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Delhi skies turn sepia as farm fire smoke shrouds Capital

Air quality in the next seven days could be worse as the fires peak during the first week of November. Last year, the contribution of stubble burning had touched 36% on November 5 and 48% on November 7, Safar data show. In 2020, the contribution of stubble burning touched a peak of 42% on November 5 Smoke from farm fires is fast becoming the dominant source of particulate matter pollution in Delhi, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar), and air pollution is likely to worsen in the coming week as more fields are set on fire to clear crop residue ahead of the winter planting season.

Over 70% families impacted in Delhi-NCR as air quality deteriorates to 'severe' level, says survey

As air quality in Delhi-NCR deteriorates from 'poor' to 'severe', more people are being affected by the pollution and trying hard to cope with it. Air pollution in Delhi-NCR has assumed monstrous toxicity levels, thanks to stubble burning, smoke-belching vehicles, cracker burning and a host of other factors. The Air Quality Index (AQI) has turned severe (375-500) in many parts of Delhi-NCR and this is hitting people hard. A whopping 70% of people have one or more family members, or themselves, who are facing the impact of poor air quality. The elderly at home are most impacted along with those who have a medical condition, and of course, school-going kids, revealed a survey carried out by LocalCircles, a leading community social media platform, on Monday. Around 72% of families are forced to take one or more measures to cope with the air pollution. And 27% of Delhi-NCR families are likely to travel during the next three weeks for at least a few days to escape the toxic air, the survey added. Hardest hit The survey indicated that seven in 10 families (70%) already have someone having difficulties due to air pollution. Out of 9,123 respondents, 30% said "elderly parents/grandparents at home" were already impacted; in 10% of families, school-going children are feeling unwell; 20% of respondents are themselves impacted due to their health conditions; while another 10% indicated that they were not feeling well though they have no pre-existing medical conditions. “Air pollution hits people who are ailing from medical conditions the most. The short-term impact could be respiratory and cardiac problems, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and so on. The symptoms get aggravated in the vulnerable lot. The long-term impact could be metabolic diseases and cancer,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. How do families plan to cope with the deteriorating air quality in the next three weeks? Around 21% will use air purifiers at home; 14% will increase consumption of immunity-boosting foods, while 9% will use anti-pollution masks. Around 14% indicated adopting all the three measures; 14% anti-pollution masks as well as taking immunity-boosting foods. Sadly, another 14% said they "do not plan to do anything as we can't afford all these" measures. "It must be noted that despite 2022 being the 8th consecutive year of toxic air quality, only 1 in 3 households have an air purifier and the majority will rely just on a mask or some immunity-boosting foods or both. And at the end of the day, these safety measures can only provide limited protection to the over 32 million population of Delhi-NCR," pointed out Sachin Taparia, the founder of LocalCircles. Escape route Families who have elderly or small children, try to get out of Delhi-NCR so that they don't inhale the toxic air for at least a few days. Around 27% of respondents indicated that they plan to get away from Delhi-NCR, the survey data showed. A total of 18% of the respondents and their family are planning to go out of Delhi-NCR for a week or a fortnight, while 9% are planning a getaway for a few days During the survey, it was found that a large number of people feel that the rise in pollution and poor air quality is a reflection of the collective failure of several arms of the government. Taparia said, "Despite Delhi and Punjab now being governed by the same political party (AAP), there have been no or limited efforts to stop stubble burning. Similarly, there is no coordinated effort by the central government to bring together all the state governments and other relevant agencies to address the root cause of pollution."

Chhath Pooja: The controversy around Delhi Jal Board and Yamuna’s toxic foam

A BJP MP alleged that the “defoamers” being sprayed are toxic in nature, while the DJB denied these claims. In the run-up to the Chhath Pooja festival celebrated from October 28 to 31, Delhi’s political parties made allegations and counter-claims regarding the quality of water in the Yamuna river. Last year too, images of devotees praying to the sun to mark the festival, while standing amid the toxic foam covering the river’s surface, had raised concerns and led to BJP criticising the Aam Aadmi Party government. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back, asking the BJP to give an account of its 15 years in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. This year, West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma clashed with a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) official over the use of “defoamers” to tackle the froth. On October 30, the official took a bath on the Yamuna banks using its water at Kalindi Kunj, after filing a complaint against BJP leaders. What was the issue with the toxic foam in Yamuna? The AAP hit out at Verma on October 28, after a video emerged of the MP speaking sternly with an official of the DJB who was in charge of spraying a “defoamer” in the river ahead of Chhath Puja. In the video shared by DJB Vice Chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj on Twitter, Verma said to the official about the defoamer chemical, “After eight years, you have remembered now that it is approved? You take a dip in it now.” he official then asked Verma why he is getting angry. “Why do you think people will die of this? It is a chemical that is approved by the US FDA. The NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) has also approved it,” he said. In response to this, Verma said: “Tere sar pe daal doon yeh chemical? Tum yahan pe chemical daal do paani mein aur yahan pe log lagayenge dubki, yeh main tere sar par daal doon? (You will spray the chemical in the water here and people will come to take a dip in the water. I’ll pour this over your head?) Sharam nahin aati tumhein? (Are you not ashamed?).” Why does the Yamuna froth every year around Chhath Pooja? The reason behind the foaming is usually the presence of phosphates from detergents, and anaerobic bacteria in the water that falls from a height at the Okhla barrage, an official from the DJB said. Sushmita Sengupta, Senior Programme Manager of the Water Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that at this time of the year, the river is in a lean phase and the water flow is less.

