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दिल्ली प्रदूषण: सीएसई का कहना है कि अक्टूबर-नवंबर में पराली जलाने से निकलने वाला धुआं चार साल में सबसे कम है

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट एनालिसिस के अनुसार, न केवल पंजाब और हरियाणा में इस सीजन में पराली जलाने की संख्या 2016 के बाद से सबसे कम रही है, बल्कि राष्ट्रीय राजधानी में चार साल में अक्टूबर-नवंबर में पराली जलाने से सबसे कम धुआं देखा गया है। केंद्रीय पृथ्वी विज्ञान मंत्रालय की वायु गुणवत्ता पूर्वानुमान एजेंसी SAFAR के आंकड़ों के विश्लेषण से पता चला है कि 12 अक्टूबर से इस साल 53 दिनों में दिल्ली में पराली जलाने के धुएं ने PM2.5 प्रदूषण में योगदान दिया है। यह संख्या पिछले तीन वर्षों की तुलना में कम है जब 56-57 दिनों में धूम्रपान की घुसपैठ की सूचना दी गई थी, लेकिन 2018 के 48 दिनों की तुलना में अधिक है। इस साल सबसे ज्यादा योगदान 3 नवंबर को 34 फीसदी रहा। पिछले साल, दिल्ली के पीएम 2.5 प्रदूषण में पराली जलाने की हिस्सेदारी 7 नवंबर को 48 प्रतिशत के चरम पर पहुंच गई थी। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने कहा कि दिल्ली में पुआल जलाने से संबंधित धुआं दो मुख्य कारकों पर निर्भर करता है – राष्ट्रीय राजधानी में धुएं के परिवहन के लिए खेत की आग की संख्या और तीव्रता और अनुकूल मौसम की स्थिति। ग्रीन थिंक टैंक ने कहा कि इस अक्टूबर-नवंबर में न केवल पराली जलाने की संख्या और तीव्रता अपेक्षाकृत कम है, बल्कि मौसम की स्थिति भी धुएं के परिवहन के लिए कम अनुकूल है। सीएसई का अनुमान है कि अक्टूबर-नवंबर के दौरान दिल्ली में 4.1 टन पीएम2.5 के लिए खेत में आग का धुआं जिम्मेदार है। यह पराली जलाने से पिछले साल के 6.4 टन पीएम2.5 के मुकाबले 37 फीसदी कम है और 2020 के आंकड़े (8 टन) से करीब आधा है। इस वर्ष की मात्रा भी 2019 के आंकड़े (6.4 टन) की तुलना में काफी कम है – दिल्ली की मौसम संबंधी सहायता का एक संकेतक है क्योंकि 2019 में कम खेतों में आग लगी थी। भारतीय कृषि अनुसंधान संस्थान, पंजाब के अनुसार, जहां हर साल पराली जलाने की सबसे ज्यादा घटनाएं होती हैं, इस सीजन (15 सितंबर से 30 नवंबर) में केवल 49,922 खेत में आग देखी गई है, जबकि पिछले साल 71,304 और 2020 में 83,002 थी। कृषि प्रधान राज्यों में 2019 में पराली जलाने की 50,738 घटनाएं हुईं; 2018 में 59,684; 2017 में 67,079 और 2016 में 1,02,379। हरियाणा में इस सीजन में 3,661 खेत में आग लगने की घटनाएं देखी गईं, जबकि 2021 में 6,987 और 2020 में 4,202 आग लगी थी। पड़ोसी राज्य में 2019 में पराली जलाने की 6,364 घटनाएं हुईं; 2018 में 9,225; 2017 में 13,085 और 2016 में 15,686।

अक्टूबर-नवंबर में पराली जलाने से निकलने वाला धुआं 4 साल में सबसे कम, प्रदूषण पर कितना पड़ा असर, देख लीजिए

नई दिल्ली : पंजाब और हरियाणा में इस मौसम में पराली जलाने की घटनाओं की संख्या 2016 के बाद सबसे कम रही, यहां तक कि राष्ट्रीय राजधानी में अक्टूबर-नवंबर के दौरान चार वर्षों में पराली जलाने से उत्पन्न धुआं सबसे कम देखा गया। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एन्वायरन्मेंट (सीएसई) के विश्लेषण में यह बात कही गई है। केंद्रीय पृथ्वी विज्ञान मंत्रालय की वायु गुणवत्ता पूर्वानुमान एजेंसी ‘सफर’ के आंकड़ों के विश्लेषण से पता चलता है कि 12 अक्टूबर से पराली जलाए जाने से उत्पन्न धुएं की वजह से प्रदूषक कणों-पीएम2.5 ने इस साल 53 दिन तक वायु प्रदूषण में योगदान दिया। पराली जलाने की वजह से हानिकारक धुंध यह आंकड़ा पिछले तीन वर्षों की तुलना में कम है जब 56-57 दिन तक पराली जलाने की वजह से हानिकारक धुंध होती थी, लेकिन यह 2018 के 48 दिनों के आंकड़े से अधिक है। पराली जलाए जाने से संबंधित धुएं का वायु प्रदूषण में योगदान इस साल सबसे ज्यादा तीन नवंबर को 34 फीसदी था, वहीं पिछले साल यह सात नवंबर को सर्वाधिक 48 फीसदी था। दिल्ली की साफ हवा ने तोड़ा 8 साल का रेकॉर्ड, अक्टूबर-नवंबर महीने में औसत AQI रहा 142 धुएं में कमी दिल्ली में दो प्रमुख कारकों पर निर्भर सीएसई ने कहा कि पराली जलाने से संबंधित धुएं में कमी दिल्ली में दो प्रमुख कारकों पर निर्भर करती है- पराली जलाने की घटनाओं की संख्या एवं तीव्रता तथा राष्ट्रीय राजधानी में धुएं के परिवहन के लिए अनुकूल मौसम स्थितियां। इसने कहा कि इस साल अक्टूबर-नवंबर में, न केवल पराली जलाने की घटनाओं की संख्या और तीव्रता तुलनात्मक रूप से कम रही, बल्कि धुएं के परिवहन के लिए मौसम संबंधी परिस्थितियां भी कम अनुकूल रहीं।

CSE analysis finds Delhi-NCR winter pollution levels down in October-November

The first phase of this year’s winter in the Delhi-national capital region (NCR) has shown early signs of improvement in air quality, according to Delhi-based non-profit the Centre for Science and Environment. More in details- The average levels of fine particulate matter (PM) went down to 142 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) for October and November. This is the lowest level recorded since the city installed these stations in 2018. The fine particulate levels in the national capital this October-November were 15 per cent and 18 per cent lower compared to October-November of 2018 from a city-wide average of 37 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQM) and 10 older stations, respectively. Delhi was the most polluted major city in NCR, with an October-November average of 142 µg/m3. Gurugram, with 134 µg/m3 and Ghaziabad, with 131 µg/m3, followed the national capital in the list. The total number of farm stubble fires reported this year from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi was 37 per cent and 42 per cent lower than the October-November of 2021. About the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM): The Commission was first formed by an ordinance in October 2020. The erstwhile Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority, or EPCA had been dissolved to make way for the Commission. The Commission is a statutory authority. The Commission will supersede bodies such as the central and state pollution control boards of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan. In 2021, the Parliament approved the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill. Composition: Chairperson: To be chaired by a government official of the rank of Secretary or Chief Secretary. The chairperson will hold the post for three years or until s/he attains the age of 70 years. It will have members from several Ministries as well as representatives from the stakeholder States. It will have experts from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Civil Society. Powers and functions: It will have the powers to issue directions to these state governments on issues pertaining to air pollution. It will entertain complaints as it deems necessary for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of the air in the NCR and adjoining areas. It will also lay down parameters for control of air pollution. It will also be in charge of identifying violators, monitoring factories and industries and any other polluting unit in the region, and will have the powers to shut down such units. It will also have the powers to overrule directives issued by the state governments in the region, that may be in violation of pollution norms.

