Cse In News

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Govt's plan to remove old-polluting cars failing to woo vehicle owners: Survey

The Centre's plans to create stringent policies against old-polluting cars on India's roads to curb pollution, is facing some serious challenges. For instance, the Vehicle Scrappage Policy has received strong opposition from car owners. As per a new survey, the majority of vehicle owners aren’t interested in trading in their automobiles based on age. In a report by Bloomberg news agency, some 57% of 10,543 vehicle owners surveyed by LocalCircles say whether a car should be removed from service or not should depend on miles on the odometer rather than age. The government last year mandated that personal vehicles more than 20 years old and commercial vehicles more than 15 years old will need to undergo fitness tests in order to remain on the road. Over half of the vehicle owners said they are planning to reduce the number of cars they own because they believe India’s cash-for-clunkers policy will make it more expensive to keep an old vehicle. The authorities have made auto fitness tests more expensive since April, with owners of cars that are older than 15 years now having to spend eight times more to renew their registration. The agency said that citizens' lack of interest in getting rid of polluting vehicles is a potential setback for India’s ambitions to turn net carbon zero by 2070. Besides, automakers also appear to be siding with the public. “Age is not a good criteria for scrapping a vehicle," Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Chairman R.C. Bhargava said in an interview. “The logic has to be the car’s ability to ply roads safely so it doesn’t put other road users in danger. A vehicle gets scrapped when the user finds it isn’t economical to repair it to get a fitness certificate." Personal vehicles should undergo fitness tests every three years at least, Bhargava said. TOP CARS See All Baleno Facelift Baleno Facelift 1197 cc | Petrol | Manual 6.5 Lakhs* Onwards Sonet Sonet 1197 cc | Petrol | Manual 6.79 Lakhs* Onwards Dzire Dzire 1197 cc | Petrol | Manual 5.89 Lakhs* Onwards Recycling old cars is crucial for India to cut emissions considering the takeup of electric vehicles is lagging due to sparse charging networks and the high price of battery-powered transport. The nation’s Centre for Science and Environment forecasts that by 2025, India will have as many as 20 million old vehicles nearing the end of their lives, causing huge environmental damage. India needs more large scrapping centers with recycling currently dominated by informal small-scale units. Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Corp. have jointly set up a facility with an investment of ₹440 million to scrap and recycle over 24,000 end-of-life vehicles annually. Mahindra MSTC Recycling Pvt., which has a recycling facility in Pune, is building four more scrapping units in the western state of Maharashtra with a capacity of 40,000 vehicles annually.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Centre's plan to recycle old cars failing to woo vehicle owners

<p>India’s plan to remove millions of older polluting cars from its roads in an effort to clear some of the world’s most toxic air looks set to face several challenges with a new survey showing the majority of vehicle owners aren’t interested in trading in their automobile based on age.</p><div class="lhs_p2"><div id="ATD_DCH_300x250_S1_P2" yeti-found="true" data-google-query-id="CLnu9YyQovgCFZSJcAodONgCbw" style="width: 300px; height: 250px; margin: auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_1013527/ATD_dch/ATD_300x250_S1_P2_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_1013527/ATD_dch/ATD_300x250_S1_P2_0" name="google_ads_iframe_1013527/ATD_dch/ATD_300x250_S1_P2_0" title="3rd party ad content" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" style="border: 0px none; vertical-align: bottom;" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" srcdoc="" data-google-container-id="5" data-load-complete="true" width="300" height="250" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><p>Some 57 per cent of 10,543 vehicle owners surveyed by LocalCircles say whether a car should be removed from service or not should depend on miles on the odometer rather than age. The government last year mandated that personal vehicles more than 20 years old and commercial vehicles more than 15 years old will need to undergo fitness tests in order to remain on the road.</p><p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/auto-retail-sales-grow-37-in-april-on-low-covid-hit-base-effect-1106666.html">Auto retail sales grow 37% in April on low Covid-hit base effect</a></strong><div class="ad-320-1023 inart2_processed" id="in-article3-1"></div></p><div id="outstream_ad" style="background-color: transparent;" align="center"></div><p>In addition, just over half of consumers surveyed said they’re planning to reduce the number of cars they own because they believe India’s cash-for-clunkers policy will make it more expensive to keep an old vehicle. Authorities have made auto fitness tests more expensive since April, with owners of cars that are older than 15 years now having to spend eight times more to renew their registration.</p><p>The public’s lack of interest in getting rid of polluting vehicles is a potential setback for India’s ambitions to turn net carbon zero by 2070. Recycling old cars is crucial for India to cut emissions considering the takeup of electric vehicles is lagging due to sparse charging networks and the high price of battery-powered transport. The nation’s Centre for Science and Environment forecasts that by 2025, India will have as many as 20 million old vehicles nearing the end of their lives, causing huge environmental damage.</p><p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has said it expects the program to attract fresh investment of more than Rs 100 billion ($1.3 billion) and curb the nation’s dependency on other countries for metals. Modi has said scrapping end-of-life vehicles in India is currently not productive because precious metals aren’t recycled and the energy recovery is close to nothing.</p><p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/maruti-to-focus-on-high-end-cars-as-demand-for-hatchbacks-wanes-1105068.html">Maruti to focus on high-end cars as demand for hatchbacks wanes</a></strong></p><p>Automakers however appear to be siding with the public.</p><p>“Age is not a good criteria for scrapping a vehicle,” Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Chairman R C Bhargava said in an interview.</p><p>“The logic has to be the car’s ability to ply roads safely so it doesn’t put other road users in danger. A vehicle gets scrapped when the user finds it isn’t economical to repair it to get a fitness certificate," Bhargava said.</p><p>Personal vehicles should undergo fitness tests every three years at least, Bhargava said. In India, when a car goes on the road there’s typically no further inspection to check whether safety standards that were prescribed at the time of sale are being met. A large number of accidents happen because of defects in vehicles that aren’t periodically certified as fit, he said.</p><p>India also needs more large scrapping centres with recycling currently dominated by informal small-scale units. Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Corp. have jointly set up a facility with an investment of Rs 440 million to scrap and recycle over 24,000 end-of-life vehicles annually. Mahindra MSTC Recycling Pvt., which has a recycling facility in Pune, is building four more scrapping units in the western state of Maharashtra with a capacity of 40,000 vehicles annually.</p>

