But due to lack of education, they are mostly unaware about a forest's geological importance. They experience pollution and scarcity of groundwater once a mining project starts but fail to associate them with the colliery," said Swaraj Das. "We are now trying to make them aware about climate change, effects of mining on their forest and farmlands and Indian laws about forest and environment. Having an idea about them would give them bargaining power and companies won't be able to brush them off." PAPA's efforts were visible when representatives from more than 30 villages across West Bardhaman district attended a meeting in Asansol town. Swaraj Das and other senior members of PAPA took note of the issues brought forth by visitors. PAPA has also found encouragement from like-minded organisations in the coal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The group now plans to file a case at the National Green Tribunal, demanding closure of all newly-announced coal mines and coal-based thermal plants. "We now have technology to generate power from green energy. The Government of India has invested in green hydrogen. PM Modi wants to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2070. Then what's the logic of announcing 99 new coal mines across India? They have to be stopped for the sake of our climate and for the sake of poor tribals and Dalits," Das said at the meeting.

• Industrial Pollution

Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine

The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. SPECIALS Home / West Bengal Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. ByNiladry Sarkar|17 Feb, 2023 Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asias Largest Proposed Coal Mine As India's West Bengal state plans to begin operations in what could be Asia's largest coal mine, indigenous and Dalit people who face eviction are making people aware about the dirty fuel's role in the climate crisis. Representational photo of Itapara colliery in West Bardhaman district's Asansol. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. ADVERTISEMENT "We don't want any project. We are farmers and live a peaceful life here. The government is saying we will be rehabilitated but it will not provide us with land to grow crops. We are Adivasis [indigenous people] and we need land and forest to survive," 36-year-old Sumi told a group of seven-eight women who had gathered at her house when this correspondent visited. Sumi is a member of a group called Project Affected People's Association (PAPA). It describes itself as an "environmental organization working against the climate crisis and fighting for people affected by projects" and consists only of people from indigenous and Dalit communities. Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder. Born out of a movement against a private coal mine in West Bengal's West Bardhaman district in the late 1990s, PAPA has spread its wing across the Raniganj Coal Field (RCF) region, educating indigenous and poor people affected by coal projects about their rights and the impact of mining on their health and on the environment. It is now supporting the indigenous people who are opposing the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal mines. The region has witnessed large scale protest ever since the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), a company owned by the West Bengal state government, began its preliminary works following the allotment of the coal blocks to it by the Union government in December 2019. PAPA has been at the forefront of the resistance. Beside WBPDCL, in the initial stages, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, were also allocated chunks of the two coal mines to run thermal power plants in their respective states. With time, all other state-owned companies backed out of the project and the Government of India handed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks fully to West Bengal. The West Bengal government had initially planned to supply coal from the blocks to four thermal power plants in Murshidabad, Purulia and Birbhum districts. Even though it's not clear if more power plants in the state would be supplied from Deocha-Pachami as the state has been given ownership of the entire 2.1 billion tonnes of estimated coal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in June 2021 that the proposed mine would usher in a golden era for the state and West Bengal would not face scarcity of coal for the next 100 years. "At a time when the Indian government is aiming to cut emission intensity of our GDP by 45% by 2030, it is absurd that a state government has been allowed to begin working on the world's second largest coal mine when we all know what coal power plants do to our climate," said Swaraj Das, PAPA's general secretary. According to a 2020 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India's coal-based power plants generate 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, that is 1.1 gigatonne of CO2 every year. A third of India's GHG emissions and almost half of India's fuel-related CO2 emissions are also due to coal-fired power plants. The inability of existing coal-fired power plants in West Bengal to control pollution as found by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has only exacerbated PAPA's fears. CREA reported in December 2022 that not a single coal-based power station in West Bengal has installed sulphur dioxide emission control technology. More than 40% of West Bengal's coal-based power generation units have not even awarded contracts for installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) to eradicate sulphur compounds from exhaust emissions, CREA said. The remaining 60% have also failed to retrofit SO₂ control measures. We reached out to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board for its comments on CREA's claims. Public Relations Officer Arup Guchait had not responded to our phone call or our email by the time of publishing. We will update the story when he responds. Sumi claims to be among the women who were allegedly beaten by the police for resisting a pro-coal mine rally in Mohammedbazar in December 2021. For those who will be displaced if the coal mines become a reality, the West Bengal government's rehabilitation package includes a 700-square-foot house or Rs 7 lakh ($8,459), Rs 13 lakh ($15,710) per bigha (0.33 acre) and government jobs for landowners. PAPA, with 20 years of experience in struggling for resettlement and economic rehabilitation for affected people, is wary of government promises. A look back at its history PAPA came into being informally in 1996 when a group of indigenous and Dalit people came together to demand jobs for locals in a coal mine operated by Bengal EMTA Coal Mines Limited (BECML), a joint venture company of the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) and WBPDCL, in the then undivided Bardhaman district. Even though PAPA had failed to ensure jobs for locals in the Bengal EMTA mine, their experience came handy when the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned Integrated Coal Mining Limited (ICML) came to the area. At least 700 families lost land due to the project. But due to PAPA's struggle, one member from every family that lost land was given a permanent job at the ICML mine, while several others were also hired on a contractual basis. "We managed to get jobs for almost 300 people," recalled Swaraj Das. SPECIALS Home / West Bengal Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asia's Largest Proposed Coal Mine The proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in West Bengal's Birbhum could be the world's second-largest coal mine but the local indigenous and lower caste population is protesting the mine for the impact it will have on the environment and on their rights over land. ByNiladry Sarkar|17 Feb, 2023 Indigenous Peoples Oppose Asias Largest Proposed Coal Mine As India's West Bengal state plans to begin operations in what could be Asia's largest coal mine, indigenous and Dalit people who face eviction are making people aware about the dirty fuel's role in the climate crisis. Representational photo of Itapara colliery in West Bardhaman district's Asansol. "If we ask Mamata Banerjee [Chief Minister of West Bengal] to leave her home, will she do it?" asked an agitated Sumi Tudu at a remote village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in eastern India. She is a resident of Kendapahari, one of the 19 villages that fall inside the area marked for the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks in Birbhum's Mohammedbazar CD Block. As per the Government of West Bengal, the two blocks, comprising 3,400 acres, contain 2,100 million tonnes of coal and once operational, they can together reportedly be Asia's largest and the world's second largest coal mine. ADVERTISEMENT "We don't want any project. We are farmers and live a peaceful life here. The government is saying we will be rehabilitated but it will not provide us with land to grow crops. We are Adivasis [indigenous people] and we need land and forest to survive," 36-year-old Sumi told a group of seven-eight women who had gathered at her house when this correspondent visited. Sumi is a member of a group called Project Affected People's Association (PAPA). It describes itself as an "environmental organization working against the climate crisis and fighting for people affected by projects" and consists only of people from indigenous and Dalit communities. Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder. Sumi Tudu (third from left among seated), and her neighbours, resist the proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine project. Born out of a movement against a private coal mine in West Bengal's West Bardhaman district in the late 1990s, PAPA has spread its wing across the Raniganj Coal Field (RCF) region, educating indigenous and poor people affected by coal projects about their rights and the impact of mining on their health and on the environment. It is now supporting the indigenous people who are opposing the proposed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal mines. The region has witnessed large scale protest ever since the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), a company owned by the West Bengal state government, began its preliminary works following the allotment of the coal blocks to it by the Union government in December 2019. PAPA has been at the forefront of the resistance. Beside WBPDCL, in the initial stages, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, were also allocated chunks of the two coal mines to run thermal power plants in their respective states. With time, all other state-owned companies backed out of the project and the Government of India handed Deocha-Pachami and Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal blocks fully to West Bengal. The West Bengal government had initially planned to supply coal from the blocks to four thermal power plants in Murshidabad, Purulia and Birbhum districts. Even though it's not clear if more power plants in the state would be supplied from Deocha-Pachami as the state has been given ownership of the entire 2.1 billion tonnes of estimated coal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in June 2021 that the proposed mine would usher in a golden era for the state and West Bengal would not face scarcity of coal for the next 100 years. WBPDCL has started constructing a power station in the initial phases of its work in Deocha-Pachami. "At a time when the Indian government is aiming to cut emission intensity of our GDP by 45% by 2030, it is absurd that a state government has been allowed to begin working on the world's second largest coal mine when we all know what coal power plants do to our climate," said Swaraj Das, PAPA's general secretary. According to a 2020 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India's coal-based power plants generate 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, that is 1.1 gigatonne of CO2 every year. A third of India's GHG emissions and almost half of India's fuel-related CO2 emissions are also due to coal-fired power plants. The inability of existing coal-fired power plants in West Bengal to control pollution as found by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has only exacerbated PAPA's fears. CREA reported in December 2022 that not a single coal-based power station in West Bengal has installed sulphur dioxide emission control technology. More than 40% of West Bengal's coal-based power generation units have not even awarded contracts for installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) to eradicate sulphur compounds from exhaust emissions, CREA said. The remaining 60% have also failed to retrofit SO₂ control measures. We reached out to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board for its comments on CREA's claims. Public Relations Officer Arup Guchait had not responded to our phone call or our email by the time of publishing. We will update the story when he responds. Sumi claims to be among the women who were allegedly beaten by the police for resisting a pro-coal mine rally in Mohammedbazar in December 2021. For those who will be displaced if the coal mines become a reality, the West Bengal government's rehabilitation package includes a 700-square-foot house or Rs 7 lakh ($8,459), Rs 13 lakh ($15,710) per bigha (0.33 acre) and government jobs for landowners. PAPA, with 20 years of experience in struggling for resettlement and economic rehabilitation for affected people, is wary of government promises. A look back at its history PAPA came into being informally in 1996 when a group of indigenous and Dalit people came together to demand jobs for locals in a coal mine operated by Bengal EMTA Coal Mines Limited (BECML), a joint venture company of the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) and WBPDCL, in the then undivided Bardhaman district. Even though PAPA had failed to ensure jobs for locals in the Bengal EMTA mine, their experience came handy when the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned Integrated Coal Mining Limited (ICML) came to the area. At least 700 families lost land due to the project. But due to PAPA's struggle, one member from every family that lost land was given a permanent job at the ICML mine, while several others were also hired on a contractual basis. "We managed to get jobs for almost 300 people," recalled Swaraj Das. The RP Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned ICML coal mine in West Bardhaman district's Asansol area. Even though tribals form about 8.9% of