• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

Centre For Science And Environment Releases Roadmap For Legacy Waste Management, Dumpsite Remediation

The Centre for Science and Environment roadmap includes developing a sustainable solid waste management plan, ensuring maximum utilisation of recovered fractions and reusing the reclaimed land sustainably The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Thursday (September 15) released a roadmap for legacy waste management in a bid to support India’s garbage-free cities agenda. The CSE’s seven-point roadmap includes developing a sustainable solid waste management plan, ensuring maximum utilisation of recovered fractions and reusing the reclaimed land sustainably on the basis of a comprehensive policy and protocol. The plan also includes developing standards for gainful use of recovered fractions, incentivising management of recovered materials, building capacity of urban departments and ensuring sustainable operation of sanitary landfills. The term ‘legacy waste’ has received close attention in the wake of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 2.0 and it mandates that cities in India should clear legacy waste sites, reclaim the land and prevent more waste from reaching dumpsites. With 1,300 million tonnes of legacy waste lying in more than 3,000 dumpsites in the country, it is an onerous but doable task, CSE director general Sunita Narain said. Speaking at an event organised by the CSE on Legacy Waste Management and Dumpsite Remediation, Joint Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Roopa Mishra said the ministry has initiated a number of projects and schemes to encourage city administrations to make Indian cities garbage-free. Every central government programme and policy is primed towards a singular aim – making Indian cities garbage-free. We have also initiated a number of projects and schemes to encourage the city administrations, Ms. Mishra said. Atin Biswas, programme director of solid waste management unit at CSE, said, Although the term ‘legacy waste’ has not been defined in any official government document in India, it typically refers to old municipal solid waste in landfills or dumpsites. He said there is “no set standard” to define how old waste qualifies to be called legacy waste, which is usually a mix of partially or completely decomposed biodegradable waste, plastic waste, textiles, metals, glass and other components. According to CSE estimates, the cost for dumpsite remediation in India will add up to Rs 1,04,000 crore. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has committed substantial financial devolution to support the cities to meet the cost of legacy dumpsite remediation. As much as Rs 1,41,600 crore has been committed in the Union budget to support the mandate under SBM 2.0, CSE’s Richa Singh said. At the event, Mishra and Narain released three new CSE publications. Waste management practitioners, regulators, government functionaries, scientists, experts and industry representatives, among others, participated in the event.

• Urban Lab

एमपी के इस शहर की बदल गई आबोहवा, सेंटर फॉर साइंस की आई ये रिपोर्ट

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड इनवायरमेंट की रिपोर्ट के बाद रतलाम के लिए खुश खबर आई है। नेशनल क्लीन एयर प्रोग्राम याने एनसीएपी के अंतर्गत जिन शहरों का चुनाव किया गया था, उनमे रतलाम भी शामिल था। रतलाम. स्वच्छ भारत अभियान के बाद साल 2019 में वायु की गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए नेशनल क्लीन एयर प्रोग्राम शुरू किया गया था। इस प्रोग्राम के अंतर्गत रतलाम सहित देश के 132 शहरों में हवा के स्तर को सुधारने का लक्ष्य रखा गया था। 3 साल पूरे होने के बाद रतलाम की आबोहवा में बड़ा सुधार सामने आया है। 82 शहरों को मिला फंड नेशनल क्लीन एयर प्रोग्राम के अंतर्गत जिन 132 शहरों को चुना गया था, उनमें से 82 शहरों को एनसीएपी के तहत फंडिंग की गई थी। वहीं 50 शहरों को 15वें वित्त आयोग ने फंड से दिया गया था। एनसीएपी के लिए साल 2021-22 तक करीब 6.5 हजार करोड़ रुपये जारी हुए और साल 2022-23 में इस प्रोग्राम के लिए करीब 2.3 हजार करोड़ रुपये जारी होंगे। लॉकडाउन का हवा की गुणवत्ता पर प्रभाव साल 2019 में 132 एनसीएपी शहरों में से केवल 51 में रियल टाइम मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन थे, फिर साल 2021 में यह संख्या बढ़कर 63 हो गई। इसमे रतलाम को भी शामिल किया गया। इसके बाद साल 2022 में अब तक छह और एनसीएपी शहरों ने रीयल टाइम मॉनिटर स्थापित किए गए हैं, लेकिन केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में साल 2019 से 2021 के बीच पीएम 2.5 डेटा मॉनीटर किया गया, हालांकि इस समय में कोरोना महामारी के चलते देशभर में लॉकडाउन रहा। इस वजह से ज्यादातर शहरों में साल 2021 में हवा के गुणवत्ता स्तर में सुधार आया था लेकिन साल 2021 में फिर से पीएम 2.5 डेटा में बढ़ोतरी देखी गई। क्या है पीएम 2.5 और पीएम 10 आप हवा में उड़ती हुई धूल को तो देख ही लेते होंगे। धूल गले, आंख और नाक में घुस जाए तो बहुत परेशानी होती है लेकिन वायु प्रदूषण के पीछे पीएम 2.5 और पीएम 10 का बड़ा हाथ होता है। पीएम का मतलब होता पार्टिकुलेट मैटर और 2.5 से लेकर 10 इस मैटर या कण का आकार होता है। पार्टिकुलेट मैटर 2.5 से लेकर 10 माइक्रोस्कोपिक डस्ट पार्टिकल होते हैं, यानी इतने छोटे पार्टिकल जिसको देखने के लिए माइक्रोस्कोप की जरूरत पड़ जाए। हालांकि, इनका हमारी बॉडी में घुसना घातक और बेहद नुकसानदेय होता है।

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Bad air alert: Why we fail to tackle killer winter pollution year after year