At UN Climate Summit, India to Flex Its Negotiating Muscles

As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year’s United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal’s suggestion to “phase out” coal, preferring the wording, “phase down.” After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India’s minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. It said that nations should work toward a “phase down” of coal power. The intervention was, for India’s government, a success. Now the country is expected to exercise its influence yet again to look out for its own interests at the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Egypt, known as COP27. “India has always played a key role in climate negotiations and I think Egypt will be the same,” said Navroz Dubash, a lead author of various U.N. climate reports and a long-time observer of climate policy and governance. Indian leaders say the nation requires billions of dollars to enable its clean energy transition and will push for better financing for developing countries at the summit. India has made many of its carbon emission goals conditional on receiving this financial help. Being both a climate vulnerable as well as a high emitting country, experts say India occupies a unique position on the global climate policy negotiating table. About 80% of India’s population live in regions highly vulnerable to extreme disasters like severe flooding or heat waves, according to a 2021 study by the climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water based in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the nation is currently the world’s third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the U.S., according to latest estimates. A key issue for India at COP27 will be how to finance both adapting to climate change and limiting fossil fuel emissions, according to a senior Indian government official who will be involved in the negotiations. The official, from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, responded to written questions from The Associated Press. The official was not named, keeping in line with ministry protocols. India wants the $100 billion-a-year pledge of climate funds for developing countries, a promise made in 2009 that hasn’t yet been fulfilled despite being two years past its deadline, to be assessed, according to the official. Other questions around financing, such as what happens to climate funding in the long term, what contributions rich countries will make to poorer ones and how to make finance flows consistent with global temperature limit goals, also need to be addressed, they added. No other country will see a bigger increase in energy demand than India in the coming years, and it is estimated that the nation will need $223 billion to meet its 2030 clean energy targets. “India has made it adequately clear that it is the historical responsibility of rich countries to provide the necessary climate funding,” said the senior Indian government official. Historically, it is the U.S. and European nations that have contributed the most carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Estimates for how much it will cost to move to clean energy and industry practices globally and help vulnerable communities adapt vary, but are in the trillions of dollars. Leading up to COP27, India had announced its new climate plan saying the country will aim to achieve half of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources by the year 2030. Currently, 42% of the country’s installed electricity capacity is from non-fossil fuel sources. “The investments in renewable energy, though on an upward trend, need significant scaling up. There is a funding gap. This gap needs to met by international climate public financing to attract investors in the renewable energy domain,” said the Indian government official. “The raised ambitions and new goals for tackling climate change could all be in vain if adequate financial support is not provided to developing countries.” Despite their ambitious climate plans, India is also investing more in coal, at least in the short-term. In the last two years alone, the Indian government has announced around $50 billion in forthcoming public and private investment in coal. Compensation for poor countries from rich, high-polluting nations for the destruction caused by climate change, known as “loss and damage” in climate negotiations will be a key agenda item for many developing countries, including India. According to the World Bank, 750 million people in South Asia have been affected by at least one natural disaster in the past two decades. These disasters are expected to become more frequent and intense, potentially creating immense loss and damage in the region. The NGO Germanwatch has ranked India seventh among countries most affected by extreme weather in 2019, noting that massive floods that year caused damage of around $10 billion, claiming 1,800 lives and displacing around 1.8 million people. “I think it’s a real challenge for India to position itself” on loss and damage, said Dubash, who’s also a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. “I think it would be an important moment for India to signal its allegiance with vulnerable countries,” Long term observers of climate diplomacy say India, like many other countries, is straddling climate goals and boosting standards of living. “There are some groups of countries which tend to think that all the financing for fossil fuels should be stopped and should be restricted. The problem with this, among other things, is that it ignores the efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals that many countries are making,” said RR Rashmi, a distinguished fellow at The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi. He added that moving away from fossil fuels “has to be a country driven process. It is best left to them to decide which sectors to address first rather than addressing it globally.” Many observers say this year’s conference will be “in-between COP,” as many of the deadlines set for climate change goals have either passed or are not due until later years. This makes the conference “a good moment to push forward the issues that the developed world typically sideline, like loss and damage, climate finance and adaptation,” said Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. For the most part, experts say India is keeping its cards close to its chest. India will have to balance “what the country is willing to put on the table in terms of pledges, policies, and commitments” and how much they are willing to spend, said Dubash. “So we (India) don’t want to do something that would lock ourselves into something costly unless there’s a promise of finance.”

Construction ban in Delhi-NCR as AQI on verge of 'severe'Construction ban in Delhi-NCR as AQI on verge of 'severe'

NEW DELHI: With air quality likely to touch "severe" in Delhi on Sunday, the sub-committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday banned all construction and demolition activities across Delhi-NCR, ordered closure of brick kilns and hot mix plants not operating on approved fuels apart from barring stone crushers and mining operations. The measures were enforced as per the "severe" category under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR. Delhi's average AQI on Saturday plummeted to 397, in the "very poor" zone verging on "severe", and is likely to deteriorate further till Tuesday. The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 rose to 21%, the highest so far this season. The CAQM chairperson has written to the Punjab chief secretary requesting immediate action to curb farm fires in the state. CAQM has also sought proper implementation of the action plan and a comprehensive report on action taken in all reported cases of stubble-burning. ‘Delhi may impose curbs on some vehicles’ The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) implemented Grap III measures in Delhi-NCR from Saturday, in anticipation of a further deterioration in air quality over the next few days. “The winds are forecasted to be calm in the coming days and the wind direction is likely to change course frequently. Thus, there is a high likelihood of the pollutants getting trapped in the region,” it said. Unlike previous years, the modified GRAP’s stage II, III and IV come into force in advance, based on the forecast. The order banned C&D activities, except railway services/railway stations, Metro rail services including stations, airports and inter-state bus terminals, national security/ defence related activities/projects of national importance, hospitals, linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, over bridges, power transmission and pipelines, sanitation projects like sewage treatment plants and water supply project etc; and ancillary activities specific to and supplementing above categories of projects. However, nonpolluting and non-dust generating activities, including plumbing, interior decoration, electrical and carpentry work, will be allowed. The ban on C&D activities will severely impact daily-wage labourers involved in the housing sector. CAQM has banned industries running on non-approved fuels in industrial areas having PNG infrastructure and supply. However, industries running on non-cleaner fuels in industrial areas where PNG infrastructure and supply are unavailable will be allowed to operate for five days a week till December 31. Milk and dairy units and those involved in manufacturing of life-saving medical equipment, drugs and medicines have been exempted from the restrictions. CAQM said state governments in NCR/ Delhi may impose curbs on BS III petrol and BS IV diesel LMVs (4-wheelers). The commission asked implementing agencies to intensify frequency of mechanised sweeping of roads, conduct daily water sprinkling along with use of dust suppressants and intensification of public transport services and introduction of differential rates to encourage off-peak travel. Citizens have been advised to choose a cleaner commute. People, whose positions allow working from home, may work from home and individual house owners may provide electric heaters to security staff to avoid open burning. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “The impact on emergency measures depends on the effective implementation with zero tolerance in the entire Delhi and NCR. But deeper and sustained action is required to permanently reduce emissions.” Since farm fires are rising in Punjab, the CAQM chairperson highlighted the fact that despite repeated assurances by senior state government officials, the farm fire numbers weren’t brought down.

Weather Wrap: Winter Nip in Northern States; False Alarm in Bengaluru, Hyderabad; Heavy Rains Expected in TN, Kerala Starting Today

The onset of winter has commenced in several northern Indian states, bringing cooler temperatures and dry weather after a delayed monsoon withdrawal. Temperatures in Bengaluru and Hyderabad were also brought down this week, however IMD officials denied that these were early winter onsets. Winter has commenced in Maharashtra as Pune saw a dip in temperature below normal and Mumbai skirted the ‘October heat’ due to delayed monsoon withdrawal. Meanwhile, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir have already seen the season’s first snowfall earlier this month. On the other hand, the north-east monsoon is expected to commence on Saturday, bring heavy showers over Tamil Nadu, Kerala and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Latest updates: Air Quality Drops in Delhi-NCR as Winter Sets In Delhi had the cleanest start to winter in years, with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Thursday releasing an analysis of winter pollution in Delhi since 2015, finding that this October has had the cleanest start to the winter season with respect to PM 2.5 presence since the data was compiled. However, the Delhi-NCR region is now seeing a dip in air quality with the AQI index reflected being in the ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ categories at most stations. The AQI at Anand Vihar station reached a whopping 456, while Ashok Vihar saw the index at 422 on Saturday.