India's total population, a 2014 report by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said among 2.55 million people who were displaced by mining projects in India between 1950 and 1998, 1.33 million--52.5%--were tribals. Only 25% of them were resettled by the government. Since 1973, CIL and its subsidiaries displaced 86,728 people, of which 14,487 were tribals. According to a 2021 paper jointly published by the Calcutta Research Group on Migration and Forced Migration, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, and several other institutions in India, more than a million people have been displaced in the Jharia-Raniganj coal belt of the Damodar valley, which straddles the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. "Eastern Coalfields had acquired about 30,000 acres of land in Jharkhand between 1980 and 1985, displacing more than 32,750 families, whereas only 11,901 displaced people could be offered jobs," the paper noted. It is due to this experience of mining companies that local communities fear and suspicion prevails over the government rehabilitation package in Deocha-Pachami. Swaraj Das claimed landless indigenous people have never benefited from rehabilitation and resettlement schemes. "While land losers [those who used to own land] get rehabilitated into dingy quarters far away from their homes and are given an underpaying job, most Dalits and tribals don't have proper documentation to claim ownership of lands they have tilled for generations," he explained. In case of loss of homestead, Coal India Limited has to, as per its rehabilitation and resettlement policy, pay cash compensation after valuation of the land and structure as per the method prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act of the concerned state government. Rs 3 lakh ($3,268) is also to be paid if CIL cannot provide an alternate location. Landless tribals, who are dependent on forest produce, are entitled to receive 500 days minimum agricultural wage and 25% higher rehabilitation and resettlement benefits if moved out to a separate district. However, landless tribals rarely receive those benefits. A 2017 paper by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, that studied West Bengal's largest coal producer, the Sonepur Bazari mine, found that tribals rarely construct pucca [brick and mortar] houses for themselves and the valuation of their kuccha [mud and thatch] houses amounts to little. "With no land rights and their livelihood snatched, landless tribals are left with a meagre sum at a faraway location from their home. Thus, begins a new challenge to restart a new life," explained Swaraj Das. Most of them do not even qualify for 500 days of minimum agricultural wage. They need to produce a tribal identity certificate issued by the local Sub-Divisional Officer. The NIRD&PR paper found 80% of tribals don't have that identity proof. Learning from the past, PAPA is now educating tribals in the bDeocha-Pachami region about the importance of tribal identity cards and patta (title deed) of their lands. The demand for land rights has taken centrestage. Maku Hasda, a landless indigenous woman and a member of PAPA for over two years now, fears her family will be on the street if the Deocha Pachami coal mine is turned into reality. "I have been demanding patta [title deed] for the small patch of land where I grow crops. Other than that, my family has this mud house. How much do you think this would fetch me?" she asked, while showing her home and cattle shed in Mohammedbazar CD Block's Dewanganj village. Local media reports suggested Birbhum district administration was distributing patta to people who have agreed to give away their land for the Deocha-Pachami mine. Birbhum Additional District Magistrate (Zilla Parishad) Koushik Sinha, who is overseeing the issuance of title deeds for the Deocha-Pachami project according to the District Magistrate's office, said he was not authorised to speak about the issue to the media. District Magistrate Bidhan Roy also refused to comment on why only landowners were being given title deeds when the demand for it was raised by landless tribals. No livelihood Even if she is offered the patta of her land, Hasda is not ready to leave her home for a new place. "How much money will we get? It would only be a lakh or so for one katha (about $1,200 for 1,361 square feet) as per the rate offered by the West Bengal government. We cannot buy another piece of land at that price. But the one we have now is an asset. After our death, our children would at least have something to work for." This is a fear shared by most Adivasis in Deocha Pachami. For forest dwellers, staying away from agriculture and forest lands turns their life upside down. Thirty-year-old Hasda has found a new voice with her association with PAPA. "The government doesn't care about our culture. We worship forest and despite knowing that, they are destroying it for a mine. Remains of our earlier generations are buried where they are planning to dig holes." Like Sumi Tudu, she was also among women who were allegedly beaten by the police for taking part in protest marches. She believes her activism with PAPA is a reason why her patta is not being granted, while it has been granted to hundreds in the region. "It can't be a coincidence that my husband [a daily wager] can't also find work anymore since I started working for the organisation," Hasda alleged. Her husband used to work in an illegal stone quarry, a major source of livelihood in the region. About 3,000 such workers are also entitled to compensation from the state government. She said PAPA made her and her neighbours aware about the importance of land rights and she said she wouldn't leave her village without resistance. Indigenous peoples, even if they don't resist a mining project, are subjected to occupational dispossession before physical eviction, said the 2017 paper by NIRD&PR. It noted, "The continuous processes of land acquisition have reduced the availability and quality of agricultural land." The paper further noted that mining authorities begin to convert uninhabitable lands first for mining, creating an "economically depressed area for the survival of the adivasis". The landless communities are thus indirectly forced to move to non-agriculture based sectors, mostly as daily wage labourers. "[Since landless tribals] are not absorbed in the formal mining sectors. The status of daily wage labourer [sic] remains the same, whereas a shift is found from agriculture-based sector to non-agriculture based sector." Substantiating the same, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs report noted, "[Landless indigenous people] who lost their livelihood due to acquisition of CPRs [common pool of resources] and forest land were probably not considered eligible for compensation." A similar situation could unfold in Deocha-Pachami as well. The Government of West Bengal has officially identified 3,010 families for rehabilitation so far. But local media reported in 2020 about allegations raised by locals that WBPDCL missed several households during its social impact assessment survey. Locals fear many people would be left out for compensation. The 2011 Census estimates the number of households in the marked 19 villages to be 4,400 with more than 21,000 people, including over 9,000 tribals. But with mining engulfing every other source of livelihood, locals--especially poor tribals and Dalits who fail to secure a formal job in mines for being landless--are forced to become part of the casual labour force involved in illegal mining activities flourishing across coal belts in India, explained Manik Bauri, one of the founding members of PAPA in West Bardhaman's Barabani. The NIRD&PR paper referred to coal belts as a "single industry region". Illegal coal trade and smuggling "A very tiny percentage of locals is formally inducted in coal mines here, while some are engaged in petty daily wage jobs under local contractors. As a result, most take refuge in the illegal coal mining sector. We don't have any other source of livelihood," said Manik Bauri. According to a 2019 media report, there are about 3,500 illegal coal mines in Asansol Raniganj area, employing about 35,000 people directly and another 40,000 indirectly. "The decline of common pool resources such as forests and grazing land in a mining region is directly responsible for unauthorized mining," wrote researcher Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt in her 2018 paper titled 'Unintended Collieries: Theorizing People and Resources in India'. "Generally, women or children collect coal from leftover soils that companies dig out for open cast mines. Some also cross fences to steal directly from mines. We then sell it to either middlemen or directly to buyers across Asansol," explained L. Soren in Itapara. Residents of the village have been deprived of all kinds of welfare measures and benefits under government schemes. Jamini Tudu, a neighbour of Soren, claimed villagers do not get work under MGNREGA despite having job cards, have not received cash compensation to build a house under the PM AWAS Yojana, and have not been provided with free gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme either. "The mine has destroyed our jungle and farmlands. Our place of worship is also gone. Our family is now dependent on stolen coal. If the company cannot resettle us and give rehabilitation, we are not moving anywhere," said Jamini. Tapu Bauri, a worker at the Itapara gram panchayat, said that most residents don't have their job cards and gas books linked with Aadhar. "We have been telling them to link their Aadhar cards with everything, but they don't listen to us. And what can I say about the Awas Yojana? Everyone knows what's happening across West Bengal," Bauri said, hinting at the alleged corruption in the housing scheme. Environmental degradation Professor Lahiri-Dutt wrote that other than the direct conversion of farm and agricultural lands, environmental decay due to mining has also resulted in cessation of agriculture activities in the region. Formal mines can at least be taken to the National Green Tribunal or any other court of law if any violation of environmental or forest laws is observed, said PAPA's Swaraj Das. "What can you say against stakeholders of the illegal coal trade? They can only be stopped by security forces." Legal or illegal, coal mining of any form starts damaging our ecosystem as the process of land acquisition begins, wrote Sribas Goswami, of Serampore College in West Bengal's Hooghly district, in a 2013 paper. Compensatory afforestation, which mining companies must undertake for converting forest lands into coal mines, does not help either as "no forest can be compensated in a year or two". "Damage to greenery results in more barren land, more erosion, and loss of surface water bodies by siltation, hence decrease in irrigation potential of the region which triggers the cycle of land degradation." In another paper, published in 2015, Goswami said unscientific cutting of shallow coal seams by illegal miners causes problems on the surface, massive dust and noise pollution and underground fires resulting in huge emission of noxious gases and burning of coal seams. Environmental degradation and ecological changes caused by coal mining are directly associated with the health and safety of people living along collieries and miners. They are subjected to extreme environmental hazards that aggravate the problem of ill health, Goswami wrote. "Majority of the children suffer from moderate malnutrition and are found to have vitamin and iron deficiencies in particular. Mining communities, who have inferior access to balanced diet, easily fall prey to the chain of malnutrition, poor health and weakness which make them prone to diseases." Another major threat posed by illegal mining is land subsidence. According to a World Map Forum paper, 43% of homes in the Raniganj coalfield area suffer cracks due to earth subsidence incidents. The philosophy of "More Coal, More Hole" has led to unscientific mining across the coal belt, resulting in land subsidence. When centuries-old abandoned and closed underground tunnels are exploited with unscientific mining operations of present days, land subsidence incidents occur, an IJRDO-Journal of Business Management paper, co-authored by former director (personnel) of CIL Anup Krishna Gupta with two Jadavpur University professors, noted. Instead of CIL's R&R policy, victims of land subsidence incidents are entitled to rehabilitation under a 'Master Plan' approved by the Government of India in 2009 on the direction of the Supreme Court. However, claiming benefits is easier said than done. PAPA is currently leading a movement to get about 150 families, including 50 indigenous households, in Andal CD Block in West Bardhaman district rehabilitated under the 'Master Plan' after a subsidence incident in 2020 destroyed their homes. With the aim to stop the perilous impact of mining on environment and pollution caused by it, PAPA is demanding 'No More Coal'. Apart from fighting for rights of people affected by mining projects, PAPA is now educating them about the effects of coal mining on climate and their health. "Adivasis are very protective of their forests. But due to lack of education, they are mostly unaware about a forest's geological importance. They experience pollution and scarcity of groundwater once a mining project starts but fail to associate them with the colliery," said Swaraj Das. "We are now trying to make them aware about climate change, effects of mining on their forest and farmlands and Indian laws about forest and environment. Having an idea about them would give them bargaining power and companies won't be able to brush them off." PAPA's efforts were visible when representatives from more than 30 villages across West Bardhaman district attended a meeting in Asansol town. Swaraj Das and other senior members of PAPA took note of the issues brought forth by visitors. PAPA has also found encouragement from like-minded organisations in the coal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The group now plans to file a case at the National Green Tribunal, demanding closure of all newly-announced coal mines and coal-based thermal plants. "We now have technology to generate power from green energy. The Government of India has invested in green hydrogen. PM Modi wants to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2070. Then what's the logic of announcing 99 new coal mines across India? They have to be stopped for the sake of our climate and for the sake of poor tribals and Dalits," Das said at the meeting.