Down To Earth

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कृ िष म

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Govt's plan to remove old cars from roads failing to woo owners: Survey

Some 57 per cent of 10,543 vehicle owners surveyed by LocalCircles say whether a car should be removed from service or not should depend on miles on the odometer rather than age India’s plan to remove millions of older polluting cars from its roads in an effort to clear some of the world’s most toxic air looks set to face several challenges with a new survey showing the majority of vehicle owners aren’t interested in trading in their automobile based on age. Some 57 per cent of 10,543 vehicle owners surveyed by LocalCircles say whether a car should be removed from service or not should depend on miles on the odometer rather than age. The government last year mandated that personal vehicles more than 20 years old and commercial vehicles more than 15 years old will need to undergo fitness tests in order to remain on the road. In addition, just over half of consumers surveyed said they’re planning to reduce the number of cars they own because they believe India’s cash-for-clunkers policy will make it more expensive to keep an old vehicle. Authorities have made auto fitness tests more expensive since April, with owners of cars that are older than 15 years now having to spend eight times more to renew their registration. The public’s lack of interest in getting rid of polluting vehicles is a potential setback for India’s ambitions to turn net carbon zero by 2070. Recycling old cars is crucial for India to cut emissions considering the take up of electric vehicles is lagging due to sparse charging networks and the high price of battery-powered transport. The nation’s Centre for Science and Environment forecasts that by 2025, India will have as many as 20 million old vehicles nearing the end of their lives, causing huge environmental damage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has said it expects the program to attract fresh investment of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) and curb the nation’s dependency on other countries for metals. Modi has said scrapping end-of-life vehicles in India is currently not productive because precious metals aren’t recycled and the energy recovery is close to nothing. Automakers however appear to be siding with the public. “Age is not a good criteria for scrapping a vehicle,” Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Chairman R.C. Bhargava said in an interview. “The logic has to be the car’s ability to ply roads safely so it doesn’t put other road users in danger. A vehicle gets scrapped when the user finds it isn’t economical to repair it to get a fitness certificate.” Personal vehicles should undergo fitness tests every three years at least, Bhargava said. In India, when a car goes on the road there’s typically no further inspection to check whether safety standards that were prescribed at the time of sale are being met. A large number of accidents happen because of defects in vehicles that aren’t periodically certified as fit, he said. India also needs more large scrapping centers with recycling currently dominated by informal small-scale units. Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Corp. have jointly set up a facility with an investment of 440 million rupees to scrap and recycle over 24,000 end-of-life vehicles annually. Mahindra MSTC Recycling Pvt., which has a recycling facility in Pune, is building four more scrapping units in the western state of Maharashtra with a capacity of 40,000 vehicles annually.

Industrial Pollution

Pollution body bans coal use in Delhi, except by thermal power plants

Approximately 1.7 million tonnes of coal is consumed annually for industrial applications in NCR The use of coal as fuel in industrial, domestic units will be banned in the National Capital Region (NCR) from January 2023 but the ban wouldn’t apply thermal power plants — incidentally the largest users of coal, according to a notification Wednesday by the Commission for Air Quality Management, that coordinates air pollution norms in Delhi and adjoining States. “Restrictions/ban on use of coal shall come in force from October 2022 (for regions where Piped Natural Gas) infrastructure and supply is already available and January 2023 (for other regions where the PNG supply is still not available). In full effect, use of coal as fuel shall be banned across NCR from 01.01.2023,” according to the notification. Coal dominates industrial fuels in the NCR and current estimates indicate that approximately 1.7 million tonnes of coal is consumed annually for industrial applications in NCR, with about 1.4 million tonnes being consumed in six major industrial districts of NCR alone. There isn’t a standard figure for how much coal is used by thermal power plants in the Delhi-NCR. An analysis by environmental non-profit, Centre for Science and Environment, estimated in 2020 that Delhi alone sourced 33.6% of its power needs from coal based thermal power plants with the rest from gas-fired plants. Coal is however the mainstay of power across India accounting for over 65% of the electricity supplied. Shortage of coal in recent months have prompted periodic crises when stocks run critically low and States complain of having no more than a few days worth of reserve. Concerned with levels of pollution from coal-fired plants, the Union Environment Ministry had ordered thermal plants in 2015 to retrofit and use technology that ensured minimal sulphur emissions, a key pollutant. Despite a deadline in 2017, almost no plants complied and these deadlines have been extended to December 2022. Power plants say the cost of retrofitting is prohibitive. Independent analysts say that expecting industrial units to give up coal while thermal plants don’t comply is hypocritical. “It is good that industrial units, tandoors are asked to give up coal. However, except a few units of power plants in Delhi NCR, none have retrofitted. So unless power plants also give up coal, it will have limited impact on pollution because sulphate emissions from these plants are major environmental pollutant,” said Sunil Dahiya, Analyst at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Nivit Yadav, who leads the Industrial Pollution Unit at the CSE and has worked on pollution from non-thermal sources say that the Commission’s decisions were a promising start. “It remains to be seen how much other States in the NCR comply. Of course, power plants must eventually give up coal but what we are seeing today is a start and the government and the Central Pollution Control Board must strictly enforce these norms.”