GSPCB ropes in IIT Goa to study air quality

PANJIM: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has roped in Indian Institute Technology (IIT) Goa to conduct a two-year long comprehensive study to understand the air quality across the State and recommend mitigation measures. IIT Goa has already proposed the need for deploying sensor network for more efficient air data collection and analysis. States namely Maharashtra and Meghalaya have already adopted concept of senor monitoring of air quality on trial basis. The sensors will monitor particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), ozone, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and sulphur oxides (SOx). The sources informed that the scope of the study includes a complete study to understand the air quality data across various zones -- industrial, residential, commercial, port, mining belts and coastal area. Sources said that various techniques including the existing methodology and available data will be used to study the air quality and recommend mitigation measures. “An interim report is expected shortly, following which approval will be given for deploying senor-based network,” sources said. Currently, the ambient air quality monitoring is conducted through a manual method (analysis of pollutants measured once every six days where data is transferred manually) and through continuous method (automatic real-time data collection of pollutants measured). Manual monitors to measure air quality have been used since 1984-85 by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which was later renamed the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) network. Low-cost monitoring sensors measure ambient air quality based on light scattering technology using much smaller equipment as compared to existing air quality measuring technology. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in its recent report has revealed that 13 per cent of the total deaths reported in Goa in 2019, were attributed to air pollution.

At UN climate summit, India to flex its negotiating muscles

As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year’s United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal’s suggestion to “phase out” coal, preferring the wording, “phase down.” After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India’s minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. It said that nations should work toward a “phase down” of coal power. The intervention was, for India’s government, a success. Now the country is expected to exercise its influence yet again to look out for its own interests at the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Egypt, known as COP27. “India has always played a key role in climate negotiations and I think Egypt will be the same,” said Navroz Dubash, a lead author of various U.N. climate reports and a long-time observer of climate policy and governance. A bus drives past a windmill farm in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India, Sept 14, 2022. The key priority for India at the upcoming U.N. climate conference will be how to pay for the transition away from fossil fuels for energy and industries to meet temperature limit targets, according to a senior official who'll be part of the negotiations. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) 1 of 4 A bus drives past a windmill farm in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India, Sept 14, 2022. The key priority for India at the upcoming U.N. climate conference will be how to pay for the transition away from fossil fuels for energy and industries to meet temperature limit targets, according to a senior official who'll be part of the negotiations. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) BENGALURU, India (AP) — As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year’s United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal’s suggestion to “phase out” coal, preferring the wording, “phase down.” After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India’s minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. It said that nations should work toward a “phase down” of coal power. The intervention was, for India’s government, a success. Now the country is expected to exercise its influence yet again to look out for its own interests at the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Egypt, known as COP27. “India has always played a key role in climate negotiations and I think Egypt will be the same,” said Navroz Dubash, a lead author of various U.N. climate reports and a long-time observer of climate policy and governance. ADVERTISEMENT Indian leaders say the nation requires billions of dollars to enable its clean energy transition and will push for better financing for developing countries at the summit. India has made many of its carbon emission goals conditional on receiving this financial help. Being both a climate vulnerable as well as a high emitting country, experts say India occupies a unique position on the global climate policy negotiating table. About 80% of India’s population live in regions highly vulnerable to extreme disasters like severe flooding or heat waves, according to a 2021 study by the climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water based in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the nation is currently the world’s third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the U.S., according to latest estimates. A key issue for India at COP27 will be how to finance both adapting to climate change and limiting fossil fuel emissions, according to a senior Indian government official who will be involved in the negotiations. The official, from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, responded to written questions from The Associated Press. The official was not named, keeping in line with ministry protocols. India wants the $100 billion-a-year pledge of climate funds for developing countries, a promise made in 2009 that hasn’t yet been fulfilled despite being two years past its deadline, to be assessed, according to the official. Other questions around financing, such as what happens to climate funding in the long term, what contributions rich countries will make to poorer ones and how to make finance flows consistent with global temperature limit goals, also need to be addressed, they added. No other country will see a bigger increase in energy demand than India in the coming years, and it is estimated that the nation will need $223 billion to meet its 2030 clean energy targets. “India has made it adequately clear that it is the historical responsibility of rich countries to provide the necessary climate funding,” said the senior Indian government official. Historically, it is the U.S. and European nations that have contributed the most carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Estimates for how much it will cost to move to clean energy and industry practices globally and help vulnerable communities adapt vary, but are in the trillions of dollars. Leading up to COP27, India had announced its new climate plan saying the country will aim to achieve half of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources by the year 2030. Currently, the country has the capacity to generate about 42% of its electricity requirements from non-fossil fuel sources. “The investments in renewable energy, though on an upward trend, need significant scaling up. There is a funding gap. This gap needs to met by international climate public financing to attract investors in the renewable energy domain,” said the Indian government official. “The raised ambitions and new goals for tackling climate change could all be in vain if adequate financial support is not provided to developing countries.” Despite their ambitious climate plans, India is also investing more in coal, at least in the short-term. In the last two years alone, the Indian government has announced around $50 billion in forthcoming public and private investment in coal. Compensation for poor countries from rich, high-polluting nations for the destruction caused by climate change, known as “loss and damage” in climate negotiations will be a key agenda item for many developing countries, including India. According to the World Bank, 750 million people in South Asia have been affected by at least one natural disaster in the past two decades. These disasters are expected to become more frequent and intense, potentially creating immense loss and damage in the region. The NGO Germanwatch has ranked India seventh among countries most affected by extreme weather in 2019, noting that massive floods that year caused damage of around $10 billion, claiming 1,800 lives and displacing around 1.8 million people. “I think it’s a real challenge for India to position itself” on loss and damage, said Dubash, who’s also a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. “I think it would be an important moment for India to signal its allegiance with vulnerable countries,” Long term observers of climate diplomacy say India, like many other countries, is straddling climate goals and boosting standards of living. “There are some groups of countries which tend to think that all the financing for fossil fuels should be stopped and should be restricted. The problem with this, among other things, is that it ignores the efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals that many countries are making,” said RR Rashmi, a distinguished fellow at The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi. He added that moving away from fossil fuels “has to be a country driven process. It is best left to them to decide which sectors to address first rather than addressing it globally.” Many observers say this year’s conference will be “in-between COP,” as many of the deadlines set for climate change goals have either passed or are not due until later years. This makes the conference “a good moment to push forward the issues that the developed world typically sideline, like loss and damage, climate finance and adaptation,” said Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. For the most part, experts say India is keeping its cards close to its chest. India will have to balance “what the country is willing to put on the table in terms of pledges, policies, and commitments” and how much they are willing to spend, said Dubash. “So we (India) don’t want to do something that would lock ourselves into something costly unless there’s a promise of finance.”

