• Industrial Pollution

Temporary closure of thermal power plants around Delhi helped reduce pollution: Govt

In April last year, the Environment Ministry issued amended rules allowing thermal power plants within 10 km of the National Capital Region (NCR) and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022. The closure of a few coal-fired power plants within 300 km radius of Delhi last year helped reduce pollution levels, the government has said. In November last year, India had temporarily shut down six of the 11 thermal power plants (TPPs) within 300 km radius of Delhi in view of hazardous air quality in Delhi-NCR. The directions were extended till December 15 as the air quality remained in the adverse range. ''It is a well-established fact that coal is a heavy polluting fuel. Shutting down of a few coal-fired power plants located within 300 km radius of Delhi in December 2021, along with a series of other measures taken in various sectors, helped in reducing pollution levels,'' Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. BJD MP Amar Patnaik had asked whether shutting down of a few coal-fired power plants around Delhi in December 2021, as mandated by the Commission for Air Quality Management, helped reduce Delhi-NCR's pollution. The Delhi government had earlier shutdown three TPPs operating within the capital permanently -- Indraprastha power plant in 2009, Rajghat plant in 2015, and Badarpur plant -- in 2018. India has already extended its December 2017 deadline for TPPs to meet the emissions standards. In April last year, the Environment Ministry issued amended rules allowing thermal power plants within 10 km of the National Capital Region (NCR) and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022. TPPs in ''non-attainment cities'' and those within 10 km of critically polluted areas are required to meet the emission norms by December 31, 2023. Non-attainment cities are those which have consistently failed to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The CPCB has identified 132 such cities. Coal-fired power plants in the rest of the areas have to comply with the new standards by December 31, 2024. Major pollutants from coal-fired power plants are oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM). According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of total industrial emissions of particulate matter; 45 per cent of SO2; 30 per cent of NOx; and more than 80 per cent of mercury, in the country. These are also responsible for 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries, according to an analysis by the green think tank. A report by the CSE in 2020 showed that only two out of the 11 power plants located around Delhi had SO2 control technology.

• Industrial Pollution

Temporary Closure Of Power Plants Around Delhi Helped Reduce Pollution

The directions were extended till December 15 as the air quality remained in the adverse range The closure of a few coal-fired power plants within 300 km radius of Delhi last year helped reduce pollution levels, the government has said. In November last year, India had temporarily shut down six of the 11 thermal power plants (TPPs) within 300 km radius of Delhi in view of hazardous air quality in Delhi-NCR. The directions were extended till December 15 as the air quality remained in the adverse range. "It is a well-established fact that coal is a heavy polluting fuel. Shutting down of a few coal-fired power plants located within 300 km radius of Delhi in December 2021, along with a series of other measures taken in various sectors, helped in reducing pollution levels," Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. BJD MP Amar Patnaik had asked whether shutting down of a few coal-fired power plants around Delhi in December 2021, as mandated by the Commission for Air Quality Management, helped reduce Delhi-NCR's pollution. The Delhi government had earlier shutdown three TPPs operating within the capital permanently -- Indraprastha power plant in 2009, Rajghat plant in 2015, and Badarpur plant -- in 2018. India has already extended its December 2017 deadline for TPPs to meet the emissions standards. In April last year, the Environment Ministry issued amended rules allowing thermal power plants within 10 km of the National Capital Region (NCR) and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022. TPPs in "non-attainment cities" and those within 10 km of critically polluted areas are required to meet the emission norms by December 31, 2023. Non-attainment cities are those which have consistently failed to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The CPCB has identified 132 such cities. Coal-fired power plants in the rest of the areas have to comply with the new standards by December 31, 2024. Major pollutants from coal-fired power plants are oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM). According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of total industrial emissions of particulate matter; 45 per cent of SO2; 30 per cent of NOx; and more than 80 per cent of mercury, in the country. These are also responsible for 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries, according to an analysis by the green think tank. A report by the CSE in 2020 showed that only two out of the 11 power plants located around Delhi had SO2 control technology.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

No poor day, Delhi breathes its cleanest July air in 6 years

NEW DELHI: The city has been witnessing its cleanest July air this year since 2016. So far, July 2022 has seen 16 ‘satisfactory’ air quality days compared with 11 in July 2021 and 15 in July 2020, according to Central Pollution Control Board’s data. ksdkj This July saw five ‘moderate’ air quality days. Not a single ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ was recorded. Experts said patchy rain reported at regular intervals in some parts of the city helped settle down pollutants. Though the capital’s air quality generally remains clean during the monsoon, this July was better than the previous years as the Air Quality Index (AQI) hovered between ‘satisfactory’ and ‘moderate’ categories. The lowest AQI this month was at 61, on Sunday. The city’s overall AQI was recorded at 70 on Thursday. Safdarjung, the city’s base station, recorded 221.7mm rainfall in July so far. However, some stations received intermittent rain, which helped wash out pollutants, said experts. They said as some parts of Delhi saw two ‘heavy’ rain days in July, the impact was visible for a few days. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “Due to intense heat conditions this summer, dust was one of the major sources of pollution. Rain in July seems to have contributed to cleaner air. However, other contributory factors also need to be assessed.” Dipankar Saha, former head of CPCB’s air laboratory, said apart from rain, some other meteorological factors helped in keeping the air quality clean this July. “Meteorology plays a significant role in maintaining ambient air quality. The higher the atmosphere boundary layer, the higher is the vertical dispersion of pollutants, while higher wind speed leads to higher horizontal dispersion. Intermittent rain keeps the top soil wet, controls the formation of resuspended dusts and helps in developing green grass,” said Saha. According to CPCB, an AQI reading of 50 or below is classified as “good” while a reading between 51 and 100 on the index falls in the “satisfactory” category. Readings between 101 and 200 are considered “moderate”. “Poor” air ranges from 201 to 300, “very poor” from 301 to 400 and “severe” from 401 to 500.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

AQI Delhi: दिल्लीवासियों के लिए बड़ी खुशखबरी! 6 साल बाद जुलाई में आई ये 'घड़ी'

Air Quality Index Of Delhi: रुक-रुक हुई बारिश ने दिल्ली की हवा को साफ करने में बड़ी भूमिका निभाई है. इस साल जुलाई के महीने में 16 'संतोषजनक' वायु गुणवत्ता वाले दिन देखने को मिले हैं. AQI Of Delhi Improved: दिल्ली (Delhi) वालों के लिए प्रदूषण (Pollution) से जुड़ी राहत की खबर सामने आई है. दिल्ली में इस बार तकरीबन 6 साल के बाद जुलाई महीने में Air Quality Index में सुधार होता नजर आया है. बता दें कि पिछली बार इतना सुधार 2016 में देखने को मिला था. केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (CPCB) के आंकड़ों के अनुसार, जुलाई 2022 में अब तक 16 'संतोषजनक' वायु गुणवत्ता वाले दिन देखे गए हैं, जबकि जुलाई 2021 में 11 और जुलाई 2020 में 15 दिन थे. इस वजह से साफ हुई दिल्ली की हवा इस बार जुलाई में 5 'मॉडरेट' वायु गुणवत्ता वाले दिन देखे गए हैं. एक भी ‘खराब' या बहुत खराब’ श्रेणी की Air Quality दर्ज नहीं की गई है. विशेषज्ञों का ऐसा कहना है कि शहर के कुछ हिस्सों में नियमित अंतराल पर हुई हल्की बारिश ने प्रदूषकों की मात्रा नीचे गिराने में मदद की. पिछले कुछ सालों के मुकाबले बेहतर हैं हालात हालांकि, देश की राजधानी की वायु गुणवत्ता आमतौर पर मानसून के दौरान साफ ​​रहती है, इस साल का जुलाई महीना पिछले कुछ सालों की तुलना में बेहतर है क्योंकि वायु गुणवत्ता (AQI) 'संतोषजनक' और 'मध्यम' श्रेणियों के बीच मंडरा रही है. बीते रविवार को इस महीने का सबसे कम एक्यूआई 61 था. गुरुवार को शहर की कुल मिलाकर एक्यूआई 70 दर्ज की गई थी. प्रदूषकों की मात्रा में आई कमी दिल्ली के बस स्टेशन सफदरजंग में जुलाई में अब तक 221.7 मिमी बारिश दर्ज की गई है. हालांकि, कुछ विशेषज्ञों का ऐसा कहना है कि कुछ स्टेशनों पर रुक-रुक कर बारिश होती रही थी, जिससे प्रदूषकों की मात्रा में कमी आई है. उन्होंने ये भी कहा कि दिल्ली के कुछ हिस्सों में जुलाई में दो 'भारी' बारिश के दिन देखे गए, इसका असर कुछ दिनों तक दिखाई दिया. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर, अनुमिता रॉय चौधरी का ऐसा कहना है कि इस बार गर्मी के मौसम में भीषण गर्मी की स्थिति के कारण धूल, प्रदूषण के बड़े कारणों में से एक थी. जुलाई में हुई बारिश ने स्वच्छ हवा में इस बार अच्छा योगदान दिया है. by Taboola Sponsored Links You May Like 35 साल से अधिक आयु के लिये - 1 करोड़ का जीवन बीमा मात्र ₹490/माह*.टर्म जीवन बीमा योजना Enter Car Details to Know Selling Price for Your old Maruti.Spinny केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (CPCB) के अनुसार, 50 या उससे कम की एक्यूआई रीडिंग को 'अच्छे' की श्रेणी में देखा जाता है, जबकि Air Quality Index पर 51 और 100 के बीच की रीडिंग 'संतोषजनक' श्रेणी में आती है. 101 और 200 के बीच की रीडिंग को 'मध्यम' माना जाता है. वहीं, 'खराब' हवा 201 से 300 तक, 'बहुत खराब' 301 से 400 तक और 'गंभीर' 401 से 500 तक होती है.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