Delhi pollution: Smoke intrusion from farm fires in Oct-Nov lowest in 4 yrs

Not only have the number of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana this season been the lowest since 2016, the national capital also witnessed the least smoke intrusion from stubble burning during October-November in four years, according to a Centre for Science and Environment analysis. Analysis of data from SAFAR, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecasting agency, shows that smoke from farm fires contributed to PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on 53 days this year, starting October 12. The figure is lower than the previous three years when smoke intrusion was reported on 56-57 days but higher than the 2018 reading of 48 days. The highest contribution this year was 34 per cent on November 3. Last year, the share of farm fires in Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution peaked to 48 per cent on November 7. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said stubble burning-related smokefall over Delhi depended on two major factors -- the number and intensity of farm fires and meteorological conditions conducive for the transportation of the smoke to the national capital. This October-November, not only have the quantity and intensity of farm fires been comparatively lower but also the meteorological conditions less conducive for transport of the smoke, the green think tank said. The CSE estimated that smoke from farm fires accounted for 4.1 tonnes of PM2.5 during October-November in Delhi. This is 37 per cent lower than 6.4 tonnes of PM2.5 from stubble burning last year and almost half the 2020 figure (8 tonnes). The volume this year is also significantly lower than the 2019 figure (6.4 tonnes) -- an indicator of the meteorological help Delhi got as there were fewer farm fires in 2019. According to the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Punjab, which accounts for the maximum cases of stubble burning every year, reported just 49,922 farm fires this season (September 15 to November 30) against 71,304 last year and 83,002 in 2020. The agrarian state logged 50,738 incidents of stubble burning in 2019; 59,684 in 2018; 67,079 in 2017 and 1,02,379 in 2016. Haryana logged 3,661 farm fires this season against 6,987 in 2021 and 4,202 in 2020. The neighbouring state saw 6,364 incidents of stubble burning in 2019; 9,225 in 2018; 13,085 in 2017 and 15,686 in 2016.

Delhi AQI Today: Breathe freely, you are in Delhi! Relief from pollution, AQI of all areas improved – AQI Delhi air quality improve today 14 December pollution updates aqi moderate CPCB data Safar mausam Updates lbs

Delhi’s air seems to be getting better continuously for a few days. On the one hand, where there used to be a shadow of deep smog in the capital these days, now the sky is being seen clearly. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 157 at around 7 am today i.e. on 14th December, which falls in the moderate category. The air quality of all areas of Delhi has improved.

CSE analysis finds Delhi-NCR winter pollution levels down in October-November

The first phase of this year’s winter in the Delhi-national capital region (NCR) has shown early signs of improvement in air quality, according to Delhi-based non-profit the Centre for Science and Environment. A relatively cleaner Diwali this year gave the pollution-laden national capital a much-needed breather. The average levels of fine particulate matter (PM) went down to 142 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) for October and November. This is the lowest level recorded since the city installed these stations in 2018, the non-profit noted. Delhi recorded five good air days, thanks to the heavy rainfall in October this year. This number is the highest in the last five years. A good air day is when the PM2.5 levels are less than 30 µg/m3. Last year, there was one good air day, while no good air days were recorded in the winters of 2018, 2019 and 2020. Read more: Will PM 2.5 levels in Delhi-NCR go back to pre-pandemic levels this winter? Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE said:

COP27: A mirage in the desert

It’s a sign of sheer desperation to say that the world has achieved “something” at the climate change conference of the parties (COP27) that concluded recently in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The fact is COP27 should go down as the worst event in the history of the three-decade-long negotiations to find ways to mitigate emissions that are taking us to catastrophic damages. This meeting was a grand spectacle—almost like a mirage in the desert. It created a sense of hyper action when it was about reversing the little gains made till now to combat this existential threat. I was one of the 45,000-odd people at this conference. What struck me was that it was actually designed to take the heat off the negotiations. The organisers—The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and our host, the Egyptian government—had set up hundreds of country and agency pavilions, each with small conference rooms where five to six events were held every day, each participated by 30-50 people. There was so much going on through the day that negotiations, the real business of a COP, became the sideshow. It had little influence on what governments should have agreed upon. So, do not be surprised when I say that the final decisions at COP27 were either no-decisions—all crucial texts remained heavily bracketed (UN language for when parties disagree) until they were finally agreed upon in the early morning of November 20—or, to put it mildly, regressive. We just do not have the courage to call it out. Take the issue of loss and damage fund, seen as the big achievement of COP27. The Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan “expresses deep concern regarding the significant financial costs associated with loss and damage for developing countries” associated with the adverse effects of climate change. The Plan then goes on to say that it will establish institutional arrangements for addressing loss and damage which will catalyse technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. The only “decision” is that by 2023, it will select the host country for the secretariat. In this way, there is no agreement to create a fund; no agreement who will pay for it; but there is a new categorisation that all this will be directed towards countries that are particularly vulnerable. Who and what are they? This is where the politics begins. Should bigger developing countries like India also pay other developing countries for loss and damage? This question was raised repeatedly at COP27 and, of course, led to pushback. Then, does India qualify as particularly vulnerable because it has mountains and coastlines? This will be contested at the next round of negotiations and will go nowhere, even as natural disasters reach catastrophic levels and deeply damage people and economies. This is why the world needed to return to a rule-based system of climate governance. We know that the growing intensity and frequency of weather disasters are linked to climate change, which in turn is linked to the stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, it is a simple proposition, all well established in law, that the country responsible for the pollution must pay. This is why loss and damage discussions are about liability and compensation. In this rule-based scenario, it would be established that a country like India would also contribute to the fund, but only when it has crossed a certain agreed threshold of greenhouse gas emissions. This rule-based governance was not convenient to the big polluters. So, it was taken apart in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Now, there is no agreed way to differentiate between the polluters, and this gives a country like China a free pass. China is yesterday’s United States; its per capita emissions will be equal to those of the US in 2030. It should have been moved to the category of polluters. But it continues to hide behind the Group of 77—all developing countries. Frankly, the Group of 77 also finds the power of China convenient for it to take shelter under. The zero-sum game continues. At our cost. But why do I say COP27 was regressive? This is because for the first time the agreement has decided to differentiate between the white and black fossil fuels. At the very last moment, it added the term “low-emission energy” in the clean energy mix—a tacit way of saying that natural gas is cleaner because it emits half the carbon dioxide of coal. This is what the European Union did when it baptised natural gas as clean. And we know that this part of the world, which requires deep decarbonisation, is desperately digging for more natural gas in all parts of the world, including the host country Egypt. This is not alright. The world is speeding towards breaching the 1.5 °C temperature rise guard rail. At 1.1 °C, we are seeing such massive devastation and human pain. We cannot be parties to this procrastination and lack of intent. The least we can do is to call it out for what it is: A massive and tragic failure to act.