Industrial Pollution

Pollution body bans coal use in Delhi, except by thermal power plants

Industrial Pollution

Air panel bans coal as a fuel in NCR from 2023 The phasing-out process will begin in October this year, the CAQM said on Wednesday, adding that the ban, however, does not cover thermal power plants.

The use of coal as fuel for industrial, domestic and other purposes will be banned across Delhi-NCR from January 1 next year, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) said on Wednesday — a move that came after the panel sought suggestions on a permanent solution to the bad air crisis in the region. The commission said the phasing-out process will begin from October this year. To be sure, this ban does not cover thermal power plants. “Emissions from heavily polluting fuels like coal for various industrial, domestic and miscellaneous purposes contribute significantly to the degradation of air quality in the NCR and adjoining areas and accordingly a consistent need has been felt to switch over to lesser polluting and cleaner fuel in the NCR,” a statement released by the commission said. In a statement issued on Wednesday, CAQM said the ban on the use of coal as fuel will come into effect from October 1 in regions where infrastructure and supply for piped natural gas (PNG) are already available. For regions where such PNG supply is still not available, the ban will come into effect from January 1, 2023. The CAQM held a meeting in this regard on June 3. Several suggestions earlier received by CAQM were related to the banning of coal. The body constituted an expert group to examine and deliberate upon all such suggestions. In its report, the expert group strongly recommended phasing out heavily polluting fossil fuels such as coal, and mandating cleaner fuels to the extent possible. The pollution monitoring body said in its statement: “Shifting of industries to PNG/cleaner fuels has been a high priority area for the commission and to this effect, considering the need to optimally balance the imperatives of sustainability of operations as also the emissions from use of various types and categories of fuels that have a direct bearing on the air quality… statutory directions have already been issued for permissible fuels for industrial applications in the NCR.” While farm fires and emissions from firecrackers result in heavy concentrations of PM2.5 ultra-fine particles in the Capital’s air every year, particularly in the winter months, pollution caused by vehicles and coal also heavily contribute to the bad air crisis. The Union government issued an ordinance in 2020 to replace the Supreme Court-appointed environment pollution control authority with CAQM, with sweeping powers spanning five north Indian states to monitor and act against sources of air pollution. The ordinance was issued by the Centre as per its commitment to the apex court. A study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) titled ‘Assessment of Industrial Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR’ in 2020, which was also quoted by CAQM, showed that seven major industrial districts in the National Capital Region – Alwar, Bhiwadi, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Panipat and Sonipat – had an estimated coal usage of up to 1.4 million tonne by industries. The majority of these were small and medium-scale industries. “We need to understand that if we want to clean the air in Delhi, we will have to work towards cleaning the air in NCR because we will not be able to get any results in isolation. Our study highlighted that pollution from these small and medium scale industries is a significant contributor to pollution in the region,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director (industrial pollution), CSE, who also headed the 2020 study. Sunil Dahiya, an analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), said that while this move to phase out coal as a fuel in small and medium industries and domestic use was a welcome step, the commission should also focus on large thermal power plants. “This is definitely a welcome move but why is CAQM silent on the bigger coal consumers, which are power plants? They were directed to retrofit technology to control pollution and have missed multiple deadlines over the last few years. Now, the new deadline is 2022, December, and apart from two power plants, most are too far away from achieving even this deadline. The commission should also take cognisance on these big players,” said Dahiya.

Industrial Pollution

Air panel bans coal as a fuel in NCR from 2023 The phasing-out process will begin in October this year, the CAQM said on Wednesday, adding that the ban, however, does not cover thermal power plants.

Industrial Pollution

Air Quality Panel Bans Use Of Coal In Delhi-NCR From Year 2023

Every year during the cold months of December and January, Delhi and the national capital region is enveloped in a layer of smoke and fog. The smog that kills has been a part of newsroom discussions and policy meetings of the state and central governments. Now, in a step in the right direction, the Commission for Air Quality Management has issued directions to ban the use of coal in industrial, domestic and other miscellaneous applications in the entire Delhi-NCR region from January 1, 2023. However, the use of low-sulphur coal in thermal power plants has been exempted from the ban. This comes just a day after the World Economic Forum's Environment Performance Index ranked India the last in a list of 180 countries. With all this in mind, ET Now's Vikram Oza dives intothe big question tonight on everyone's minds is whether the air quality commission's order is too little, too late? On the show, we are joined by Nivit Kumar Yadav, the Program Director , of the Industrial Pollution Unit at the Centre for Science and Environment...Tune in! #Coal #IndiaTonight #CoalBan

