• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Altered Carbon: DPCC To Fight PM1 Menace

New Delhi: With PM1, black carbon and brown carbon having harmful effects on human health, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is planning to monitor their concentration at various stations in the city. Officials said their monitoring would help in identifying emission sources. DPCC currently monitors PM2.5, PM10 and concentration of some gases. A DPCC official said, “We are planning to monitor the concentration of PM1, black carbon and brown carbon at a few stations. They are directly related to health and data will be useful in identifying the sources of emission. On the basis of data, we can prepare an action plan to control their levels.” PM1 concentration is currently not measured by DPCC and Central Pollution Control Board and there is no defined national ambient air quality standard for PM1. However, as it is a finer particle, it is considered riskier than PM10 and PM2.5, which have prescribed standards of 100 and 60 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), respectively. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said smaller particles were more dangerous. “Monitoring of ambient concentration of PM1 is at a very nascent stage and not practiced widely. There are no ambient air quality standards for PM1 as it is difficult to track it for compliance. But data can be useful to understand the impact of combustion sources on air quality and also evaluate health impacts. The global regulatory approach is to control them at emission sources through stringent standards that ensure adoption of advanced and effective control systems.” Officials said combustion was the main source for both black and brown carbons. Roy Chowdhury said, “Black carbon that comes entirely from combustion sources needs to be controlled not only to reduce toxicity of particulate pollution, but also to reduce warming and climate impacts. Black carbon absorbs heat and contributes to global warming.” An analysis conducted by scientists from Delhi University, JNU and IIT found a sharp increase in PM1 concentration from mid-October to mid-November last year. The data was analysed from a network of 35 sensors in Delhi. It found that while PM1 concentration was less than 100 µg/m3 in September, it ranged from 200-300 µg/m3 from mid-October to mid-November 2021.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

Can India Keep Its Net-zero Emissions Pledge?