A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India’s climate challenge

At the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi, a steady flow of jeeps zigzag up the trash heap to dump more garbage on a pile now over 62 meters (203 feet) high. Fires caused by heat and methane gas sporadically break out – the Delhi Fire Service Department has responded to 14 fires so far this year – and some deep beneath the pile can smolder for weeks or months, while men, women and children work nearby, sifting through the rubbish to find items to sell. Some of the 200,000 residents who live in Bhalswa say the area is uninhabitable, but they can’t afford to move and have no choice but to breathe the toxic air and bathe in its contaminated water. Bhalswa is not Delhi’s largest landfill. It’s about three meters lower than the biggest, Ghazipur, and both contribute to the country’s total output of methane gas. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, but a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because methane traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors methane via satellites. And India comes second only to China for total methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global Methane Tracker. As part of his “Clean India” initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said efforts are being made to remove these mountains of garbage and convert them into green zones. That goal, if achieved, could relieve some of the suffering of those residents living in the shadows of these dump sites – and help the world lower its greenhouse gas emissions. India wants to lower its methane output, but it hasn’t joined the 130 countries who have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to collectively cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Scientists estimate the reduction could cut global temperature rise by 0.2% – and help the world reach its target of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. India says it won’t join because most of its methane emissions come from farming – some 74% from farm animals and paddy fields versus less than 15% from landfill. In a statement last year, Minister of State for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Ashwini Choubey said pledging to reduce India’s total methane output could threaten the livelihood of farmers and affect India’s trade and economic prospects. But it’s also facing challenges in reducing methane from its steaming mounds of trash. Here we are, with no relief’ When Narayan Choudhary, 72, moved to Bhalswa in 1982, he said it was a “beautiful place,” but that all changed 12 years later when the first rubbish began arriving at the local landfill. In the years since, the Bhalswa dump has grown nearly as tall as the historic Taj Mahal, becoming a landmark in its own right and an eyesore that towers over surrounding homes, affecting the health of people who live there. Choudhary suffers from chronic asthma. He said he nearly died when a large fire broke out at Bhalswa in April that burned for days. “I was in terrible shape. My face and nose were swollen. I was on my death bed,” he said. “Two years ago we protested … a lot of residents from this area protested (to get rid of the waste),” Choudhary said. “But the municipality didn’t cooperate with us. They assured us that things will get better in two years but here we are, with no relief.” The dump site exhausted its capacity in 2002, according to a 2020 report on India’s landfills from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi, but without government standardization in recycling systems and greater industry efforts to reduce plastic consumption and production, tonnes of garbage continue to arrive at the site daily. Bhalswa isn’t the only dump causing distress to residents nearby – it is one of three landfills in Delhi, overflowing with decaying waste and emitting toxic gases into the air. Across the country, there are more than 3,100 landfills. Ghazipur is the biggest in Delhi, standing at 65 meters (213 feet), and like Bhalswa, it surpassed its waste capacity in 2002 and currently produces huge amounts of methane. According to GHGSat, on a single day in March, more than two metric tons of methane gas leaked from the site every hour. “If sustained for a year, the methane leak from this landfill would have the same climate impact as annual emissions from 350,000 US cars,” said GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain. Dangerous toxins in groundwater Methane emissions aren’t the only hazard that stem from landfills like Bhalswa and Ghazipur. Over decades, dangerous toxins have seeped into the ground, polluting the water supply for thousands of residents living nearby. In May, CNN commissioned two accredited labs to test the ground water around the Bhalswa landfill. And according to the results, ground water within at least a 500-meter (1,600-foot) radius around the waste site is contaminated. In the first lab report, levels of ammonia and sulphate were significantly higher than acceptable limits mandated by the Indian government. Results from the second lab report showed levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) – the amount of inorganic salts and organic matter dissolved in the water – detected in one of the samples was almost 19 times the acceptable limit, making it unsafe for human drinking. The Bureau of Indian Standards sets the acceptable limit of TDS at 500 milligrams/liter, a figure roughly seen as “good” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Anything over 900 mg/l is considered “poor” by the WHO, and over 1,200 mg/l is “unacceptable.” A man sits on a cart next to a sewer canal filled with plastics and other waste in New Delhi on June 30, 2022. India bans single-use plastic to combat pollution According to Richa Singh from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), the TDS of water taken near the Bhalswa site was between 3,000 and 4,000 mg/l. “This water is not only unfit for drinking but also unfit for skin contact,” she said. “So it can’t be used for purposes like bathing or cleaning of the utensils or cleaning of the clothes.” Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi, the senior director of medical oncology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, urged the government to study the health of the local population and compare it to other areas of the city, “so that in 15 to 20 years’ time, we are not looking back and regretting that we had a higher cancer incidence, higher health hazards, higher health issues and we didn’t look back and correct them in time.” Most people in Bhalswa rely on bottled water for drinking, but they use local water for other purposes – many say they have no choice. “The water we get is contaminated, but we have to helplessly store it and use it for washing utensils, bathing and at times drinking too,” said resident Sonia Bibi, whose legs are covered in a thick, red rash. Jwala Prashad, 87, who lives in a small hut in an alleyway near the landfill, said the pile of putrid trash had made his life “a living hell.” “The water we use is pale red in color. My skin burns after bathing,” he said, as he tried to soothe red gashes on his face and neck. “But I can’t afford to ever leave this place,” he added.