Down To Earth

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Why (some) Indians are in a rush to stop being Indian?

ndia looks good. Especially from the outside and, better still, from a distance. Yet, the mad scramble to surrender Indian citizenship — even New Delhi’s ministry of external affairs confirms that more than six lakh Indians gave up their nationality between 2016 and 2021 — suggests a sinking ship. Not that there’s any sign of crisis at home. A political party with an assured vision of the future and a strong sense of power has controlled large swathes of territory since 2014. Indian cities bustle with glittering shops and smart restaurants as never before. Thanks to the reforms introduced by P.V. Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh in 1991, the middle class doubled in size from 300 million to 600 million. Dr Singh’s abolition of wealth tax undoubtedly helped to create 166 dollar billionaires, third only to the United States and China. The ripples of this wealth extend far beyond India’s shores, making Akshata Murthy, wife of Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) Rishi Sunak and daughter of N.R. Narayana Murthy, who co-founded the tech giant Infosys, richer than Queen Elizabeth Resplendent in picturesque ensembles, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi exudes confidence when he speaks on a few selected topics of his choice. Abroad, his government negotiates spiritedly with the United States, Japan and Australia over the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, “Quad” for short, and nuclear submarines for Australia. Despite a huge disparity between the Indian and Chinese economies and the setback in India’s own border conflicts, Mr Modi’s India is seen as a robust deterrent to Chinese expansionism. Why then the paradox of Indians seeking to flee what should be a land flowing with milk and honey? Why does the number of Indians applying for foreign citizenship and residency rights abroad go up every month? Why should a leading Indian politician, Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Opposition Congress Party, claim that Indians living along the border with China are consumed with envy for the “simply spectacular” development on the Chinese side? Perhaps there’s a certain mismatch between India’s rhetoric and reality. The language is uncompromisingly modern. “Digital India has become a way of life”, Mr Modi booms from a series of public platforms. But not for everyone. The updated passbooks of two leading banks, Punjab National in the public sector, and IndusInd, which the billionaire Hindujas founded in Mumbai, recall the old joke that if a monkey were let loose on a typewriter for a thousand years, it could not but produce a masterpiece. This mismatch is reflected in the unattractive quality of life for the vast majority of Indians, the result of persistently insufficient attention to factors like housing, hospitals, schools, public transport, hygiene, sanitation and the environment. A Singapore institute’s comparative study of public health in China and India compared China’s free-for-all state-run health system with India’s expensive private clinics, which only the rich can afford. There was no Indian equivalent of the Chinese system. India’s Centre for Science and Environment recently announced that a mind-boggling 71 per cent of Indians cannot afford healthy food. India dumps 72 per cent of its sewage without treatment, mostly into water bodies, and 30 per cent of the country is geographically degraded. More than 29 farmers and farm labourers commit suicide every day. Yet, the world courts India. That is not because India is the largest democracy in the world, as we are so fond of repeating, or because ancient Hindu seers and sadhus have supposedly enriched us with the wisdom of the ages, but because, as Pope Pius II wrote in the 15th century, when Venice was at the height of its imperial glory, every Venetian was a slave to “the sordid occupations of trade”. Six centuries later, that was the raison d’etre of a dynamic Singapore and the basis of Lee Kuan Yew’s courtship of India. Similarly, US President George W. Bush Jr did everything he could to secure a profitable partnership with a rising India. He explained his rationale with remarkable candour to the Asia Society in Washington on the eve of visiting New Delhi in 2006: “India is now one of the fastest-growing markets for American exports, and the growing economic ties between our two nations are making American companies more competitive in the global marketplace. And that’s helping companies create good jobs here in America.” Indian politicians are not usually very receptive to such essays in pragmatism. Think of the buying power of a billion Indians, President Bush urged. Think of the scope for selling Domino’s pizzas and Whirlpool washing machines in an upwardly mobile nation with the largest middle class in the world. By bestowing on India such a special position in the global nuclear pecking order, Mr Bush hoped to unleash India’s economic potential so that more Indians could afford more Domino’s pizzas and Whirlpool washing machines. Even President Barack Obama’s later visit was measured by the number of jobs it had created for Americans. Two recent seeming hiccups in the relationship bear noting. The first arises from India being the world’s third-largest consumer of oil, over 80 per cent of which is imported. Only around two per cent of India’s total oil imports last year came from Russia, but even this displeases President Joe Biden, who is bent on punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine. Second, the 2021 edition of the US state department’s annual report on International Religious Freedom prompted US secretary of state Antony Blinken to accuse “India, the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths” of “rising attacks on people and places of [Muslim] worship”. Both are serious charges but Prime Minister Modi need not be too worried. As already noted, the Americans are pragmatists, and will not break with India so long as a flourishing economy allows Indians to buy American. But danger might lurk ahead. In April, the International Monetary Fund lowered India’s growth projection to 8.2 per cent against the nine per cent estimated in January. Next year’s figure might be 6.9 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India forecasts an even less encouraging 5.7 per cent. Now, despite the differences over Russia and Muslim rights, the White House spokesperson dismisses any question of “adversarial” exchanges between Mr Biden and Mr Modi. “It’s a relationship that is vitally important to the United States and to the President.” He might not be quite so accommodating if a flagging economy restricts the scope of Indian purchases. After all, trade is a nation’s lifeblood.