India Monsoon Live Updates: Rainfall likely in Delhi today; early monsoon leads to early spread of diseases in Gujarat

India Monsoon News Live Updates, Weather News Update, Rain News Live Today, July 29, 2022: Over the past 24 hours, both the maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi have been below the normal level for this time of the year. India Monsoon Live Updates Today: Delhi is likely to receive light-to-moderate rainfall on Friday and the maximum temperature could settle at around 31 degree Celsius. Over the past 24 hours, both the maximum and minimum temperatures have been below the normal level for this time of the year. Early monsoon showers in Gujarat has also led to the early spread of vector-borne diseases along with flu-like illnesses even as the state continues to see an increase in Covid-19 cases. Gujarat Thursday reported 1,101 new cases of Covid along with one death in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Normal life continued to be impacted in some parts of the Hyderabad on Wednesday as incessant rains battered the state during the past few days. Several localities here received moderate to light rains, the Telangana State Development Planning Society said, citing rainfall data upto 8 AM on Wednesday. Light to moderate rainfall occurred in parts of Rajasthan, officials said on Friday. Heavy rainfall was also recorded in isolated areas in the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am Friday, they said. Sangaria in Hanumangarh recorded the highest rainfall of 10.7 cm, while Kotkhasim in Alwar recorded 9 cm of rainfall. Some other places received below 9 cm of rain, the meteorological department said. This week, lightning killed approximately 50 people in Uttar Pradesh, India. According to authorities, seven people, primarily farmers, were struck and killed by lightning in a hamlet in Uttar Pradesh. This brings the state's total number of lightning-related fatalities this week to 49. The farmers were struck by lightning on Tuesday and perished instantly. They had sought refuge behind trees amid a pouring monsoon storm. According to police official Hem Raj Meena, the victims included four family members and several cow grazers near the city of Kaushambi. The monsoon season in India lasts from June through September. According to Col. Sanjay Srivastava of the Indian Meteorological Department, since April, lightning has claimed the lives of close to 750 individuals throughout India. This includes the 16 fatalities earlier this month in Madhya Pradesh state in central India as well as the 20 fatalities in eastern Bihar state during the last two days. According to Sunita Narain, director-general of the Center for Science and Environment, the increase in lightning strikes is a result of global warming. (AP) In Jodhpur, work to pump out clogged water continued. Many areas in Jodhpur are facing a flood-like situation due to a heavy downpour this week and subsequent waterlogging. ---PTI

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

India’s Air Pollution Challenge: Translating Policies into Effective Action

Air pollution remains one of the biggest threats to India’s environment and is a serious impediment to economic development. A Lancet study estimated that air pollution in India accounted for 1.7 million premature deaths in 2019, which is nothing less than 17.8 percent of the total deaths recorded in the country that year.[1] Both ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution and household air pollution contributed significantly to these deaths. The same study estimated that economic losses from premature deaths and morbidity amount to US$ 37 billion annually or 1.36 percent of India’s GDP. Air pollution is a cross-sectoral problem with emissions originating from diverse sources. Particulate matter poses the biggest challenge, with emission levels continuously exceeding standards, particularly in urban areas. Industrial activities (36 percent) and residential combustion (39 percent) account for the bulk of PM2.5 emissions. The transport sector, concentrated largely in urban centres, adds another 4 percent although, being an on-ground source, its real impact on air quality is higher.[2] Other pollutants, such as the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and of sulphur (SOx), and ozone, are still within prescribed limits in India but are rising. Emissions of NOx come mainly from the transport sector (35 percent), thermal power plants (22 percent), and the agricultural sector (15 percent). Emissions of SOx are primarily from the industrial sector (49 percent) and power (43 percent). The patterns of emissions in urban areas are different from the overall national picture: road dust, construction activities, and transport are the main contributors to both PM2.5 and PM10 emissions. The contribution of different sectors also changes with the seasons: for example, emissions from dust and construction in cities are higher in the winter, particularly in the north. Trans-boundary sources of emission also contribute sizeably to city pollution.2 In recent years, policymakers have paid more attention to the worsening air pollution. The National Air Quality Standards were established in 1982 and have been updated periodically to indicate appropriate air quality levels and provide a uniform basis for assessing them at the national level. The National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) is being implemented to determine the status of ambient air quality and monitors compliance with prescribed standards. Perhaps the most significant step has been the announcement of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for Indian cities in 2019. The plan mandates 122 cities with high pollution levels to devise city-specific action plans with the overall aim of reducing PM2.5 emissions by 20-30 percent by 2024 compared to 2017 levels. Various central ministries have also implemented programmes to promote clean technologies in different sectors. Some notable schemes include the implementation of the BS-VI emission standard for motor vehicles, the National Electric Mobility Plan 2020, energy efficiency labelling for energy-intensive home appliances, and the Ujjwala Mission aimed at accelerating LPG penetration in households. Despite these schemes, however, the World Air Quality Report 2021[a] suggests that air pollution in India worsened in 2021, with average PM2.5 levels around 58.1 micrograms per cubic meter, more than 10 times the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO).[3] The report listed 63 Indian cities among the 100 most polluted in the world. The reasons for this are multiple. While policies have been announced with much expectation, their actual mandate remains weak – in particular, the NCAP has been criticised for lacking teeth. It has been implemented as a “cooperative and participatory” initiative rather than one with a legal mandate that can enforce strict compliance.[4] The plan also lacks a clear fiscal and funding strategy, with budgetary allocations remaining stagnant and inadequate; only INR 390 crore is allocated in Budget 2022 for the programme.[5] Nor has any effort been made to find innovative financial tools that would ensure dedicated funds for the programme. Even monitoring systems, the first step to framing effective policies, remain inadequate. In 2021, India had only 804 air quality monitors, which translates to about 0.14 monitors per million people, well below the numbers for other countries such as China (1.24), the US (3.4), and Brazil (1.8).[6],[7] Reports by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change have also stressed the need for greater budgetary allocation to combat air pollution, apart from better utilisation of funds and greater transparency on how NCAP will be funded. What explains the lack of effective large-scale action on air pollution? To answer this question, Air Quality Asia (AQA) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) organised the 5th Annual Roundtable Consultation on Addressing India’s Air Pollution Challenge, over two days, in February 2022. Participants included Members of Parliament (MPs), air quality experts, civil society stakeholders, and industry leaders. The following paragraphs summarise the most essential themes discussed during the consultation. a. Clean technologies have evolved rapidly, but financing and regulation lag behind. The dependence on fossil fuels for powering industrial activity and transport is among the primary reasons for rising air pollution. In the last decade, cleaner technologies have evolved rapidly, leading to a massive reduction in cost of generation from renewable sources. Globally, the costs of solar energy, wind energy, and storage batteries have dropped by 85 percent since 2010;[8] biomass and tidal power are further alternatives. The cost of solar generation, for instance, in some regions, has fallen below INR 2.50 per unit.[9] While the focus has been on utility-scale solar, decentralised solutions such as rooftop solar are also becoming increasingly viable. These technologies need to be deployed at a faster pace. In transport, both national and state governments are promoting low-polluting fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as bio-fuels and electric vehicles (EVs), both of which are emission-free at the point of use. EVs, in particular, have substantial potential to reduce air pollution; they are already more cost-effective in the long run than their fossil fuel counterparts. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) and state-level EV policies provide substantial incentives to buy these vehicles. The increased blending of ethanol with petrol also provides an attractive low-emission alternative, which reduces oil imports and has the potential to create more farm-based jobs as well. Though increasingly viable, the uptake of clean technology remains below optimum levels. The upfront cost is high, and the perception of high-risk hinders the large-scale flow of adequate funding. Financial institutions will need to step up the share of clean technologies in their portfolios. Public spending alone will not be enough; instead, the public sector should focus on crowding in private investment. This will entail greater collaboration with private investors to provide viability gap funding where needed and identify effective risk-sharing mechanisms. Public-private partnerships must also be refined and scaled up to ensure equal partnership of all parties. Immediate areas for improvement include reducing regulatory hurdles, better risk sharing, and smoother land acquisition. The regulatory and governance structures around clean technologies have also not kept pace with technological progress. In the energy sector, the poor financial condition and lack of accountability of state-level distribution companies (discoms) means that regulations are often not implemented.[10] Many discoms have been unable to fulfil their renewable purchase orders or make timely payments to generators, leading to a liquidity crunch for them and increased risk perception of renewable projects. A stronger regulatory mechanism and reform of the power sector will be essential. In transport, government actions have focused largely on fiscal incentives to create demand. Regulatory instruments, such as stringent energy efficiency standards and production mandates for zero-emission technologies and charging infrastructure are yet to be fully utilised. These could be essential to increase the uptake of cleaner fuels. b. Public awareness must be increased to strengthen political will. While there are many policies and programmes to tackle air pollution, their on-ground implementation is half-hearted. Programmes remain largely on paper due to lack of funding. One of the crucial reasons is that air pollution is still not a high-priority issue for policymakers. Participants at the roundtable agreed that this is related to lack of public awareness. An all-India survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms in 2018 in 524 constituencies on the governance issues that mattered most to the public found that air pollution was only 17th on their list of priorities, with just 11 percent of respondents mentioning it.[11] To remedy this, efforts need to be made to increase public awareness by effectively communicating the causal relationship between air pollution and the health of their families and their incomes. Air pollution should be included in the syllabus from the primary level to make children understand and communities hold their elected representatives accountable. At the same time, however, the issue should not be politicised. Instead, political parties should collaborate to give this problem the importance it deserves. c. Cross-stakeholder cooperation should be improved. No single stakeholder can tackle air pollution on their own. The need for cooperation is evident, considering 30 percent of urban pollution comes from sources outside city boundaries.[12] The asymmetric distribution of resources and knowledge among stakeholders needs to be overcome and duplication of effort, avoided. The union and state governments, and different state and local bodies, all need to coordinate their efforts. The NCAP, too, highlights the importance of collaboration. This focus, however, is lacking in city-level action plans. A recent study found that none of the city-level action plans for the NCAP cities had a strategy for cross-state collaboration.13 An exception can be made of the Delhi government, which has in the past tried to work with adjoining states, particularly to address the issue of stubble burning. However, rather than focus on effective interventions, the discourse became one of blame-shifting. Eventually, both the Centre and the Delhi government were warned by the National Green Tribunal to focus on real solutions. Participants at the roundtable agreed on the need for a cooperation forum to bring together multiple stakeholders. The forum should consolidate existing knowledge and the resources of different agencies across states to identify and fund holistic solutions. It should be structured in a way that it does not simply add another institution to an already complicated governance structure but complements the existing ones. There have been earlier attempts to create such a forum, but they failed to effectively engage the different stakeholders. Lessons from past experiences should be incorporated to create a new forum that will be more effective in the long run. There was broad consensus at the roundtable that air pollution poses a serious threat to India’s sustainable development targets. Solutions are known and available; what is lacking is their large-scale implementation. Political will must be strengthened, and focused on providing adequate funding and strong regulatory oversight. All stakeholders should come together to collaborate on finding long-term solutions as the cost of inaction is steep, and the lives of millions are at stake. Annexure List of participants on Day 1 of the roundtable Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. Priyanka Chaturvedi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. Amar Patnaik, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. Promit Mookherjee is an Associate Fellow at ORF’s Centre for Economy and Growth. Endnotes [a] The report is published by Swiss air quality technology company, IQAir. [1]Anamika Pandey, Michael Brauer, Maureen L. Cropper, Kalpana Balakrishnan, Prashant Mathur, Sagnik Dey, Burak Turkgulu et al., “Health and economic impact of air pollution in the states of India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019,” The Lancet Planetary Health 5 (2021). [2]Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, National Clean Air Programme, 2019. [3]IQAir, World Air Quality Report 2021, 2022. [4]Anumita Roychowdhury, “National Clean Air Programme: Good idea but weak mandate,” DownToEarth, January 11, 2019 [5]Azman Usmani, “Parliamentary Panel Says National Clean Air Programme Needs a Bigger Budget,” BloombergQuint, March 16, 2022 [6]Tanvi Deshpande, “India doesn’t have enough air quality monitors to show the true extent of pollution in the country,” Scroll, December 19, 2021. [7] Michael Brauer, Sarath K. Guttikunda, K. A. Nishad, Sagnik Dey, Sachchida N. Tripathi, Crystal Weagle, and Randall V. Martin, “Examination of monitoring approaches for ambient air pollution: A case study for India,” Atmospheric Environment 216 (2019). [8]IPCC, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, Cambridge University Press 2022. [9]Utpal Bhaskar, “Solar power tariffs crawl back from record lows as costs rise,” Mint, July 24, 2021. [10]Prateek Aggarwal and Tarun Mehta, “Reducing discom losses: How India can strengthen its Reformed Distribution Sector scheme,” The Economic Times, December 24, 2021. [11]Association for Democratic Reforms, All India Survey on Governance Issues and Voting Behavior 2018, 2019. [12] Tanushree Ganguly, L. S. Kurinji, Sarath Guttikunda, How Robust are Urban India’s Clean Air Plans? An Assessment of 102 Cities, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), 2020.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: पर्यावरणविद ने बताया दिल्ली-एनसीआर में वायु प्रदूषण की रोकथाम के किस तरह के करने होंगे उपाय?