Schools must educate about sustainability – Part II

St Luke’s School, Solan, is certified as a Green School. Make GSP audit mandatory. In my previous article, I had highlighted the importance of sustainability education. As the entire world is fast moving towards urbanisation, sustainability education is gaining momentum. Many schools in the country have become model institutions vis-a-vis sustainability education. It is important for our educational institutions to start composting organic waste within their campuses. During my visit to Solan district in Himachal Pradesh (HP) in October this year, I found St Luke’s School located in the city of Solan having constructed a composting unit as part of a sustainability education programme. As mentioned already a local NGO EarthJust, which has been working with the support of Wipro Foundation in the district, has been handholding students of St Luke’s for the last two years. Two young environmental activists, Shrey Gupta and Ashish Palyal, have been making this happen. They are working in several other government and private schools as well. Green Schools More than two years back, 14 schools in HP had secured a place in the Green Schools Environmental Audit Programme (GSE Audit). Out of these 14 schools, twelve were from Solan district including St Luke’s High School. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, certified them as green schools. At the national level, 172 schools certified as green schools were given awards by CSE’s Director Dr Sunita Narain on February 6, 2020. St Luke’s didn’t stop after getting the ‘Green School’ tag. It went ahead as its students got involved with a sustainability education programme supported by Wipro Foundation. The St Luke’s campus is rich in biodiversity. It is located in a hilly terrain in Solan city. One can find a lot of mushrooms, flowers and herbs around this campus. Through the NGO EarthJust, Wipro earthian Fellows, Shrey and Ashish, started handholding and creating awareness about sustainability education among students of the school. They first started exploring the rich biodiversity of their school’s campus, which is full of wild and edible mushrooms, in the monsoon time. In fact, Solan is known for its mushrooms and is called the Mushroom City of India. Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), which is funding the Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan, celebrated its 25th commemoration day this year on September 11th as having been declared as the Mushroom City of India. It is important to mention here that HP has two medium to large button mushroom production units that produce approximately 4,700 tonnes of mushrooms per annum. From the early 1960s, mushrooms have been grown in Solan. To create awareness about mushrooms among the younger generation, Shrey and Ashish started taking school students for mushroom walks. GSP Audit Green Schools Programme audit (GSP audit) is an environmental education programme launched by CSE some years back. This programme aims to audit schools with regard to the use of resources and then maps their consumption and wastage. The GSP audit exercise involves collection of information about Air, Energy, Food, Land and Waste Management. Assessment is made about the transport policies of schools that affect air quality and to find ways of reducing their emissions so that a citizen’s right to clean air is protected. Energy auditing is done by looking at the sources and consumption of energy in the schools. The audit also explores ways in which this resource can be saved to minimise pollution and the costs. School canteens are audited to check the quality of the food being served. This encourages students to be more conscious of the kind of food being promoted and consumed. The land use of the school is looked into, to see how many green spaces and biodiversity hubs there are in the campus. With regards to water, conservation measures like rainwater harvesting, water recycling and liquid waste management are examined. Lastly, an audit of solid waste generation is made. Assessment is also made regarding segregation of waste and the composting of organic waste. I believe that GSP audit is similar to the Swachh Survekshan (Sanitation Survey) conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India (GoI), since 2016. The Swachh Survekshan is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey. Its primary goal is to encourage large scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of the society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in. For the last six times, Indore has been declared as the cleanest city in India. I would suggest that GSP auditing must be made mandatory for all the schools in the country, so that we have more green schools. This will help in imparting sustainability education to students. It will also foster a spirit of healthy competition among schools to become greener and cleaner through sustainable use of resources. Conclusion For the last almost nine years, I have been stressing on in-house composting of organic waste, especially the kitchen waste. I have suggested this to the J&K High Court and Chief Secretary of Government of J&K as well. In-house composting of waste is a must for residential houses. It is very much needed in schools and other educational institutions as well. As discussed in the beginning, St Luke’s School has started composting its organic waste in a composting unit that has been constructed in the campus. This place serves two purposes. Firstly, the organic waste gets processed inside this compost unit. Secondly, students get to know the process involved in composting organic (biodegradable) waste. In-house composting of kitchen waste and other organic waste may be a bit challenging for families living in multi-storied apartments and flats. However, for places like Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh or other Himalayan states, where people have some space in front of their houses, processing waste won’t be a challenge at all. For schools, this is not a challenge. The majority of them have space to create a compost unit. The composting of organic waste can be done even in a 10*10 feet space. Most of the Eco Club members of St Luke’s School Solan assured me during my interaction with them that they would set up compost unit in their houses, so that they are not counted among waste generators but turn out to be waste processors. This is how sustainability education helps. Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is also an Anant Fellow for Climate Action. 

A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge

At the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi, a steady flow of jeeps zigzag up the trash heap to dump more garbage on a pile now over 62 meters (203 feet) high. Fires caused by heat and methane gas sporadically break out -- the Delhi Fire Service Department has responded to 14 fires so far this year -- and some deep beneath the pile can smolder for weeks or months, while men, women and children work nearby, sifting through the rubbish to find items to sell. Some of the 200,000 residents who live in Bhalswa say the area is uninhabitable, but they can't afford to move and have no choice but to breathe the toxic air and bathe in its contaminated water. Bhalswa is not Delhi's largest landfill. It's about three meters lower than the biggest, Ghazipur, and both contribute to the country's total output of methane gas. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, but a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because methane traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors methane via satellites. And India comes second only to China for total methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Global Methane Tracker. As part of his "Clean India" initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said efforts are being made to remove these mountains of garbage and convert them into green zones. That goal, if achieved, could relieve some of the suffering of those residents living in the shadows of these dump sites -- and help the world lower its greenhouse gas emissions. India wants to lower its methane output, but it hasn't joined the 130 countries who have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to collectively cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Scientists estimate the reduction could cut global temperature rise by 0.2% -- and help the world reach its target of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. India says it won't join because most of its methane emissions come from farming -- some 74% from farm animals and paddy fields versus less than 15% from landfill. In a statement last year, Minister of State for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Ashwini Choubey said pledging to reduce India's total methane output could threaten the livelihood of farmers and affect India's trade and economic prospects. But it's also facing challenges in reducing methane from its steaming mounds of trash. 'Here we are, with no relief' When Narayan Choudhary, 72, moved to Bhalswa in 1982, he said it was a "beautiful place," but that all changed 12 years later when the first rubbish began arriving at the local landfill. In the years since, the Bhalswa dump has grown nearly as tall as the historic Taj Mahal, becoming a landmark in its own right and an eyesore that towers over surrounding homes, affecting the health of people who live there. Choudhary suffers from chronic asthma. He said he nearly died when a large fire broke out at Bhalswa in April that burned for days. "I was in terrible shape. My face and nose were swollen. I was on my death bed," he said. "Two years ago we protested ... a lot of residents from this area protested (to get rid of the waste)," Choudhary said. "But the municipality didn't cooperate with us. They assured us that things will get better in two years but here we are, with no relief." The dump site exhausted its capacity in 2002, according to a 2020 report on India's landfills from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi, but without government standardization in recycling systems and greater industry efforts to reduce plastic consumption and production, tonnes of garbage continue to arrive at the site daily. Bhalswa isn't the only dump causing distress to residents nearby -- it is one of three landfills in Delhi, overflowing with decaying waste and emitting toxic gases into the air. Across the country, there are more than 3,100 landfills. Ghazipur is the biggest in Delhi, standing at 65 meters (213 feet), and like Bhalswa, it surpassed its waste capacity in 2002 and currently produces huge amounts of methane. According to GHGSat, on a single day in March, more than two metric tons of methane gas leaked from the site every hour. "If sustained for a year, the methane leak from this landfill would have the same climate impact as annual emissions from 350,000 US cars," said GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain. Dangerous toxins in groundwater Methane emissions aren't the only hazard that stem from landfills like Bhalswa and Ghazipur. Over decades, dangerous toxins have seeped into the ground, polluting the water supply for thousands of residents living nearby. In May, CNN commissioned two accredited labs to test the ground water around the Bhalswa landfill. And according to the results, ground water within at least a 500-meter (1,600-foot) radius around the waste site is contaminated. In the first lab report, levels of ammonia and sulphate were significantly higher than acceptable limits mandated by the Indian government. Results from the second lab report showed levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) -- the amount of inorganic salts and organic matter dissolved in the water -- detected in one of the samples was almost 19 times the acceptable limit, making it unsafe for human drinking. The Bureau of Indian Standards sets the acceptable limit of TDS at 500 milligrams/liter, a figure roughly seen as "good" by the World Health Organization (WHO). Anything over 900 mg/l is considered "poor" by the WHO, and over 1,200 mg/l is "unacceptable." According to Richa Singh from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), the TDS of water taken near the Bhalswa site was between 3,000 and 4,000 mg/l. "This water is not only unfit for drinking but also unfit for skin contact," she said. "So it can't be used for purposes like bathing or cleaning of the utensils or cleaning of the clothes." Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi, the senior director of medical oncology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, urged the government to study the health of the local population and compare it to other areas of the city, "so that in 15 to 20 years' time, we are not looking back and regretting that we had a higher cancer incidence, higher health hazards, higher health issues and we didn't look back and correct them in time." Most people in Bhalswa rely on bottled water for drinking, but they use local water for other purposes -- many say they have no choice. "The water we get is contaminated, but we have to helplessly store it and use it for washing utensils, bathing and at times drinking too," said resident Sonia Bibi, whose legs are covered in a thick, red rash. Jwala Prashad, 87, who lives in a small hut in an alleyway near the landfill, said the pile of putrid trash had made his life "a living hell." "The water we use is pale red in color. My skin burns after bathing," he said, as he tried to soothe red gashes on his face and neck. "But I can't afford to ever leave this place," he added. Waste target in doubt More than 2,300 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste arrive at Delhi's largest dump in Ghazipur every day, according to a report released in July by a joint committee formed to find a way to reduce the number of fires at the site. That's the bulk of the waste from the surrounding area -- only 300 tonnes is processed and disposed of by other means, the report said. And less than 7% of legacy waste had been bio-mined, which involves excavating, treating and potentially reusing old rubbish. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi deploys drones every three months to monitor the size of the trash heap and is experimenting with ways to extract methane from the trash mountain, the report said. But too much rubbish is arriving every day to keep up. The committee said bio-mining had been "slow and tardy" and it was "highly unlikely" the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (which has now merged with North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations) would achieve its target of "flattening the garbage mountain" by 2024. "No effective plans to reduce the height of the garbage mountain have been made," the report said. Furthermore, "it should have proposed a long time ago that future dumping of garbage in them would pollute the groundwater systems," the report added. CNN sent a series of questions along with the data from the water testing questionnaire to India's Environment and Health Ministries. There has been no response from the ministries. In a 2019 report, the Indian government recommended ways to improve the country's solid waste management, including formalizing the recycling sector and installing more compost plants in the country. While some improvements have been made, such as better door-to-door garbage collection and processing of waste, Delhi's landfills continue to accumulate waste. In October, the National Green Tribunal fined the state government more than $100 million for failing to dispose of more than 30 million metric tonnes of waste across its three landfill sites. "The problem is Delhi doesn't have a concrete solid waste action plan in place," said Singh from the CSE. "So we are talking here about dump site remediation and the treatment of legacy waste, but imagine the fresh waste which is generated on a regular basis. All of that is getting dumped everyday into these landfills." "(So) let's say you are treating 1,000 tons of legacy (waste) and then you are dumping 2,000 tons of fresh waste every day it will become a vicious cycle. It will be a never ending process," Singh said. "Management of legacy waste, of course, is mandated by the government and is very, very important. But you just can't start the process without having an alternative facility of fresh waste. So that's the biggest challenge."