• Environment Education

PROGRAMMES UNDER THR PRIORITY OF HIMACHAL GOVERNMENT

20 schools selected for roof top solar power plants Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged with the Best State Award and Green School Programme (GSP) Gold Partner Award, to be conferred by prestigious organization Centre for Science & Environment, New Delhi under Green School Programme (GSP) on 21st of this month. Member Secretary, HIMCOSTE, Lalit Jain will receive the awards on behalf of the State Government at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The Best District Award is bagged by Solan and the best award in land section to GSSS Himgiri, Chamba in Salooni Sub-division. The two teachers from Himachal Pradesh are also being adjudged for GSP Ambassador Award. Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena informed here today that various steps were being taken to educate the students throughout the State for the conservation of the environment through multifarious environmental awareness activities. The Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment, (HIMCOSTE) has set up around 3000 Eco-Clubs in schools and in 100 Colleges of the State under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme. The main goal of the Eco-club programme is to provide opportunities for school children to redirect their consciousness and actions to create a more sustainable planet. To strengthen the environmental activities in the State, the HIMCOSTE is providing innovative ideas to the eco-club in schools and colleges. The eco-club schools have undertaken various activities like rainwater harvesting, roof top herbal gardens in school campus, solid waste management, beautification of the school campus, setting up of science and environment model demonstration labs for conservation & protection of environment etc. HIMCOSTE is also implementing Plastic Waste Buy Back Scheme through 100 Eco Club Schools of Himachal Pradesh. HIMCOSTE is also organizing afforestation drives on the theme "Ek Ped Mere School Ke Naam" through eco-clubs to achieve the objective of “Green Himachal, Clean Himachal”. The massive tree plantation campaign in the state has resulted in planting approximately 26,106 plants of various species which includes medicinal plants, flowers, fuel and fodder plants etc during the current financial year. In addition to this, the HIMCOSTE is also propagating the concept of energy conservation through installation of Roof Top Solar Power Plants in the eco-club schools. As many as 20 schools have been identified to install the Roof Top Solar Power Plant. =============================== SHIMLA -16th February, 2023 PIBOs must register themselves on EPR portal The Chairman, H.P. State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Sanjay Gupta reviewed the Status of Plastic Waste Management in the State here today. He said that the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022, aims to manage plastic packaging waste, which has become a major environmental concern in recent years, besides to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated and increase the recycling and disposal of plastic waste. The rules mandate the registration of Producers, Importers & Brand-Owners (PIBOs) and Plastic Waste Processors (PWPs) on the Extended Producer Responsibility Portal (EPR) developed by CPCB. It is mandatory for all PIBOs to register on the EPR portal. This registration process will involve providing details about the types and quantities of plastic products produced, imported or sold by an organization, as well as information about the measures taken to manage the same. This will help the Central and State Pollution Control Boards to keep track of the plastic waste generated by different organizations and monitor their efforts to manage it. It also mandates PIBOs to fulfill their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) targets, which are aimed at ensuring that Producers & Brand Owners take responsibility for the end-of-life management of their products. PIBOs are required to fulfill these targets, which may include measures such as collection, segregation, recycling, reuse and disposal of plastic waste. The Plastic waste processors shall submit annual returns after end of every financial year by 30th April, on the quantity of plastic waste processed category-wise on the EPR portal. The PIBOs shall file annual returns on the plastic packaging waste collected and processed by the 30th June of the fiscal year. It has been observed that there are approximately 800 Plastic Waste packaging units (comprising of Producers, Importers, Brand Owners and Recyclers) operational in the State. Out of 800 such units only 84 units have only applied on the EPR portal for obtaining the registration under the Rules. The Regional Officers of HPSPCB were directed to ensure that all such units are registered on the EPR portal as per norms at the earliest to ensure adherence to norms. He said that all PIBOs shall meet the targets by ensuring that their plastic packaging waste is collected, segregated and transported to Plastic Waste Processors by having agreement with Plastic Waste Processors. In case the plastic is being sent to other State recyclers, the PIBOs are required to provide complete details as for collection infrastructure and transportation details to SPCB. ===========================