नई दिल्ली। अभी तक दिल्ली-एनसीआर में वायु प्रदूषण की रोकथाम के लिए जो भी उपाय किए जाते रहे, वे तात्कालिक ही ज्यादा थे। इसीलिए मुद्दा आज भी वहीं का वहीं है। बिना स्थायी और दीर्घकालिक उपायों के इस समस्या का समाधान किया ही नहीं जा सकता। नई नीति में सिस्टम के स्तर पर सुधार किया गया है। कमोबेश हर सेक्टर को भी शामिल किया गया है। पिछली व्यवस्था में कहां-कहां कमियां थी और किस स्तर पर क्या उपाय किए जा सकते हैं, इन सभी पहलुओं पर भी नई नीति में ध्यान दिया गया है। वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन आयोग (सीएक्यूएम) ने नई नीति में साफ ईंधन की बात की है। इसके तहत एनसीआर के उद्योगों को कोयले का इस्तेमाल बंद करना ही होगा। जहां प्राकृतिक गैस नहीं है, वहां बायो गैस का इस्तेमाल किया जा सकेगा। इसके अलावा नई नीति में छोटे छोटे बायलरों या भट्ठी की जगह एक कामन बायलर लगाने के लिए सिफारिश की गई है। इससे धुआं कम होगा। परिवहन सेक्टर में बस बढ़ाने की नहीं बल्कि सारे सार्वजनिक परिवहन क्षेत्र में सुधार की बात की गई है। जंग में फंड का भी इंतजाम कराती है योजना छोटे छोटे शहरों को भी नई नीति में जगह दी गई है। नो एमिशन जोन और सकरुलर इकोनोमी की बात भी यह नीति करती है तो वायु प्रदूषण से जंग में फंड जुटाने की व्यवस्था भी सुझाती है। कचरा अलग करने से लेकर डिकंपोस्ट प्लांट लगाने तक का जिक्र है। कहने का मतलब, विभिन्न क्षेत्रों के विशेषज्ञों से सुझाव लेकर तैयार की गई इस नीति में बहुत कुछ दिया है, जरूरत अब केवल इस बात की है कि राज्य सरकारें भी इन सब व्यवस्थाओं को गंभीरता एवं ईमानदारी से अमल में लाएं। अब पूर्वानुमान के आधार पर प्रदूषण बढ़ने के तीन दिन पहले ही ग्रेप लागू कर दिया जाएगा। मौसम विभाग व आइआइटीएम से रोज मिलने वाले पूर्वानुमान के आधार पर यह लागू किया जाएगा। इससे प्रदूषण को गंभीर और इमरजेंसी स्थिति तक न पहुंचने देने में मदद मिलेगी। सीएक्यूएम ने यह भी कहा है कि दिल्ली में अभी निगरानी केंद्रों को बढ़ाने की जरूरत नहीं है, बल्कि एनसीआर में प्रदूषण की निगरानी को मजबूत किए जाने की जरूरत है। निगरानी केंद्र अधिक होने से जिलों की बेहतर स्थिति सामने आती है। हाट स्पाट आसानी से पता चलते हैं। उनमें सुधार के लिए अल्पकालीन, मध्य कालीन और दीर्घकालीन नीतियां तैयार करने में मदद मिली है। -संजीव गुप्ता से बातचीत पर आधारित। दिल्ली-एनसीआर में वायु प्रदूषण को नियंत्रित करने के लिए पूर्व में जो व्यवस्था लागू की गई थी, उसमें कई खामियां थी और उसके क्रियान्वयन में भी लापरवाही बरती गई। अनेक क्षेत्र उपेक्षित थे तो समस्या के दीर्घकालिक समाधान की बजाय तात्कालिक समाधान पर ज्यादा जोर दिया गया। जबकि, सुप्रीम कोर्ट का साफ कहना है कि वायु प्रदूषण का मुद्दा स्थायी तौर पर हल करने का प्रयास किया जाए। नई व्यवस्था में ऐसा ही प्रयास किया गया है। यह भी बिल्कुल सही है कि दिल्ली-एनसीआर में वायु प्रदूषण की निगरानी से लेकर इसकी रोकथाम तक के उपायों में खासा अंतराल देखने को मिलता है। दिल्ली में जहां 600 वर्ग किमी के दायरे में 40 एयर क्वालिटी मानीटरिंग स्टेशन हैं, वहीं एनसीआर क्षेत्र में यह काफी कम हैं। इसी तरह दिल्ली में प्रदूषण के स्नेत पता लगाने के लिए कई अध्ययन हुए हैं, लेकिन एनसीआर में ऐसा कोई अध्ययन देखने को नहीं मिलता। हकीकत यह है कि दिल्ली और एनसीआर के वायु प्रदूषण को अलग नहीं किया जा सकता। यह आपस में जुड़ा मुद्दा है। यह बात अलग है कि प्रदूषण के कारण अलग हो सकते हैं। 50 से 65 प्रतिशत प्रदूषण की वजह स्थानीय कारक हैं और 30 से 35 प्रतिशत की वजह बाहरी कारक। अगर ऐसा न हो तो मौजूदा समय में जब न पराली जल रही है और न कहीं धूल भरी आंधी चल रही है, फिर भी दिल्ली-एनसीआर की वायु गुणवत्ता बहुत अच्छी नहीं कही जा सकती। सामंजस्य का रहता है अभाव गंभीरता से विचार किया जाए तो 2017 में पर्यावरण संरक्षण एवं प्रदूषण नियंत्रण प्राधिकरण (ईपीसीए) द्वारा तैयार किए गए ग्रेप के केंद्र में मूलत: राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र था। जबकि प्रदूषण की समस्या दिल्ली से लगते एनसीआर के जिलों से भी जुड़ी है। रीजनल ट्रांसपोर्ट ही राजधानी के प्रदूषण में एक अहम रोल अदा करता है। मसलन, दिल्ली में सार्वजनिक वाहन सिर्फ सीएनजी से ही चल सकते हैं लेकिन दूसरे राज्यों के डीजल वाहन भी यहां धड़ल्ले से दौड़ते रहते हैं। ग्रेप के पालन में सख्ती का अभाव भी हमेशा खटकता रहा। सख्ती न होने के कारण ही विभिन्न राज्यों में सामंजस्य नहीं रहता। नतीजा, हर साल वही हालात बनते रहते हैं। केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (सीपीसीबी) की पेट्रोलिंग टीमें विभिन्न इलाकों का दौरा कर जो रिपोर्ट तैयार करती हैं, उसे सीपीसीबी कार्रवाई के लिए प्रदूषण बोडरें को भेज देता है। दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड इस रिपोर्ट को नगर निगमों के पास अग्रसारित कर देता है। विडंबना यह है कि नगर निगम की ओर से न रिपोर्ट पर कार्रवाई होती है, न ही जवाब दिया जाता है। (अनुमिता राय चौधरी (कार्यकारी निदेशक, सेंटर फार साइंस एंड एन्वायरमेंट (सीएसई) से संजीव गुप्ता की बातचीत पर आधारित)