Down To Earth

India’s SDG preparedness ranking continues to decline: Report

Country faces major challenges in achieving 11 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals India is not placed well to achieve the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and its preparedness has worsened over the years in comparison with other countries, a new report showed. India’s rank in the global Sustainable Development Report, 2022 has slipped for the third consecutive year. The country continues to face major challenges in achieving 11 of the 17 SDGs, which has pushed down its global ranking on SDG preparedness. The progress in around 10 of these goals is similar to those in 2021. These include SDG 2 on ending hunger, SDG 3 on good health and well being and SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation. But ensuring decent work (SDG 8) has become more challenging, the report showed. Progress on sustainable development goals Source: Sustainable development report, 2022 by SDSN In the 2022 Global Index of SDGs, the country ranked 121 out of the 163 countries. It had ranked 117 in 2020 and 120 in 2021. With eight years left to meet the global goals on sustainable development, the country is off-track, the trends indicated. Since 2015, the report has been tracking and ranking the performance of 163 UN member states on SDGs. It is published by a group of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). SDGs are not mentioned in the latest central or federal budget documents of India, pointed out the report based on a survey conducted in February 2022. India is on track to achieving SDG 13 on climate action, the report mentioned. But another report presented a grim picture. Preparedness to deal with climate impacts is essential to deal with climate crisis, but the country has been facing major challenges in this area, flagged The State of India’s Environment in Figures, 2022 released June 2, 2022. The report was based of the trends revealed in NITI Aayog’s index on SDGs. The seventh edition of CSE and DTE publication was released online by Sunita Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and editor of Down to Earth. India’s performance on climate action — (SDG) 13 — has slipped from 2019-2020. In 2020, the country’s overall national score on SDG 13 was 54 (out of 100) — a significant dip from 60 in 2019. This decline in India’s overall performance is primarily due to eight states — Bihar, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand — whose scores have dipped under SDG 13 in the two years. Overall SDG rank in 2020 SDG 13 Score (out of 100) in 2020 SDG 13 Score (out of 100) in 2019 Change in SDG 13 score Bihar 16 16 43 -27 Telangana 6 43 66 -23 Rajasthan 13 49 60 -11 Karnataka 3 62 71 -9 Uttar Pradesh 13 39 48 -9 Andhra Pradesh 3 63 70 -7 Punjab 7 51 57 -6 Jharkhand 15 25 27 -2 Telangana, the state which is among the top overall performers (rank six) in the country, has seen a dip in its score for climate action by 23 points. It is second after Bihar, whose SDG 13 performance worsened the most (by 27 points). Besides this, the performance of 27 states / Union territories remained off-track in SDG 13, according to the CSE report. Climate action failure is the most severe global risk in the short term and will also have the most severe impact over the next decade, the global risks report of the World Economic Forum alerted in January 2022. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.

Environment Education

Three schools in Himachal Predesh awarded for green efforts

Three schools from Himachal Pradesh won an award for their “green” efforts on World Environment Day. The Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) Green Schools Programme (GSP) gave away the 2021-22 Chief Minister’s Rolling Trophies on Sunday to the Shivalik Valley Public School, Solan; Government Senior Secondary School, Nainidhar (Sirmaur); and Government High School, Dugha. To make the school campus environmentally beautiful, students and teachers worked together and got recognised as schools consistently practising environment-friendly measures over the last three years. These awards are granted every year by CSE in organization with Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment – the two have been working together for almost a decade for improving environmental education in the state. CSE’s Green Schools Programme is a resourceful initiative that motivates schools and their students and teachers to environmental practices within their campuses and encourages them to improve on them. Himachal Pradesh is participating in the programme since 2012 and has increased considerably from 44 schools in 2012 to 699 today. In 2019-20, Himachal Pradesh observed an impressive leap in the GSP audit achievement. In terms of registrations, 557 schools registered for the GSP Audit 2019 — a 65 per cent increase when compared to 2018 (367 schools) of the total 557 registrations, 156 schools finalized and deferred the Audit in 2019. Of these, 15 schools were rated ‘green’ in the Audit, up from four in 2018. This year also GSP workshops were organised and 110 teachers participated in it. The GSP-CM’s Rolling Trophy was instituted in 2017 to recognise schools that participated in the GSP Audit, with the aim of encouraging students to become environmental managers.