• Environment Education

Eco-clubs sprout across Himachal, students part of environment drive

HIMCOSTE also undertakes rainwater harvesting, solid waste management and development of herbal gardens on school campuses. CHANDIGARH: As part of the National Green Corps (NGC), the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) has set up 3,000 eco-clubs in schools and 100 in colleges across the state. HIMCOSTE will now install rooftop solar power plants in 20 schools. HIMCOSTE also undertakes rainwater harvesting, solid waste management and the development of herbal gardens on school campuses. Himachal Pradesh has bagged the best state award for the Green School Program (GSP) given by the Centre for Science and Environment after audit submissions. Director Environment and programme in-charge Lalit Jain, a member secretary, HIMCOSTE, will receive this award on February 21. The state will also get the best award for the Solan district. Two teachers have also been selected for the GSP Ambassador award. Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Prabodh Saxena said the state government undertakes various environment-related and conservation activities to spread student awareness. The NGC under HIMCOSTE as a nodal agency targets schoolchildren to redirect their thoughts and actions to create a more sustainable planet. Through novel educational approaches and experiences, students are encouraged to delve deeper into environmental issues. HIMCOSTE provides innovative environmental projects to eco-club schools and colleges. These schools undertake various activities such as rainwater harvesting (rooftop or paved areas), development of herbal gardens, solid waste management, beautification of school campuses, setting up of science and environment model demonstration labs and any other innovative concept aimed at conservation and protection of the environment. HIMCOSTE is implementing a plastic waste buyback scheme through 100 eco-club schools. It also organises a plantation campaign every year with the concept of ‘Green Himachal Clean Himachal’. A tree plantation campaign has resulted in approximately 26,106 plants of various species being planted during the financial year.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

Study: IPCC asks emerging countries to drop coal faster than rich nations did

The scientists who plan out how to limit global warming to 1.5C have asked coal-reliant countries to phase out the fuel faster than is realistic, a new study says. The study published in the journal Nature found that a typical 1.5C energy transition model expects nations like China, India and South Africa to get off coal faster than any country has ever got off any energy source before. But these models ask for much slower reductions in oil and gas – fuels that tend to be produced and used more in wealthy countries. The study’s lead author Greg Muttitt told Climate Home that these models are amplified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) scientific reports and guide decision-makers’ policies across the world. “The models currently are asking so much more of India and South Africa than they are of Canada and France and that’s a problem”, he said. What are these models? To work out how to limit global warming to 1.5C, academics make integrated assessment models (Iams). They use formulas and spreadsheets to model factors like how much forest must be saved, how quickly cars must become electric and how fast use of different fossil fuels must drop. The IPCC takes these models and puts them in its regular reports, which are then signed-off by governments. With this stamp of approval from governments and scientists, the findings of these reports become benchmarks for decision-makers across the world. Muttitt, who worked with University College London-based modellers on the study, said that estimates tend to be based in rich nations and to therefore have subconscious biases. Modellers based in the UK, he said, will be aware of the factors limiting how fast polluting vehicles can be replaced with electric ones. “You will be more sensitised to that than you will the difficulties of closing down a coal power plant in India,” he adds. What do the models say about coal? Last year, the IPCC published a report based on the models, concluding that to limit global warming to 1.5C coal use should fall by nearly three-quarters between 2020 and 2030 while oil and gas use goes down by around a tenth. The modelled transition away from coal is even faster in the power system. The IPCC says coal use for electricity should fall 88% between 2020 and 2030. Muttitt’s study compared this scenario with previous rapid energy transitions like South Korea’s move away from oil after the 1973 Opec crisis and the USA’s transition away from coal during its 2010s boom in home-grown fracked gas, but results were not realistic. He found that, to reach an 88% fall, coal-reliant nations like China, India and South Africa would have to move off the fossil fuel twice as fast as the previous world records, relative to the size of their energy systems. “This raises questions about socio-political feasibility,” the study says. It adds that coal phase-out dates of 2030 for wealthy countries and 2050 for developing ones are better targets as they are “difficult but possible”. What limits the speed of coal phase-out? Coal tends to be dug up and burned for power in geographically concentrated areas, where the fuel happens to be abundant. The communities in these areas come to rely on coal for their local economy. Environmentalists in South Africa’s coal heartland told Climate Home recently that coal “is the backbone of our economy” and so, despite their concern for climate change, they were wary of a rushed, unfair transition away from the fuel. Avantika Goswami, the climate change lead at Indian think-tank the Centre for Science and Environment, said renewables must be paired with grid-scale battery storage and that “currently grid-scale battery storage can’t compete yet with coal-based power in terms of cost”. She added that, for developing countries, borrowing money to invest in renewables is more expensive than for richer nations. But Pieter de Pous, head of E3G’s fossil fuel transition programme, said that emerging economies could break previous records. “Lets not rule out the [Global] South being able to go faster than anyone thinks is conceivable”, he said. He said that Europe’s experience is there is no trade-off between a fast transition away from coal and a fair one. Spain and Portugal had phased coal out fast while looking after coal communities, he said. What do models say about oil and gas? If coal is phased out slower than the IPCC envisions then oil and gas will have to be phased out faster to meet the 1.5C target. Muttitt suggests oil and gas should be phased out 50% faster than the IPCC’s figures propose. This would place more responsibility on rich nations like the US and Europe. In particular, the use of oil to power cars, trucks and ships would have to fall particularly fast. “The pace of oil and gas phase out is very gentle in these models,” said Muttitt, “and it’s very gentle because a lot of the work of emissions reduction is done by phasing out coal”. Only a handful of nations have promised to stop producing oil and gas. At Cop27, a group of producers including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia blocked a commitment to phase out all fossil fuels. Why are models important? It’s hard to prove a link between these models and real-world decisions but climate policy, particulary in rich countries, has prioritised global reductions in coal use over oil and gas. In climate talks, coal has been singled out. As Cop26 hosts, the UK said the summit was about “coal, cars, cash and trees”. At the summit, governments committed to phasing down coal use but did not mention oil or gas. Many big and wealthy nations, multilateral development banks and private banks ended finance for overseas coal before they ended it for oil and gas. China, Japan and South Korea all announced in 2021 they would end support for overseas coal but have yet to extend this to oil and gas. Only a handful of nations have joined an initative, led by Denmark and Costa Rica, to end oil and gas production.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Early warning on bad air with stale data