A new weapon in the fight against plastic?

India has a plastic problem. We’re the 5th highest generator of plastic waste in the world. And we recycle only half of this waste each year. What happens to the rest? We burn some of it. That releases toxic fumes. Some of it will find its way into water bodies and kill marine life. And then a good chunk of plastic mixes with other kinds of waste and enters poorly maintained dumpsites — of which ~3,000 are peppered across India. But wait…why are we talking about plastic out of the blue? To be honest, it’s always a good time to talk about plastic pollution! We do have an ominous warning hanging over our heads at all times — that by 2050, we’ll have more plastic than fish in the oceans. It’s scary and quite depressing! But the real reason we wanted to talk about plastic is this — Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) just published a report called ‘The Plastic Lifecycle’. They highlighted India’s perennial plastic issue. But they also discussed a novel idea to deal with it. Something called the Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS). And we thought we could look into some more. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s quickly understand how we combat plastic pollution today. Bans!!! That’s right. Our single biggest weapon against plastic pollution involves banning plastics of various kinds. Remember we enforced a ban on single-use plastic in July? You know, the kind that is frequently littered around — like earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic cutlery, straws, wrapping or packing films, candy sticks etc. That did work a bit. Unfortunately, the ban only targeted 2%-3% of the total plastic waste India generates. So it doesn’t move the needle much. Also, the ban ignores a major pollutant — colas and mineral water sold in single-use plastic bottles. The soft drink industry produces nearly 470 billion plastic bottles annually. And you can imagine how many bottles of water we consume. Plastic is everywhere. And if the bans aren’t working, we need to find ways to recycle what’s out there. And maybe we can have mechanisms to shift the responsibility to the folks who actually create and use the plastic? Like the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy. Here, polluters are split into three categories — producers, importers and brand owners (PIBOs). And the policy tells these folks, “Hey, you’re creating the plastic waste. You’re the polluter. So it’s your responsibility to pick it up and recycle it.” Each year, they have to disclose their plastic production. And their EPR targets for recycling. But most companies aren’t big fans of this policy. Going after and picking up plastic waste can be a painful process. Especially since most of it isn’t segregated properly anyway. And without strict action, only a handful of these importers and brand owners have registered on a centralised portal that would track their plastic collection and recycling targets. No one knows what’s really happening. So how can we make this better? Well, that’s where the Deposit Refund Scheme or DRS can come in. It’ll involve common people (like you and me) and you could combine it with the EPR policy. Basically, when you buy a potentially polluting product — say a bottle of water — you pay a surcharge. Maybe you pay ₹11 instead of ₹10. And when you return the product, you get a refund involving that surcharge. In a way, it’s like those soft drink bottles you bought back in the day after putting down a refundable deposit. When you returned the bottle, you got the deposit back. That’s exactly what DRS is. Some countries have tried it and they’ve been quite successful also. For instance, in Norway, 97% of all plastic waste goes back to the vendor. Lithuania’s collection rate increased from 34% to 94% in just two years Even the least successful country, Estonia has a reasonable 83% return rate. India also has the advantage of a ready base of intermediaries who can help — the 40 million street vendors and 12 million grocery stores in India. They can serve as collection points and make life easier for consumers to drop off plastic bottles. And this is a way to involve and incentivise everyone in the value chain. You get money when you return plastic. The street vendor gets a cut for their efforts. And the PIBOs meet their targets and maybe get a gold star from the government. Maybe this can help change India’s low plastic recovery rate of just 50%. And maybe we can emulate Norway. But before we decide to implement this, maybe we should look at Maharashtra which introduced a DRS in 2018 and called it the Buyback Depository System. The scheme was that Mumbaikars would get ₹0.50 for returning a milk packet, ₹1 for PET bottles that had capacities of 1 litre and above and ₹2 for PET bottles with capacities of 200 ml to 1 litre. Consumers had to put their plastic waste through plastic collection machines to get their incentive and the manufacturers had to recycle them responsibly. But everyone was puzzled at the time. Folks pointed out that it cost just ₹0.60 to make one 500 ml plastic bottle. But the scheme wanted to reward consumers with ₹2 for every such bottle. Manufacturers could simply produce these bottles in excess, give them to the government, and walk away with a cool profit of ₹1.4 per bottle. It was much like the Cobra Effect back in the colonial days. Delhi was suffering through a cobra infestation and the British decided to tackle the problem with a cash incentive. They told folks, “Give us dead cobra skins and we’ll give you money.” But some ingenious Indians realised that they could make a quick buck turning this scheme on its head and started breeding cobras instead. So instead of solving the problem, the incentive actually aggravated it. And while there isn’t enough data to prove this happened in Maharashtra, the incentive problem was clear as day. But that’s an easy fix with a few tweaks. There’s actually a bigger issue to contend with. The informal sector. You see, India is home to at least 4 million waste pickers. These folks could earn anywhere between ₹2,000 to ₹10,000 a month to segregate, clean up and supply waste to formal sectors for recycling. So, a direct system involving consumers and PIBOs will eliminate them from the value chain. Any DRS design will have to keep this in mind. So yeah, as much as DRS has shown signs of success globally, the Indian scenario could be very different. And unless we figure out ways to iron out some of these kinks, it’s unlikely to make a massive impact on plastic recycling metrics.