Planners Are Hoping That Electric Vehicles Will Help Save the World’s Most Polluted City

The clock is ticking in New Delhi. As another November approaches in the Indian capital, millions of residents will be left gasping for breath because of notorious seasonal smog. Schools will be shut down. The vulnerable will be advised to stay indoors. Hospitals will become crowded with people suffering from respiratory illnesses. Traditional agrarian practices kickstart this yearly health emergency. Farmers in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab prepare for the sowing of new crops by burning off the stubble left from the harvest. This smoke spreads to Delhi, where it mixes with winter fog, dust, and vehicular and industrial emissions to form a toxic miasma. Then come the annual celebrations of the Diwali holiday, the festival of lights. Despite being banned, firecrackers fill the skies with smoke, causing pollution levels to spike even further. A day after Diwali, which this year fell on Oct. 24, the air quality in Delhi turned “very poor,” according to the Central Pollution Control Board. But underlying all these seasonal factors is the constant of extremely high vehicular emissions. According to a survey by the Centre for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based research and advocacy organization, emissions from two-, three- and four-wheeled vehicles account for more than half of Delhi’s particulate pollution. Delhi has now replaced Beijing as the city with the world’s worst air. The human toll is high. In 2020, there were about 54,000 premature deaths attributable to pollution in New Delhi alone. Nationwide in India, air pollution is estimated to kill more than two million people a year. Lung cancer, usually associated with smoking, is increasing rapidly among non-smokers, and every three minutes a child dies in India because of air pollution. Small wonder that authorities at municipal, state and federal levels are racing to avert Delhi’s annual airborne catastrophe with a raft of measures, including crackdowns on construction site dust, waste burning and firecrackers, as well as a recently launched “Green War Room” to monitor pollution data and ensure implementation of specific measures. At the center of the plans to make the Indian capital more livable is an ambitious shift to electric vehicles. The boldest component of New Delhi’s war on pollution is the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, which was launched in August 2020. It aims to make New Delhi “the EV capital of the world,” with 25% of all new vehicles on the city’s roads by 2024 to be powered by electricity. To help achieve this goal, the city established a number of subsidies and incentives that seem to be working. Sales of electric vehicles have increased by roughly 40% since the implementation of the policy two years ago—more than 72,000 electric vehicles have been sold, and electric vehicles now account for close to 10% of all vehicles being sold each month according to figures cited by the transportation department. Although the policy has been in effect for around two years, it is still too early to assess whether pollution levels have dropped marginally. The shift toward electric vehicles isn’t just focused on cars. Two- and three-wheelers make up 75% of all vehicles in Delhi, and the Delhi EV Policy includes incentives for e-bikes and e-rickshaws. Recently, the government announced that charging stations will offer low-cost charging for these smaller electric vehicles. Unfamiliarity, however, is one issue holding back greater adoption of electric vehicles. “People want to be sure of EVs before letting their non-electric vehicles go,” says Ashish Rao Ghorpade, deputy director of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives—a global network of municipal authorities that have pledged themselves to sustainable development. Affordability is also a significant deterrent for Indian consumers, for most of whom car ownership is a distant dream. The average cost of an electric vehicle in New Delhi is roughly $20,000, while an average, entry-level fossil- fuel car can be bought for less than $5,000. Per capita income stands at just $4,800. Ghorpade points out that many people who are buying electric cars are buying them as a second vehicle while still keeping their fossil-fuel automobiles. There needs to be a “change in people’s behavior,” he says. But for that to happen, battery-powered cars need to be seen as just as reliable as gas-powered ones. The majority of local drivers continue to be skeptical. “What will happen if you get to a place and there aren’t any charging stations?” asks Irfan, a resident of Delhi who declined to give his full name. “And if you need to get somewhere quickly, filling the car up with gas only takes five minutes as opposed to charging, which takes much longer.” Akhil Kumar, a journalist for the Indian television network NDTV, went ahead and purchased an electric vehicle, but he says he often finds himself driving around town looking for a charging point. “There is no way to tell whether a charging station is operational and free of users at any particular moment,” he tells TIME. Jasmine Shah, vice chair of the Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission, says the government is working on a mobile application that will allow users to view real-time information on electric charging stations. And in 2023, the Delhi government plans to increase the number of charging points across the city from 2,000 to 18,000. It remains to be seen whether New Delhi will meet its ambitious goal of 25% of vehicles being electric by 2024, but experts agree that a cleaner transportation sector is critical for addressing the city’s deadly pollution levels. At the same time, environmentalists warn that more electric vehicles alone will not necessarily fix the air quality crisis unless paired with greener energy generation, given that India’s capital currently relies on coal- and gas-based power plants. Satish Sinha, associate director of the environmental group Toxics Link, says that the source of power generation for electric charging stations continues to largely be thermal or gas. “More should be done to generate power from renewable sources,” he says. Despite the challenges, people like Shah are confident in the long-term success of the effort to shift New Delhi away from fossil fuels toward a cleaner future. “An EV revolution is underway,” Shah tells TIME.