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, which maintains the air quality early warning system (EWS) for forecasting pollution in Delhi-NCR, is likely to continue with the older emission inventory this year. According to IITM scientists, the emission inventory currently being used was last updated in 2018. Given the difficulty in updating the inventory every year, it is updated every five years. However due to lack of resources, there is no plan yet to have it updated in 2023 or in 2024. In 2018, the inventory was updated by The Energy and Resource Institute and Automotive Research Association of India. “The inventory seeks sources of polluting particles. It analyses the chemical composition and all possible sources where pollutants originate, such as from vehicular emissions, burning of chemicals, etc.,” said an IITM scientist who wished to remain unnamed. “The inventory is based on availability of data from different sources but we also identify new sources. Based on this, we use geographical reference information to analyse pollution.” The scientist said that the sources may have been updated, but the inventory has not. “This is important because forecasting pollution levels depends on the inventory,” said the scientist, who added that using different technical methods minimises errors in forecasting. The IITM scientist explained, “The inventory cannot be updated every year. It’s a tedious task that requires funds and over 200 students to go on field trips. We must update the inventory every five years given the way things are changing. But unfortunately so far we don’t have plans to update the inventory this year or next year.” EWS forecasts are crucial for civic authorities to impose pre-emptive pollution control measures under the Graded Response Action Plan. But another IITM scientist said, “There have been lots of changes in emission sources in the past five years, but the inventory hasn’t been updated.” The accuracy of EWS has been compromised a number of times due to outdated emission inventory. For instance, on February 7, while the EWS forecast air quality index (AQI) to remain ‘poor’ till February 9, the AQI actually improved to moderate the v very next day. Several such errors were noticed in November and December too, when the air quality was projected to be ‘very poor’, but turned out to be ‘severe’, forcing the authorities to impose restrictive measures based on the prevailing air quality. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “There is a need for periodic updating of the emission source inventory to better inform policy action and roadmap. We also need to understand how real time source inventory can also be leveraged to demand responsive action.”

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

बांस से बना एक अनोखा मेरापैड सैनिटरी नैपकिन- ग्रामीण महिलाओं के लिए पर्यावरण के अनुकूल एक स्वच्छ विकल्प