Down To Earth

Delhi lost 4,383 hectares of forest cover, reveals study

Delhi witnessed a deterioration in its performance on 13 indicators spread across eight Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) over 2019. There has also been a decrease in the forest cover of the city by 4,383 hectares and 61.73 per cent of the land is under degradation. These developments have been revealed in the 'State of Environment' report published by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth magazine. Delhi has been ranked second as per its performance and its overall score has also increased compared from the last one. The Capital has set up nine working groups, a steering committee for reviewing and monitoring of SDGs and has also aligned its budget with SDGs. Still, it remains off track in six of the 15 SDGs. Dropout rate at secondary education, crimes against women, sex ratio, and share of industries complying with waste water treatment norms are some of the indicators in which the city has performed negatively. The share of renewables in the total energy mix has also decreased while the amount of hazardous waste generated per 1,000 population has increased. Only 20.07 per cent of the city's solid municipal waste is being segregated at source making it one of the most poor performers in this category. Overall the SDG's in which deterioration has been marked are Zero Hunger, Gender equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Responsible consumption and production, Climate action and peace, Justice and stronger institutions. On the contrary the SDG's in which the performance has been on track are No poverty, Good health and well being, Quality education, Affordable and clean energy, Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Reduced inequalities, Sustainable cities and communities and Life on Land. The report also reveals that in 2022 India recorded its hottest March triggering early episodes of heatwaves. As per the report, "The country reported 280 heatwave days between March 11 and May 18, the highest in the past 10 years. This is almost double of what the country experienced in 2012, the second highest heatwave year in the past decade." The report also illustrates that 74 per cent of river monitoring stations in India have alarming levels of heavy toxic metals. 40 per cent of the stations have high levels of total coliform, and 15 per cent have biochemical oxygen demand beyond permissible limits, which indicate poor wastewater treatment from industry, agriculture and domestic households.

Down To Earth

58 लाख िकसानोंके िलए चौकं ानेवाली खबर, कम हो रही हैझारखंड के 69 फीसदी जमीन की उपजाऊ Ɨमता

Soil Health: झारखंड मŐखेती का इितहास काफी पुराना नहींहै. पर यहां की िमǥी की उपजाऊ Ɨमता कम हो रही है. सीएसई के ताजा įरपोटŊ मŐ यह खुलासा Šआ है िक झारखंड मŐ भूिम उȋादकता तेजी से कम हो रही है. हालांिक यहां पर घने जंगल हœ, अिधक बाįरश भी होती है औ For details please see the attachment or click the link