At UN climate summit, India to flex its negotiating muscles

The key priority for India at the upcoming U.N. climate conference will be how to pay for the transition away from fossil fuels for energy and industries to meet temperature limit targets, according to a senior official who'll be part of the negotiations. As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year's United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal's suggestion to “phase out” coal, preferring the wording, “phase down." After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India’s minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. It said that nations should work toward a “phase down” of coal power. The intervention was, for India's government, a success. Now the country is expected to exercise its influence yet again to look out for its own interests at the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Egypt, known as COP27. “India has always played a key role in climate negotiations and I think Egypt will be the same,” said Navroz Dubash, a lead author of various U.N. climate reports and a long-time observer of climate policy and governance. Indian leaders say the nation requires billions of dollars to enable its clean energy transition and will push for better financing for developing countries at the summit. India has made many of its carbon emission goals conditional on receiving this financial help. Being both a climate vulnerable as well as a high emitting country, experts say India occupies a unique position on the global climate policy negotiating table. About 80% of India’s population live in regions highly vulnerable to extreme disasters like severe flooding or heat waves, according to a 2021 study by the climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water based in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the nation is currently the world's third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the U.S., according to latest estimates. A key issue for India at COP27 will be how to finance both adapting to climate change and limiting fossil fuel emissions, according to a senior Indian government official who will be involved in the negotiations. The official, from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, responded to written questions from The Associated Press. The official was not named, keeping in line with ministry protocols. India wants the $100 billion-a-year pledge of climate funds for developing countries, a promise made in 2009 that hasn’t yet been fulfilled despite being two years past its deadline, to be assessed, according to the official. Other questions around financing, such as what happens to climate funding in the long term, what contributions rich countries will make to poorer ones and how to make finance flows consistent with global temperature limit goals, also need to be addressed, they added. No other country will see a bigger increase in energy demand than India in the coming years, and it is estimated that the nation will need $223 billion to meet its 2030 clean energy targets. “India has made it adequately clear that it is the historical responsibility of rich countries to provide the necessary climate funding,” said the senior Indian government official. Historically, it is the U.S. and European nations that have contributed the most carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Estimates for how much it will cost to move to clean energy and industry practices globally and help vulnerable communities adapt vary, but are in the trillions of dollars. Leading up to COP27, India had announced its new climate plan saying the country will aim to achieve half of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources by the year 2030. Currently, about 42% of the total electricity of the country is generated from non-fossil fuel sources. “The investments in renewable energy, though on an upward trend, need significant scaling up. There is a funding gap. This gap needs to met by international climate public financing to attract investors in the renewable energy domain,” said the Indian government official. "The raised ambitions and new goals for tackling climate change could all be in vain if adequate financial support is not provided to developing countries.” Despite their ambitious climate plans, India is also investing more in coal, at least in the short-term. In the last two years alone, the Indian government has announced around $50 billion in forthcoming public and private investment in coal. Compensation for poor countries from rich, high-polluting nations for the destruction caused by climate change, known as “loss and damage” in climate negotiations will be a key agenda item for many developing countries, including India. According to the World Bank, 750 million people in South Asia have been affected by at least one natural disaster in the past two decades. These disasters are expected to become more frequent and intense, potentially creating immense loss and damage in the region. The NGO Germanwatch has ranked India seventh among countries most affected by extreme weather in 2019, noting that massive floods that year caused damage of around $10 billion, claiming 1,800 lives and displacing around 1.8 million people. "I think it’s a real challenge for India to position itself” on loss and damage, said Dubash, who's also a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. “I think it would be an important moment for India to signal its allegiance with vulnerable countries,” Long term observers of climate diplomacy say India, like many other countries, is straddling climate goals and boosting standards of living. “There are some groups of countries which tend to think that all the financing for fossil fuels should be stopped and should be restricted. The problem with this, among other things, is that it ignores the efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals that many countries are making," said RR Rashmi, a distinguished fellow at The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi. He added that moving away from fossil fuels “has to be a country driven process. It is best left to them to decide which sectors to address first rather than addressing it globally.” Many observers say this year's conference will be "in-between COP," as many of the deadlines set for climate change goals have either passed or are not due until later years. This makes the conference "a good moment to push forward the issues that the developed world typically sideline, like loss and damage, climate finance and adaptation,” said Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. For the most part, experts say India is keeping its cards close to its chest. India will have to balance “what the country is willing to put on the table in terms of pledges, policies, and commitments” and how much they are willing to spend, said Dubash. “So we (India) don’t want to do something that would lock ourselves into something costly unless there’s a promise of finance.”

Delhi CM visits Ghazipur garbage dump, lashes out at civic body

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday lashed out at municipal authorities over towering mountains of garbage that scar the city and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled bodies of failing to clean up the Capital, indicating that the festering garbage problem will be a key electoral issue in the upcoming civic polls. Speaking at the foot of the Ghazipur landfill site, Kejriwal also promised that if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the next civic polls, it will clean up the city in five years. “People living several kilometres around these mountains have to suffer due to the stench. The situation is similar in every nook and corner of the city; there is garbage everywhere. Over the last 15 years, this is the BJP’s real achievement,” said Kejriwal, flanked by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other AAP legislators. The BJP, in response, accused Kejriwal of making baseless allegations to divert attention from its “poor record” of controlling air and water pollution in Delhi. Spokespersons from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) did not respond to requests seeking comment. Kejriwal also countered Union home minister Amit Shah’s allegations – made during inaugurating a waste-to-energy plant in Tughlaqabad last week -- that the Delhi government was withholding ₹40,000 crore from the civic body. Kejriwal said the civic body spent ₹2 lakh crore in 15 years. Of this, he said, ₹1 lakh crore came from the Delhi government. “Whose money was it?...They should give us an account of those funds first,” he said. The dispute over funds allocation for the MCDs stems from the unique constitutional position of Delhi which is a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2012 and the flow of grants from the Centre to the Delhi government. While the Delhi government consistently claims that it had paid all dues to the erstwhile three BJP-ruled MCDs, the municipal functionaries have held protests and dharnas blaming the AAP dispensation for owning corporation owes thousands of crores to the civic bodies. “Shah abused me and alleged that the Delhi government did not give money to MCD but I want to ask him how much they have given to the civic bodies since the BJP formed government at the Centre,” he said. Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said Kejriwal was trying to divert attention. “He should tell people what he has done to clean landfill sites, Yamuna, or the city’s air. If everything has to be done by courts and NGT, then what is the Delhi government’s role,” he asked. Elections to the newly constituted Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are likely to be held later this year or early next year.The delimitation process for the exercise is already complete and notified. The AAP is looking to wrest power from the BJP after 15 years has focused on management of sanitation, waste and cleanliness as key issues. The BJP, which controlled all three of the erstwhile civic bodies in Delhi, has stressed its record on advancements made in processing garbage. A particularly fractious issue is that of garbage. The Capital generates around 11,000 tonnes of garbage every day, over 40% of which is dumped at overflowing landfill sites in Ghazipur (the biggest of the three), Bhalswa and Okhla. Deadlines set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the civic body to flatten the three waste mountains, which pose several health risks such as nausea, eye irritation and are major eyesores, have been extended and missed multiple times.Delhi has constantly fared poorly on annual sanitation rankings.The low levels of waste segregation in households remains a major concern as well. During his visit to Ghazipur, Kejriwal said the BJP’s “misgovernance” was at fault for the rise of the landfills. “In cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, you visit tourist places and enjoy the clean environment. But in the case of our city, people have to bear these garbage mountains. BJP has shamed us. They have provided nothing but garbage in these last 15 years,” he added. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor pointed out that NGT earlier this month fined the state government ₹900 crore for failing to remediate and manage its municipal solid waste at the three landfills. QUOTE The CM’s visit was preceded by a protest by BJP supporters and a counter demonstration by AAP members, which culminated in a tussle between the two groups. Even as the police attempted to keep the two groups apart, the row led to a snarl on the NH-24. Referring to the protests, the CM said the BJP was “ashamed” of its work. “While I was trying to come to this site, BJP workers tried to stop me by protesting. We will not protest if BJP leaders come to see our schools and hospitals, then why are you ashamed to showcase your work?” he added. He implored BJP supporters to vote for the AAP in the civic elections. “All they do is abuse me. They are only concerned about money. We have to win hearts. I am a magician and I know how to win hearts. We will work through the happiness and sorrows of the people and will win their hearts. The Congress has been reduced to zero in Delhi and soon there a day will come when BJP will become zero too. In future all BJP supporters will come to join the AAP,” he said. Kejriwal also reiterated his party’s allegation that BJP plans to create 16 more landfill sites -- a charge that the MCD and BJP have denied. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused him of spreading falsehoods. “Either they should prove the allegation that MCD is proposing to build 16 new landfill sites in Delhi or apologise to the people of Delhi,” he said. The AAP and BJP have clashed on the issue of sanitation before. On October 20, Shah accused the AAP of “second-class behaviour” towards the municipal corporation by withholding funds worth ₹40,000 crore to render it dysfunctional. “They were unified because you (Kejriwal) stopped funds of ₹40,000 crore by meting out second-class behaviour. Was it not the Delhi government’s responsibility to provide these funds,” Shah said. At the landfill, Sisodia said, “BJP’s only achievement over the last 15 years is to crush Delhi under three large landfill sites. They have filled Delhi with garbage. People’s lives have been turned into hell due to insanitation and diseases.” Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary said that neither the AAP nor BJP have solutions to Delhi’s problems. Commenting on Delhi’s poor performance on sanitation parameters, Siddharth Singh, programme manager of Environmental Governance and Solid Waste Management at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “Besides some pockets where source segregation of waste is taking place, it has not been adopted at wider level. Segregation is mostly done by informal sector and even the door-to-door collection is not up to the mark. Half of the 11,500 tons of waste Delhi generates ends up in dumpsites. Delhi needs to work on its basics. Burning waste in waste to energy plants and sending it to dumpsites is not waste processing,” Singh said.