In roughly a month, toxic air pollution will leave Delhi gasping again. But why have authorities failed to address this annual health emergency despite so much noise? And what needs to be done now? On Tuesday, many of us happily shared on social media photographs of Delhi’s clear and blue skyline. In roughly a month, the picture might dramatically change. From mid-October, like in previous years, a blanket of smog is likely to leave millions in Delhi and the rest of North India coughing and gasping for breath. Respiratory units of hospitals will get crowded. Politics will peak. The courts will reprimand the Centre and states. If pollution levels go off the charts like they often do schools will be shut, construction activity will halt and the road space-rationing scheme called Odd-Even will roll out. During the one-month period, we will basically hold our breath till the skies clear again -- after a few deaths and several cases of lung damage. But everything will be forgotten in the din of crucial state elections that await us. Little surprise that International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (September 7) often goes under our radar, despite Delhi frequently ranking as the most polluted city in the world, with a rising death toll and age-reducing health complications. The previous generation cherished winters with Gulzar’s “jaadon ki narm dhoop” waali warm poetry. We now identify more with Shahryar’s rather dark description of the human condition: “Seene me jalan, aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai” Or we make memes showing inhaling the air in Delhi during winters is like smoking, say, 20 cigarettes a day. WHAT’S BEHIND IT? But exactly what causes this mayhem? Government authorities keep commissioning inquiries and investigations, which are never conclusive. Chasing that elusive single factor becomes an excuse for inaction, many would argue. However, here is what is apparent to the naked eye. Since the monsoon is over and there is hardly any wind speed, this deadly cocktail doesn’t get cleared up. It’s the time of year when weather changes. The smoke from farm fires, coal-fired power plants, garbage burning, Diwali fireworks, besides vehicular and industrial emissions, get trapped in the fog to cause smog. Since the monsoon is over and there is hardly any wind speed, this deadly cocktail doesn’t get cleared up. During the Kharif season, paddy is sown on three million hectares of land in Punjab, resulting in roughly 20 million tonnes of paddy crop residue every year. Half of it is mixed in the soil or used as fuel. The rest is burnt, usually from October 15 to November 15, because burning is a fast and economical way for farmers to clear the fields for the sowing of the Rabi season wheat crop. The time taken is crucial because the sowing window is short. Till last winter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed Punjab for turning the national capital into "a gas chamber". This will not be possible now because his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has replaced the Congress in Punjab as the ruling party. So, are things looking up now? Far from it. HEARTBURN AGAIN This time, Punjab sought Rs 1,125 crore from the BJP-ruled Centre to provide a cash incentive for farmers not to burn crop stubble. Punjab and Delhi wanted to contribute Rs 375 on their parts. Reports say that the Centre has rejected the proposal. “The cash incentive per acre will have to be reduced from the proposed Rs 2,500 to Rs 1,000,” said an AAP source. And this means fewer farmers will be encouraged not to set their farms on fire. Union agriculture ministry sources said that the Centre is doing its part and Punjab must do the rest. "We have sanctioned Rs 275 crore for supplying over 32,000 subsidised machines to manage paddy straw. In the past four years, we have provided Rs 1,145 crore for 90,000 such subsidised machines," said a source. The geography of Delhi-NCR makes it especially vulnerable to farm fires. Paddy is not a traditional or appropriate crop in the region where it is currently being raised primarily as a cash crop. “But paddy stalk is an organic material which is of use, maybe not economical for the farmer. And it is here that government authorities must come in and procure the stalk, even at a loss, for human and animal health cannot be compromised,” environmentalist Manoj Misra told IndiaToday.in. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are buying crop stubble from farmers for power generation and biofuel creation, respectively. This clearly needs to be scaled up. “Farms will need both in-situ and ex-situ measures to add value to straw. Leverage this crisis to build strategic opportunities for green recovery,” Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told IndiaToday.in. Water bodies with water capture a lot of air pollutants which then do not re-enter the atmosphere, unlike the pollutants sitting on the ground or tree tops which a normal sweeping or windy condition can push back into the atmosphere. “Herein lies the opportunity to restore our water bodies that will also address the problem of flooding during monsoon,” Misra said. DIWALI FIREWORKS Like in the last two years, the Delhi government has re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of firecrackers till January 1, including on Diwali which falls in this one-month duration. But enforcement remains an issue. Not only are firecrackers sold, mostly in Delhi’s peripheral areas, they are also burst with impunity on Diwali night. Also Read | Amid ban on crackers, Delhi traders ask for exemption on green firecrackers In 2021, Delhi recorded its worst post-Diwali air quality in five years. This year, the situation might not be too different, with groups of citizens again slamming environment activists and even the judges for the cracker ban, saying only Hindu festivals are targeted when there are no studies to suggest that a night of fireworks is responsible for Delhi’s winter pollution. “All must rise above all kinds of politics including religious and strict ban must be put on any kind of crackers anywhere within Delhi-NCR,” Misra said. TOO MANY PLANS So, are authorities not doing anything? They are, but they are mostly planning their plans. The Delhi government has asked its various departments to submit their air pollution-control ‘plans’ by September 15 so that a 15-point action ‘plan’ can be launched to implement a Graded Response Action ‘Plan’ (GRAP) of the Centre’s Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has written to his counterpart at the Centre, Bhupender Yadav, seeking time to discuss and prepare a joint action ‘plan’ to save the national capital from the dangers of winter air pollution. Initially prepared by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority or EPCA (now dissolved), GRAP will trigger, from October 1, measures from increasing parking rates to halting construction activity. This will depend on the severity of air pollution levels. The Delhi government is again talking about the spraying of bio-decomposer in paddy fields to help decompose stubble and prevent farm fires. QUIET KILLERS It’s not that nothing has been done. Authorities have shut down many coal-fired power plants, banned old and polluting vehicles and moved to cleaner fuel technologies to a large extent. But quiet killers go under the radar. While much focus remains on farm fires and Diwali fireworks, dust from construction and demolition activities is a quiet killer. If you visit any area in Delhi, say Dwarka, Shalimar Bagh or Vikaspuri, you will see many lanes full of construction material, and structures being built or demolished. Halting these works when a public health emergency has been announced helps but why not regulate them round the year instead of going for desperate firefighting? Also, in industrial areas, many small- and medium-sized units are still using dirty fuel. “You need to incentivise industry by saying those using clean fuel can run. Municipal authorities also need to push more for waste segregation, recycling, reuse and composting. This will also help control waste burning,” said Roy Chowdhury. If you visit any area in Delhi, say Dwarka, Shalimar Bagh or Vikaspuri, you will see many lanes full of construction material, and structures being built or demolished. Likewise, Delhi Metro is fine, but the overall public transport sector hasn't been adequately scaled up. That's why we see the astounding traffic volume of private vehicles on roads. “In short, we need massive clean fuel transition across all sectors, mobility transition (public transport, walking and cycling) to reduce automobile dependence, and a big shift in waste management (segregated collection, reuse, etc.) to reduce waste burning and construction and demolition waste,” she said. It's also important to adopt the polluter pays principle to change behaviour. “We need to do creative and strategic thinking. Authorities must ramp up action and identify priority areas for Delhi as well as the National Capital Region (NCR) that includes Uttar Pradesh's Noida and Ghaziabad and Haryana's Gurugram and Faridabad.” This is because air pollution doesn't honour political boundaries. It must be admitted that Delhi has succeeded in bending the pollution curve. But even after all this Delhi has yet to cut pollution by yet another 60 per cent to meet the clean air standards. “Imagine how ambitious the action needs to be for such deep cuts. This is a lesson for other cities and regions as well,” she said. THE WAY FORWARD Misra said winter pollution is a severe health crisis that should have been tackled on a war footing. Anywhere else, the entire region would have been put under an endless state of health emergency till the issue was resolved in its entirety, he said. “The Centre and states Punjab, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have failed in their duties. It’s sad that whatever little has been done, has been done only after the Supreme Court started hearing petitions from citizens. A welfare state has repeatedly failed in its Raj Dharma," he said. He said politics, politicians and their antics aimed at capturing votes while ignoring such a critical subject is distressing. “But I would first blame the Delhi-NCR citizenry, to the last person, for failing to demand a permanent. State authorities can install air purifiers (whatever pollution prevention they might bring) but not the ordinary people.” "If a national lockdown can be imposed to prevent the spread of Covid, then why not a health emergency announcement?” - Manoj Misra, Environmentalist Roy Chowdhury said we must go beyond the reactive emergency action during winter to more deep-rooted round-the-year action to fix the systems, infrastructure, compliance strategy, monitoring, fiscal strategy and institutional capacity in each sector to get the big solution. “Responsibility for action will have to be fixed at all levels and across all sectors.” And what if the situation does not improve anytime soon? “See, most vulnerable are children, ailing populace, the elderly and daily-wagers like rickshaw pullers. So, the school holidays must be rejigged to coincide with the most critical winter period (between Dussehra and Christmas) and a special pollution-prevention wage must be provided to daily wagers,” Misra said. According to Misra, a health emergency must be imposed directing all to stay indoors within the entire Delhi-NCR, once farm fires start in areas surrounding Delhi-NCR. "If a national lockdown can be imposed to prevent the spread of Covid, then why not a health emergency announcement?” Because, no political or economic correctness can justify a lack of emergency measures, combined with a holistic long-term approach that cuts the governmental red tape, to tackle such a crisis.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

Q&A: What does India’s updated Paris Agreement pledge mean for climate change?