A brutal heatwave that has exacerbated India’s power crisis is threatening to short-circuit New Delhi’s COP26 commitments At the mega environmental summit—the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP26—hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Scotland last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out an ambitious roadmap of India’s climate action plan. Watched by the world’s who-is-who, Modi announced five significant decisions. India would take its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. It would meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by that date. India wold reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030. India would also reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by more than 45 per cent by the same year. Finally, he set 2070 as the timeline to achieve net-zero emission. “These panchamrits will be an unprecedented contribution of India to climate action,” Modi said. The US and most of Europe have pledged to achieve net-zero emission by 2050, while China has extended the deadline to 2060. Modi’s announcement was India’s first major commitment to the idea of net-zero emission. Earlier, at the G-7 climate and environment ministers’ meet in June 2021, New Delhi had resisted the net-zero emission target, saying it was not part of the broader policy commitments. But by COP 26, there was a dramatic turnaround in New Delhi’s stand. Perhaps, India realised the importance of being on the right side of the global deb­ate for a country with big power ambitions. There was tremendous pressure from leading Western powers for India to be onboard the emission targets. John Kerry, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, made at least two trips to New Delhi for consultations. As a country with over one billion people, what India does affects the world’s fight against climate change. But barely five months later, India’s commitments already appear to be under severe stress. With the country battered by a searing heatwave, which has in turn boosted demand for power, the Centre has decided to reopen more than 100 coal mines previously considered financially unsustainable, to fuel the country’s power plants. Acco­r­ding to the government, the country expects to increase coal output by up to 100 million tonnes in the next three years by reopening the closed mines. With pressing domestic compulsions, critics wonder if India will be in a position to deliver what it has promised by 2030. Switching to renewables is not easy, especially in a developing nation like India where there are competing claims on scarce resources. How difficult will it be for New Delhi to deliver on the ground, considering the new green technology is expensive and the money promised by the rich, industrialised nations has merely trickled in? None of them has so far stuck to the promise of providing the one billion dollars annually to poorer countries pledged in the Paris Climate meet in 2015. Lifting India’s teeming millions out of the vici­ous circle of poverty and giving citizens a dec­ent life is the priority of every government. Develop­ment in the traditional sense means need for more energy. For countries like India and China—two of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters—fossil fuel provides an easy answer. India and China are the world’s top oil importers. Asked how realistic it is to expect cutting renewables by half by 2030, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, who was involved in the early negotiations on climate action and was Manmo­han Singh’s special envoy on climate change, says. “As I am not in the government, I do not know the inside details. We need green technology and an energy mix, hydel power is a good and clean source, so are nuclear and renewables like solar and wind. But green technology is expensive, so much will depend on how quickly new technology can be obtained at a reasonable rate.” One of the selling points for the civil nuclear deal with the US was clean energy from nuclear power stations. However, the world is now gradually turning away from nuclear energy. Especially after the Fukushima radiation leaks in Japan in 2011 led to a backlash over nuc­lear power. Even countries like France, that gets over 70 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy, are now committed to stop new nuclear plants. In India too, despite the promise of clean energy, there has been little progress. The French nuclear plant in Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra is now more or less abandoned, thanks to public protests. The Fuku­s­hima disaster had also led to massive protests against the Russian-built Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu. The government, however, rode through the protests and the plant continues to supply electricity to Tamil Nadu since 2016. The Prime Minister’s International Solar Alliance is a good initiative, but the technology has to be further streamlined as there are problems—sometimes with the panels, as well as days, especially during the monsoons, when the sky is overcast. Wind power has the same problems. The unreliability of both solar and wind as compared to fossil fuels is a major issue, as storage becomes a serious setback. Large battery packs are also very expensive. “To meet 50 per cent of its power requirements by 2030 from ren­ewable energy, India will need to increase ins­talled capacity of renewables to 700 GW. If India considers hydroelectricity as part of ren­ewables, then it will need to increase new renewable capacity to 630 GW. This is an ambitious target, and will require cheap finance, removal of policy uncertainties and the development of storage technologies,” says Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change at the Centre for Science and Environment. She goes on to add, “The expansion of distributed renewable energy with storage systems is critical for improving energy access and reducing energy poverty. So, while there may be a transition process for grid integration of renewable energy, in the long run it is beneficial for the poor, particularly in remote rural regions.” The Centre has decided to reopen 100-plus coal mines previously considered financially unsustainable, to fuel the country’s power plants. The climate debate Developing nations consider the rich, industrialised countries responsible for global warming and say they bear special responsibility for cleaning up the globe. Earlier, nations like India and China would argue that they are not responsible for the present situation. But the blame game is getting the world nowhere towards finding an urgent solution. The need now is for the rich countries to extend financial help to developing nations. India believes that transfer of climate funds and low-cost technology are essential to power the transition to green energy. Modi raised this issue in Glasgow when he said, “India expects developed countries to provide climate finance of US$1 trillion at the earliest. Today, it is necessary that as we track the progress made in climate mitigation, we should also track climate finance. The proper justice would be that the countries which do not live up to their promises made on climate finance, pressure should be put on them.” As always, the poor have to bear the brunt of a warming planet. Whether it is flash floods, heatwave or bitter cold, those who live in shanties are hit the hardest. Climate change-related displacements affect mainly the poor and the urban underclass. As India tries to gradually switch from coal to renewables, coal mining will come to a halt. The poor will be the hardest hit. Not just those working in the mines, but the ancillary industries and makeshift markets that grow around mining townships. “The energy transition will change the nature of employment and economic security in the country,” says Aditya Valiathan Pillai of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), who tracks climate change. “But it is not a simple, linear story. There are at least three angles to this. First, those employed in the fossil fuel industry, particularly in India’s coal-rich states, will have to look elsewhere for their livelihoods if India decides to take net-zero seriously in the coming decades. Governments will have to offer them safety nets, skills re-training and investments for a soft landing.” But there is also a positive side, she says. “The transition could well lead to a new generation of renewables manufacturing jobs. And third, an element frequently left out, is that an aggressive transition by India and other large emitters could reduce the frequency and magnitude of climate impacts, thus preventing people from entering the poverty spirals that come with them,” adds Pillai.

• Sustainable Food Systems

Experts hail warning labels on food packaging towards health security of Indian consumers