Explained: Why Yamuna froths with toxic foam year after year

The Yamuna on Thursday was seen frothing with thick, white foam. Ahead of this year’s Chhath Puja celebrations, let’s examine why it remains one of India’s most polluted rivers The Yamuna is frothing over again with toxic foam covering sections of the river near Kalindi Kunj. The development comes ahead of Chhath Puja which will be celebrated on 30 and 31 October and which involves the offering of ‘arghya’ to the Sun god by fasting women in knee-deep water. On Wednesday, Delhi lieutenant-governor Vinai Kumar Saxena gave his nod to hold Chhath Puja at designated ghats on the Yamuna and urged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to ensure clean ghats and water for devotees. “Chhath Puja will be celebrated like before on the ghats of Yamuna. Orders have been given to all the officers that all arrangements be made to ensure that Yamuna is not polluted,” Kejriwal said. Kejriwal visited the Ghazipur on Thursday and said the upcoming MCD polls will be fought on the garbage issue as he promised to clean Delhi in five years if his AAP wins the civic body election. Let’s take a look at what causes it and why this is a recurring problem: According to Weather.com, it is triggered by industries discharging effluents containing a high concentration of ammonia and phosphate. Some illegal jeans-making units even dump chemical waste — mainly the substances used to dye denim — in the holy river. As per IndiaTimes, domestic wastewater, idol immersion, pesticide residue, untreated sewage are some of the other sources of pollution. While only two per cent of the river flows through Delhi, the city is responsible for about 76 per cent of its total pollution. Lead, plaster of paris (POP) and chrome paints used in making the idols also pollute the water. Polythene bags, decoration items, metal polishes also add to the pollution, The frothing itself is formed by phosphates in the river, Sushmita Sengupta, Senior Programme Manager of the Water Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) told Indian Express. Surfactants and phosphates from detergents in households and industrial laundry find their way into the river, as all the sewage is not treated, Sengupta said. According to the newspaper, an August 2020 report noted that foam forms downstream of the ITO and Okhla barrages. The water falling after discharge from the Okhla barrage causes the surfactants and foaming agents present in the wastewater or in the sludge on the river bed to get agitated, thus forming foam, as per the website. The Centre had earlier this month set up a joint committee of stakeholders, including NMCG, Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB), UP Irrigation Department, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Irrigation and Flood Control, Delhi and Delhi Pollution Control Committee to oversee and coordinate efforts to control and minimize the froth formation downstream of Okhla Barrage in Yamuna during Chhat Puja. Why does it froth around this time? The frothing is at its peak around this time every year because of a combination of the around 3,500 million litres of untreated effluents released into the river every year and the river flow dropping below minimum levels from November to March, as per Weather.com. As per the website, exposure to this toxic foam could cause skin allergies, irritation, and different types of skin pigmentation, including vitiligo and autoimmune diseases. It could even cause skin cancer and contagious viral warts in severe cases. Ingesting this foam could result in gastrointestinal problems and diseases such as typhoid, tuberculosis, neurological issues and hormonal imbalance. Last year, pictures and videos showing devotees offering prayers in the froth-filled Yamuna on Chhath Puja had triggered a political slugfest between the AAP and the BJP, prompting the Delhi government to take measures like installing bamboo nets and sprinkling water to dissipate froth. Last June, the DPCC banned the sale, storage and transportation of soaps and detergents not conforming to the quality standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), as per Indian Express.

Delhi saw cleanest air quality post-Deepavali in seven years: CPCB

The national capital on Tuesday witnessed the cleanest air quality on the day after Deepavali in the past seven years, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Though people across the city violated a ban and burst firecrackers on Deepavali night, leading to a main pollutant rising up to 10-17 times, the permissible limit in different parts of the city, the air quality improved with time due to favourable meteorological conditions, according to experts. Better air quality this year is also because the air quality on the day before Deepavali (Sunday) this year was the cleanest recorded in Delhi a day before Deepavali in the last seven years. Flourish logoA Flourish chart Every year, Delhi experiences extreme air pollution during winter due to internal and external factors, including stubble burning in neighbouring States. Rise and fall As people burst firecrackers, the level of PM2.5 — a major pollutant — on Monday night and early hours of Tuesday rose, but it gradually fell as the day progressed, shows Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCB) data. PM2.5 (Particulate matter 2.5) are fine inhalable particles, which can get into lungs and bloodstream and lead to a range of respiratory and other diseases. For instance, the PM2.5 level in Okhla at 12 a.m. on Tuesday was 1,042 ug/m3 — 17 times the permissible value of 60 ug/m3. It was 964 ug/m3 in Jahangirpuri at 11 p.m. on Monday and 616 ug/m3 at Anand Vihar at 12 a.m. on Tuesday. But they all fell as the day progressed. Why better? Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE, said the air quality was better as Deepavali happened early this year, when conditions are comparatively warmer and windier, which aid dispersion of pollutants. “Generally, as temperature drops, wind speed also drops. As wind speed drops, pollutants are not effectively dispersed and this leads to accumulation of pollutants,” she said. Also Read Delhi saw cleanest air quality post-Deepavali in seven years: CPCB As temperature drops, the mixing height also tends to reduce. Mixing depth is the height, measured from the surface of the earth, up to which pollutants can be dispersed in the atmosphere. During summers, the mixing height is generally higher. “When wind speed falls and mixing height lowers at the same time, air gets trapped and this leads to a higher pollution. But this year as it was warmer, the wind speed was better and mixing height was also not so low. That is why though firecrackers were burst, there was dispersion of pollutants and it did not lead to a build up,” she said. A DPCB analysis also stated that the better air quality was due to faster winds and higher temperature among other factors. Stubble burning Also, the effect of stubble burning in neighbouring States on the air quality of Delhi was “meagre” on Tuesday, according to the Central government-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research). Also Read Delhiites working hard but still a long way to go: Kejriwal on Delhi pollution The expert said the spike in PM2.5 levels at night had a direct connection with firecrackers being burst on Monday. About possible spikes in air pollution this winter, she said, “We could now see a spike in air pollution when stubble burning spikes and also in December-January when temperature drops drastically.” The air quality is likely to get better on Wednesday and Thursday, as per SAFAR.