India’s government has, following a long delay, finally submitted an updated climate pledge under the terms of the Paris Agreement. The new four-page document, which was published on 26 August, arrives two years after the original deadline – and two months before the upcoming UN climate summit COP27 in Egypt. The world’s third-biggest emitter has committed to reduce the “emissions intensity” of its gross domestic product (GDP) to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. India’s pledge is an update to its first nationally determined contribution (NDC), submitted in 2015, which targeted a 33-35% cut. It also includes a commitment that around half of its installed electricity generating capacity will be made up of non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. However, this is conditional on the transfer of technology and finance from other countries. Three weeks earlier, the Indian government announced that its cabinet had approved the update, thus “translating” the goals set out by prime minister Narendra Modi when announcing his nation’s net-zero by 2070 target at COP26 in Glasgow. But the government is still yet to submit a long-term strategy that captures its decarbonisation plans and reflect its 2070 net-zero target, something it says it plans to do “in coming months”. Experts and commentators have cautiously welcomed the update, with some saying that India was committing to more than its fair share of the effort required to limit warming. However, others have said it still needs “further cuts” to keep the world on track for the 1.5C target. Below, Carbon Brief reviews India’s new climate plan and the implications for the nation’s energy sector and emissions, as well as its recently introduced policies and the challenges it faces in tackling climate change. What is in India’s updated climate pledge? Do India’s new climate pledges raise its ambition? What do India’s pledges mean for its energy and land-use sectors? What are the political considerations behind India’s new climate plan How have India’s new pledges been received? What is in India’s updated climate pledge? India’s 2030 pledge under the terms of the Paris Agreement is, technically, an update communicated to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) rather than a full second NDC. The four-page, 500-word update is sparse on detail and lacks a clear roadmap to 2030, nor sector-specific targets or finance requirements. It comprises eight bullet points with two headline, quantified targets. The cover page of India’s updated NDC submitted to UN Climate Change. P The cover page of India’s updated NDC submitted to UN Climate Change. Photo Credit: Government of India/UN Climate Change (2022). First, India has committed to cutting the emissions intensity of its GDP to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. To date, there is no globally agreed benchmark to measure this type of target. An intensity target also gives India the space to avoid an absolute emissions reduction goal, allowing it to continue increasing emissions while growing economically. Its pledge, therefore, depends on total emissions and the country’s GDP in 2030. Other major developing economies, such as China, have used the same metric before. Second, the country has pledged to “achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030”. An earlier press release released by the Indian government says the goals announced in India’s NDC “do not bind it to any sector-specific mitigation obligation or action”. This language is echoed in a letter from India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav to UN Climate Change, uploaded along with the NDC submission, but is not in the NDC text. India’s target for its land and forestry sector remains unchanged from its first NDC: “To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3bn tonnes of CO2-equivalent [GtCO2e] through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.” There is still no further clarity on this sink target and the baseline from which this reduction will be calculated (See Land-use change.) Non-quantifiable goals in the NDC include Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s call for a global “movement” centred on individual climate responsibility and “sustainable lifestyles” that he calls “lifestyle for environment” or LIFE. Another vague 2030 target is to “adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at [sic] corresponding level of economic development” – a barb directed at developed countries. According to the Indian government, the update “translates the ‘Panchamrit’ [which means ‘five nectar’] announced at COP26 into enhanced climate targets”. However, not all elements announced by Modi in his Glasgow speech have been included in the update. Others have been clarified and reduced in their scope. The first element of his speech – for India to meet 50% of its “energy requirements” from “renewable energy” by 2030 – has been clarified, as expected, after causing widespread confusion at the time. It has now been refined into India meeting “about” 50% of its cumulative installed electric capacity from non-fossil sources. By its definition, this includes large hydropower, nuclear and bioenergy sources, along with solar and wind. The NDC makes the goal conditional on the availability of international climate finance. The NDC drops two specific, quantified targets for emissions and clean energy that had been mentioned in the Panchamrit. The first was to reduce India’s annual carbon emissions by 1GtCO2 by 2030, while the second was to hit 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil “energy capacity” by 2030. It is also still not clear whether the 2070 net-zero pledge made by Modi at COP26 refers to carbon dioxide (CO2) or greenhouse gas targets, with the latter being significantly more exacting. Do India’s new climate pledges raise its ambition? India’s headline climate target relates to emissions intensity, defined as the total amount of greenhouse gas emitted for each unit of GDP. This means it applies to all sectors of the economy and covers greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, as well as CO2. India’s updated NDC signals a 10-12 percentage-point increase in its emissions intensity target for 2030 – from 33-35% to 45% below 2005 levels. Other targets include a 50% share of installed capacity for electricity derived from non-fossil energy sources, up from 40% in the first NDC. This can also be compared with the 50% purely renewable target for India’s “energy” requirements by 2030, as mentioned by Modi in his Glasgow speech. India’s carbon-sink goal remains unchanged – namely, 2.5-3bn tonnes of CO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. There is still no clarification in the NDC on what baseline this will be calculated from. (See: Land-use Change.) Meeting the new emissions intensity target will mean progressing more quickly than India has been managing on recent trends. As per the government’s own GHG inventory submissions to UN Climate Change in 2021, India’s emissions intensity has been reducing at a rate of 1-2% annually. By its own estimates, India reduced the emissions intensity of its economy by 24% between 2005 and 2016, with independent researchers reaching similar conclusions. According to analysis by the influential non-profit Centre for Science and Environment ahead of COP26, if the annual rate of decline in emissions intensity was raised by an additional 1 percentage point to 2-3% a year, India could potentially reduce its emissions intensity to 39-40% below 2005 levels by 2030. While India’s absolute and sectoral emissions have been on the rise, the country’s GDP growth rate dropped in 2017 – and through to 2020 – as a result of a series of factors including domestic policies, the Covid lockdown, demonetisation and a range of other factors. In analysis published by Ideas4India in July 2022, researchers Aman Srivastava and Ashwini Kumar Swain compared India’s 45% emissions intensity target to other countries and modelled projections of emissions and growth. Adjusting for GDP growth, they found that India’s emissions trajectory between 2005 and 2017 has been “lower than all other south Asian countries, three of the other four BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] countries, and three G7 countries”. They suggest that India’s emissions intensity target is achievable, but they agree that doing so will require faster progress. They write: “If India continues to grow at a similar rate of 6.5% between 2020 and 2030, then in order to meet the intensity pledge, emissions will only be able to grow at a maximum of 3.1% annually between 2016 and 2030. However, since emissions will have less space to grow proportional to GDP than in previous years, this will require a greater decoupling of emissions from growth than has been achieved in the past.” Essentially, India’s updated NDC signals a marginal improvement that is already in line with its existing policies, say experts. (See How have India’s new pledges been received). Meeting the target would mean India following a less emissions-intensive path to grow its economy than it has before. What do India’s pledges mean for its energy and land-use sectors? Energy The updated NDC says 50% of India’s installed power capacity will be made up from non-fossil sources by 2030, conditional on the availability of low-cost international finance. This is a 10 percentage-point increase on the first NDC target, which aimed for a 40% share by 2030. In December 2021, the definition of non-fossil energy (in India’s clean energy target context) was clarified to include large hydropower, nuclear and renewables. Based on this clarified definition, the Indian government announced that it had already achieved the first NDC target the previous month. India’s cumulative non-fossil installed capacity reached a total of 40.1%, once it included large hydropower and nuclear energy. As of June 2022, renewables made up 28.3% of India’s installed power capacity, hydro 11.6% and nuclear 1.7%, for a non-fossil total of 41.6% against 58.4% from fossil sources. In terms of actual generation, the non-fossil share is much lower. In the same month, coal, gas and oil accounted for 73.4% of India’s power generation, with renewables contributing 13.6%, hydropower 9.7% and nuclear 2.7%, for a non-fossil total of 25.9%. In 2015, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) adopted a target for India to hit 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. In September 2019, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Modi announced that this target “would be increased to much beyond 175GW” by 2022 – and to 450GW by 2030. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, India’s power sector would have to undergo an “even more profound transformation” to get to 450GW, but “all possible future pathways have one thing in common: high proportions of solar and wind”. The IEA’s report said this would involve allowing renewables to displace coal power plants locally, alongside reforms to power procurement and tariff rules that currently prioritise coal. It would also involve more accurate real-time solar and wind generation data, plus a more flexible power system. While the IEA said in 2021 that “India is on the path towards achieving 175 GW”, multiple recent news stories point to the fact that India “will miss” its 2022 deadline to get there. Most recently, a parliamentary committee pointed to issues with the Indian renewables sector’s slow progress versus its promise on paper, while other news coverage has pointed to the sector being plagued by delayed approvals, import duties, “whimsical” policy-making and inappropriate market design. Meanwhile, since 2015, the country has continued to expand its domestic coal production, expanding existing mines while opening up and auctioning new ones. The Indian government also recently invoked emergency powers to ramp up coal imports, citing a coal shortage. State-run National Thermal Power Corporation and miner Coal India issued tenders for coal imports to private companies, including Adani. Environmental laws were further weakened in light of the fuel crisis. According to E3G’s Global Energy Monitor, India is currently constructing 31GW of new coal capacity, while its pre-construction coal pipeline (25GW) is the second largest in the world. At the same time, the country has seen 326GW of coal projects shelved since 2015, for reasons including cheaper renewables, reduced running hours that undermine profitability and challenges securing finance. According to India’s new draft electricity plan released after the NDC update, India is looking at adding an “additional coal-based capacity of up to 28GW by the financial year 2032, besides the 25GW already under construction.” Land-use change There is no change to India’s carbon-sink goal in its updated NDC. According to India’s environment ministry, it is one of five commitments that remains unchanged. India’s unchanged carbon sink and land-use goal in its updated NDC. India’s unchanged carbon sink and land-use goal in its updated NDC. Source: Government of India/UN Climate Change (2022). As reported by IndiaSpend, it is still unclear (even to Indian forest authorities) what the target entails or what baseline year it is to be measured against, several years since India submitted its first NDC. This has not been clarified in the updated NDC, which retains the same language. In 2019, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) published a special report questioning the term “additional” that appears twice in India’s forest goal and the lack of a clear base year to measure emissions reductions. The FSI urged India’s ministry for environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) to issue a clarification on those “two critical questions, without which strategy for achieving the NDC target cannot be developed”. According to the FSI report, if 2005 were to be the baseline year, in the most ambitious interpretations of the NDC target, the country’s carbon sink would vary between 30.62 and 34.87bn tonnes of CO2-e cumulatively by 2030. Separately, the FSI’s metrics for calculating annual forest cover have been questioned by the UN, scientists and national media for their lack of transparency and flawed definitions of what a forest is. There are long-standing issues with how India measures its forest cover, claiming increases year-on-year, while counting plantations, gardens and other green cover as “forest”. Moreover, analysis by legal non-profit LIFE India shows that, in 2020, only three out of 367 proposals that involved deforestation were rejected by the MoEFCC and climate ministry, which signed off on 9,434 hectares of forest land being used for industrial