गुरुग्राम : महंगी कारों के शहर गुरुग्राम में साइकिल चलाने वालों के लिए जताई गई चिंता

-साइकिल चालकों की राह आसान करने पर हुआ मंथन -गुरुग्राम के सिटी मजिस्ट्रेट ने पैनल चर्चा में रखी अपनी बात गुरुग्राम, 8 दिसंबर (हि.स.)। शहर में इन दिनों साइकलिंग के लिए बेहतर बुनियादी ढांचे की जरूरत जैसे जरूरी विषय को लेकर गुरुवार को टू व्हील्स गुरुग्राम कार्यक्रम आयोजित किया गया। इस पांच दिवसीय कार्यक्रम और कला प्रदर्शनी का आयोजन सस्टेनेबल मोबिलिटी नेटवर्क ने किया, जो 20 से ज्यादा ऐसे संगठनों का देशव्यापी नेटवर्क है। यह पर्यावरण को नुकसान न पहुंचाने वाले परिवहन और यातायात के साधनों की दिशा में काम करते हैं। इस कार्यक्रम में साइकिल चालकों और उनकी सुरक्षा को लेकर चर्चा को गति देने के लिए एक समूह चर्चा की गई। जिसमें सिटी मजिस्ट्रेट गुरुग्राम दर्शन यादव, राहगिरी फाउंडेशन की सह-संस्थापक एवं ट्रस्टी सारिका पांडा भट्ट, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट की कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉय चौधरी, परपज क्लाइमेट लैब के निदेशक हरप्रीत बग्गा, सेफ्टीपिन के सह-संस्थापक एवं सीईओ कल्पना विश्वनाथ ने भाग लिया। अपने संबोधन में सिटी मजिस्ट्रेट दर्शन यादव ने कहा कि किसी भी नियोजित शहर की योजना बनाने से पहले उसके बारे में एक स्पष्ट विजन होना जरूरी है। टू व्हील्स गुरुग्राम को साकार करने के लिए हमें संभावनाओं को समझना होगा और फिर उसके लिए एक आदर्श विजन तैयार करनी होगी। हमें गुरुग्राम में ऐसी कम से कम दस सड़कों की पहचान करनी होगी, जिन्हें बेहतर साइक्लिंग और वॉकिंग इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर की जरूरत है। इसके बाद हम डिजाइनरों और आर्किटैक्ट्स को जोड़कर इन योजनाओं को साकार कर सकते हैं। समर्थयम नेशनल सेंटर फॉर एक्सेसिबल एन्वायरनमेंट्स की निदेशक निधि मदान ने कहा कि किसी भी सस्टेनेबल शहर की योजना बनाने के लिए हमें विभिन्न पहलुओं पर विचार करना चाहिए। यदि यह काम ठीक से हो गया तो हम न सिर्फ साइकिल फ्रेंडली शहर बना सकते हैं, बल्कि एक सस्टेनेबल और लिवेबल सिटी को भी तैयार करने में सक्षम बन जाएंगे। सारिका पांडा भट्ट ने कहा कि हम पिछले कई वर्षों से गुरुग्राम को साइक्लिंग के लिहाज से सुरक्षित क्षेत्र बनाने के लिए काम कर रहे हैं। इस दिशा में कुछ प्रगति हुई है, लेकिन इतना ही काफी नहीं है। साइकिल सवारों का अपनी जान से हाथ धोना जारी है। शहर में अन्य रोड इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर काफी प्रभावी है। अब समय आ गया है कि हम इस बात को स्वीकार करें कि शहर में साइक्लिस्टों की संख्या काफी है। उन्हें बेखौफ होकर शहर में यहां से वहां साइकिल की सवारी करने की आजादी मिलनी चाहिए। चर्चा में जानकारी दी गई कि राष्ट्रीय परिवार स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण (एनएफएचएल) के मुताबिक सिर्फ 8 फीसदी भारतीय परिवारों के पास ही गाडिय़ां हैं। 50 फीसदी से ज्यादा लोग बाइसाइिकल का ही इस्तेमाल करते हैं। इनमें से ज्यादातर साइकिल मालिकों में वे लोग भी शामिल हैं, जो जीवनयापन के साधन तक साइकिल से पहुंचते हैं।

Outside/Inbox: What’s a wet bulb temperature limit?