• Down To Earth

NGT: Article Published in the magazine i.e Down to earth dated 13 January 2022 Under the Title Time's running out : Is India ready to handle 34,600 tonnes of Solar waste by 2030

Item No. 04 (Court No. 1) BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI (By Video Conferencing) Original Application No.112/2022 Article Published in the magazine i.e Down to earth dated 13 January 2022 Under the Title Time's running out : Is India ready to handle 34,600 tonnes of Solar waste by 2030 Date of hearing: 19.07.2022 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL, CHAIRPERSON HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE PROF. A. SENTHIL VEL, EXPERT MEMBER ORDER 1. Suo Motu cognizance has been taken by this Tribunal on an Article Published in ‘Down to Earth’ dated 13, January, 2022 under the title ‘Times’s running out; Is India ready to handle 34,000 tonnes of Solar Waste by 2030?’ to the effect that India’s ambitious solar target is 280 GW by 2030 and it is high time to formulate a sound solar waste management policy, whereas India does not have a solar waste management policy. 2. Vide order dated 14.02.2022, the Tribunal constituted a joint Committee of Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF & CC) and Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) to ascertain the position. It was directed that an action plan be prepared for environmentally sound management of solar panel waste in accordance with the laid down norms. 2 3. Accordingly, report dated 17.05.2022 has been filed by MoEF&CC mentioning the meeting held on 07.04.2022 and also annexing a copy of report of the Committee on Circular Economy in Solar Panels. The Report suggests an action plan with phase wise steps to enable environmentally sound management of solar panel waste. 4. In view of above, MoEF&CC may finalise further action in the matter expeditiously, preferably within two months. The Application is disposed of. A copy of this order be forwarded to the Secretary, MoEF&CC by email for compliance. Adarsh Kumar Goel, CP Sudhir Agarwal, JM Prof. A. Senthil Vel, EM July 19, 2022 Original Application No.112/2022 AB

• Down To Earth

Increasing Pollution in Rivers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 862 ANSWERED ON:21.07.2022 Increasing Pollution in Rivers Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh (a) whether the Government conforms to the data published by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the increasing level of pollution in most of the rivers; (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; (c) the steps being taken by the Government to minimise the level of pollution in rivers; (d) the details of the expenditure incurred towards the projects related to making the rivers pollution free during the last three years and the current year, yearwise; (e) whether an estimation was made or review was conducted on the utility of the amount spent towards the said purpose; and (f) if so, the details thereof? Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTIbe pleased to state:- ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU) (a) & (b) : The report published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the data collected therein, is the guiding document to assess the pollution in various stretches of rivers in the country. CPCB in association with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) monitors water quality of rivers and other water bodies in the country through a network of monitoring stations under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP). Based on water quality monitoring results, pollution assessment of rivers has been carried out by CPCB from time to time. Rivers in the country are polluted due to discharge of untreated and partially treated domestic sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments, problems in operation and maintenance of sewage and industrial effluent treatment plants, lack of dilution and other non-point sources of pollution. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have compounded the problem. So far, CPCB has adopted the criteria of Bio- chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) as an indicator to assess the quality of water in rivers and pollution levels. Presently, CPCB under NWMP monitors water quality of rivers at 2018 locations in the country. Based on the assessment of water quality data for the year 2016 & 2017, CPCB in its report of September 2018, identified 351 polluted river stretches on 323 rivers in 29 States and 2 Union Territories (UTs). State/UT wise details of polluted river stretches is given at Annexure. As per CPCB, the data collected by Central Water Commission (CWC) with regard to the assessment of water quality in rivers have also been referred by the Board in their report. It was informed by CPCB that the data published by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is not available with them, as the Board was not involved in publication of the same by CSE. (c) to (f) : It is the primary responsibility of the States/UTs/ Local Bodies and Industrial Units to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluents to the prescribed standards before discharging into water bodies, seas or land to prevent and control of pollution therein. Cleaning and rejuvenation of rivers are ongoing activities. This Ministry has been supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in identified stretches of rivers (except Ganga) in the country through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP). Rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries is undertaken through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange programme. NRCP has so far covered polluted stretches on 35 rivers in 78 towns spread over 16 States in the country with the project sanctioned cost of Rs. 6142.12 crore, and inter-alia, a sewage treatment capacity of 2745.70 MLD has been created. Under the Namami Gange programme, a total of 374 projects including 161 projects for sewage treatment capacity of 5015.26 MLD and sewer network of 5134 km have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 31098.00 crore. Details of expenditure incurred for cleaning of rivers in the country by this Ministry during last three years and current year are as under: (in Rs.crore) Financial YearNational River Conservation PlanNamami Gange Programme Expenditure Incurred 2019-20136.662673.09 2020-2199.871339.97 2021-22202.321892.70 2022-23*8.53685.13 Total447.386590.89 *Upto 30th June, 2022 In addition to these, sewerage infrastructure is also created under programs like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. As per the Provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution), Act 1974, industrial units are required to install effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and treat their effluents to comply with stipulated environmental standards, before discharging into river and water bodies. Accordingly, CPCB, SPCBs and PCCs monitor industries with respect to effluent discharge standards and take punitive action for non-compliance under provisions of these Acts. Additionally, in compliance of the orders of Hon’ble National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Original Application No.673/2018 regarding rejuvenation of polluted river stretches in the country, States/UTs are required to implement approved action plans for restoration of the polluted stretches in their jurisdiction as identified by CPCB and published in their report of 2018, within the stipulated timelines. As per the orders of NGT, regular review on implementation of these action plans is undertaken in the States/UTs and the same is also done at the Central level by Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India. ***** ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 862 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2022 ON “INCREASING POLLUTION IN RIVERS”. State/UT-wise & Priority wise number of Polluted River Stretches S. No.STATE/UNION TERRITORYPRIORITYGrand Total IIIIIIIVV 1ANDHRA PRADESH---235 2ASSAM31433344 3BIHAR--1-56 4CHHATTISGARH---415 5DAMAN, DIU AND DADRA NAGARHAVELI1----1 6DELHI1----1 7GOA--12811 8GUJARAT5126620 9HARYANA2----2 10HIMACHAL PRADESH111-47 11JAMMU & KASHMIR-12249 12JHARKHAND---347 13KARNATAKA--47617 14KERALA1--51521 15MADHYA PRADESH31131422 16MAHARASHTRA9614101453 17MANIPUR-1--89 18MEGHALAYA2--327 19MIZORAM--1359 20NAGALAND1-1226 21ODISHA1-321319 22PUDUCHERRY---112 23PUNJAB2--114 24RAJASTHAN--1-12 25SIKKIM----44 26TAMIL NADU4--116 27TELANGANA122218 28TRIPURA----66 29UTTAR PRADESH4-12512 30UTTARAKHAND3114-9 31WEST BENGAL1134817 Grand Total45164372175351

• Director General Office

Inured to catastrophes?