Sustainable Food Systems

खाद के आने वाले संकट से कैसे निपटें

खाद का संकट आने वाला है। इस खरीफ की बुवाई के समय संकट से बच भी गए तो रबी की फसल आते-आते तो निश्चित ही देश में डी.ए.पी. और पोटाश की किल्लत होने की आशंका है। ऐसे में हाय-तौबा मचेगी, अखबारों में किसानों के रोष की खबरें छपेंगी, फिर सुबह 3 बजे से किसान खाद के लिए लाइनों में खड़े पाए जाएंगे। यह संकट सिर्फ इस साल का नहीं है। आने वाले सालों में यह संकट और गहरा होगा। कुछ दिन पहले ‘रूरल वॉयस’ और सोक्रेटस संस्थाओं ने एक परिचर्चा में इस संकट की तरफ देश का ध्यान खींचा। सवाल है कि क्या हम अभी से इस संकट के तात्कालिक और दीर्घकालिक समाधान पर काम करना शुरू करेंगे, या फिर आग देखने के बाद ही कुआं खोदना शुरू करेंगे? खाद के संभावित संकट का तात्कालिक कारण यूक्रेन का युद्ध है। हम रासायनिक खाद के लिए लगभग विदेश से आयात पर निर्भर हैं। हमारा 100 प्रतिशत पोटाश, 55 प्रतिशत डी.ए.पी. और 30 प्रतिशत यूरिया सीधा विदेश से आयात किया जाता है। जो यूरिया हमारे यहां बनता है, वह भी विदेश से आयातित गैस से बनता है। इस युद्ध के चलते रूस से खाद की सप्लाई कम हो गई है, चीन ने अपने भंडार भरने शुरू किए हैं और बाहर खाद का निर्यात कम कर दिया है। दीर्घकाल में तेल और प्राकृतिक गैस की सप्लाई कम होने से यूरिया का संकट भी गहरा होगा। फिलहाल यूरिया तो जरूरत भर का है, लेकिन डी.ए.पी. जरूरत से एक चौथाई और पोटाश तथा एन.पी.के. तो जरूरत का एक दशांध ही स्टॉक में है। यदि तुरंत आयात न किया तो संकट अनिवार्य है। आयात में सरकार हाथ रोक कर बैठी है। युद्ध की वजह से पैट्रोलियम पदार्थों और खाद के दाम चढ़ गए हैं। इसके चलते सरकार खाद कंपनियों को जो अनुदान देती है, उसका खर्चा बढ़ गया है। वित्त मंत्री ने पिछले बजट में खाद की सबसिडी के लिए 1.05 लाख करोड़ रुपए रखे थे, लेकिन आज के दाम के हिसाब से यह खर्च दोगुने से ज्यादा यानी 2.1 से 2.3 लाख करोड़ रुपए तक जाएगा। इसलिए सरकार खाद के आयात को हतोत्साहित कर रही है। संकट आसन्न है, लेकिन सरकार हाथ पर हाथ धरे बैठी है। जाहिर है कुछ समय बाद जब संकट सामने आ खड़ा होगा, तब सबका ध्यान तात्कालिक समाधान की तरफ जाएगा। खाद की कालाबाजारी रोकने के लिए आदेश दिए जाएंगे। खाद वितरण के लिए पुलिस प्रशासन की मदद ली जाएगी। किसानों को खाद कम इस्तेमाल करने के उपदेश दिए जाएंगे। रातों-रात गोबर और गौमूत्र की महिमा का बखान शुरू होगा। लेकिन सरकार चाहे तो इस तात्कालिक संकट से निपटने के लिए कुछ कदम अभी से उठाए जा सकते हैं। विदेश मंत्रालय और वाणिज्य मंत्रालय को अभी से खाद आयात की संभावनाओं को तलाश करना होगा। अभी से डी.ए.पी. और पोटाश की जगह सिंगल सुपर फास्फेट (एस.एस.पी.) और अन्य मिश्रण का प्रचार-प्रसार करना होगा। जमीन में छिड़कने की बजाय खाद को स्प्रे करने जैसे तरीकों को बढ़ावा देना होगा जिससे उसकी खपत कम हो। लेकिन यह संकट इतना बड़ा है कि हमें तात्कालिक समाधान से आगे सोचना होगा। संकट सिर्फ यह नहीं है कि रासायनिक खाद की सप्लाई कम है और दाम ज्यादा। असली संकट यह है कि रासायनिक खाद अपने आप में समस्या बन गई है। रासायनिक खाद के अत्यधिक प्रयोग के चलते हमारी मिट्टी की गुणवत्ता कम हो रही है, खाने में जहर बढ़ रहा है और ये रसायन हमारी हवा, पानी में घुल रहे हैं। सरकार द्वारा सॉयल हैल्थ कार्ड के लिए किए गए टैस्ट से पता लगता है कि देश में 97 प्रतिशत मिट्टी के सैंपल में नाइट्रोजन की कमी है, 83 प्रतिशत में फास्फोरस की, 49 प्रतिशत में ऑर्गैनिक कार्बन की कमी है। पंजाब और हरियाणा में तो मिट्टी के 99 प्रतिशत सैंपल में ऑर्गैनिक कार्बन की कमी है। मतलब यह कि देर-सवेर हमें रासायनिक खाद के इस्तेमाल को कम करना पड़ेगा, लेकिन इस तरह से कि उत्पादन पर असर न पड़े। इस दिशा में 3 बड़े कदम उठाने की जरूरत है। पहला तो सरकार को रासायनिक खाद की सबसिडी कंपनियों को न देकर सीधे किसानों को देनी चाहिए। इस वर्ष खाद पर सबसिडी के 2 लाख करोड़ रुपए के बजट को अगर देश के कुल 40 करोड़ एकड़ खेतों में बांट दिया जाए तो हर किसान को हर साल प्रति एकड़ खाद की 5000 रुपए सबसिडी दी जा सकती है। लेकिन इस सबसिडी को रासायनिक खाद की खरीद से न जोड़ा जाए। यानी यह फैसला किसान पर छोड़ दिया जाए कि वह रासायनिक खाद डालना चाहता है या नहीं और कितनी। ऐसा करते ही रासायनिक खाद का उपयोग अपने आप घट जाएगा। दूसरा कदम है ऐसी फसलों को प्रोत्साहित करना जो कम खाद की मांग करती हैं और जिनसे मिट्टी की गुणवत्ता सुधरती है। हमारे देश में गन्ना, आलू और कपास जैसी फसलों में सबसे ज्यादा खाद लगती है, लेकिन चना, मूंग, मसूर जैसी दालों और ज्वार, बाजरा जैसे मोटे अनाज में कम रासायनिक खाद लगती है। अगर किसान को इन फसलों पर भी उचित दाम मिलना शुरू हो तो वह खुशी से इन फसलों की तरफ रुख करेंगे और खाद की मांग अपने आप घट जाएगी। तीसरा कदम होगा देश में जैविक खाद को बड़े पैमाने पर प्रोत्साहन देना। इसमें अनेक विकल्प हैं। गोबर और गौमूत्र के अलावा पराली, फसल के अन्य अवशेष, जलकुंभी, राख, केंचुए, जानवरों की हड्डी, रसोई के कूड़े की कंपोस्ट और बायोगैस जैसे अनेक तरीकों से बहुत सस्ते में खाद बनाई जा सकती है। पिछले कुछ वर्षों से सरकार ने प्राकृतिक खेती की बात तो शुरू की, लेकिन व्यवहार में जीरो बजट फार्मिंग का मतलब सरकार का जीरो बजट हो जाता है। अब सरकार के पास जैविक खाद को प्रोत्साहन देने की योजनाएं भी हैं और नियम भी, लेकिन पैसा नहीं है। रासायनिक खाद बनाने वाली कंपनियों को लाखों करोड़ का अनुदान मिलता है, लेकिन प्राकृतिक खेती पर उसका 1 प्रतिशत भी खर्च नहीं होता। हाल ही में सैंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमैंट ने ‘स्टेट ऑफ बायो फॢटलाइजर एंड ऑर्गैनिक फर्टिलाइजर्स इन इंडिया’ नामक रिपोर्ट में इस दिशा में कई अच्छे सुझाव दिए हैं। उम्मीद करनी चाहिए कि इस वर्ष रासायनिक खाद की कमी जैविक खाद के विषय में राजनीतिक इच्छा की कमी को पूरा करेगी।-योगेन्द्र यादव

Down To Earth

Early heat waves bear human ‘footprints’