purposes. Indeed, India has lost significant amounts of tree cover in recent years, according to forest data platform Global Forest Watch. The platform says India lost 1m hectares (Mha) of tree cover between 2015 and 2021, equivalent to 508MtCO2e of emissions. Against a 2005 baseline, it says India has lost 1.8Mha of tree cover, representing emissions equal to 899MtCO2e. India’s domestic environment and forest policies have also seen steady deregulation, favouring industry and commercial plantations over native, primary forests, as well as the erosion of the rights of Indigenous communities. During India’s spring heatwave in 2022, experts also pointed to a need for the country to preserve its green cover, as well as ecosystems, such as mangroves and native grasslands, both in cities as well as rural areas to avoid overheating and counter drought impacts. The government’s recent hydropower push to add more than 30GW of new capacity – and 96GW of pumped storage – by 2030, has raised concerns about India’s carbon sink and biodiversity goals, since these large dams tend to be in heavily forested, biodiverse and vulnerable Himalayan regions. According to LIFE’s analysis, hydropower projects accounted for 15% of forest land recommended for clearing by the MoEFCC in 2020. A recent series of articles for Carbon Copy questions the need for hydropower to be part of India’s 2030 decarbonisation plans, especially given the rise of alternative forms of energy storage. What are the political considerations behind India’s new climate plan? The choreography behind India’s updated climate pledge suggests there has been a shift in the political balance of power within the country’s government around climate policymaking. Several sources, who asked not to be named due to its politically sensitive nature, highlighted the significance of this shift in conversations with Carbon Brief. Coming up with India’s climate plans, submitting reports to the UN and negotiating its positions internationally has traditionally been the mandate of India’s MoEFCC. Of all ministries, the MoEFCC’s announcements receive the most international scrutiny, which experts tell Carbon Brief explains its tendency to act conservatively and in line with its long-standing positions. On the global climate stage, India has historically played a key role in discussions around climate justice, equity and common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) as an active member of the BASIC, G-77 China and LMDC negotiating groups. It has pointed to the failure of developed countries to furnish finance or lift what it sees as their “fair share” of the mitigation load necessary to limit warming. As the refrain for net-zero by 2050 from rich countries in the run-up to COP26 grew louder, the MoEFCC, energy ministry and Indian experts repeatedly underlined their scepticism of net-zero as a whole, while pushing back on calls for India to commit to such a target. Three days before COP26, this was still the ministry’s official stance. On 28 October 2021, its climate and environment minister Bhupendra Yadav and union environment secretary RP Gupta “rejected” calls for net-zero. COP26 president Alok Sharma had made two visits to India earlier in 2021 – one in February and another in August – while US climate envoy John Kerry visited in September to urge India to “raise its ambition”. Things changed dramatically after the G20 summit in Rome on 30 and 31 October, where Modi met Boris Johnson and other world leaders. n 1 November, the first day of COP26, Johnson held a special bilateral meeting with Modi soon after the opening ceremony. Outcomes of the talks included a UK India Green Guarantee to “unlock additional lending worth $1bn from the World Bank for green projects in India”, expected to last for up to 25 years. The very same evening, Modi announced India’s plan to reach net-zero by 2070. According to multiple sources, the target did not have cabinet approval, was led by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the speech was only shared with the MoEFCC barely hours before it was delivered. India has typically played an active role in the international climate negotiations arena, but dealt its own cards cautiously. It has consistently rejected “legally binding quantitative greenhouse gas mitigation targets for itself”, given its growth-first imperatives and historical negotiating stances on equity and differentiation. Caution, however, is not a tactic favoured by Modi, who is known to be fond of media spectacle and given to sweeping statements and grand policy moves that sometimes backfire. With climate assuming greater importance in international diplomatic, financial and media spaces, Modi has been keen to be viewed by the world as a climate leader. Domestically, as climate-related impacts mount, there could also be political benefits from being seen to do more on the international stage, especially given criticism around his government’s rollbacks of environmental and coal safeguards in recent years. Modi’s COP26 speech appeared to signify a sea-change in who calls the shots on India’s climate policymaking. In the past year, many of the decisions and big announcements on external-facing climate policy have come either directly from the prime minister’s office, cabinet or from the MEA, timed with moments of high visibility. The clarification of Modi’s net-zero speech at COP26 was delivered via an MEA-hosted briefing session. News of India approving the NDC update also came via a cabinet press release, with FAQs provided by the environment ministry to fill in the gaps. This illustrates one of the issues with the apparent shift in policymaking responsibilities, with experts telling Carbon Brief that the environment ministry will have to work backwards to translate announcements into reality. In addition to the shift in political control over India’s climate policy, there has also been a shift in the language being used by politicians and other major figures. Modi has frequently invoked “climate justice” to describe India’s positions and actions, even as climate justice defenders faced arrest and organisations including Greenpeace India saw their operations fold under financial scrutiny. Increasingly, the language of climate justice and “decoloniality” has also been adopted by energy moguls, such as Gautam Adani, to criticise rich nations who they perceive as faulting India on its emissions trajectory and forcing it to commit to net-zero targets. In a Times of India story months before COP26, Adani is quoted as saying: “The economic and industrial might of the West sits on a carpet of carbon soot several centuries deep. A hundred years ago, today’s climate reformers were burning over 800m tonnes of coal – more coal than what India produces today. India accounts for only 3% of the extra carbon in the atmosphere.” How have India’s new pledges been received? India’s update to its NDC has received praise from most domestic quarters, including from WRI India for committing to “expanding renewable energy at a time of global energy volatility” and from others for clarifying at least some of the big climate announcements made at COP26 and beyond. However, the widely-cited Climate Action Tracker rating still calls it “insufficient”. Some Indian analysts described the update as a “politically savvy” NDC, one that is safe and, as one source tells Carbon Brief, “very much in line with the balancing act they have been playing”, but that also gives the country “wiggle room” to up its target. This is acknowledged in the update, which says that, while “no change in other sections of the document containing existing first NDC is proposed at this stage…India reserves the right to provide further updates as and when required”. Other experts question the very idea of “ambition” in climate pledges made under the Paris Agreement. The Centre for Policy Research’s Prof Navroz Dubash tells Carbon Brief: “Whether a country is ambitious or not assumes that we have an agreed set of benchmarks. And we don’t. So de-facto net-zero by 2050 becomes a benchmark, but there’s no reason why every country should [aim for that]. Under the Paris Agreement, we have every country coming up with their own benchmark, a contest where everybody brings their own judge. However, the main value of the Paris pledges are less tied to comparison across countries and more as a way to stimulate progress within countries.” Dubash believes that India could achieve its intensity target, given that it is consistent with modelling studies based on India’s current policy trajectories and that “there will only be more policies” in the future. According to him, unlike the EU where strong international targets drive domestic policy “upward”, in countries such as India and China pledges are drafted on the basis of whether they can be met and exceeded based on current climate policy. For context, in the same week as India announced its NDC update, it also announced amendments to its Electricity Act and a new Energy Conservation Bill, which could herald more privatisation in India’s power distribution sector, fix caps for procurement of renewables and set up India’s domestic carbon market. In July, India’s power ministry issued a notification which requires electricity distribution companies to draw a minimum share of their total consumption from renewables, of up to 43% by 2030. To Dubash, the last example illustrates how close the country is to having a domestic generation target for renewables, not just installed capacity. However, none of these policies are mentioned in the updated NDC. This means that India could potentially over-deliver on its promises, just as it could backtrack from them – but what happens nationally is key, say Dubash and Tuft University’s Tarun Gopalakrishnan. Dubash, for one, is relieved that there was no quantified target for renewable or non-fossil installed capacity. He says: “[A quantified] target incentivises and signals capacity addition, but doesn’t actually incentivise or signal the use of these things. And so you keep relentlessly building them, without spending enough time and attention on whether or not you’re going to be using everything you build. You run the risk of stranded assets down the road, whether for renewable energy or coal. We don’t want to get into a situation where you’re not thinking about your entire electricity system, transmission, storage, coal phase down or early coal retirement.” What Dubash would “really much rather see” as an important climate signal is a non-fossil generation target, even if it is much more modest. “Nobody is saying 50%, but do 30%, or 40% – whatever the numbers seem to suggest is feasible, but a generation target sends a clear signal that you’re looking at the whole system and the functioning of the whole system in a way that moves you towards renewables.” Avanika Goswami, programme manager of climate change at thinktank CSE, says there is a “duality” in how CSE views India’s new pledge, from global and domestic points of view. On one hand, India’s energy demand is set to rise as people grow more prosperous. To have a “half of that potentially be sourced” from non-fossil sources – “despite the pressures of financing and energy security that are currently dominating energy decision-making” – is “commendable”, “ambitious” and in line with the Paris Agreement that states each successive NDC should present a progression. It is particularly notable given that many developed countries are committing far below their fair share of emission reductions, Goswami says. Viewed domestically, however, she tells Carbon Brief: “We know that India can show more ambition in service of its own interests. We are already at about 40% installed capacity of non-fossil sources. The Central Electricity Authority of India’s projections suggest that non-fossil capacity will rise to 62% by 2030. Applying the targets to generation instead would represent greater ambition, raising it from 22% today to 50% in 2030. Removing the 1GtCO2 emissions reduction goal, which was also announced at Glasgow, is another missed opportunity, since it could have provided a clear signal to various sectors, to enable them to peg their own mitigation targets to a quantified national target.” India’s first NDC was classified as 2C or Paris “compliant” by Climate Action Tracker and in line with its fair shares and historical responsibility. This was a rating often cited by India’s policymakers as a sign of India’s progress towards its climate goals, versus those of developed economies. In April 2021, power minister RK Singh cited this rating at an IEA ministerial, saying that “we are the only major economy in the world whose actions in energy transition are consistent with keeping the temperature rise below 2C” and that “developed nations should not talk about net-zero”. In 2021, however, CAT revised its rating based on updates to its methodology, which included not just taking stated country pledges at face value, but evaluating current policies and actions to get there, as well as net-zero targets, forest commitments and finance requests. This methodology change resulted in a downgrading of India’s pledge to “highly insufficient”. The change was criticised by the Indian government and experts. In its profile on India, however, CAT points to the fact that India still has “one of the largest coal [power] pipelines in the world” and that it should phase out coal by 2040 to be 1.5C compliant. Responding to the recent NDC update, CAT changed its ranking for India from “highly insufficient” to “insufficient”, noting that “updated targets will, at most, drive minor reductions in real-world emission reductions.” It said that “further cuts are needed in 2030 emissions to put India on a 1.5C pathway”. A new study in Nature Climate Change, meanwhile, surveyed 599 negotiators and 230 scientists worldwide. Among a selection of countries “most important for climate mitigation policies”, the study ranked India’s updated NDC as fifth in compliance (meaning the “expert evaluation of the likelihood that the NDC pledge submitted by their home country would be honoured”) and fourth in ambition. The study’s lead author told Down to Earth: “India has been pretty careful to not make bold pledges far beyond what the Indian government is confident it can deliver.” Writing in the Conversation, Gopalakrishnan points out that, while India’s targets are an improvement from its 2015 pledge, “they are largely a continuation of the country’s “business-as-usual” emissions trajectory”. He adds that, while “a fast-growing country can reduce its emissions per GDP and increase its emissions”, India missed out on the opportunity to spell out its national ambitions in a way that would “attract” the international finance it says it wants.