Rather than number of natural disasters, we should track losses and damages I wrote a few years ago that climate change had hit the world at the worst time. I take that back. Today is the worst time — not because the devastation is growing and millions are losing lives and properties in floods, heatwaves, droughts, forest fires and also due to crop losses, but because we are so distracted that these events are passing us by with barely a whimper. It is as if there is nothing new about the new normal. Media have already pushed the news on these disasters to back pages, as if they are yesterday's news; nothing important. Take for instance the floods in Assam. This northeastern state sees the mighty Brahmaputra flooding its banks every year. But this year is different. First, the floods that come "normally" around June, started as early as in April. They will also leave later — floods now last for six months. This means people will have even less time for recovery. Down To Earth reports that the flood-hit people now prefer to stay in camps through the year. Second, the rainfalls are getting more extreme. This year, the scale was unprecedented — within three months the entire state, all 35 districts, and nine million people were flood-affected. But it still did not grab headlines. Not even when the national media's attention was forcibly drawn to Guwahati, Assam's largest city where rebel legislators of Shiv Sena from Maharashtra were holed up in a hotel. They rarely showed the city under water. The news was about the comings and goings of bunkered legislators, but not of the human tragedy that was playing out under their noses. It's almost as if this horrific tragedy was not really happening. Also Read - Diving into details There is also doubt that the floods in Assam, Meghalaya and even in neighbouring Bangladesh were not because of changing climate alone. This region, like the rest, has completely messed up the design of its floodplains; it has built where it should not have; it has tried and failed to embank the hard-to-tame Brahmaputra and other rivers. Now, with increased deforestation in the uplands, the rate of erosion has increased, silt has filled up the rivers, making them shallow and more flood prone. Then the low-lying areas where rain and flood waters could be stored have been mercilessly massacred. The famous beels of Assam have lost the battle to buildings. The fact is our future now depends on our ability to hold that floodwater and to store it, for this same region will go from flood to drought and then flood again in one flick. This then is the real point of worry in climate-risked times, when rainfall will be even more erratic and extreme. And it will get worse. Climate change will make sure of this. It's strange how quickly we have become inured to the weather crises around us. We no longer put a human face on these events. It is just about the weather channel, which we listen to from the comfort of our heated and cooled houses. But let's get real. There is nothing normal about these weather events. We need to talk about this human cost of climate change. With each disaster, people lose their ability to cope. It becomes more and more difficult for them to pick up the pieces and start again. They have no alternative than to migrate — to look for places that are less exposed to the wrath of nature. But soon, there will be no safe ground to escape to. Nature will make sure of this too. What is also clear is that the governments do not have the ability to keep the disaster accounts. There are two problems here. One, "natural" disasters have always been the way to secure additional funding; this is why the phrase is "everybody loves a good drought". When state governments put forward a bill of the devastation, there is a general agreement that it is inflated. So, nobody knows the right number. Two, there is no established way to aggregate the numbers when disasters are happening at such breakneck speed and floods, landslides and crop losses, all happening together. Then there is the differing cost of human life and livelihood — what does the loss of an animal cost in Assam, as against the richer parts of the country or the world? But this disaster accounting is now crucial. It is important that governments across the world are held to account for such not-so-natural and definitely human-made devastations. We need a weekly bulletin — block, district, state and then country by country. We no longer need to count the disasters; instead, we need numbers on the losses and damages. Maybe this will bring us back to reality — make us understand that the situation is untenable. Wake us up from our stupor caused by mind-numbing news and help us focus on what really matters — cutting emissions so that the world does not breach temperature guardrails; doing things differently in our world so that we can cope (if not adapt) to changing climate. This is the report card that should make daily headlines. DTE The writer is the Director-General of CSE and editor of DownToEarth. Views expressed are personal

• Sustainable Food Systems

India’s shrimp farms test antibiotic control

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

20 tonne of seized plastic heads to Delhi’s waste-to-energy plants

A senior Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) official said while the government was looking for ways to recycle the banned plastic items, but they were yet to find a viable solution. Over 20,000 kilograms of banned single-use plastic (SUP) has been seized by the 48 Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Delhi government’s revenue department teams since July 1, when 19 SUP items were banned nationwide, has made its way to the three waste to energy plants in Okhla, Narela-Bawana and Ghazipur. Experts, however, said that incinerating plastic waste may be the usual practice, but the authorities must ensure that waste is segregated first and then the waste to energy plant (WtE) follows the regulations to burn such waste so that it does not release dioxins, furans and unburnt hydrocarbons, otherwise the purpose of the plastic waste ban will be defeated. Dioxins and furans are a common name for a group of chemicals that are formed during combustion processes – largely due to waste incineration or at power generation plants. These are carcinogenic in nature, meaning they are toxic and can cause cancer or damage the reproductive organs. They can also interfere with hormones. A senior Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) official said while the government was looking for ways to recycle the banned plastic items, but they were yet to find a viable solution. “These banned items are being seized from different factories and markets and being sent to the WtE plants for incineration. We will continue to look at other solutions too,” the official said asking not to be named. According to an assessment carried out by Delhi government’s environment department in 2020, Delhi generates 1,060 tonnes of plastic waste every day, which is roughly 10.10% per cent of the total municipal solid waste that the city disposes daily. Of the total plastic waste, 587 tonnes was single-use plastic, the assessment said. According to the environment department’s latest data, of the 1,100 tonnes of plastic waste, 745 tonnes is sent to the three WtE plants, and the rest 345 tonnes is dumped at the three landfills in Delhi. If plastic waste ends up at landfill sites, it may disintegrate into microplastics over time, which can contaminate air, the soil and sources of water, including groundwater. A Delhi government spokesperson did not comment despite repeated attempts. To add capacity to use all plastic waste to generate energy, the government has built a WtE plant at Tehkhand, with a capacity to process 2,000 tonnes to plastic waste day. It is likely to become operational by September. Also, a 2,500 tonnes per day capacity plant is proposed at Rani Khera and another facility with 2,000 tonnes capacity at an undisclosed location. Atin Biswas, a waste management expert and programme director of the municipal solid waste sector at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said WtE plants are easy solutions for handling all kinds of waste, but they are not the way forward. “If you burn any kind of plastic, you will get energy out of it, but at the same time, these plants have not been meeting the standards and invariably, one could be contributing to pollution,” said Biswas. Dipankar Saha, former head of Central Pollution Control Board’s air laboratory said waste to energy plants are among “many solutions” to deal with plastic waste, but the authorities must ensure that before sending it for incineration the waste must first be segregated, and checked if it is chlorinated plastic or not. “For chlorinated plastic, a dual-chamber incinerator is required and the temperatures should be over 1,000 degrees Celsius. Even then, unburnt hydrocarbons are released in the process. For the other kind of plastic too, there are chances of dioxins and furans being released with the other waste, which is carcinogenic in nature.” Experts pointed out that Delhi’s waste to energy plants have been fined for not meeting the prescribed standards. Last year in August, all three plants were fined ₹5 lakh each by the DPCC as the values of dioxins, furans and stack emissions were found to be exceeding the norms. “In India, most WtE plants are defaulting as the waste we generate has a low calorific value. If one needs higher calorific values of over 1600 or 1800 kilocals per kg, then recyclable items also need to be thrown into WtE plants, which would be counterproductive as the informal sector is able to use these items. Using WtE should be the last solution as these plants are regularly exceeding their emission limits and the government can instead segregate the seized waste and identify other solutions where bulk SUP can be incorporated,” said Chitra Mukherjee, a consultant on circular economy and sustainable livelihoods.