राजस्थान में कई ग्रामीण महिलाएं पर्यावरण के अनुकूल बांस से बने सैनिटरी नैपकिन की ओर रुख कर रही हैं. हर बार धोकर इस्तेमाल किए जाने वाले ये नैपकिन पांच साल तक चल सकते हैं. इन्हें जयपुर स्थित एक गैर-लाभकारी प्रवीण लता संस्थान द्वारा बनाया जा रहा है। एनजीओ ने महिलाओं को इन पैड्स की सिलाई और बिक्री का प्रशिक्षण भी दिया है। शबाना बानो अपने मासिक धर्म की शुरुआत से ही कपड़े का इस्तेमाल करती आ रही थीं। जब दो साल पहले उन्हें मेरापैड ऑफर किया गया, तो उनकी परेशानियां काफी कम हो गईं। सुरक्षित, आरामदायक और पर्यावरण के अनुकूल यह सैनिटरी नैपकिन बांस से बना है, जिसका 120 बार इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है और यह लगभग चार से पांच साल तक चलता है। अब 19 साल की बानो मेरापैड की एक रेगुलर यूजर हैं। जयपुर की रहने वाली बानो ने गाँव कनेक्शन से कहा, “मैं पिछले दो साल से मेरापैड का इस्तेमाल कर रही हूं। मैं उसके साथ बहुत सहज हूं। यह इस्तेमाल में सुविधाजनक भी है और किफायती भी।" दो पैड वाले एक पैक की कीमत 300 रुपये है, जबकि चार के पैक वाला मेरापैड 550 रुपये का पड़ता है। हर बार धोकर इस्तेमाल किया जाने वाला ये पैड पांच साल तक चल सकता है। जयपुर स्थित गैर-लाभकारी प्रवीण लता संस्थान के प्रयासों के कारण राजस्थान में कई ग्रामीण महिलाएं बांस से बने MeraPad सैनिटरी नैपकिन की ओर रुख कर रही हैं। यह न सिर्फ पर्यावरण के अनुकूल है बल्कि जेब पर भी ज्यादा असर नहीं डालता है। गैर-लाभकारी संस्था की संस्थापक और अध्यक्ष भारती सिंह चौहान ने गाँव कनेक्शन को बताया, "हमने स्किन और पर्यावरण के अनुकूल एवं किफायती सैनिटरी पैड बनाने के लिए कपड़े को लेकर काफी शोध किया है।" वह आगे कहती हैं, “हम मासिक धर्म स्वच्छता पर जागरूकता फैलाने का काम कर रहे हैं। अब तक मैं लगभग 13 लाख महिलाओं तक पहुंच चुकी हूं। उनसे बात कर रही हूं और उन्हें मासिक धर्म स्वच्छता के बारे में जागरूक कर रही हूं। मैं 2025 तक 25 लाख महिलाओं तक पहुंचना चाहती हूं।” दिसंबर 2012 में हुए भयानक निर्भया हादसे के बाद भारती सिंह महिलाओं की शिक्षा, उत्थान और सशक्तिकरण के लिए कुछ करना चाहती थीं और मेरापैड बदलाव की उस पहल का ही एक हिस्सा है। उन्होंने 2013 में इस गैर-लाभकारी संस्था की शुरुआत की थी। मेरापैड बांस चारकोल (पेटा वेगन द्वारा प्रमाणित और टीयूवी रीनलैंड के एंटी-बैक्टीरियल परीक्षण में सफल) से बना एक कपड़ा पैड है, जिसे आसानी से धोकर फिर से इस्तेमाल में लाया जाता है. चारकोल से बना कपड़ा प्राकृतिक रूप से बैक्टीरिया-प्रतिरोधी माना जाता है। चौहान ने बताया कि इसके लिए बांस का कोयला विदेशों से मंगाया जाता है, लेकिन उन्होंने इस बात का खुलासा नहीं किया कि यह किस देश से आता है। चौहान ने कहा, “हमने बार-बार धोकर फाइबर का परीक्षण किया और पाया कि यह 120 धुलाई तक अपना आकार और गुणवत्ता बनाए रखता है. इसमें सोखने की क्षमता भी बनी रहती है. हमने कपड़े पर स्याही से दाग लगाकर टेस्ट किया था. यह आसानी से साफ हो गया था.” रोजगार का जरिया ग्रामीण महिलाओं के लिए मासिक धर्म को सुरक्षित और स्वस्थ अनुभव बनाने के अलावा मेरापैड आजीविका के अवसर भी मुहैया करा रहा है। कोविड महामारी के दौरान एनजीओ ने ग्यारहवीं और बारहवीं कक्षा में पढ़ने वाली कई लड़कियों को सिलाई मशीन उपलब्ध कराई थीं। चौहान ने बताया, “उन्होंने घर बैठे मास्क और बैग के साथ-साथ पैड भी बनाए। इससे उन्हें कुछ पैसे कमाने का मौका मिला. ” वह आगे बताती हैं, “कटिंग, सिलाई और पैकिंग से लेकर पैड बनाने तक का सारा काम महिलाएं ही करती हैं। एनजीओ में लगभग 225 महिलाएं काम कर रही हैं.” बहुत सारे वोलियंटर्स ने भी इस गैर-लाभकारी संस्था के साथ काम किया है। उनके मुताबिक, 31 मार्च, 2022 तक 1,560 स्वयंसेवक एनजीओ से जुड़े थे, जिन्होंने मिलकर 45,000 घंटे से ज्यादा समय तक काम किया है। वह बताती हैं, "उन्होंने बिना किसी वेतन के काम किया. हमारे साथ इंटर्नशिप करने वालों को संगठन की तरफ से एक प्रमाण पत्र दिया गया है." एनजीओ में काम कर रही महिलाएं एक दिन में लगभग 100-125 पैड बना सकती हैं। हर महिला को एक पैड बनाने के लिए 10 रुपये और बेचने के लिए 15 रुपये दिए जाते हैं। गैर-लाभकारी संस्था की संस्थापक ने कहा, इसलिए औसतन महिलाएं रोजाना 400 रुपये से 1,200 रुपये के बीच कमा लेती हैं. जयपुर में रहने वाली शाइस्ता प्रवीन ने याद करते हुए कहा, “हमारा घर पूरी तरह से मेरे पति की उस कमाई पर निर्भर था जो उन्हें एक छोटी सी दुकान चलाने से होती थी। और जब महामारी आई तो दुकान को भी बंद करना पड़ा.” प्रवीन ने गाँव कनेक्शन को बताया, “हम अपनी जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए संघर्ष कर रहे थे. लेकिन जब मैं मेरापैड बनाने के उद्यम में शामिल हुई, तो मैंने कमाना शुरू कर दिया। इससे जुड़े लगभग तीन साल हो गए हैं। आज मैं हर महीने 12 हजार कमा लेती हूं और अपनी कमाई से पति का हाथ बंटा रही हूं." वह इन इको-फ्रेंडली पैड्स को बनाने के लिए दूसरी महिलाओं को भी ट्रेनिंग दे रही हैं। नीदा ने दसवीं के बाद स्कूल छोड़ दिया और गैर-लाभकारी संगठन में शामिल हो गईं। वह पिछले तीन सालों से संस्थान के साथ जुड़ी हुई हैं। जयपुर में रहने वाली 20 साल की नीदा ने गाँव कनेक्शन को बताया, "मैं एक दिन में 200 पैड बनाकर हर महीने लगभग दस हजार रुपये कमा लेती हूं।" अब वह अपनी कमाई से पांच लोगों के परिवार को चलाने में मदद कर रही हैं। चौहान ने कहा, “महामारी के दौरान हमने कपड़ा कारखानों की काफी शिद्दत से तलाश की थी ताकि उनके बचे हुए और उनके लिए बेकार हो चुके कपड़े से मास्क और पैड रखने के लिए पाउच बनाए जा सकें।” मेरापैड को राजस्थान राज्य सरकार की ओर से आयोजित जयपुर DigiFest 2022 में प्रदर्शित किया गया था। यहीं से उद्यम के बारे में लोगों को पता चला. शुरुआत कैसे हुई चौहान को इको-फ्रेंडली सैनेटरी पैड बनाने का विचार लाली, आमेर, रामगढ़, चोमू आदि ग्रामीण सरकारी स्कूलों के साथ काम करने के दौरान आया। वह कई स्कूल समितियों की सदस्य भी थीं। उन्होंने कहा, “मैंने देखा कि आठवीं क्लास के बाद लड़कियों की स्कूल ड्रॉपआउट दर बढ़ रही है.” जब चौहान ने कई छात्राओं से पूछा कि वे पढ़ाई क्यों छोड़ रही हैं, तो उन्हें पता चला कि इसका एक मुख्य कारण मेन्सट्रुएशन है। चौहान ने समझाते हुए कहा, “लड़कियां अपने मासिक धर्म के दिनों में स्कूल जाने में असहज महसूस करती हैं। इसके साथ मासिक धर्म से जुड़ी बहुत सी निराधार मान्यताएं भी थीं। उन दिनों लड़कियों को 'अशुद्ध' या 'गंदा' समझा जाता है। ग्रामीणों का मानना है कि अगर लड़की को पहली बार मासिक धर्म अपने माता-पिता के घर पर हुआ है, तो उसका दूसरा मासिक धर्म उसके ससुराल में होना चाहिए। मतलब उसकी तुरंत शादी कर दी जानी चाहिए।” मेंस्ट्रुएशन को लेकर मिथकों और गलत धारणाओं को दूर करने में समय लगेगा, लेकिन चौहान ने महसूस किया कि लड़कियों को इस दौरान कम से कम सहज महसूस कराने का प्रयास तो किया ही जा सकता है। 2017 में राजस्थान राज्य सरकार ने सरकारी स्कूलों को मुफ्त सैनिटरी पैड वितरित करना शुरू किया। लेकिन जिन लोगों से सैनिटरी पैड के इस्तेमाल की उम्मीद की जा रही थी, उनकी ओर से कुछ विरोध भी सामने आया. उन्होंने कपड़े का इस्तेमाल करना पसंद किया क्योंकि यह उनके लिए अधिक आसानी से उपलब्ध था। मुफ्त सैनिटरी पैड का निपटान करना एक समस्या थी। हाल ही में दिल्ली स्थित गैर-लाभकारी टॉक्सिक्स लिंक ने मैंल्सट्रुअल वेस्ट 2022 नामक एक रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित की थी। रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि भारत में बनने वाले डिस्पोजेबल सैनिटरी नैपकिन में काफी रसायन (फाथलेट्स और अन्य वाष्पशील कार्बनिक यौगिक) पाए गए हैं, जिनमें से कुछ कार्सिनोजेनिक हैं और प्रजनन स्वास्थ्य को प्रभावित करने और अन्य बीमारियों का कारण बनने की क्षमता रखते हैं। नॉन -बायोडिग्रेडेबल डिस्पोजल सेनेटरी पैड वैसे भी पर्यावरण के लिए नुकसानदायक है। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की 2022 में प्रकाशित सेनेटरी वेस्ट मैनेजमेंट: चैलेंजेज एंड एजेंडा शीर्षक वाली एक रिपोर्ट से पता चला है कि सैनिटरी पैड और डायपर से हर दिन 925 टन कचरा पैदा होता है। एक वर्ष में यह लगभग 337,000 टन कचरे की मात्रा है। अकेले जयपुर जिले में सितंबर 2022 तक, राजस्थान सरकार ने अपनी उड़ान योजना के जरिए 22,835,744 डिस्पोजेबल सैनिटरी नैपकिन वितरित किए हैं। नियमित कपड़े का उपयोग करना भी सेहत के लिहाज से ठीक नहीं रहा है। कई बार कपड़े को ठीक से न धोने से बैक्टीरियल इंफेक्शन हो जाता है। इसके अलावा, पहले जहां सूती कपड़े का इस्तेमाल किया जाता था, अब महिलाएं मिक्स धागे से बने कपड़े का इस्तेमाल करने लगी हैं, जो त्वचा के लिए ठीक नहीं है। इसके अलावा कपड़े के इस्तेमाल के साथ एक और समस्या है. एक बार कपड़े धोने के बाद महिलाओं को उन्हें खुली धूप में सुखाने में शर्मिंदगी महसूस होती है, क्योंकि खून के धब्बे कभी भी पूरी तरह से नहीं जाते। कपड़ा सीलन भरे अंधेरे कमरे में लटका रहता है, जो हानिकारक बैक्टीरिया के लिए प्रजनन का आधार बन जाता है। इन सब को देखते हुए चौहान ने महिलाओं के लिए एक बेहतर स्वस्थ विकल्प खोजना शुरू कर दिया और इसका जवाब मेरापैड के रूप में उनके सामने आया। चौहान ने याद करते हुए बताया, “एक तरह से महामारी हमारे लिए अच्छी साबित हुई. क्योंकि सभी कुछ बंद था। महिलाओं को सैनिटरी पैड नहीं मिल पा रहा था। हम ऑनलाइन गए और लोगों को मेरापैड के बारे में पता चला। हमें तब काफी ऑर्डर मिले थे।” चौहान ने गर्व के साथ कहा, “हमने गिव इंडिया और डोनेट कार्ट जैसे पोर्टल्स के जरिए हजारों पैड वितरित किए। जब महिलाओं ने उनका इस्तेमाल किया, तो उन्होंने दूसरो को भी इसे इस्तेमाल करने की सलाह दी. 31 मार्च, 2022 तक 1,96,931 महिलाओं ने हमारे पैड का इस्तेमाल किया था।” तितलम प्रोजेक्ट मेरा पैड की मार्केटिंग तितलम प्रोजेक्ट के तहत की जा रही है। चौहान ने समझाया, "तितलम का अर्थ है एक ऐसा व्यक्ति जो अपना भाग्य खुद बना सकता है।" मेरा पैड www.merapad.org पर ऑनलाइन भी उपलब्ध है। तितलम योजना राजस्थान के पांच गांवों में चल रही है। चौहान को उम्मीद है कि 2024-25 तक यह योजना 50 गाँवों तक पहुंच जाएगी। पैड बनाने के अलावा, इस योजना में पशु प्रजनन, जैविक खेती, हस्तनिर्मित उत्पाद बनाने आदि का प्रशिक्षण भी शामिल है। प्रत्येक कार्यक्रम में प्रत्येक गांव में एक महिला को प्रशिक्षित किया जाएगा। चौहान ने कहा, "यह वो महिलाएं होंगी जो अन्य महिलाओं के बीच शिक्षा, कौशल और जागरूकता का प्रसार करेंगी।" गैर-लाभकारी प्रवीण लता संस्थान के मुताबिक 31 मार्च, 2022 तक मेरापैड के इस्तेमाल से 1,785 टन सैनिटरी पैड प्लास्टिक को लैंडफिल तक पहुंचने से बचाया गया है।