• Urban Lab

Varanasi tops cities that cut down air pollutants in 2021-22

However, a green think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) flagged limitations of such a city-based approach Taking a step closer to a green India, 95 per cent of the 132 polluted Indian cities, identified under a national programme for clean air, showed improvement in their air quality by reducing particulate matter (PM10) concentration in 2021-22. Amon...

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma inaugurates conference on environment

Notably, the conference resorted to paperless registration through QR codes, using recyclable and biodegradable materials. Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Satish Chandra Sharma on Saturday inaugurated the 'Conference on Remediation of Environmental Pollution for Protection of Human Rights, held at the Delhi Judicial Academy in New Delhi. The conference was jointly organised by the Delhi Judicial Academy, Delhi State Legal Services Authority, Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee. It was organised in furtherance of the mandate given by the National Human Rights Commission. The inaugural session was attended by judges of the Delhi High Court and heads and representatives of various government departments, judicial officers and legal aid counsels. The conference was also unique as apart from the attendees who participated physically, it also saw participation by representatives of resident welfare associations and industrial associations who had joined the conference virtually. In his address, in the inaugural session of the conference, the Chief Justice emphasised that environmental values and needs have to be an integral part of educational lifestyle, social conduct and community responsibility. He stressed on the responsibility of every individual and the enforcement of this raised consciousness by the community. An e-booklet was also released on the occasion with the aim of creating environmental awareness amongst citizens stressing the need for each and every person to act towards reducing environmental pollution. The conference was preceded by a plantation drive. Chief Justice Sharma applauded the Delhi Judicial Academy for organising the drive. He acknowledged the efforts of all the organisers of the conference to create environmental awareness about the impact of pollution on human rights. It is worth mentioning that the conference resorted to paperless registration through QR codes, using recyclable and biodegradable material and releasing an e-booklet instead of a conventional paper based one to ensure that the conference is conducted in an eco-friendly manner. The reading material for the conference was also disseminated through QR codes. Justice Vibhu Bakhru while addressing the conference stated that the first step to finding a meaningful solution is to realise the enormity of the problem and realise that it can’t be wished away. He termed the conference as a pathbreaking endeavour as it had stakeholders joining in from various fields. He also lauded the efforts of the organisers in their use of technology to reduce the use of paper in the conference. The conference also comprised of four technical sessions, each focusing on a particular facet of environmental pollution that is air, water, noise and solid waste. Many prominent environmentalists participated and spoke at the conference including Anumita Roychowdhury, the Executive Director of the Centre for Science and Environment. Among the many others who also contributed to the conference are Bharat Parashar, Member Secretary, Delhi State Legal Services Authority, Dr. Aditi Choudhary, Director (Academics) and Officiating Chairperson, Delhi Judicial Academy, Manmohan Sharma, Director (Administration) Delhi Judicial Academy, B Vinod Babu, Director, Central Pollution Control Board and Dr. KS Jayachandran, Member Secretary, Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

• Sustainable Food Systems

India must stop misusing antibiotics in dairy sector, according to CSE report

Is the milk we consume safe? According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), not really… In July, the CSE hosted a virtual meeting to discuss the use of antibiotics within the world’s largest milk producer, Indian. Between 2018-19, the country produced a whopping 188 million tonnes. However, a recent assessment conducted by the CSE has unearthed some “disturbing findings”. [FREE WEBINAR] From past to future: Comparison of measurement technologies for the edible oil market Join us for this webinar where KROHNE takes you on a journey of how process automation is changing and what measurement technologies and innovations are important to have your production ready for the future. On-demand Webinar REGISTER TODAY AND LEARN MORE “We have found that antibiotics are extensively misused in the dairy sector; antibiotic residues remain largely untested in milk, an integral part of Indian diets, particularly of children,” said CSE Director General Sunita Narain. “While we continue to struggle against COVID-19, we are staring at another pandemic like situation – that of antibiotic resistance fuelled by the way we are producing our food, which has become chemical-intensive.” The assessment, CSE said, demonstrates that dairy farmers are “indiscriminately” using antibiotics such as aminoglycosides, penicillins and third-generation cephalosporins and fluroquinolones for common cattle diseases like mastitis. These drugs are among some of the most important for humans. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that such antibiotics should be preserved in light of the growing resistance crisis. Despite the law dictating that such antibiotics should only be available with via the prescription of registered veterinarian, the CSE said that some farmers are accessing them illegally and injecting animals on their own judgement and without any veterinary supervision. CSE researchers have also pointed towards inadequate focus on testing for antibiotic residues in the milk collected by some state milk federations, which process it and sell packaged milk and dairy products under popular brands. “Farmers often sell milk while the animal is under treatment, which increases the chances of antibiotic residues in the milk,” explained Amit Khurana, the CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins Programme Director. “While milk sold directly to consumers is not tested, contrary to what one would expect, processed milk sold in packets is also largely unchecked for antibiotic residues.milking cow “This explains why, despite pooling and processing, packed milk samples from several states had antibiotic residues in the FSSAI’s [Food Safety and Standards Authority of India] milk quality survey of 2018.” However, the CSE has said that the online consultation in July has brought forth promising signs of action from the industry. “The issues highlighted by the CSE assessment have been well recognised by the experts and stakeholders. These experts have also recommended several measures for minimising antibiotic misuse in the Indian dairy sector.” He noted that “preventative aspects” are showing some success. “Information shared by various organisations, agencies and experts suggest that ethno-veterinary medicines, better management of sub-clinical mastitis, and good farm management are contributing towards reducing antibiotic misuse.” Along with limiting the misuse of critical antibiotics such as penicillin, the CSE has recommended the modification of existing standards for antibiotic resides in milk and routine surveillance of these residues. “India is now talking about antibiotic resistance in the one-health perspective,” noted Narain, who described the change in attitude as “remarkable” progress. He continued: “There is a shared concern, and all voices are now together in expressing that concern.” As such he believes further (and necessary) action will be taken. “We must ramp up surveillance and testing, put a complete stop to the use of critically important antibiotics and penalise their use,” he added, “and work with farmers and the agriculture-dairy sectors to innovate on solutions.”

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

UP to sign MoU with CSE to check pollution

The urban development department of the Uttar Pradesh government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to bring down pollution levels. The Delhi-based research organisation will guide the local bodies in the coming months on ways to bring down air and water pollution. According to the government spokesman, local bodies in industrial towns such as Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, Moradabad and Aligarh, among others, will be asked to work closely with the organisation to suggest measures that can be taken up to mitigate effluents and waste water. Among the 734 cities and towns that are governed by the local bodies, only 31 have partial sewerage system coverage that can tackle 40 per cent of the waste among these towns, reveals data maintained by the central pollution control board. A member of the programme support unit of the organisation said that best practices being followed in Odisha will be shared with the government officials. Principal secretary of the department, Amrit Abhijat said, "Since the programme and workshop is extremely important, executive heads of more than 200 local bodies have been asked to remain present while the remaining ones will join the proceedings virtually on Wednesday." After signing the MoU, the daylong workshop scheduled on Wednesday will focus on improving the urban schemes being provided in the state. Representatives of Deloitte have been called to brief the executive heads on the expectations from the urban development department in achieving the US $1 trillion economy by 2027. The grievances redressal system through Sambhav portal that was launched by Uttar Pradesh minister A.K. Sharma will also be reviewed. Minimising air pollution before the onset of the winter season and Diwali festivities will be another agenda that will be taken up in the workshop. Similarly, the progress being made on the schemes and projects announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and urban development minister A.K. Sharma will also be done.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