• Sustainable Food Systems

India’s shrimp farms test antibiotic control

Fast-growing food sector has become a test case for the use and abuse of the drugs Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/f2fa78dc-e756-4c02-a59e-c75963492d24 In markets from Boston to Beijing, much of the shrimp on sale comes from India, which has quickly grown into one of the world’s largest producers of the shellfish. Globally, the shrimp export market was worth nearly $25bn in 2020, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. And analysts, including those at Rabobank, estimate that India has become the world’s largest exporter by value. Its shrimp exports jumped three-fold in the decade to 2020, to be worth about $5bn, according to the country’s ministry of fisheries. Notably, India is ranked as the number one shrimp supplier to the US, according to Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative (Fairr) — an investment advisory network focused on sustainable food production. But this rapid expansion has also meant that the country’s shrimp industry has become a test case for whether authorities and producers in a fast-growing farming sector can control the use of antibiotics. Experts say that, for producers in countries like India, who often lack the infrastructure and resources of farmers in richer countries, the pressure to overuse antibiotics can be strong. Like farmers in other sectors, many Indian producers use antibiotics to treat and control disease among their shrimp. However, regulators in Europe and elsewhere worry this can spill into misuse, such as using drugs to help healthy shrimp grow, with significant implications for global health. Overuse of antibiotics for livestock and seafood production exacerbates the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where drugs cease to be effective against infection. A study in The Lancet medical journal published this year found that more than 1.2mn people died from bacterial AMR globally in 2019. Medical researchers expect the toll to rise. “The problem is going to increase as we intensify and try to produce more food,” says Charles Tyler, a professor of environmental biology at the University of Exeter, who has studied India’s shrimp industry. “That’s going to cause a massive burden in terms of disease. Whatever people say about AMR, it is going to get worse because of the way we’re producing food and the intensification of it.” Whatever people say about AMR, it is going to get worse because of the way we’re producing food and the intensification of it Charles Tyler, University of Exeter Indian shrimp became globally competitive as farmers intensified production, concentrating more and more shrimp into ponds and settling on high-yielding species like whiteleg shrimp. Jennifer Cole, a lecturer in global and planetary health at Royal Holloway University in London, says the wetter climate and more frequent flooding in places like north-east India — a consequence of climate change — has also pushed farmers into aquaculture. The industry’s intensification has led to diseases spreading more easily among shrimp. This can have devastating economic consequences for producers. Because of the industry’s export-oriented nature, antibiotic use in shrimp in India is actually subject to tighter standards than other forms of animal agriculture, says Amit Khurana, director of the sustainable food systems programme at the Centre for Science and Environment think-tank in New Delhi. Some also argue that measuring the scale of antibiotic overuse in the Indian shrimp industry can be difficult. But groups such as Fairr warn there is evidence of high usage as producers administer treatments preemptively or to promote growth. In response, Importing nations have become stricter about India as a source of shrimp. The EU has increased the rate of testing for antibiotic residue in Indian shrimp shipments, according to a 2020 study of the sector for industry journal Reviews in Aquaculture. US regulators have even resorted to rejecting some Indian shipments after detecting antibiotics, according to US producer industry group the Southern Shrimp Alliance. Tyler says some Indian shrimp farmers may use antibiotics during production but then stop doing so several weeks ahead of exporting their product in order to avoid detection. Producers counter-argue that they are being demonised by foreign inspectors, with excessively high testing standards leading to false positives. Indian authorities have, nonetheless, taken note of the dangers, both health and financial, of antibiotic misuse in aquaculture. The fisheries ministry this year wrote to state governments across India warning about AMR and the potential harm to exports if antibiotic use is not curbed. Jatindra Nath Swain, a secretary in the ministry, warned that authorities should “completely stop use of antibiotics and take steps against the violators”, according to Down to Earth news website. Earlier, in 2017, India’s government launched a National Action Plan to tackle the broader issue of AMR by strengthening monitoring and raising awareness about the dangers. It has already banned dozens of antibiotics in aquaculture. Recommended Special ReportFT Health Centre FT Health: Future of Antibiotics Even so, Fairr says Indian regulation is weaker than that of other large countries such as China and the US. The group argues that, with India’s federal system devolving significant powers to states, local initiatives would be more effective. Only three Indian states have their own AMR action plans. Some analysts argue that, in an industry of many small producers with limited resources, farmers need to be given financial incentives to change their approach. Antibiotics remain the cheapest, and often only, option that farmers have to prevent crop failure, according to the Reviews in Aquaculture study. “It’s very easy for us to see that there’s a need to reduce antibiotic usage,” says Philippa Thornton, an analyst at Fairr. But then “asking farmers — particularly in lower income countries — to implement [alternatives] is much more difficult, particularly in the absence of financial capacity”.

• Director General Office

Climate Change: a prickly poser

I write this with considerable anguish. In June, we did come together in Stockholm, marking 50 years of global environmental consciousness. The meet was to celebrate interdependence and the need for a global compact for planet Earth. But more than ever, such events have virtually become a dialogue among the deaf. The world, it seems, lives on two different planets. There is deep division, polarisation and a lack of understanding of each other's concerns. Let me tell you what has left me so troubled and has, once again, told me just how much we must learn to listen to each other. As you know, parts of India have been going through an intense, burning heatwave. It has been a living hell in my city Delhi, as temperatures have touched 47 degrees Celsius. Even as I say this, I know that people like me, who live in relative thermal comfort, are not so badly hit. It is the millions who work out in the sun — from farmers to construction workers to all those who cannot afford electricity to even power a fan — are the worst sufferers. They are bearing the brunt of the inferno that has hit work, made people ill, taken lives and burnt and shrivelled up part of the wheat crop. Scientists point out that this time the temperature rise was way too early in the year — in March as against May — making the heat impact more devastating. They connect it to the abnormal behaviour of Pacific Ocean currents, La Niña, which have been unusually prolonged, leading to the heatwaves. There is also evidence about changes in the Western Disturbance — the winds from the Mediterranean — which are, in turn, influenced by the changes in the Arctic jet stream. The Western Disturbance would bring rain to the Indian subcontinent during this early summer period, reducing the heat's impact. But this year, the Western Disturbance has been weak. It is still not clear if this is a long-term trend, but what is absolutely clear is that there are clear and attributable links between the heatwave and global climate change. So, things are bad, very bad. It is also certain that we in India must learn to do things differently, knowing that this heat will only get worse. The State of the Global Climate 2021 report by the World Meteorological Organization, released in May 2022, grimly tells us that the four key indicators of climate change — greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration, sea-level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification — reached record levels in 2021. What, then, are the options? One, provide affordable electricity to all so that people can cope with these temperatures. Two, build homes with better insulation and ventilation to improve thermal comfort. Three, plant trees for shade; and four, increase storage of water for drinking and irrigation. These will also cool our cities' microclimate. But there are enormous limitations. There is no way we can live or adapt to the rising temperatures that we are beginning to see. It is also clear that the poor in our world are the ones most impacted by this. But my anguish is not only because of the dire conditions I see in the world around me. As a climate change activist and environmentalist, it makes me realise that I have failed — we all have failed — to make things better. What rubs salt to the wound is when I get interview calls from western media wanting to find out more about the devastating heat conditions. The most predictable question, after the first few enquiries about life and death, is what is India doing to combat climate change. Then comes the query, why does India continue to use coal for its electricity. And then the final one— this one takes the cake — is to ask (or say) that power demand in this heat will go up, which will mean more burning of coal. What do I have to say about that? What can I say? How do I explain that India's contribution to GHG emissions is insignificant by any parameter. How do I explain that the stock of emissions in the atmosphere, which is tipping us over and leading to this heatwave, is not of India's making. How do I explain that we need to discuss reparations and not blame the poor, or even the relatively rich, in India. How do I explain that the global media powerhouses need to get real about the impacts of climate change on countries like India — my country. That we must and will do more to reduce GHG emissions in our own interests, but what we must discuss today is how the richest countries — their countries — are the cause of the problem, and that we must begin to discuss not just how they will reduce emissions at scale but also the need for paying for this loss and damage to the rest of the world. This is the inconvenient truth that is not heard. We can scream, but that part of the world is not listening. This has to change if we want a better world. If we want our world to survive. (Writer is Director General of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist who pushes for changes in policies, practices and mindsets)

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

In new Grap, eye on better waste management to cut garbage fires

“If waste is being segregated, it is not going to landfills or open dumps, then it will not be burnt, and a long-term plan is in place,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). To minimise pollution from the burning of solid waste and frequent landfill fires, the revamped Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), notified by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday to reduce air pollution in the National Capital Region, has listed ways to tackle problems inherent to the current solid waste management system in Delhi, mainly the lack of waste segregation. The commission said the infrastructure for waste collection, material recovery and safe disposal is not adequate due to which waste is burnt for easy disposal. The policy has outlined nine strategies to address this, including adoption of a system in which wet waste is collected daily, while days are fixed for collection of dry or non-recyclable waste, besides incentivising waste segregation at source through property tax rebates, and an overhaul of concessionaire agreement with waste collectors so payments are based on “treated quantity of waste”, instead of “tipping quantity”. A comprehensive study on Delhi’s air pollution by IIT Kanpur (2016) found that waste burning contributes to nearly 10% of PM10 and PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) in ambient air. The city generates more than 11,144 tonnes of municipal waste daily and multiple studies estimate that 2-3% of this is burnt openly, adding to particulate matter, sulphur and nitrogen oxide levels. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who is also one of the nine-expert members who framed the new comprehensive policy, said to reduce waste burning instances, including landfill fires, focus must be on the reduction of the source and not penal action. “We have not looked at fines, which are reactive in nature, but instead, a road map has been built to start segregation at source and to eliminate landfill sites completely. If waste is being segregated and it is not going to landfills or open dumps, then it will not be burnt and for that, a long-term five-year plan is in place now which focuses on eliminating landfills and introducing segregation at source,” she said. The fine data from three municipal corporations shows that while the penal rates are high, the corporations have a woefully low recovery rate — over the last four years, it has remained less than 20%. The new policy also directs the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to incentivise source segregation through property tax rebates and mapping of bulk waste generators to enforce in situ (in place) management. An official from the MCD sanitation department said while many of the recommendations such as decentralised processing and setting up of material recovery facilities are already being worked upon, separate collection of dry/wet waste can be carried out only after an area reaches a critical level of segregation. “If very few people are segregating waste in an area then we cannot simply refuse to collect garbage as it will lead to another crisis. It has to be a phased process,” the official said. A property tax incentive on segregation will be implemented from July 16, under the Sahbhagita (partnership) scheme, and resident bodies will be provided 5% property tax incentive on 100% segregation and composting of waste, the official added.