• Industrial Pollution

सभी सरकारें सांठगांठ वाले पूंजीवाद को देती हैं प्रश्रय

राजनीतिक विचारधारा के आधार पर ही अदाणी मामले को लेकर अलग-अलग लोगों में गुस्सा, खुशी, व्याकुलता और शर्मिंदगी जैसे अलग-अलग भाव देखने को मिले। राहुल गांधी को भी एक सहज मुद्दा मिल गया जिसके आधार पर वह भारत जोड़ो यात्रा के दौरान बनी अपनी छवि को मजबूत कर सकते थे। उन्होंने यह सुनि​श्चित किया कि यह मुद्दा संसद में भी बहस के केंद्र में बना रहे। उन्होंने एक ऐसे कारोबारी समूह के साथ रिश्तों को लेकर सरकार से जवाब मांगा जो राष्ट्रीय जनतांत्रिक गठबंधन (राजग) सरकार के गठन के बाद तेजी से ​शिखर पर पहुंचा है। गांधी यह सोच सकते हैं कि राजनीतिक दृ​ष्टि से उनके हाथ एक सही मुद्दा लगा है लेकिन वास्तव में वह विरोध करने की ​स्थिति में नहीं है। केंद्र या राज्य स्तर की कोई भी सरकार और न ही कोई नियामक यह दावा कर सकता है कि वह कारोबार और राजनीति के गठजोड़ के मामलों में पूरी तरह परहेज बरतता है। हिंडनबर्ग रिपोर्ट और उसे लेकर नियामकीय स्तर पर निरंतर बरती जा रही सहिष्णुता इस बात को रेखांकित करती है। गौतम अदाणी की दंतकथाओं सी ताकत और संप​त्ति को लेकर विशुद्ध आकर्षण या फिर हिंडनबर्ग रिपोर्ट में रेखांकित की गई समस्याओं से परे देखें तो हम पाएंगे कि हमारे देश में आ​र्थिक गतिवि​धियों पर सरकार के अतिशय नियंत्रण की समस्या और इससे निपट पाने में नियामकों की कमी एक जाहिर सी बात है। यह बात ध्यान देने लायक है कि अदाणी के कारोबार की वृद्धि उन क्षेत्रों में अ​धिक हुई है जहां सरकारी नीतियों की अहम भूमिका होती है। बंदरगाह, हवाई अड्डे, बिजली, हरित ऊर्जा आदि ऐसे ही क्षेत्र हैं। साथ ही ये वे क्षेत्र हैं जहां उसकी मुख्य प्रतिस्पर्धा सरकारी क्षेत्र से रही है। आईटी, उपभोक्ता वस्तुओं और वाहन क्षेत्र जैसे अपवादों को छोड़ दिया जाए तो भारत में बड़े कारोबार उन्हीं क्षेत्रों में फलते-फूलते हैं जहां केंद्र, राज्य या स्थानीय सरकारें भारी हस्तक्षेप करने की भूमिका में रहती हैं। गांधी शायद भूल गए हों लेकिन 13 वर्ष पहले दूरसंचार क्षेत्र के चलते ही कांग्रेसनीत संयुक्त प्रगतिशील गठबंधन (संप्रग) के पतन की शुरुआत हुई थी। हालांकि इस मामले में प्रमुख दोष एक गठबंधन साझेदार का था। उस मामले में तत्कालीन नियंत्रक एवं महालेखा परीक्षक की भूमिका ने भी घटनाक्रम को कुछ ज्यादा ही बड़ा बना दिया था। ऐसा इसलिए हुआ कि उसके पहले लंबे समय तक दूरसंचार लाइसेंस आवंटन को लेकर एक अपारदर्शी प्रक्रिया अपनाई गई जिसके चलते चुनिंदा कारोबारी ही आवेदन कर सके। यह प्रक्रिया पहले आओ, पहले पाओ की नीति पर आधारित थी और एक असाधारण घटनाक्रम में अवांछित आवेदकों को सीधे रोका जा सकता था। उस स्कैंडल में जिन तमाम राजनेताओं का नाम आया था वे 2017 में एक असाधारण तकनीकी पहलू की बदौलत रिहा हो गए और यह उस मामले का इकलौता अस्वाभाविक पक्ष था। सर्वोच्च न्यायालय ने उन सभी आवंटित लाइसेंस को निरस्त कर दिया और इस फैसले के चलते यह उद्योग दशकों पीछे चला गया। इस पूरी गड़बड़ी में इकलौता सकारात्मक निष्कर्ष यह निकला कि आवंटन करने वाली नीतियों की जगह नीलामी को दूरसंचार और कोयला क्षेत्र का मानक बना दिया गया। सीएजी ने उसी समय कोयला क्षेत्र को लेकर भी ऐसे ही खुलासे किए थे। ये तमाम मामले खबरों की सु​र्खियों में रहने वाले थे और इन्होंने ही एक सरकार के उदय और उसके पराभव की पटकथा लिखी। लेकिन सार्वजनिक परिदृश्य के परे काम कर रहा कोई भी छोटा या मझोला कारोबारी समूह इस बात की पु​ष्टि करेगा कि स्थानीय सांसद, विधायक या विधान परिषद सदस्य के साथ सांठगांठ का स्तर ही किसी कारोबार का होना या न होना तय करता है। कठोर नियम और नियमन को कारोबारी उद्देश्यों के लिए राजनीतिक संरक्षण पाने की को​शिश की वैध वजह माना जाता है। विनिर्माण कारोबार जो लंबे समय भारत का सबसे बड़ा और तेजी से बढ़ता हुआ नियोक्ता क्षेत्र था, वह उस सांठगांठ का ठोस उदाहरण है जो हमारे रोजमर्रा के जीवन को प्रभावित करता है: रेत माफिया जो अत्य​धिक तेज गति से हमारे पर्यावरण को नष्ट कर रहे हैं, वे बिना स्थानीय राजनीतिक संरक्षण के कभी नहीं पनपते। इसी प्रकार श्रम कानूनों का खुला उल्लंघन भी संभव नहीं था जो लाखों प्रवासी श्रमिकों को हमेशा मु​श्किल में डाले रखता है। ऐसे उल्लंघनों को उजागर करने वाले पत्रकारों की जान भी हमेशा जो​खिम में रहती है। नि​श्चित तौर पर यह बात ध्यान देने लायक है कि हिंडनबर्ग रिपोर्ट के उजागर होने से कुछ दिन पहले अदाणी देश में सकारात्मक वजहों से सु​र्खियों में नहीं थे लेकिन देश में जिस प्रकार उच्चतम स्तर पर सांठगांठ को स्वीकार्यता मिली है उसका अर्थ यही है कि उन्हें उससे ज्यादा हासिल हो चुका है जितनी कि उन्हें आलोचना झेलनी पड़ी। उदाहरण के लिए हमें पता है कि अदाणी को अपने विशालकाय सेज के लिए अन्य कारोबारियों की तुलना में काफी सस्ती दर पर जमीन मिली। या फिर यह कि सीएजी ने गुजरात सरकार द्वारा अदाणी बंदरगाह के ​कई शुल्क माफ कर उसे अनावश्यक लाभ पहुंचाने की बात कही। उदाहरण के लिए 2014 में सवाल उठे थे कि सरकार के स्वामित्व वाले स्टेट बैंक ने ऑस्ट्रेलिया के विवादित खनन सौदे में अदाणी समूह के साथ समझौता क्यों किया, लेकिन इन सवालों के जवाब नहीं दिए गए। 2016 में सुनीता नारायण के नेतृत्व वाली एक समिति की रिपोर्ट के बाद खबर आई कि सरकार ने मुंद्रा बंदरगाह परियोजना मामले में पर्यावरण उल्लंघन के मामले में 200 करोड़ रुपये का जुर्माना माफ किया है। जब अदाणी समूह को छह हवाई अड्डे सौंपे गए तो नीति आयोग और वित्त मंत्रालय दोनों ने वित्तीय जो​खिम और प्रदर्शन को लेकर सवाल उठाए। आश्चर्य की बात है कि किसी सांसद ने इन मसलों को संसद में नहीं उठाया। अब अदाणी समूह क्षति को कम करने के लिए समय से पहले कर्ज चुकाने और बॉन्ड को दोबारा मोल लेने जैसे कदम उठा रहा है। गौतम अदाणी की नरेंद्र मोदी के साथ करीबी अब सार्वजनिक चर्चा में है और वह मोदी की ईमानदारी की छवि को नुकसान पहुंचा सकती है। इसमें कुछ कमी आ सकती है लेकिन इस बात में संदेह ही है कि देश के आ​र्थिक ढांचे में रच बस चुकी सांठगांठ का निकट भविष्य में खात्मा होगा।