A large swathe of India continues to simmer in the scorching heat with heat waves sweeping the northern, central, and eastern parts of the country. The onslaught of this heat wave came early in March. The state of India’s Environment Figures 2022, released by the Centre for Science and Environment, shows that the country reported 280 heat wave days from March 11 to May 18, 2022—the highest in 10 years. Heat waves on land and depressions in the sea this year began early in and around India on March 11, 2022. No one, even the officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), expected the heat wave to set in from March. This is evident the way the IMD in its calendar has not considered March while considering heat waves data. The IMD dashboard has provided figures on heat waves for the months of April to July only. This is an indicator that heat waves in March 2022 are “not normal.” If the heat wave is not normal in March, why did it happen? Is it the impact of climate change or the La Nina effect? Or could the unusual heat waves in March 2022 be due to an unexpected climate anomaly that could be linked to global warming? Not just March, even April has broken all records. The IMD analysed that April was the hottest month for northwest and Central India and the third-hottest April the country has seen in the past 122 years (1901 to 2022). Some experts blame climate change for such severe heat waves. The World Weather Attribution Network (WWAN) said in its recent global study that such unusual, early heat waves which swept India and Pakistan in 2022 were 30 times more likely due to the direct impact of climate change. Raghu Murtugudde, a climate scientist at the University of Maryland, explains that a north-south pressure pattern, associated with the La Nina phenomenon in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean that happens during winters in India, has persisted longer than expected and interacted with warm waves coming in from a rapidly warming Arctic region, leading to the heat waves. The sea surface temperatures over the east and the central Pacific Ocean become cooler-than-average during La Niña. This affects the trade winds flowing over the ocean surface through changes in wind stress. The trade winds carry this weather disturbance elsewhere and affect large parts of the world. In India, the phenomenon is mostly associated with wet and cold winters. Therefore, the current impact of La Niña on spring and summer in India is completely unexpected. Murtugudde says that the heat waves may continue till at least the monsoon season begins in June. A heat wave occurs when the temperature crosses 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius in the coastal areas, and 30 degrees Celsius in the hills, according to the IMD. A heat wave is declared on the day an area records temperatures 4.5-6.4 degrees Celsius above normal. According to the IMD, when temperatures rise more than 6.4 degrees Celsius above normal, it is classified as a ‘severe’ heat wave. The IMD also uses another criterion to declare a heat wave which is based on absolute recorded temperatures. If the temperature crosses the 45 degree Celsius mark, the IMD declares a heat wave and when it crosses 47 degrees Celsius, a ‘severe’ heat wave is declared. The figures furnished by the State of Environment 2022 say that five states of India accounted for 54 per cent of the heat waves this year. They were Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Haryana. It further says that Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir—all in the Himalayan regions—have been unusually warm this year. Himachal Pradesh recorded 27 heat wave days, Rajasthan 39, and Madhya Pradesh 38. D. Sivananda Pai from the Kottayam-based Institute for Climate Change Studies says that anticyclones over western parts of Rajasthan in March and the absence of rain-bearing Western disturbances triggered the early and extreme heat waves. Anticyclones cause hot and dry weather by sinking winds around high-pressure systems in the atmosphere. Sunita Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), says that the severity and frequency of extreme weather increase the warming of the world, including India. She says that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its sixth assessment report has reminded us that climate change is rapid, widespread, and irreversible. In the first installment of the Sixth Assessment Report, the IPCC asserts that human activities have warmed the planet at a rate never seen before in the planet’s long history, and the Earth’s global surface temperature has warmed by 1.09 degrees Centigrade compared to the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900. Human influence is the main driver of hot weather extremes which have become more frequent and intense since the the1950s. Improvements in climate models and analytics have enabled scientists to identify “fingerprints” of human influence on climate change by observing records of rainfall, temperature, and other factors. In the past two decades, scientists have published more than 350 scientific papers and assessments analysing the role of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in individual extreme events. The IPCC report says that every additional 0.5 degrees Celsius of warming will increase hot weather extremes, along with extreme precipitation and drought. Heat waves in India are likely to “last 25 times longer by 2036-2065” if carbon emissions remain high and push global temperature rise by 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to an international climate report published on October 28, 2021, covering the G20 countries. Impact of heat waves Heat waves exert enormous impacts on health, agriculture, and availability of water—all often related to each other in complex ways. Even though the number of deaths due to heat waves in India has decreased over the years, research shows that the general physical and mental wellbeing of people does get affected by extreme temperatures. On the other hand, agricultural yields get impacted as well. The CSE, in its report, claims that the wheat crop in the current Rabi season in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh has been impacted by heat waves. Many farmers have reported losses between 20 to 60 per cent in these states. This happened because the heat waves were early this year and the temperatures affected the wheat plants during their growth stage, leading to shriveled grains which fetch lower prices in the market, resulting in losses. To reduce agricultural losses due to heat waves, heat-tolerant varieties of wheat need to be developed. Similarly, heat-resistant varieties of other Rabi crops also need to be developed. Apart from direct heat, agricultural yields may also get impacted by droughts or drought-like conditions that are often associated with heat waves. This mainly occurs because of the non-availability of water for irrigation during drought conditions. The unlikely impact of the current heat waves would occur in the Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and Uttarakhand which are not used to heat waves and not well adapted to extreme temperatures. One major impact in these regions would be on the accelerated melting of glaciers—the main source of water for the people living there—due to extreme temperatures. Heat waves are termed the “silent disaster” as heat-related deaths are often undercounted around the world for a number of reasons, wrote WWAN in its study. Such events can make the elderly and residents of low-income areas more vulnerable. When extreme events, including heat waves, are set to increase in severity and frequency, the poor, including the slum dwellers, will suffer the most.