Spike in Delhi pollution as winter spiral begins

The air quality in Delhi plummeted to its worst levels since January as smoke from smouldering paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana drifted in, marking the beginning of what has been an annual environmental blight that is only predicted to worsen, with more farm fires likely and unhelpful meteorological conditions predicted to persist. The air quality index (AQI) slumped from an uncharacteristically clean 271 on Wednesday to 354 on Thursday, according to the 4pm bulletins released on both days by the Central Pollution Control Board. An AQI above 300 is considered “very poor” – the second worst band on the AQI scale. At least two regions in the city, Anand Vihar and Ashok Vihar, had an AQI above 400, which lies in the worst “severe” band. “Wind speeds have dropped significantly from October 26 onwards and we are seeing calm wind conditions at night time. Delhi saw calm wind conditions for nearly seven hours between 4.30am to 11.30am on Thursday, with this spell playing a significant role in accumulation of pollutants,” said RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD. This was Delhi’s highest AQI in over 10 months; on January 21, it was 365. Forecasts show similar calm conditions are expected to prevail until the end of the month now, largely keeping Delhi’s air quality in the “very poor” category. According to officials in Punjab, roughly about 8,100 farm fires have been recorded till now – 20% higher than what was recorded until October 27 last year, indicating a failure on the part of the state government to stem the tide – and a sharper spike is expected in the coming weeks since farmers in the south Malwa belt of the state, where farm fires are widespread, are only now beginning to clear their fields. Major rice-producing districts such Bathinda, Moga, Mansa, Muktsar and Faridkot have recorded only 20-40% harvesting, said an official of the state agriculture department on Thursday. In the last four of the five years, the number of fires in south Malwa accounted for close to 50% of the fires recorded in Punjab. Behind the deterioration in Delhi’s air quality was the perfect storm of conditions: the direction of winds changed to northwesterly that fed in a stream of smoke from fires, the number of fires itself spiked in recent days, local winds weakened that help blow away dust and tailpipe gases died down, and the temperature dipped, creating an “inversion” effect that causes pollutants to settle closer to the ground, instead of being dispersed higher into the sky. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said when the farm fire impact begins to be felt more strongly, “the AQI could considerably worsen. Till now, Delhi was seeing good wind speed, which was controlling the pollution levels. As soon as winds become calm, local emissions are enough to cause the AQI to reach ‘very poor’,” she said.

What is thermal inversion and how does it affect air pollution in Delhi?

During thermal or temperature inversion, cool air gets trapped closer to the surface under a layer of warm air. This phenomenon along with reduced wind speeds in winter leads to the concentration of pollutants in the air Winter in Delhi is known for bad air quality, often leading to a surge in health issues. After recording the cleanest day post-Diwali in years, the National Capital’s air quality again deteriorated to “very poor” on Thursday (27 October) with an air quality index (AQI) of 354, which is the worst since January this year. As the wind direction has changed to northwesterly, Delhi is expected to log “very poor” AQI in the coming days, say weather experts. “The winds had been mostly calm, so pollutants have accumulated in the atmosphere. The current pollution is mostly from local emissions, but fire counts in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana are increasing significantly. Over the last two days, there have been more than 1,200 fire counts,” said VK Soni, senior weather scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), told Times of India (TOI). Soni also said that even though its share is less, farm fires are expected to account for around 10 per cent of Delhi’s pollution. While stubble burning, vehicular emissions and dust contribute to the toxic air in Delhi, factors such as change in weather conditions, temperature inversion, and wind direction also play a major role in the surge in pollution levels during winter. What is the temperature or thermal inversion that affects Delhi in winter? How does it cause pollution in the National Capital? Let’s take a look. Thermal inversion Under normal conditions, the higher the altitude the lesser the temperature. But this phenomenon can change due to changes in weather and even topography. Temperature or thermal inversion is when the temperature increases along with the higher altitude. The cool air gets “capped” close to the surface under a layer of a warm layer. The cap is a layer of relatively warm air aloft (above the inversion). Air parcels rising into this layer become cooler than the surrounding environment, which inhibits their ability to ascend,” says US’ National Weather Service. The phenomenon mostly occurs in winter when “mist and fog become trapped in the cooler air low down”, but inversions can happen throughout the year, says Met Office, United Kingdom’s national weather service. How thermal inversion affects pollution? As warm air rises, the air under the inversion cannot escape as it is cooler, and thus, it traps the pollutants closer to the ground, instead of dispersing them higher in the atmosphere. It usually happens when the sky is clear and the wind is light and calm. With a dip in temperature, the inversion height– the layer beyond which pollutants cannot diffuse into the upper layer of the atmosphere – is lowered, as per Indian Express. The layer with “higher temperature acts as a cover on the colder air that is in contact with the ground and in which pollutants concentrate. This situation gives rise to the smog or “pollution beret”, visible from several kilometers around and that usually takes prepared with a descent in the levels of air quality,” as per Envira IOT website. This temperature inversion affects the pollution levels in Delhi every year during winter. Additional Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD) Anand Sharma, told India Today that as temperature declines in Delhi, thermal inversion will make air quality worse as then “the pollutants will refuse to disperse and the mixing height also comes down”. Besides temperature inversion in the National Capital, the dip in wind speed during winter also leads to the concentration of pollutants in the air. “There’s nothing new about the winter pollution situation of Delhi, NCR and entire northern India at this time because North India is land-locked and every year this mix of weather conditions and pollution results in smog,” Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told Outlook last year.