Every other Friday, the Outside/In team answers listener questions about the natural world. This week, we answered two questions on the same topic. “I was wondering if you could explain wet bulb temperatures and events,” said M’ris from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. What’s a wet bulb temperature? There’s a cliche oft-heard in conversations about the weather: “yeah, it’s hot, but it’s not too bad, because it’s a dry heat.” Turns out there’s something to that. Here’s why. A wet bulb temperature is the temperature after the effects of evaporative cooling. This measurement matters because evaporative cooling is how we (and other mammals) cool our bodies. It’s the operative mechanism of sweating: our internal body temperature drops as water evaporates off our skin. But when it’s humid, the air is saturated with water. Essentially, the air is full. Our sweat can’t evaporate, so our body temperature can’t drop. When we hit critical environmental limits, we can no longer cool down by physiological means, and it becomes a matter of survival. So, what’s that critical wet bulb limit? “Humid heat stress is really, really dangerous,” said Daniel Vecellio, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Healthy Aging at Pennsylvania State University. Vecellio studies climate change and human health, and he’s trying to understand the upper limit of what the human body can handle in terms of humid heat stress. In 2010, researchers came up with a theoretical wet bulb limit of 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 degrees Fahrenheit, at 100% humidity. This is the theoretical humid heat limit for humans. Vecellio and his coauthors put this theory to the test: they studied people doing physical activity under various conditions in a lab. In their experiments with young, healthy adults, they found their core temperatures started to rise continuously at wet bulbs of about 31 degrees Celsius, or 88 degrees Fahrenheit, in humid conditions (relative humidities of 50% or above). That’s a way lower bar than the limit found in that earlier paper. Vecellio did note that the lived experience will be somewhere in between, and will vary depending on other factors, like age or preexisting health conditions. How often are wet bulb temperature limits reached? “[Are there any] places in the world where it already exceeds what is considered easily survivable in terms of the wet bulb temperature, and if so, how do the people who live there adapt to it culturally?” asked Sam in Concord, New Hampshire. Well, it depends on what we’re talking about. “That 35 degree wet bulb limit, as of 2010, had not been really seen across the entire world,” said Vecellio. But the limit identified by Vecellio and his colleagues is more common, and meanwhile, heat waves are getting more intense, longer, and more frequent. Some parts of the world are already regularly experiencing extreme heat, and will be more likely to see wet bulb limit conditions. These places tend to be close to the equator near warm bodies of water, like the Middle East, Pakistan, and India. How do people adapt to extreme heat and humidity? “As Indians, we have been living with high heat conditions throughout, and it was already a difficult thing to do. Now, this additional heat is actually pushing us to the brink,” said Avikal Somvanshi, a data scientist and urbanologist in New Delhi. Somvanshi explained that we have to stop thinking about heat waves as episodic events and rethink how we live, especially in cities. “We need to start looking at the cities in a way that they become a shelter from the heat, [rather than] become the heat magnet themself,” he said. Historically, people used passive design as a tool to regulate temperature, not only in buildings, but also city streets. “If you look at the old cities of India, the roads were narrow and winding because they didn't want the sun to hit the roads where people were working. But that has kind of disappeared in the modern design,” said Somvanshi. Adaptive city street design could also mean more shade, green and even white roofs. The conditions in city streets are important because outdoor workers are among the most vulnerable people in India. “Working age men are dying… blue collar workers who are forced to work during the peak heat hours during the day,” said Somvanshi. To tackle heat driven by climate change, we’ll also need to go beyond the physical aspects of urban design, and rethink how we structure our lives. We might consider flexible work times, like shifting outdoor work to the cooler evening hours. We might learn from cultures that take siestas, midday breaks from work or school during the hottest part of the day. In some workplaces, the pandemic already prompted this shift, but Somvanshi said white collar workers saw most of the benefits. Air conditioning is another way we adapt our spaces during major heat events, but since they generate a great deal of waste heat and often run on fossil fuel generated energy, they’re an imperfect solution. Finally, we cannot wait to consider systemic changes because climate-driven heat impacts are not a future problem. They’re already here. “Heat is already the number one weather-related killer of people in the United States, before the United States are even thinking about reaching these thresholds that we found,” said Vecellio.

Delhi breathed just three days of ‘severe’ air in November

Delhi breathed some of its cleanest November air this year, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recording only three ‘severe’ air days this month, a first since the index’s launch in 2015 However, this November’s air ranked second cleanest with an average AQI reading of 321, just a few points behind November 2019’s average AQI reading of 312.That year, the drop in AQI was attributed to late rains. While this November may have been cleaner than usual, it has also been warmer than usual, with a higher maximum temperature, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows. Delhi recorded an average maximum temperature of 28.7°C this month, 0.5 degrees above normal, and the highest for Delhi since November 2016, when it was 29.6°C. On the flipside, nights were cooler than normal, with the mercury dipping below the 10-degree mark in the last 13 consecutive days in the month and recording an average minimum temperature of 12.3°C, 0.6 degrees below the monthly normal. To be sure, Delhi got lucky this time, largely due to an early Diwali (which was celebrated in October), a lack of western disturbances in the second half of the month, fewer farm fires compared to last year and favourable meteorological conditions. According to RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD, November was a month of two halves—with the first half seeing above normal minimum temperature that hovered around the 17-degree mark. However, the lack of western disturbances in the second half meant mercury did not rise above the 10-degree mark after November 18. “Delhi, in the first half of November, witnessed three western disturbances. While they were feeble, they led to a change in wind direction and an incursion of slight moisture. When there is more moisture in the air, the skies are cloudy and the minimum temperature is higher as heat is trapped close to the earth’s surface at night,” he said, adding there was no western disturbance in the second half of the month, which led to cold northwesterly winds continuously blowing towards Delhi. Jenamani attributed the warm days and cool nights in the second half of the month to these cold, dry northwesterly winds. “These winds are cold and dry, which means there was very little moisture in the air. Due to clear skies, the sunlight heated the earth’s surface quite easily, meaning the maximum temperature was above normal. At night, in the absence of clouds or moisture, this heat escaped quickly and the night temperature dipped below normal,” he said. According to the long-period average (LPA) for Delhi from 1981 onwards, the Capital’s average minimum temperature in November is 9.9°C and dips below 10°C only in the last four days of the month. Delhi’s mercury, however, fell below the 10-degree mark on November 18. According to the LPA, Delhi’s maximum temperature, meanwhile, dips to 26.5°C between November 22 and 26 and further to 25.6°C in the last four days of the month. Delhi’s maximum temperature is around 27°C so far, with the Capital recording a maximum of 27.1°C on Tuesday and 26.2°C on Wednesday. Meanwhile, despite recording just three ‘severe’ air days, Delhi still recorded 16 ‘very poor’ days and 11 poor air days, indicating that the air was still fairly harmful, even for healthy people. The Central Pollution Control Board classifies an AQI reading between 0-50 as ‘good’, between 51 and 100 as ‘satisfactory’, between 101 and 200 as ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 as ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 as ‘very poor’ and over 400 as ‘severe’. Delhi recorded 11 ‘severe’ air days last November, the most number of such days in November since CPCB started measuring the AQI in 2015. In November 2020, Delhi recorded nine ‘severe’ air days and in November 2019, Delhi recorded seven ‘severe’ air days. Delhi recorded five such days in November 2018, seven such days in Novembe 2017, 10 such days in Novembe 2016 and seven such days in Novembe 2015. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said an early Diwali (celebrated in October this year), along with fewer farm fires (56,391 fires in Punjab, Haryana and UP this year as compared to 82,484 last year and 91,591 the year before that) helped the region, but it is not cause for celebration just yet. “We have been able to stabilise the peak pollution due to these factors, but the AQI has still been in the ‘very poor’ category, which is almost as bad as severe air. This shows our background emissions are still fairly high and more efforts are needed to control these sources of pollution,” she said.