South Asia ‘Deliberately’ Placed Self At Mercy Of Floods: Noted Environmentalist

"We have dammed our rivers, filled our ponds and tanks and built houses in flood plains." Illustrious Indian environmentalist Sunita Narain explained contemporary climate events in South Asia as a “double whammy” of poor drainage and recurring floods. Narian, who was named as one one of the 100 most influential people the world over by Time in 2016, made the comments while speaking to political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa. She said region-wide drainage stood compromised. This, she said, was the least priority for governments, bureaucrats and urban planners. Compounding the challenge was how the region had “deliberately” left itself at the mercy of floods. “We have dammed our rivers, filled our ponds and tanks and built houses in flood plains.” Narain, who is the India’s Centre for Science and Environment director general, said while floods were a routine phenomenon in South Asia, what had undergone a change was the “ferocity, intensity and extent” of flooding. The region, Narain had pointed out, receives an average of 100 rain hours per annum. Now with climate change, she said, the region experiences more rain in fewer hours. Responding to a query on how Pakistan was experiencing greater rainfall than the south, Narain said while she was not in a position to comment on the country, trends mapped in India showed rising regional variation. As Siddiqui emphatically observed that these instances were not freak events over the course of the conversation, Narain concurred. This is a clear trend, she said. While conventional wisdom held flooding to be a boon for agriculture at the expense of just one crop, alternating heatwaves compromised the impact. the Padma Shri awardee said. Unless farmers worked hand-in-hand with to harvest rain, ensure effective drainage and recharge groundwater, the region will continue alternating between periods of drought and flooding. Recurring weather events had started leaving the trademark resilience of the region’s denizens ebbed, Narain said. Internal migration rates had been shooting through the roof. Flood and droughts, over war and conflict, were now compelling people to migrate elsewhere.

• Industrial Pollution

Delhi’s coal ban must include a plan for small businesses that depend on it

One of the many kebab shops in Zakir Nagar market in the Okhla area is owned by Rehman Alam. The shop has been passed on to him by his ancestors and is famous for its variety and flavour of kebabs. He says, “The business we currently have here is thriving. It is all because of our traditional recipe, which includes roasting the kebabs on coal.” However, he is uncertain how events will unfold once coal usage is banned. “We may lose our specialty and customers who come to us regularly. I am worried our ancestral business might be affected,” he adds. Alam’s plight is not discrete. Recently, the Centre for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced a blanket ban on the domestic and industrial usage of coal in Delhi’s National Capital Region (NCR) from January 1, 2023. The embargo is in line with phasing out the use of coal to tackle concerns relating to worsening air pollution in the region. According to the World Health Organization, Delhi features right on top among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. The city also had the world’s highest annual average concentration of PM 2.5 particles. But while it is established that coal production and consumption lead to worsening environmental conditions and must be curtailed, the future of those who depend on coal for their livelihood — especially Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) — hangs in peril with a ban on the resource. The anxiety amongst these small-scale business enterprises isn’t even quantifiable. The anxiety among small business owners I visited a few small enterprises in the Okhla region of Delhi NCR, which depend heavily on coal, and learned about the day-to-day operations of shop-owners here and how that is likely to be impacted post the coal ban in the region. Yaseen owns a cart, an iron, and an LPG cylinder that he uses to iron the garments of the individuals surrounding the Johri Farm locality. He resides in the Batla House region and commutes back and forth daily. While he has managed to stick to the ironing business for the past 25-27 years, he has already made a shift from his coal-operated iron to the makeshift LPG-run iron. According to him, “I made a shift because coal was getting extremely costly, and if I would have stuck to it, it would have sucked any profit that I made.” Talking about the high price of coal compared to LPG gas, he says, “At this time, coal is somewhere around INR 100-110 per kg, and LPG is around INR 60 per kg. If I use coal, then I will exhaust one kg in one day, and on the contrary, I can judiciously use one kg of LPG for up to three days.” For Yaseen, making a switch was feasible and didn’t hamper his business prospects, but it is not as smooth a road for other pocket-sized enterprises. Twenty-seven-year-old Faizal owns a restaurant named Lazeez, at Tikona Park, within half a kilometre radius of Jamia Millia Islamia metro station. He started sitting at and managing the shop when he was just five years old! “The reason why coal is used for making things like roasted chicken, tikkas, tandooris, etc. is that their taste multiplies manifold when they absorb the flavour of burning coal/smoke,” he explains. So, what is his plan for the future after the coal ban? “All I need is the flavour of smoke to get that exact taste. Hence, instead of switching to LPG gas, I might just make use of wood.” Other than Faizal, there are several shop owners here who sell products/food items that are made using coal, and they cannot think of a better alternative that can help retain their customer base and is also profitable to them. As the year moves towards its end and the timeline of enforcing the coal ban nears, their apprehensions are gradually intensifying. Anubha Aggarwal, Programme Officer at Industrial Pollution Unit, Centre for Science and Environment, acknowledges the necessity for strategic planning for the smooth transition from coal. Especially in view of the financial predicament of those who depend on coal for survival. She says, “As we move away from coal, we do need to plan ahead and ensure that the coal phase-out strategy is inclusive of the communities dependent on coal for its livelihood.” The way forward India aims to reduce emissions and achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2070. Besides, by 2030, the country also aspires to enhance the energy capacity it derives from non-fossil fuels. With its efforts — such as banning coal to improve air quality and kicking in the single-use plastic (SUPs) ban to prevent plastic pollution — the nation seems to be progressing toward its climate goals. However, it is only six months until the blanket ban on coal production and consumption is planned to be enforced in Delhi NCR. Asked about this timeline, especially its implications for workers employed in the coal mining industries, Anubha says, “At present, we do not have a clear roadmap for ‘just transition’ for coal phase-out. So, it is difficult to give an approximation of how much time and resources it will take to ensure a regular income for the workers.” Anubha shares that the country is yet to script a plan even for the frontline coal workers who have been working in the industries in Delhi NCR that “use almost 1.14 million tonnes of coal annually.” Hence, it can be reasonably deduced that concerns around the future of coal-dependent MSMEs operating independently, and those whose survival hinges on them, seem almost minor and secondary to the concern around workers waged in large-scale coal-run industries. As such the former are staring at considerable loss, with little or zero planning and assurances for a coal-free future. In the face of growing anxiety and a lingering tension among a large section of coal-dependent small-scale businesses, including that of Rehman Alam’s, Yaseen’s, and Faizal’s, the immediate challenge for the country is to build its competency at many levels: infrastructural support, citizen awareness, skill development, appropriate guidance on better alternatives, among others.

• Urban Lab

PM10 के स्तर में कटौती के मामले में वाराणसी शीर्ष पर, सरकार का कहना है; सीएसई ने शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण को ध्वजांकित किया

नई दिल्ली: स्वच्छ हवा पर एक राष्ट्रीय कार्यक्रम के तहत पहचाने गए 132 प्रदूषित शहरों में से 95 ने 2017 की तुलना में 2021-22 में पार्टिकुलेट मैटर (पीएम10) की सांद्रता को कम करके वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार दिखाया है, जिसमें वाराणसी में सबसे अधिक 53% की कमी दर्ज की गई है। इस अवधि के दौरान खतरनाक प्रदूषकों का स्तर, सरकार ने अपने विश्लेषण में दावा किया, यहां तक ​​कि ग्रीन थिंकटैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने इस तरह के शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण की सीमाओं को चिह्नित किया है। विश्लेषण में पाया गया कि चेन्नई सहित 95 शहरों में से 20, मदुरैनासिक और चित्तूर, यहां तक ​​कि राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों (NAAQS) के अनुरूप हैं, जो PM10 की स्वीकार्य वार्षिक औसत सीमा 60 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर (μg/m3) रखते हैं। हालांकि, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय द्वारा किए गए विश्लेषण में अन्य सूक्ष्म और अधिक खतरनाक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर, पीएम2. 5, एकरूपता के लिए सभी 132 शहरों में केवल PM10 की निगरानी की जाती है। नीचे राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम (एनसीएपी), मंत्रालय ने देश भर में 2017 के स्तर से 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर एकाग्रता में 20-30% की कमी का लक्ष्य रखा है। केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में पर्याप्त PM2. 2019-2021 की अवधि के लिए 5 डेटा। वाराणसी के अलावा, जिसने सबसे बड़ा सुधार दर्ज किया, उस अवधि के दौरान पीएम 10 के स्तर में सुधार दिखाने वाले अन्य शहरों में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, नोएडा, गाजियाबाद, लखनऊ, कानपुर, आगरा, पुणे, नागपुर और चंडीगढ़ शामिल हैं। हालाँकि, अधिकांश शहरों में PM10 की सांद्रता लक्ष्य और साथ ही NAAQS सीमा में सुधार के बावजूद बहुत अधिक स्तर पर आंकी गई है। उदाहरण के लिए, दिल्ली में, पीएम10 का स्तर 2017 में 241 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 196 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर हो गया – 18% की कमी, लेकिन यह 60 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर की स्वीकार्य सीमा के तीन गुना से अधिक है। मुंबई में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 151µg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 106 ug/m3 हो गया। कोलकाता में, यह 2017 में 119 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 105 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर हो गया। सीएसई ने चेतावनी दी कि मौजूदा स्वच्छ वायु कार्य योजनाएँ जो सफाई कार्य के लिए शहरों के चारों ओर कठिन सीमाएँ खींचती हैं, बड़ी कक्षा में प्रमुख प्रदूषण स्रोतों को संबोधित करने में विफल हो रही हैं। “प्रदूषण के क्षेत्रीय प्रभाव का विज्ञान भारत में आकार लेने लगा है। एनसीएपी ने क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत को अपने साथ ले लिया है। लेकिन गठबंधन कार्रवाई के लिए बहु-क्षेत्राधिकार प्रबंधन को सक्षम करने और क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए राज्य सरकारों की अपविंड और डाउनविंड जिम्मेदारियों को स्थापित करने के लिए कोई नियामक ढांचा नहीं है, ”सीएसई के कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा।