• Industrial Pollution

Het einde van steenkool is nog niet in zicht, het einde van onrecht evenmin

Met elk nieuw rapport van het VN-Klimaatpanel (IPCC) wordt duidelijker hoe verwoestend de impact van de klimaatcrisis is en zal zijn, en dus ook hoe snel en diepgaand er gewerkt moet worden aan de energietransitie. Maar hoe moet dat in een land dat afhankelijk is van steenkool? Voor antwoorden op die vraag reisde MO*journalist Gie Goris naar de Indiase deelstaat Jharkhand. ‘Wie over rechtvaardige transitie wil nadenken, moet beginnen met het rechtvaardig maken van steenkool.’ Waar haalt Europa de arrogantie vandaan om India de les te spellen?’, werpt Sunita Narain fel tegen. Ik heb haar net verteld dat ik in India ben om te onderzoeken hoe het land zo snel mogelijk de transitie naar hernieuwbare energieopwekking kan maken. Vandaag zorgt steenkool voor meer dan 70 procent van de elektriciteitsopwekking. Het gevolg daarvan is een jaarlijkse uitstoot van 1,1 gigaton CO2, of 2,5 procent van de mondiale uitstoot. Wil de wereld de opwarming onder twee graden Celsius houden, dan moet steenkool zo snel mogelijk stoppen. Sunita Narain: ‘Alle fossiele brandstoffen moeten afgebouwd worden, niet enkel de brandstof waar het Zuiden op rekent’ Sunita Narain is directeur van het Centre for Science and Environment en een van de sterkhouders van de Indiase milieubeweging. Ik hoef haar dus niet te vertellen hoe urgent het klimaatprobleem is, of hoe nefast steenkool. Nog minder moet ik haar vertellen wat India zou moeten doen. ‘Het Westen heeft eerst zowat het hele koolstofbudget van de planeet opgesoupeerd met zijn industriële revolutie en explosieve consumptie, maar voelt zich nu wel gewettigd om de rest van de wereld te vertellen dat ze zich verantwoordelijk moeten gedragen. Tegelijk verklaart de Europese Unie dat aardgas “groen” is, omdat ze die fossiele brandstof nodig heeft. De realiteit is dat álle fossiele brandstoffen afgebouwd moeten worden, niet enkel de brandstof waar het Zuiden op rekent’, besluit ze. Incredible India Ik neem een rammelende bus naar Dhanbad, de bakermat van Indiase steenkool, in de deelstaat Jharkhand. De bergen die links en rechts en voor en achter opdoemen wanneer we de stad naderen, zijn geen bergen. Het zijn lijken. Ontzielde landschappen: kaalgekapt en afgegraven, daarna uitgegraven en uitgeput, gestapeld tot kale en dode bermen van meer dan honderd meter hoog en kilometers lang. Daartussen vervolledigen enorme kraters van de open mijnbouw het kunstmatige heuvellandschap. Sommige kraters zijn volgelopen met water, dat de staalblauwe lucht reflecteert. Andere zijn gevuld met grijze rook die uit scheuren in de grond opwalmt, weer andere trillen van de grijpkranen, vrachtwagens en bulldozers. De levenloze heuvels met landschapspuin worden in vaktaal overburden genoemd, letterlijk: overlast. Het landschap, met zijn enorme biodiversiteit en vruchtbare grond, zijn eeuwenoude culturen en economische potentieel, wordt herleid tot afval, overlast, datgene wat in de weg ligt van winst en groei. De Franse term ervoor, mort-terrain, komt dicht in de buurt. Je kan moeilijk pleiten voor ondergrondse mijnbouw’, zegt de tachtigjarige antimijnbouwactivist Xavier Dias in Ranchi gelaten. ‘Er gebeuren veel minder arbeidsongevallen in de open mijnen, er vallen veel minder doden. Maar daarbij zijn natuurlijk ook gewoon veel minder banen, en dat is een ongeval in slow motion voor de mensen die hun grond moeten afstaan. Vroeger was de regel dat wie 1,2 hectare land verloor, daar een vaste baan voor in ruil kreeg. Dat is allemaal verleden tijd.’ Dias was jarenlang nauw betrokken bij de strijd voor rechten en erkenning van Adivasi’s, de inheemse bevolkingsgroepen die in de deelstaat Jharkhand ongeveer een kwart van de bevolking uitmaken. Inheemsen en dorpelingen behoren tot de “overlast” die uit de weg geruimd moet worden om aan de brandstof kunnen die India moet opstuwen in de vaart der volkeren De Adivasi wonen vaak bovenop de minerale rijkdom van de deelstaat. Voor adepten van Incredible India en voor grootindustriëlen behoren zij letterlijk tot de overlast die ze uit de weg moeten ruimen vooraleer ze aan de brandstof kunnen die India moet opstuwen in de vaart der volkeren. En de Adivasi zijn niet alleen. Op heel wat plaatsen moeten ook dorpen van lage kasten verdwijnen. Tussen 1950 en 1995 moesten al 1.049.640 mensen verhuizen om plaats te maken voor koolmijnen in Jharkhand. Sindsdien is er een versnelling in de mijnbouw ingezet én is er massaal overgeschakeld op open mijnbouw. ‘Wij geven ons leven, maar niet ons land’: met die slogan voerden de Adivasi lang campagne tegen de onteigeningen. Maar bijna nooit konden ze die strijd echt winnen. ‘En dus,’ zegt dokter Mitalesh Dangi tijdens een sit-in die hij samen met een twintigtal dorpelingen houdt voor het districtskantoor in Barkagaon, ‘vechten we nu voor betere compensatie, voor meer en goede banen, voor iedereen die getroffen wordt.’ Het is een nooit eindigend gevecht. Het eerste decennium van deze eeuw werden minstens 210 nieuwe steenkoolmijnen in deze deelstaat vergund. De mijnbouw – niet enkel voor steenkool, ook uranium, ijzererts en kopererts, pyriet en grafiet – zorgt dan ook voor een spectaculaire terugval van de bosoppervlakte in Jharkhand. Het district Dhanbad bijvoorbeeld bestond oorspronkelijk voor 65 procent uit bos, nu is dat nog nauwelijks 0,05 procent. Dhanbad presenteert zichzelf als steenkoolhoofdstad van India, omdat de stad omringd wordt door niet minder dan 112 steenkoolmijnen. En er komen er voortdurend bij. Geen land voor oude mensen Onze witte Suzuki rammelt langs alle kanten, vooral onder de chauffeur, maar die laat zich daardoor niet ontmoedigen. Pro Street Driver staat er trots op zijn portier. Het drie decennia oude stadsautootje doet op de bultige zandwegen rond de steenkoolstad Hazaribagh wat de gemiddelde SUV in gebetonneerd Vlaanderen nooit moet doen: rijden waar geen auto hoort te rijden. Uiteindelijk stoppen we aan de rand van de gigantische krater van de Amrapali-mijn. Zowat vijftig meter lager, langs de terrasvormig afgegraven mijn, zit een man steenkool te verzamelen. Hij draagt een opvallend, knalgeel T-shirt. Een kanarie in de koolmijn, denk ik. Hij leeft van de resten die te klein zijn om met de megamachines van de open mijnbouw op te scheppen. Een beetje verder vult een andere man jute zakken met gevonden steenkool. De kleuren van zijn kleren zijn nauwelijks nog zichtbaar onder het zwarte stof, dat hem van kop tot teen bedekt. Zijn fiets staat klaar. Daarop wordt straks tot 200 kilogram steenkool-in-zakken geladen, om te verkopen aan kleine steenovens, wegrestaurants en stedelijke huishoudens. De mijn wil uitbreiden, en dus moeten de mensen weg. Dorpen weg. Grond en dieren, verleden en toekomst: alles moet weg. Van achter de mijnrand duiken drie vrouwen en een kind op. Elk van de vrouwen draagt een zinken bad, gevuld met steenkool, op het hoofd. Hun handen en hun gezicht zijn zwart van het kolenstof, hun ogen wit en vragend. Wat kom ik hier doen, weet ik wie zij zijn en besef ik waarom ze dit werk doen? Ze rechten hun rug en stappen gedecideerd weg, op zoek naar afnemers of naar de eigen keuken. Bij de Parej-steenkoolmijn, ook in de buurt van Hazaribagh, zie ik aan de overkant van de mijnkrater een serie huizen staan, op amper twintig meter van de rand van de mijn. Even later blijkt dat ik het dorpje Durukeshmar toevallig op de laatste dag van zijn bestaan bezoek. Tenminste: morgen was aangekondigd als de deadline om te verhuizen. Want de mijn wil uitbreiden, en dus moeten de mensen weg. Dorpen weg. Grond en dieren, verleden en toekomst: alles moet weg. ‘Maar wij vertrekken niet’, zegt Ragunat Manji, een van de inwoners. ‘De voorbije twintig jaar zijn hier al zes dorpen verdwenen. Het moet ooit ophouden.’ Intussen is hij, net als de andere inwoners van Durukeshmar, afhankelijk van de mijn voor een inkomen. Want voldoende grond om te boeren is er al lang niet meer. Hij laadt de vrachtwagens die de steenkool naar de eindgebruikers voeren: thermische elektriciteitscentrales, staalovens, andere industrieën. Het is slechtbetaald en onzeker werk, maar er is geen alternatief. Buurman Sergio Murmu is een van de dorpelingen die eerder al eens moesten verhuizen. Met de vergoeding die hij toen voor zijn grond kreeg, bouwde hij hier een pukka huis, van stenen en cement, in plaats van het lemen kutcha huis waarin hij geboren werd. Daardoor is de kans groter dat hij nu opnieuw vergoed wordt. Hij en de andere dorpelingen aanvaarden voorlopig de vergoedingen niet die Central Coalfields Limited, een dochter van Coal India Limited (CIL), biedt. En hij wil hervestiging dichter bij huis. Een baan in de mijn kreeg hij niet, dus werd Sergio zoals zoveel van zijn generatiegenoten koilawalla: verkoper van zelf geraapte steenkool, zwoegend met een overladen fiets aan de hand, heuvel op, heuvel af. ‘We vertrekken in de namiddag en zorgen dat we tegen acht uur ’s avonds in Charhi zijn, waar we in een wegrestaurantje kunnen overnachten. Rond twee, drie uur ’s nachts vertrekken we dan naar Hazaribagh. Het is een tocht van zeker veertig kilometer. Dat kunnen alleen twintigers of dertigers aan.’ Geld, véél geld ‘Eens de mijn operationeel is, wordt iedereen afhankelijk van steenkool’, zegt Harishwar Dayal, directeur van het Centrum voor Fiscale Studies in Ranchi, de hoofdstad van Jharkhand. ‘De mensen die moeten verhuizen, verliezen daardoor de mogelijkheid om van landbouw of boscultuur te leven. Zij hopen op een vaste baan, maar de meesten moeten zich behelpen met steenkool rapen en verkopen. Of ze gaan aan de slag in verlaten steenkoolmijnen, waar ze uitgebuit worden en eigenlijk aan illegale mijnbouw doen.’ ‘De echt goede banen in de mijnen gaan meestal naar beter geschoolde migranten uit andere deelstaten. Veel kleine ondernemingen, zoals steenovens, draaien op de steenkool uit het informele circuit, terwijl de grote industrieën bevoorraad worden door de staatsmijnen. Maar ook gezinnen rekenen op steenkool, om te koken. Kortom: het steenkoolstof daalt neer op de levens van alle mensen die in de buurt van een mijn wonen.’ Harishwar Dayal: ‘De royalties die de mijnen betalen op de steenkoolwinning vormen de belangrijkste bron van inkomsten voor de deelstaatregering.’ Steenkool gooit niet enkel het leven van de lokale bevolking overhoop. Ook politieke en economische machtsverhoudingen worden er definitief door hertekend. Dat verklaart waarom zowel de centrale overheid in Delhi als de deelstaatregering in Jharkhand volop inzetten op steenkool. Harishwar Dayal: ‘De royalties die de mijnen betalen op de steenkoolwinning vormen de belangrijkste bron van inkomsten voor de deelstaatregering.’ En bovendien zorgt steenkool in Jharkhand voor energiezekerheid in India, voegt Arun Kumar toe. Hij is onderdirecteur van het departement Mijnbouw van de deelstaat. ‘Steenkool zorgt voor zeventig procent van de inkomsten van de deelstaatoverheid en voor zestig procent van de elektriciteit. Kan je nagaan hoe snel er hier over energietransitie gesproken zal worden’, zegt hij, nadat we samen twee duiven uit zijn kantoortje gejaagd hebben. Wanneer ik vraag of Jharkhand zonder steenkool kan overleven, gaat hij onverstoord verder: ‘We willen de komende tien jaar de steenkoolproductie verdubbelen. Zorgt dat voor een conflict tussen mijnbouw en milieu, tussen economische groei en klimaat? Ongetwijfeld. Maar we kunnen geen toekomst bouwen zonder mijnen. Ooit zullen er wel scenario’s gemaakt worden voor een land zonder steenkool, maar daar zijn we nu nog niet aan toe.’ Een half uur later, wanneer eindelijk alle dossiers doorgenomen en afgetekend zijn, pauzeert Kumar. ‘De hebzucht van de mens en de vereisten van een technologische wereld zorgen ervoor dat we ons eigen leven en het bestaan van de planeet beschadigen’, zegt hij plots. De hebzucht waarover hij het heeft, bestaat’, reageert dé steenkoolexperte bij uitstek, Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. ‘Maar je vindt haar vooral bij de steenkoolmaffia.’ Die term duikt overal op: in de dorpen die bedreigd worden, tijdens gesprekken met academici, vakbondsleiders en activisten, in de literatuur en – onvermijdelijk – ook in Bollywood, waar de prent Gangs of Wasseypur tien jaar geleden al voor veel filmbloed en veel verkochte tickets zorgde. ‘India is sowieso een van de meest corrupte landen ter wereld’, zegt Lahiri-Dutt aan de telefoon, want ze werkt als onderzoekster aan de Australian National University in Canberra. ‘In een regio zoals Jharkhand gaat het vooral om lokale onderaannemers en transportbedrijven die aangetrokken worden door de enorme bedragen die omgaan in de steenkoolsector. Daar hebben ze flink wat smeergeld voor over, en politici hebben dat nodig voor hun eigen herverkiezing.’ Rechtvaardige transitie, iemand? Niet alleen hebzucht bestaat, ook de scenario’s waarvan Arun Kumar verwacht dat ze ooit geschreven worden, die van een land zonder steenkool, bestaan al. Nog niet in het universum van overheidsdiensten of industriële conglomeraten, wel in de denktanks van Delhi of in onderzoek dat met internationaal geld gefinancierd wordt. Sandeep Pai van het Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington onderzoekt bijvoorbeeld wat een rechtvaardige energietransitie zou betekenen voor Jharkhand. ‘Om te beginnen,’ zegt hij aan de telefoon vanuit Montréal, ‘is de eigenlijke vraag niet wanneer de laatste koolmijn in Jharkhand dichtgaat, maar wanneer de laatste opengaat. Idem voor de steenkoolcentrales, die nog relatief jong zijn en waarvan er ook nog nieuwe gepland zijn. De productie en het gebruik van steenkool zullen nog blijven toenemen, al zou dat over een jaar of twintig echt moeten pieken. Wie over rechtvaardige transitie wil nadenken,’ voegt hij nog toe, ‘moet eigenlijk beginnen met het rechtvaardig maken van de huidige exploitatie.’ Lahiri-Dutt: ‘Rechtvaardigheid is een leeg begrip als je het plaatst binnen de huidige steenkooleconomie’ Dat is ook de mening van Lahiri-Dutt. ‘Rechtvaardigheid is een leeg begrip als je het plaatst binnen de huidige steenkooleconomie’, zegt ze. ‘Als er al zorg gedragen wordt voor iemand anders dan de staat of de bedrijven, dan is het voor de ambtenaren en de minderheid van vaste arbeiders. De honderdduizenden mensen die huis en inkomen verloren of die overleven in de grijze marge van het officiële verhaal, verdienen rechtvaardigheid. Want als ze nu vergeten worden, zullen ze nog minder meetellen als er straks naar hernieuwbare energieproductie overgeschakeld wordt.’ Die vergeten groep, dat is 80 tot 90 procent van de mensen die door steenkool en dus ook door een transitie geraakt worden, zegt Chandra Bhushan van het International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology in Delhi. ‘Die mensen hebben eigenlijk geen belang bij of belangstelling voor steenkool’, voegt hij toe in een gesprek met Sandeep Pai. ‘Als ze de kans krijgen, door betere scholing of via ander werk, laten ze die steenkool meteen achter zich.’ Alleen is er van een grotere investering in onderwijs, laat staan in het scholen of herscholen van volwassenen, geen sprake in Jharkhand.