Chain reaction: This art exhibition is an attempt to create awareness on cycling infrastructure

Clad in a vibrant saree, a domestic worker is seen atop a cycle, riding confidently towards a busy, residential space in Gurugram, as though gearing up for the day ahead. Another migrant worker is walking next to her bicycle, engrossed in conversation on her mobile phone, probably getting daily updates of her hometown from a relative. ADVERTISEMENT Ads by These two scenes come alive in ‘Panthali Pedals Through Gurugram’, a series of paintings by Hari Krishnan, who presents vignettes of livelihood cyclists on canvas. However, it is not just their commute that he showcases here; the self-taught artist also gives the viewer a glimpse of the resilience of a domestic worker, and how self-sufficient she feels thanks to this mode of transport. Krishnan’s—he is the founder of CultureDrum, a creative think tank—work is part of the exhibition Two Wheels Gurugram, which is on display at the Museo Camera, Centre for Photographic Arts, Gurugram. Centred on highlighting the need for improved cycling infrastructure in Gurugram, this exhibition—it started on Wednesday and will continue till December 11—is organised by Sustainable Mobility Network, which is a pan-India network of more than 20 organisations working towards sustainable transport and mobility, along with Raahgiri Foundation—a Gurugram-based charitable trust that is zealously striving after making roads safe and combatting air pollution. Gearing up for good Art is not just a means of visual delight, it is also powerful: A captivating painting or an arresting sculpture can nudge the viewer to pause, think, and, as a result, transform their mindset. ‘Save Lung’ by Nehmat Mongia, an installation by Seema Singh Dua Hari corroborates this when he shares an anecdote, “I was painting this [the series] for a year in my studio, and my Bengali domestic worker who is 46 years old said ‘Bhaiya, maine aapko ye karte hue dekha aur mujhe itna accha laga, ki main bhi cycle ab seekh rahi hu' (I saw you work on this and liked your paintings so much that I decided to start learning how to cycle). Art has the power to draw people into things and create a culture as well.” Through this exhibition, six artists—Seema Singh Dua, Richa Kedia, Aditya Raj, Hari Krishan, Nehmat Mongia, and Sreelakshmi M—across mediums explore the many aspects of cycling: as an urban lifestyle and for livelihood. Krishnan, who is also the curator, shares, “We have been planning this since October, and wanted to create a conversation around safe streets for cyclists and cycling infrastructure. Whether it is a livelihood or lifestyle cyclist, cycling is a cleaner mode of transport, and it makes you fitter. So the idea is to fulfil many purposes by a conversation like this.” Art for a cause The recent death of Subhendu Banerjee, a 50-year-old Gurugram-based cyclist, has shed light on the need for cities to implement safe cycling infrastructure. According to data shared by the traffic police in early 2022, 3 per cent of road fatalities in Gurugram were those riding bicycles in 2021. Giving us insight into why this one-of-a-kind exhibition is the need of the hour, Sarika Panda Bhatt, co-founder and trustee, Raahgiri Foundation, shares, “Subhendu was one of us, which is why there is so much anger and sadness. But, two weeks prior to that incident, two livelihood cyclists were run over in Golf Course Extension Road. That is not much talked about because they don’t have a voice. The idea of this exhibition is to see how we can work towards their rights and safety, because they don’t have any choice except to use cycles as their mode of transport.” Two Wheels Gurugram also serves a double duty; a number of artists showcase works that portray the joy of cycling, a sustainable means of travel. Bhatt adds, “Another aspect is to promote cycling as sustainable mobility. We are in the most polluted city in the world, but what is the solution? The solution is getting more people into cycling. I think this is the first-time an exhibition is giving importance to cycling and cyclists." "We also have a panel discussion [Bhatt will be part of the panel along with Darshan Yadav, City Magistrate of Gurugram; Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs; Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Centre for Science and Environment; Harpreet Bagga, Partner & Director, Purpose Climate Lab; Kalpana Viswanath, Co-founder and CEO, Safetipinit], which will be about getting the right infrastructure for cyclists.” When we walked into the first floor of Museo Camera on Friday, the initial work we noticed was Caregiver, a sculpture by Seema Singh Dua, which showcases how the bond between parent and child is deepened through the activity of cycling. After this, you witness Krishnan’s series of works, post which there’s Sketchbook of a Gurugram Cyclist by Richa Kedia, a wildlife illustrator known for her nature journals. Kedia shares, “When you are in a car, you can't really observe anything. During COVID, life slowed down and cycling was possible because traffic was less. It was nice that you could just cycle around and whenever you observe something, just stop, sketch, and move on. Now, one can only do this early in the morning because the traffic is almost impossible.” Right in the centre of the space, a large web created using scrap rubber cycle tubes is seen suspended from the ceiling. This work titled Entangled by Nehmat Mongia is an attempt by the artist to capture what a cyclist feels while they are riding on the road. Mongia shares, “Every time I would ride as a child and even today, I feel scared when I have to cross the road because there are so many big vehicles, and it is literally as though I feel entangled in between them.” On the wall opposite to the one adorned by Kedia’s paintings is where one will find a series of paintings by Dua. These demonstrate the joy of cycling with a partner or in a group. Another set of works that stresses on the meditative nature of this activity and the fun it entails is Aditya Raj’s Joy on Two Wheels. Diagonal to this is where Mongia’s Save Lungs stands as a striking installation. The artist, who has crafted this work using waste spare parts of cycles, shares, “The concept of Save Lungs is about how cycling is better for your health and the environment. It is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of commuting and also helps reduce pollution, only to make our lungs more healthy.” To incorporate film as a medium in the exhibition, there's a documentary screening by Sreelakshmi M titled As The Wheels Turn, showcasing livelihood cyclists and their relationship with this mode of transport. Two Cycling Societies by Anirudh Krishnan is where the photographer/climate change champion looks at the practice of cycling across cultures. In another collaborative work titled Maintain Distance, a screen showcasing visuals (created by Mongia) of the chaos of a city serves as a backdrop for Dua’s sculpture of a lady on a bicycle. Mongia explains, “The idea was to capture what goes through the mind of a cyclist when they are in the middle of all the traffic. The video installation depicts confusion and clutter.” The works on display in this exhibition present the stark reality of cyclists in India, and how in contrast this activity remains to that across the world. However, one aspect it puts into focus is the lives of an oft-ignored community—livelihood cyclists—and their safety. We're reminded of a conversation with Aditya Arya, photographer and founder of Museo Camera, who shares, "We are the cultural hub of Gurugram, and we don’t restrict ourselves to any particular genre. Museo Camera is a space that is selling ideas to people, and it is about being all inclusive and culturally vibrant.. This exhibition is also very relevant because the man who passed away [Subhendu] used to visit this space." The need for change When it comes to cycling, despite the comprehensive mobility plans crafted across cities and states, there are a number of glitches that limit the implementation of said plans. Krishnan says that the public also needs to lend a helping hand, “The government is always ready to start policies and there is a bit of implementation as well. But the public also needs to be aware, change their habits, and embrace cycling. It is a cultural thing. cycling, as an activity, is ignored. Till an accident happens; nobody looks at it.” Adding to this, Bhatt stressed on how cyclists and pedestrians are almost invisible to other road users, “People who drive vehicles don't look at cyclists and pedestrians as road users. They don’t respect the latter.” A crucial part of this sustainable mobility movement is to bring about a culture change. Krishnan concludes, “Cycling can come into our culture only when you talk about it; and you can talk about it through art. This whole exhibition and initiative is aimed to create such conversations and awareness. Also, the mark of success in any society is when you graduate from a cycle to a motorised scooter. People usually think that ‘If I'm driving a cycle, I'm a poor person’ because society has put such labels on people. So how do we bring about a change? It is by getting artists together.” CHECK IT OUT WHAT: ‘Two Wheels Gurugram’ WHEN: Till December 11; 11:00am to 7:00pm (Closed on Mondays) WHERE: Museo Camera Centre for the Photographic Arts, DLF Phase IV, Gurugram