• Urban Lab

PM10 के स्तर में कटौती के मामले में वाराणसी शीर्ष पर, सरकार का कहना है; सीएसई ने शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण को ध्वजांकित किया

नई दिल्ली: स्वच्छ हवा पर एक राष्ट्रीय कार्यक्रम के तहत पहचाने गए 132 प्रदूषित शहरों में से 95 ने 2017 की तुलना में 2021-22 में पार्टिकुलेट मैटर (पीएम10) की सांद्रता को कम करके वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार दिखाया है, जिसमें वाराणसी में सबसे अधिक 53% की कमी दर्ज की गई है। इस अवधि के दौरान खतरनाक प्रदूषकों का स्तर, सरकार ने अपने विश्लेषण में दावा किया, यहां तक ​​कि ग्रीन थिंकटैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने इस तरह के शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण की सीमाओं को चिह्नित किया है। विश्लेषण में पाया गया कि चेन्नई सहित 95 शहरों में से 20, मदुरैनासिक और चित्तूर, यहां तक ​​कि राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों (NAAQS) के अनुरूप हैं, जो PM10 की स्वीकार्य वार्षिक औसत सीमा 60 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर (μg/m3) रखते हैं। वायु योग्यता (1) हालांकि, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय द्वारा किए गए विश्लेषण में अन्य सूक्ष्म और अधिक खतरनाक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर, पीएम2. 5, एकरूपता के लिए सभी 132 शहरों में केवल PM10 की निगरानी की जाती है। नीचे राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम (एनसीएपी), मंत्रालय ने देश भर में 2017 के स्तर से 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर एकाग्रता में 20-30% की कमी का लक्ष्य रखा है। केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में पर्याप्त PM2. 2019-2021 की अवधि के लिए 5 डेटा। वाराणसी के अलावा, जिसने सबसे बड़ा सुधार दर्ज किया, उस अवधि के दौरान पीएम 10 के स्तर में सुधार दिखाने वाले अन्य शहरों में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, नोएडा, गाजियाबाद, लखनऊ, कानपुर, आगरा, पुणे, नागपुर और चंडीगढ़ शामिल हैं। हालाँकि, अधिकांश शहरों में PM10 की सांद्रता लक्ष्य और साथ ही NAAQS सीमा में सुधार के बावजूद बहुत अधिक स्तर पर आंकी गई है। उदाहरण के लिए, दिल्ली में, पीएम10 का स्तर 2017 में 241 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 196 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर हो गया – 18% की कमी, लेकिन यह 60 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर की स्वीकार्य सीमा के तीन गुना से अधिक है। मुंबई में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 151µg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 106 ug/m3 हो गया। कोलकाता में, यह 2017 में 119 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 105 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर हो गया। सीएसई ने चेतावनी दी कि मौजूदा स्वच्छ वायु कार्य योजनाएं जो सफाई कार्य के लिए शहरों के चारों ओर कठिन सीमाएं खींचती हैं, बड़ी कक्षा में प्रमुख प्रदूषण स्रोतों को संबोधित करने में विफल हो रही हैं। “प्रदूषण के क्षेत्रीय प्रभाव का विज्ञान भारत में आकार लेने लगा है। एनसीएपी ने क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत को अपने साथ ले लिया है। लेकिन गठबंधन कार्रवाई के लिए बहु-क्षेत्राधिकार प्रबंधन को सक्षम करने और क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए राज्य सरकारों की अपविंड और डाउनविंड जिम्मेदारियों को स्थापित करने के लिए कोई नियामक ढांचा नहीं है, ”सीएसई के कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा।

• Urban Lab

PM10 के स्तर में कटौती के मामले में वाराणसी शीर्ष पर, सरकार का कहना है; सीएसई ने शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण को ध्वजांकित किया

स्वच्छ हवा पर एक राष्ट्रीय कार्यक्रम के तहत पहचाने गए 132 प्रदूषित शहरों में से 95 ने 2017 की तुलना में 2021-22 में पार्टिकुलेट मैटर (पीएम10) की सांद्रता को कम करके वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार दिखाया है, जिसमें वाराणसी में सबसे अधिक 53% की कमी दर्ज की गई है। इस अवधि के दौरान खतरनाक प्रदूषकों का स्तर, सरकार ने अपने विश्लेषण में दावा किया, यहां तक ​​कि ग्रीन थिंकटैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने इस तरह के शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण की सीमाओं को चिह्नित किया है। विश्लेषण में पाया गया कि चेन्नई सहित 95 शहरों में से 20, मदुरैनासिक और चित्तूर, यहां तक ​​कि राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों (NAAQS) के अनुरूप हैं, जो PM10 की स्वीकार्य वार्षिक औसत सीमा 60 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर (μg/m3) रखते हैं। वायु योग्यता (1) हालांकि, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय द्वारा किए गए विश्लेषण में अन्य सूक्ष्म और अधिक खतरनाक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर, पीएम2. 5, एकरूपता के लिए सभी 132 शहरों में केवल PM10 की निगरानी की जाती है। नीचे राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम (एनसीएपी), मंत्रालय ने देश भर में 2017 के स्तर से 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर एकाग्रता में 20-30% की कमी का लक्ष्य रखा है। केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में पर्याप्त PM2. 2019-2021 की अवधि के लिए 5 डेटा। वाराणसी के अलावा, जिसने सबसे बड़ा सुधार दर्ज किया, उस अवधि के दौरान पीएम 10 के स्तर में सुधार दिखाने वाले अन्य शहरों में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, नोएडा, गाजियाबाद, लखनऊ, कानपुर, आगरा, पुणे, नागपुर और चंडीगढ़ शामिल हैं। हालाँकि, अधिकांश शहरों में PM10 की सांद्रता लक्ष्य और साथ ही NAAQS सीमा में सुधार के बावजूद बहुत अधिक स्तर पर आंकी गई है। उदाहरण के लिए, दिल्ली में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 241μg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 196 ug/m3 हो गया – 18% की कमी, लेकिन यह 60 ug/m3 की स्वीकार्य सीमा के तीन गुना से अधिक है। मुंबई में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 151µg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 106 ug/m3 हो गया। कोलकाता में, यह 2017 में 119 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 105 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर हो गया। सीएसई ने चेतावनी दी कि मौजूदा स्वच्छ वायु कार्य योजनाएं जो सफाई कार्य के लिए शहरों के चारों ओर कठिन सीमाएं खींचती हैं, बड़ी कक्षा में प्रमुख प्रदूषण स्रोतों को संबोधित करने में विफल हो रही हैं। “प्रदूषण के क्षेत्रीय प्रभाव का विज्ञान भारत में आकार लेने लगा है। एनसीएपी ने क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत को अपने साथ ले लिया है। लेकिन गठबंधन कार्रवाई के लिए बहु-क्षेत्राधिकार प्रबंधन को सक्षम करने और क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए राज्य सरकारों की अपविंड और डाउनविंड जिम्मेदारियों को स्थापित करने के लिए कोई नियामक ढांचा नहीं है,” सीएसई के कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा।