Experts have also expressed their strong disagreement towards the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for moving ahead to introduce a Health Star Rating (HSR) label in the Indian market. Experts unanimously have hailed that warning labels are the most effective Front of Package Labelling (FOPL) to help Indian consumers identify and avoid unhealthy foods. These views emerged from a webinar organised by CUTS International to hear from experts on the topic “Why Health Star Rating (HSR) is not suitable for India?” Experts have also expressed their strong disagreement towards the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for moving ahead to introduce a Health Star Rating (HSR) label in the Indian market. This move is based upon a limited study carried out by a business school by ignoring the global best practices and evidence around it. To help consumers make healthier choices, Australia and New Zealand had introduced the voluntary HSR system in 2014. But studies show that the system is highly flawed as unhealthy products are still able to get a high score. This is because the rating is based on the overall nutritional value, and the inclusion of healthy ingredients (i.e. fibre, protein and vitamins) cancel out the unhealthy ingredients (i.e. sugar, saturated fats and salt). More importantly, the system does not effectively assist the vulnerable consumers who need it the most. George Cheriyan, Director, CUTS International, and a member of Food Authority (FSSAI) as a special invitee, while strongly objecting to some of the finding of the IIM A study, quoted in his keynote address that the policy makers of our country should remember that Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) contribute to 62 percent of total deaths in India; of concern are the preventable premature deaths, which account for a staggering 48 percent of mortality. Presently, the food regulator, who is having the mandate to ensure safe food to the people of this country, totally ignored the aspect of NCDs, linkage with food high in sugar, salt and fat, and the role FoPL can play, while choosing the format for FoPL. He added that it was generally felt that the very objective of all the stakeholder consultations chaired by the FSSAI, which were heavily dominated by the packaged food industry, was to come up with a labelling system, which is ultimately more industry-friendly rather than for addressing the needs of the consumers in India. Dr. Lindsey Smith Taillie, Assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, gave a detailed presentation touching upon different kinds of labels particularly given the context touching upon the HSR label and the warning label. She pointed out that even after 8 years of implementation of the HSR label in Australia there is still no evidence of it creating a significant impact on the nutritional quality of people’s food and beverage purchases. Infact this type of label promotes ultra-processed food products by confusing the consumers. She further added that a warning label, which has a wider global acceptance helps to achieve two most important goals of a labeling system i.e., inform consumers and reduce consumption of unhealthy foods. She also highlighted few evidence to prove her stand and even spoke about a field experiment done in India very recently to test whether FoPLs helped Indian consumers identify ‘high-in’ foods and reduce intentions to purchase them. Dr. Lindsey, who has published over 115 articles in top academic journals and her work on front-of-package labeling featuring in the New York Times, the Guardian, and other international media outlets, elaborated about an in-person randomized experiment study covering 2,869 adults between ages 18 and 60 years old in six states of India. Participants were randomized to one of five FOPLs: a control label (barcode), warning label, HSR, Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), or traffic light label. Fewer than half of participants in the control group (39.1 percent) correctly identified all products high in nutrient(s) of concern. All FOPLs led to an increase in this outcome, with the biggest differences observed for the warning label (60.8 percent) followed by the traffic light label (54.8 percent), GDA (55.0 percent), and HSR (45.0 percent). Relative to the control, only the warning label led to a reduction in intentions to purchase the products. The results suggest that warning labels are the most effective FOPL to help Indian consumers identify and avoid unhealthy foods. During the discussion, Saroja Sundaram, Executive Director, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), Chennai spoke about how Dr. Lindsey’s presentation re-emphasis our campaign for a warning label. She stressed that HSR does not do well among the Indian population and it will never support in achieving the goal of FoPL. Ashim Sanyal, Chief Operating Officer of Consumer VOICE and a member of the Central Advisory Committee of FSSAI, pointed out that the presentation and the findings of the study carried out by Dr. Lindsey and team once again highlighted how our regulators are on the wrong foot. Through the HSR label our regulators are trying to convey something which is beyond the understanding of a common consumer. Amit Khurana, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi while sharing his journey with FoPL regulation and discussions hoped that FSSAI would someday muster up the courage and deliver the mandate they are given. He claimed that none other than FSSAI better knows that symbol based labels would do wonders among consumers in India, given their experience with labels/logos highlighting foods that are veg, non-veg, vegan foods etc. Before concluding, Antonio Picasso, Director General of Competere, Italy who are closely following the developments happening in India on FoPL shared with the audience their ongoing anti Nutriscore campaign launched in Europe. The virtual webinar was attended by around 55 delegates from across the country and abroad, including health experts, representatives from national and international organisations, industry representatives, AIIMS, Indian Medical Association, academic and research Institutions from more than 14 states.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Is India's auto industry ready to go electric?