• Sustainable Habitat

National conference on livability organized at GND University

AMRITSAR: A two day national Conference on ‘ Livability in Cities: Focus on Cooling Action’ was held as a collaboratory initiative between Centre of Science and Environment, New Delhi and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Welcoming the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour, Prof. S.S. Behl and Er. Krunesh Garg, Chief Environmental Engineer, PPCB, Jalandhar, Mr. Rajneesh Sareen, Programme Director, Sustainable Habitat Programme, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, key note speakers and delegates, Prof Ashwani Luthra mentioned that the School was privileged to have their presence and the initiative would ensure fruitful deliberations and emergence of inputs for upgrading syllabi as also inform city level decision making for enhancing livability across Indian cities. Delivering the key note address, Mr Rajneesh Sareen highlighted that the lack of climate-responsive planning and design had caused poor urban livability and the master plans and building bye-laws needed to be amended to include these factors as a part of cooling strategy. Er. Krunesh Garg emphasized that the impact on environment in our cities was enormous, green areas have been replaced by concretization and political will was thereby prime to deal with such mammoth problems. The presidential address was delivered by Prof Sarabjot Singh Behl, Dean Academic Affairs articulated his concerns about social and environmental complexities and the need to adopt simple but extremely effective interventions and retrofitting as possible solution to the urban chaos. The inaugural address was followed by three technical sessions, the first session was steered by the CSE team with experts, MrSugeet Grover, Dr. Nimish Gupta and Ms. Mitashi Singh decoding the urban structure through talks on cities and climate change, understanding the drivers of heat gains and impact of urban structure on heat gain. The second technical session focused on urban metabolism with talks by Mr. Shailendra Kaushik, co- founder Cities Forum, London, Ms Annanya Das and MsMitashi Singh from CSE. The discussion centred on green mobility and assessibility specifically in relation to low income settlements. The third session was themed on Urban Cover wherein Dr Ritu Raj Kaur elaborated upon the greening strategies in GNDU campus and Mr. Sugeet Grover from CSE deliberated on cooling in buildings through passive potentials. Two panel discussions were also held in which several experts and practitioners shared their knowledge and experience to develop a cooling strategy and draw a roadmap for its implementation. Amongst those who participated were Dr. Kulwant Singh, Chief Executive Officer, 3 R Foundation, N.Delhi, Mr Pankaj Bawa, CTP, Punjab, Mr. PP Singh, CTP, Haryana, Prof. Manjit Singh, former President ISPER, Panchkula and Dr, Harjinder Singh (Ace Planning) Victoria, Australia. The conference was well attended by a delegation of Town Planners from Punjab and Haryana, officials of the PPCB, student and faculty delegates from Lovely University, Jalandhar, Department of Environment and Botanical Sciences and Guru Ramdas School of Planning. Overall, the conference was attended by about 120 persons from the field of planning and architecture and was concluded with a panel discussion and interaction with the participants. On this occasion, two CSE publications titled ‘Mass Housing and Liveability: Mapping of the Ground Reality’ and ‘How Accessible are Low-income Settlements?’ were released. These reports bring forward the issues of accessibility and liveability in cities and strategies needed to improve it.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi expected to get 100 more electric buses by April

The national capital is expected to get 100 more air-conditioned low-floor electric buses by the April end which will take the number of such vehicles in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)’s fleet to 400 as part of efforts to promote noise and pollution-free transportation, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. Transport department officials last week inspected the prototypes of the buses manufactured in Karnataka’s Dharwad. Transport commissioner Ashish Kundra said five of the buses from the manufacturing site have been sent for testing by Pune’s Automotive Research Association of India. “After the tests are over, the supply of the first batch of 100 buses is likely to start.” He said it will be the first batch of the 1,500 buses, which will be added to the fleet by the year-end. “We have 300 electric buses among [DTC’s 7,200-fleet] in operation. Delhi is stepping towards noise and pollution-free electric mobility which is also important in improving the air quality in the city,” said Kundra. Another official said the buses will be operational as Delhi hosts the intergovernmental forum G-20’s meetings this year. India assumed the forum’s presidency in December. It will host G20 leaders and 200 meetings related to 32 sectors across the country this year. The buses will be disabled-friendly and have features such as GPS, panic button, CCTV cameras, live tracking, and seats reserved for women, said a third official. In 2021, the Delhi government decided to only procure electric buses. It seeks to increase the strength of its fleet to 11,000 and to ensure that 80% of all public buses are electric by 2025-26 as part of plans to cut down pollution levels. Vehicular emissions contributed around 9% of the PM10 load and around 20% of the PM2.5 load in Delhi, according to a 2016 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur study. When inhaled, particulate matter or PM can cause serious health problems. The government also aims to phase out CNG buses. DTC switched over to CNG-run buses from diesel vehicles in April 2002, following a 1998 Supreme Court order. No vehicle over 15 years old can operate in the national capital. The Delhi government in December signed an agreement with a Tata Motors subsidiary for adding 1,500 electric buses to DTC’s fleet in one go. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said under chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership, Delhi has been a front-runner in adding electric buses to its public bus fleet. “It is also part of the Delhi government’s plan to reduce air pollution and the results are also showing. We are progressing towards our mission of having 80% electric buses in the public bus fleet by 2025.” Centre for Science and Environment executive director (research and advocacy) Anumita Roychowdhury called the addition of electric buses to the public transport fleet very important as it will contribute towards zero emissions mass mobility. “Since many people use public transport, electric buses will reduce energy intensity for public transportation and will reduce exposure to toxic pollution. It is an important step towards improving air quality.”

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Kolkata registered a record 34,000 cars in 2022, experts flag pollution fears

KOLKATA: With as many as 34,863 new vehicles registered in 2022, last year saw the highest-ever vehicular growth in Kolkata. The boom, according to experts, is both good and bad: while it brought in record revenue earnings, the fact that the growth was driven mostly by private vehicles, mostly run on fossil fuel, means the city is set to get more congested and polluted. Track the pollution level in your city Before this, the public vehicles department (PVD) saw the most registrations in 2019, with a count of 33,830. The rise in demand for private vehicles started during the pandemic, out of a fear of catching the virus. But the sharp fall in the number of public transport vehicles kept the momentum going. Only 12 buses were registered in 2022. Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said he was happy with the growth. "Online services have significantly eased the processes. But we are overburdened with an older fleet. We are developing scientific scrapping facilities, which will make room for newer, non-polluting EVs," he added. But transport expert Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment, saw the other side too. The increase in cars would contribute to traffic congestion, like in Delhi and Bengaluru, she feared.