• Urban Lab

Ghaziabad News: क्या है गाजियाबाद की समस्या, क्यों लोगों का जीना हो गया बेहाल

गाजियाबाद के लिए बुरी खबर है. यह जिला उत्तर भारत के सबसे प्रदूषित शहरों में शुमार हो गया है. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) ने साल 2021 के लिए PM2.5 के आधार पर प्रदूषण का अध्ययन किया तो गाजियाबाद की यह रिपोर्ट सामने आई. इस अध्ययन में यह बात सामने आई है कि बाई-पास सड़क का अधूरा निर्माण और ट्रैफिक प्रदूषण की सबसे बड़ी वजह है. बाइपास रोड के 20 प्रतिशत हिस्से का निर्माण नहीं होने से स्थानीय निवासियों को राजनगर एक्सटेंशन और मेरठ रोड के बीच भारी जाम की समस्या का सामना करना पड़ रहा है. गौरतलब है कि यहां यातायात की गति भी धीमी है. इस वजह से भी इस क्षेत्र में प्रदूषण का स्तर ज्यादा है. स्थानीय आरडब्ल्यूए स्थानीय अधिकारियों के संपर्क में है, लेकिन सड़क के इस छोटे से हिस्से को पूरा करने की प्रगति बहुत धीमी है. जीडीए ने पहले ही इस भूमि का अधिग्रहण कर लिया था. उसने बाई-पास सड़क का 80% निर्माण भी कर लिया है. एडीएम (एलए) भूमि अधिग्रहण पुनर्वास और पुनर्वास अधिनियम 2013 के तहत, धारा 11 (1) के तहत खंड 3 के अनुसार भूमि अधिग्रहण पर काम कर रहा है, लेकिन बहुत धीमी गति से. इसी के चलते यहा लोगों को ट्रैफिक और वायु प्रदूषण से समस्या हो रही है. लोगों ने बताई असल समस्या सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर अनुमिता राय चौधरी ने News 18 से कहा कि pm 2.5 के कर्ण इतने छोटे होते हैं कि यह दिखते नहीं हैं. लेकिन, सांस के साथ घुल कर यह बहुत नुकसान देते हैं. आस पास के सोसायटी के लोगों ने News 18 से कहा कि यहां सबसे बड़ी समस्या है प्रदूषण, ट्रैफिक और यहां का कूड़ा है. जो काम पूरा नहीं हुआ उसकी मिट्टी भी यहां मिलेगी. इस वजह से लोगों को बड़ी समस्या हो रही है. लोगों ने कहा हम लोग कई बार जीडीए के पास जा चुके हैं. जब तक यह 20 फीसदी निर्माण नहीं होता, तब तक ऐसे ही समस्या रहेगी. जल्द से जल्द इसका समाधान किया जाए.

• Urban Lab

PM10 के स्तर में कटौती के मामले में वाराणसी शीर्ष पर, सरकार का कहना है; सीएसई ने शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण को ध्वजांकित किया

नई दिल्ली: स्वच्छ हवा पर एक राष्ट्रीय कार्यक्रम के तहत पहचाने गए 132 प्रदूषित शहरों में से 95 ने 2017 की तुलना में 2021-22 में पार्टिकुलेट मैटर (पीएम10) की सांद्रता को कम करके वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार दिखाया है, जिसमें वाराणसी में सबसे अधिक 53% की कमी दर्ज की गई है। इस अवधि के दौरान खतरनाक प्रदूषकों का स्तर, सरकार ने अपने विश्लेषण में दावा किया, यहां तक ​​कि ग्रीन थिंकटैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने इस तरह के शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण की सीमाओं को चिह्नित किया है। विश्लेषण में पाया गया कि चेन्नई सहित 95 शहरों में से 20, मदुरैनासिक और चित्तूर, यहां तक ​​कि राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों (NAAQS) के अनुरूप हैं, जो PM10 की स्वीकार्य वार्षिक औसत सीमा 60 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर (μg/m3) रखते हैं। वायु योग्यता (1) हालांकि, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय द्वारा किए गए विश्लेषण में अन्य सूक्ष्म और अधिक खतरनाक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर, पीएम2. 5, एकरूपता के लिए सभी 132 शहरों में केवल PM10 की निगरानी की जाती है। नीचे राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम (एनसीएपी), मंत्रालय ने देश भर में 2017 के स्तर से 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर एकाग्रता में 20-30% की कमी का लक्ष्य रखा है। केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में पर्याप्त PM2. 2019-2021 की अवधि के लिए 5 डेटा। वाराणसी के अलावा, जिसने सबसे बड़ा सुधार दर्ज किया, उस अवधि के दौरान पीएम 10 के स्तर में सुधार दिखाने वाले अन्य शहरों में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, नोएडा, गाजियाबाद, लखनऊ, कानपुर, आगरा, पुणे, नागपुर और चंडीगढ़ शामिल हैं। हालाँकि, अधिकांश शहरों में PM10 की सांद्रता लक्ष्य और साथ ही NAAQS सीमा में सुधार के बावजूद बहुत अधिक स्तर पर आंकी गई है। उदाहरण के लिए, दिल्ली में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 241μg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 196 ug/m3 हो गया – 18% की कमी, लेकिन यह 60 ug/m3 की स्वीकार्य सीमा के तीन गुना से अधिक है। मुंबई में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 151µg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 106 ug/m3 हो गया। कोलकाता में, यह 2017 में 119 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 105 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर हो गया। सीएसई ने चेतावनी दी कि मौजूदा स्वच्छ वायु कार्य योजनाएँ जो सफाई कार्य के लिए शहरों के चारों ओर कठिन सीमाएँ खींचती हैं, बड़ी कक्षा में प्रमुख प्रदूषण स्रोतों को संबोधित करने में विफल हो रही हैं। “प्रदूषण के क्षेत्रीय प्रभाव का विज्ञान भारत में आकार लेने लगा है। एनसीएपी ने क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत को अपने साथ ले लिया है। लेकिन गठबंधन कार्रवाई के लिए बहु-क्षेत्राधिकार प्रबंधन को सक्षम करने और क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए राज्य सरकारों की अपविंड और डाउनविंड जिम्मेदारियों को स्थापित करने के लिए कोई नियामक ढांचा नहीं है,” सीएसई के कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा।

• Urban Lab

PM10 के स्तर में कटौती के मामले में वाराणसी शीर्ष पर, सरकार का कहना है; सीएसई ने शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण को ध्वजांकित किया

नई दिल्ली: स्वच्छ हवा पर एक राष्ट्रीय कार्यक्रम के तहत पहचाने गए 132 प्रदूषित शहरों में से 95 ने 2017 की तुलना में 2021-22 में पार्टिकुलेट मैटर (पीएम10) की सांद्रता को कम करके वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार दिखाया है, जिसमें वाराणसी में सबसे अधिक 53% की कमी दर्ज की गई है। इस अवधि के दौरान खतरनाक प्रदूषकों का स्तर, सरकार ने अपने विश्लेषण में दावा किया, यहां तक ​​कि ग्रीन थिंकटैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) ने इस तरह के शहर-आधारित दृष्टिकोण की सीमाओं को चिह्नित किया है। विश्लेषण में पाया गया कि चेन्नई सहित 95 शहरों में से 20, मदुरैनासिक और चित्तूर, यहां तक ​​कि राष्ट्रीय परिवेशी वायु गुणवत्ता मानकों (NAAQS) के अनुरूप हैं, जो PM10 की स्वीकार्य वार्षिक औसत सीमा 60 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर (μg/m3) रखते हैं। हालांकि, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय द्वारा किए गए विश्लेषण में अन्य सूक्ष्म और अधिक खतरनाक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर, पीएम2. 5, एकरूपता के लिए सभी 132 शहरों में केवल PM10 की निगरानी की जाती है। नीचे राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम (एनसीएपी), मंत्रालय ने देश भर में 2017 के स्तर से 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट मैटर एकाग्रता में 20-30% की कमी का लक्ष्य रखा है। केवल 43 एनसीएपी शहरों में पर्याप्त PM2. 2019-2021 की अवधि के लिए 5 डेटा। वाराणसी के अलावा, जिसने सबसे बड़ा सुधार दर्ज किया, उस अवधि के दौरान पीएम 10 के स्तर में सुधार दिखाने वाले अन्य शहरों में दिल्ली, मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगलुरु, हैदराबाद, नोएडा, गाजियाबाद, लखनऊ, कानपुर, आगरा, पुणे, नागपुर और चंडीगढ़ शामिल हैं। हालाँकि, अधिकांश शहरों में PM10 की सांद्रता लक्ष्य और साथ ही NAAQS सीमा में सुधार के बावजूद बहुत अधिक स्तर पर आंकी गई है। उदाहरण के लिए, दिल्ली में, पीएम10 का स्तर 2017 में 241 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 196 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर हो गया – 18% की कमी, लेकिन यह 60 माइक्रोग्राम/घनमीटर की स्वीकार्य सीमा के तीन गुना से अधिक है। मुंबई में, PM10 का स्तर 2017 में 151µg/m3 से घटकर 2021-22 में 106 ug/m3 हो गया। कोलकाता में, यह 2017 में 119 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर से घटकर 2021-22 में 105 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर हो गया। सीएसई ने चेतावनी दी कि मौजूदा स्वच्छ वायु कार्य योजनाएं जो सफाई कार्य के लिए शहरों के चारों ओर कठिन सीमाएं खींचती हैं, बड़ी कक्षा में प्रमुख प्रदूषण स्रोतों को संबोधित करने में विफल हो रही हैं। “प्रदूषण के क्षेत्रीय प्रभाव का विज्ञान भारत में आकार लेने लगा है। एनसीएपी ने क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन के सिद्धांत को अपने साथ ले लिया है। लेकिन गठबंधन कार्रवाई के लिए बहु-क्षेत्राधिकार प्रबंधन को सक्षम करने और क्षेत्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए राज्य सरकारों की अपविंड और डाउनविंड जिम्मेदारियों को स्थापित करने के लिए कोई नियामक ढांचा नहीं है,” सीएसई के कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा।