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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

Pollution crisis

After hovering between “poor” and “very poor” categories for nearly a month, the air quality in Delhi and its adjoining states in the National Capital Region (NCR) has deteriorated to the “severe” class, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke emergency pollution-control measures under stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). These steps include ban on construction and demolition, closure of brick kilns and hot mix plants, and restriction on plying BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles. The bouts of choking pollution and consequential disruptive curbs, which recur so often in this region, are not only deleterious for the economy but also injurious to human health. Thousands of workers, especially daily wagers, lose their livelihood. The long-term exposure to toxic pollutants, on the other hand, poses the risk of respiratory disorders and, in some cases, even more serious pulmonary diseases, strokes and cancer. What is worse, the air quality monitoring agencies reckon the grave pollution phase to last for a while despite the meteorologists predicting some increase in the wind speed that can improve ventilation to disperse pollutants. This dismal state of affairs, notably, cannot be attributed to the convenient scapegoat — crop fires — which occur only for a short period between mid-October and mid-November. The pollution tends to persist almost throughout the year. Also, most of the pollutants seem to be locally generated, although some meteorological features, such as humidity, wind speed and its direction, do play a role in the consolidation or dispersal of the toxicants. In fact, the weather bureau, taking these factors into account, had issued an advance warning this time about the likely worsening of air quality, but this was not taken seriously enough to promulgate the phase-III of GRAP norms well in time to stave off the current pollution crisis. The notion that local causes are majorly responsible for the national capital’s unrelenting pollution is not a mere hypothesis. It is actually based on, and validated by, the findings of scientific studies conducted by reputed institutions. A study carried out by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur at the behest of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee in 2016 had identified top contributors to the air’s particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) as road dust (56 per cent), concrete batching (10 per cent), industrial discharges (10 per cent) and vehicular emissions (9 per cent). The smoke from burning of garbage and bonfires by people to warm themselves in winters further aggravates the situation. These findings have, more or less, been corroborated by a study conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment in the third week of October this year. It reckoned the contribution of vehicular emissions to the PM2.5 content of the air at 51 per cent. The share of the residential sector was estimated at 13 per cent and that of industries at 11 per cent. It is, thus, clear that pollution is largely a localised issue that needs situation-specific solutions. The remedy for Delhi, therefore, lies in replacing manual sweeping of roads with mechanical vacuum cleaning, stopping torching of dry leaves and garbage, switching over to cleaner domestic cooking fuel and, most importantly, reducing vehicular pollution by encouraging the use of CNG or electric vehicles. Action on these fronts can deliver better and enduring dividends.

Most of Delhi pollution coming from neighbouring cities, shows DSS data

Most of Delhi’s air pollution right now is largely down to emission sources outside the Capital, despite the end of farm fire season in upwind states, showed data from the Decision Support System (DSS) forecasting model, used by the Centre for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to plan measures to mitigate bad air in the region. Jhajjar is the key contributor of the NCR cities and towns that pollute Delhi, with a 9.5% share on Tuesday, and forecasts of between 8% and 15% in the next three days.

Climate Change: India’s Climate Change Goals

Climate change has been one of the major concerns for all nations around the world. The last 15 years have seen a sharp increase in worldwide carbon measurements due to growing industrial activities and the use of automobiles. According to current statistics, carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement was 418 parts per million in January 2022, an increase of around 11% over the 378 parts per million recorded since 2007. This statistic has been rising steadily, with a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of around 0.73% from 2016 to 2021. India, which has the second-largest population in the world (1.38 billion), is one of the most polluting nations. Three of the top ten most polluted cities in the world and 22 of the top 30 were in India in 2021. The nation has some of the worst air pollution in the world. However, realizing the climate change concerns, India has launched many initiatives to address the pollution problem on a national and international level. The country has periodically monitored its role in the global scene and has developed several goals and future visions. It is quickly migrating from conventional energy and fuel sources to technologies with no emissions. India has started several programs to combat climate change and reach its goal of having 45% lesser emissions by 2030. Climate goals set by India The Indian government has established goals in various sectors, including environmentally friendly industrial practices, emission-free transportation, and sustainable electricity generation. According to the declaration made by the prime minister during the Conference of the Parties (COP26) summit, India aims to have zero net emissions of carbon dioxide by 2070. Listed below are the aims that India aims to achieve in the coming future: India currently relies on fossil fuel-based power plants to provide around 60% of its energy needs, and it plans to boost its non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. The government has previously instructed thermal power generating companies to build renewable power facilities directly or through developers. By 2030, India wants to derive 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources, as currently, 37% of the total installed capacity is made up of renewable energy. This project aims to lessen the country’s reliance on and consumption of fossil fuels. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) predicts that total carbon emissions would reach48 Gt by 2030 if present trends continue. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that for global carbon emissions to remain within the 1.5°C thresholds, the globe must emit around 18.22 Gt of carbon per year. The government of India has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 to reduce emissions. India has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity by less than 45% as part of the global effort to achieve net zero emissions. This is a step up from its Paris Agreement to reduce Gross Domestic Product (GDP) emission intensity by 33–55% from 2005 set objectives to be nations with zero emissions. About 290 gigagrams (Gg) of PM2.5 are produced by vehicles, and the transportation industry is responsible for about 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions, reaching over 30% in some big cities. According to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), India has set a goal of lowering PM2.5 and PM10 levels by 20–30% by 2024. The road ahead India has moved towards a more climate-friendly approach to align with the Paris agreement and achieve sustainable development goals. The country has adopted the framework for taking climate action to cut emissions and increase climate resilience. One example is the investment of USD 3bn in battery development and solar PV for green recovery in the country. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels. One method that individuals, corporations, and major organizations may contribute to this goal is by using carbon credits. While a large portion of the globe still relies on fossil fuels for electricity, carbon credits provide an alternative way to contribute to the global effort to combat climate change.