Diwali was cleaner but there’s no reason to celebrate, say experts

The poor air quality in the National Capital Region this year, as opposed to the severe air quality in previous years, is little reason to celebrate as the tide could turn any moment, especially if farm fires, which had a low count in the runup to Diwali, go up. Favourable weather conditions spared Delhi-NCR of the worst of the post-Diwali smog this year but there’s no reason to cheer, warn environmental experts. The pollution menace is very much alive and kicking, and only long-term measures and proper execution of rules can help alleviate the annual air-quality emergency, experts say. The reasons behind Delhi-NCR’s pollution — now a pan-north India issue that leaves people gasping for fresh air every winter — are now known to all. The triggers include post-harvest stubble burning by farmers; vehicular pollution; biomass, solid fuel and waste burning; industrial emissions; dust from construction sites and degraded land; firecracker bursting during Diwali, etc. While most factors exist even in summers, adverse weather conditions in winters, such as falling temperatures, moisture in the air that traps ultra-fine and hazardous particles, as well as the calm wind, aggravate the problem. “Delhi has its own higher emission load because of high vehicle population, traffic congestion, road and construction dust, and industries in the periphery,” said VK Soni, head of the Environment Monitoring & Research Centre, India Meteorological Department (IMD). “Combined with stubble fires, this additional load leads to extreme pollution events not only in Delhi but the entire Indo-Gangetic plain,” he said. The story so far This year, favourable meteorological conditions have ensured the region was spared of a severe pollution episode thus far. Last month, the air quality index (AQI) stayed mostly in the satisfactory and moderate range owing to a rain spell from September 14 to 25. On October 5, the AQI entered the poor category for the first time since June 25. But yet another rain spell from October 7 helped the air stay in the moderate zone till October 16, when the AQI once again entered the poor category. The air quality continued in the poor zone till October 24, Diwali, when it entered the very poor category for the first time this season, recording an AQI of 312. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’. A cleaner Diwali The day after Diwali did not turn out to be as bad as feared, mainly on account of the relatively warm weather as the festival was celebrated earlier than usual and thanks to a constant wind speed that prevented the remnants from settling down. Last year, Diwali was celebrated on November 4 and on November 14 in 2020, when the temperatures were lower, and the winds calm. On November 24, Diwali day, Delhi’s AQI was recorded at 312. On November 25 morning, the AQI was 325 at 6 am and 302 at 4 pm, the lowest for the day after Diwali since 2015, Central Pollution Control Board data showed. Last year, an AQI of 382 (very poor) was recorded on Diwali, which shot up to 462 (severe) a day later. The year before, the AQI on Diwali was 414, which rose to 435 a day later. An AQI of 360 was recorded a day after Diwali in 2015, 445 in 2016, 403 in 2017, 390 in 2018 and 368 in 2019. Delhi’s neighbours more or less followed a similar pattern. This year, on November 25, Ghaziabad’s AQI was 266, Noida 299, Greater Noida 272, Gurugram 292 and Faridabad 289 — all in the poor category. Fewer farm fires The rains also postponed the harvest season, which delayed stubble burning by farmers. So, on Diwali day, farm fires were lower than usual. Farm fires rise sharply in winters — mostly from mid-September till November end, after the harvesting of the kharif crop — when farmers clear the fields for the rabi crop. This year, there were 1,484 farm fires in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh on October 24. Punjab reported 1,019 cases, Haryana: 250 and UP: 215, according Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) data. Smoke from these states affects Delhi-NCR the most. In comparison, in 2021, there were 3,383 farm fires across Punjab (3,032), Haryana (228), and UP (123) on Diwali day on November 4. This season’s total in the three states from September 15 to October 25 was 7,731 cases — 5,798 in Punjab, 1,372 in Haryana, and 561 in UP. In 2021, during the same period, 8,564 cases were reported from Punjab (6,058), Haryana (1,835) and UP (671). But from September 15 to November 4, 2021, when Diwali was celebrated, the total number of farm fires in the three states rose to 28,769 — a huge spike. Punjab recorded 23,610 cases in this period, Haryana 3,666 and UP 1,493 cases, the IARI data showed. But experts say the decline this year is little reason to celebrate as the tide could turn any moment. “The weather was warm and a wind speed of about 9 km per hour ensured the pollutants didn’t stagnate. The farm fire count was low. The scene would have been entirely different had Diwali been celebrated after 15 days,” Gufran Beig, founder project director of SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), told Moneycontrol. The wind direction is working in our favour at the moment but it may reverse, he warned. Chandra Bhushan, CEO of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, said nature should be credited more than anything else. “Remember that the AQI may have been lower but it is still more than 250 at most places, which is not good news.” Forecast-based action plan This year, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, which oversees and implements decisions related to pollution, introduced a revised graded response action plan (GRAP). The GRAP comprises anti-air-pollution measures executed depending on how the air quality deteriorates. The restrictions get stricter as AQI worsens. The steps include a ban on diesel generators, an odd-even road rationing policy, a ban on construction, closure of brick kilns, stone crushers and hot mix plants, sprinkling of water, etc., depending on the category of the air pollution. Stage 1 of the restrictions is imposed when the AQI turns poor, stage 2 when it is very poor, stage 3 when it is severe and stage 4 when it is severe plus. The restrictions were earlier imposed only when the PM2.5 and PM10 levels reached a certain threshold. But now, they are based on forecasts released by the early warning system (EWS) and a more comprehensive AQI. The EWS was developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology – Pune, IMD and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting. The department issues an air quality forecast for three days and a further outlook for seven days so that pollution control authorities can initiate action in advance, Soni said. CAQM and other agencies initiated early action this season to curb the emissions, he said. “The AQI was expected to reach the very poor category before Diwali but it did not deteriorate to that level. This proved the control measures are very effective,” Soni said. Stronger execution Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, while welcoming the forecast-based GRAP, noted that the severity of the smog episodes would be determined by the effectiveness and scale of implementation of measures across Delhi-NCR. “It will also depend on the strength of the long-term action taken to build infrastructure and systems in all the sectors, including transport, industry, power plants, waste management, construction and household fuels,” she said. Bhushan wondered if all the GRAP actions combined would be enough to combat and reduce pollution, which has reached alarming levels in the region. Stressing on proper enforcement, he said there is a need to drastically cut down on biomass burning, which spikes during winters as many people use wood and other solid fuels to keep warm. Better alternatives such as LPG and clean fuel to the poor would help, Bhushan said, adding that a massive boost to public transport could go a long way to reduce personal vehicle use and cut automobile pollution. “Look at China. They removed coal-based industries, took strict action on industrial pollution, reduced solid fuel burning, boosted public transport and invested in green cover,” he said. Economic issue, long-term plan Air pollution is a complex issue and addressing it cannot be reduced to just discussing bad air in the “air pollution” season, cautioned Prarthana Borah, director of CDP India, a not-for-profit that recommends how organisations can lessen their environmental impact. Borah said multiple measures have been suggested and implemented but we need to introspect if these have been effective or not. Difficult questions need to be asked in terms of policy implementation, she said, adding there is a need to question if the mechanism tracking implementation of measures vis-à-vis the impact on air pollution is adequate. “Is there a target year for a pollution-free Delhi and if so what is the science-based mechanism we are adopting to achieve it? Which sectors are involved and what targets and implementation strategies are being adopted?” Air needs to be translated from just an environmental and health issue to an economic issue and the private sector, especially the industry, needs to be involved if this has to be the case. “This is a complex area but needs to be done,” Borah said. For example, the number of work days lost due to air pollution-related health issues can be factored in so that companies take the initiative to address it. People's engagement is crucial to addressing air pollution, most experts said. “Despite the ban, cracker burning could not be stopped. I saw a father teaching a child to burn a cracker because it is the ‘essence of Diwali’. Unless this narrative changes to telling each and every one that cracker burning is hazardous, no amount of policy or mitigation measures can help,” Borah said. This goes for other topics such as using public transport over using a car and reusing and recycling instead of burning or dumping. Other experts focused on a long-term, regional and a multi-sectoral plan to meet the challenge as multiple states and agencies are involved. According to Beig, to clean Delhi, the impact of the measures should be long-term and felt at least 150 km from the capital. “During the nationwide lockdown, the air got cleaner across India. But when Delhi remained locked down and nearby areas opened up, it didn’t help as air knows no boundaries.” Roychowdhury said the fully opened economy and unrestricted travel post-pandemic will add to the challenge. “The concern over winter pollution has to catalyse deeper and uniform systemic changes across the entire region. This means all state governments need to implement an aligned multi-sector action,” she said.