MALNUTRITION RELATED DISEASES CAUSING DEATH

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 155 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.12.2022 MALNUTRITION RELATED DISEASES CAUSING DEATH 155. SHRI SYED NASIR HUSSAIN: Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state: (a) whether according to a recent report by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth magazine, 71 per cent of Indians cannot afford nutritious food and more than 17 lakh people die every year due to diseases caused by poor diet; (b) if so, the reasons therefor; (c) whether as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 67.1 per cent of children aged 6-59 months suffered from anemia in 2021 as compared to 58.6 per cent in 2016 highlighting the significant increase in anemia; and (d) if so, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI) (a) & (b) Ministry is not aware of any such report. However, the issue of food security at the household level has been addressed by Government by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality foodgrains at subsidised rates. Further, even during the COVID Pandemic, free ration was provided to 80 crore people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (c) & (d) Children aged 6-59 months had some degree of anemia (haemoglobin levels below 11.0 g/dl) which has increased as per NFHS-5 survey. There are various causes for anemia in children, which inter alia include low iron stores at birth due to maternal anemia, non-exclusive breastfeeding, poor complementary feeding practices, insufficient quantity of iron and iron enhancers in diet such as foods rich in Vitamin-C, increased iron requirements related to rapid growth and development during infancy and childhood, iron losses due to parasite load (e.g. malaria, intestinal worms), unsafe drinking water and inadequate personal hygiene and poor environmental sanitation, etc.

Intergovernmental meeting to end plastic pollution concludes

Direction: The article highlights some of the effective ways to limit plastic pollution and India’s efforts in this direction. Context: The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) concluded in Uruguay. Background: The INC-1 was convened and managed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The INC-1 came after a landmark resolution was endorsed at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), calling for the international legally binding instrument to promote sustainable production and consumption of plastics. According to the OECD, global plastic production was 460 million tonnes (Mt) in 2019 (234 Mt in 2000) and during the same period, plastic waste doubled to 353 Mt from 156 Mt. Extracts from the outcome document titled “Summary of plastic pollution science”: Recognised the links between plastic, human health and environmental health. Endorsed the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’s position that plastic pollution is rooted in the material’s life cycle – an offshoot of the linear take-make-dispose economy. Current trends need to be replaced by a circular economy (CE) – a model of production and consumption, which involves reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. 4 strategic goals that can guide the transition to a circular economy: Reduce the size of the problem by eliminating and substituting plastic items. Ensure that plastic products are designed to be circular. Close the loop of plastics in the economy. Manage plastics that cannot be reused or recycled in an environmentally responsible manner. Plastic Waste in India: The majority of plastic used in India today is for packaging and its production (the majority of which is single-use that may or may not be recyclable) is increasing each year. According to the Union Minister of Environment, over 34 lakh tonnes of plastic waste were generated in India in 2019-20, which has doubled in the last 5 years. As a result, the government has notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, which for the first time provided for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Under this, producers, importers and brand owners have been made responsible for collecting waste generated by their products. What more needs to be done to tackle plastic pollution in the country? Strengthening India’s plastic waste production, consumption and recycling inventory; Making brands disclose the number of plastics produced, collected, recycled and burnt each year; Integrating the informal sector into the formal value chain for plastic management; Designing product packaging with the ‘end-of-life’ stage in mind.