India has big ambitions to slash crude oil imports and push for an electric vehicle future, but high costs and a lack of infrastructure could hamper the country's green narrative. India's manufacturing of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) has kicked off with several automakers rolling out electric cars at a rapid pace. India is among a handful of countries that aim for electric vehicles (EVs) to account for at least 30% of all new automotive sales by 2030. In March, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who has been championing alternative fuel, drove to Parliament in his hydrogen-powered Toyota car to make a statement that he would use it himself as a pilot project. "I have favored a green transition in fuel, and rapid strides in green fuel technology will reduce the cost of electric vehicles, bringing them on a par with petrol-run vehicles in a short time," Gadkari said. According to NITI Aayog, an Indian public policy think tank, by 2030, 80% of two- and three-wheelers, 40% of buses and 30%-70% of cars in India will be EVs. Can India achieve its green ambitions? At the COP26 summit, India pledged to achieve net-zero emissions status by 2070 and to lower its emission intensity by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. EVs could help realize these goals and play a pivotal role in India's green transition. "The current trajectory of adding ever more cars running on expensive imported fuel, and cluttering up already overcrowded cities suffering from infrastructure bottlenecks and intense air pollution is unfeasible. India's cities will choke," Heavy Industries Minister Nath Pandey said at a recent meeting. "A transportation revolution will have many components: better walkability, public transportation, railways, roads and better cars. Many of these better cars will likely be electric," he said. The transport sector accounts for 18% of total energy consumption in India, which translates to an estimated 94 million tons of oil-equivalent (MTOE) energy. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency estimates that, if India were to follow the current trends of energy consumption, it would require an estimated 200 MTOE of energy supply annually by 2030 to meet demand. Challenges to an electric future Powered by hydrogen and one of the best clean energy alternatives in vehicles, EVs are more efficient than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, and produce no tailpipe emissions, reducing pollution levels while emitting water vapor and warm air. Some industry analysts claim that this could potentially allow India to save on crude oil imports worth over $14 billion (€13.5 billion) annually. Rapid adoption of two- and three-wheeler EVs is expected to lead the way to this transition. India's road to a fully electric ecosystem still has a few hurdles — including high costs, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of high-performing EVs. Industry experts estimate that India's transition to electric mobility to reach decarbonization goals would require a deployment of 2.9 million public chargers to meet 102 million EVs. "While the electric vehicle program has begun to receive policy attention at the national and state level, it has not yet been able to catalyze the market to build scale," Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director at Centre for Science and Environment, told DW. She said EVs still made up less than 1% of new vehicle sales and that a regulation target and a zero-emissions mandate at the national level still needed to be developed. State-level EV policies with time-bound targets could make a difference, she said. For instance, Delhi, which has set a target of 25% electrification by 2024, has already increased its share of EVs to 12.5%. "Overall, the challenges of inadequate charging networks ... limited EV models in the market, uncertainty around the battery costs and weak consumer awareness are some of the key factors impeding accelerated electrification," Chowdhury said. Government incentives for EV manufacturing The Indian government introduced its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) program as well as several supply- and demand-side incentives to facilitate the switch to EVs. Some states have also set their own ambitious EV targets; 18 out of 28 states already have a draft policy in place or have called for one. Safa Khan, an energy consultant, told DW that, while FAME is expected to set up 2,877 charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states by 2024, India only has 934 charging stations to cater to all types of vehicle classes as of June last year. In comparison, China has approximately 900,000. "The planning process needs to strike the right balance between low- and high-power charging points in locations that ensure equitable access to a diversity of EV users," Khan said. "A switch to EVs represents the opportunity for communities to move towards less localized air pollution, and the onus is on the government to ensure these benefits are accrued equitably," she said.

• Down To Earth

Why India must reassess strategy to achieve sustainable development goals

Forging demonstrable and fast-paced progress towards the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals is the holy grail of policymakers and has occupied significant mind space and bandwidth. Recent indicators, however, do not paint a rosy picture. India has slipped three spots from 117 in 2021 to rank 120 this year on achieving the 17 sustainable development goals, as per the Centre for Science and Environment’s State of India’s Environment Report, 2022. The report states India, with a score of 66, is now behind all South Asian countries except Pakistan. Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh all enjoy a lead over India in the attainment of sustainable development goals. We must therefore reassess the way we are progressing in this regard. Adopted in 2015 by 192 United Nations member-countries as part of the 2030 agenda, the 17 sustainable development goals serve as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The goals are integrated as action in one area will affect outcomes in others. They call for ending poverty by improving health and education, reducing inequality by spurring economic growth – all while tackling climate change by protecting the environment. India has attacked poverty through a mix of social sector schemes to promote the health and wellbeing of citizens. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are all playing a role in driving inclusive development. Even state governments are making important interventions. Earlier this month, Madhya Pradesh launched a government program – Ladli Lakshmi 2.0 where the state pays the fee of girls who pursue medical education, or study at IITs and IIMs. Girls passing class 12th and pursuing college education will receive INR 25,000. The Ladli Lakshmi Yojana has been in force over the past 15 years, and the state government bears the cost of raising the girl child till marriage. Every year, the state celebrates Ladli Lakshmi Utsav from May 2 to May 12. Similarly, civil society organizations are making concerted efforts to enable sustainable development by driving access to health and education. I would cite the example of Smile Foundation which runs Shiksha Na Ruke program benefiting 50,000 children across 22 states, while its Health Cannot Wait campaign mobilizes resources for Covid relief and providing other healthcare services across the country. But there is considerable ground to be covered and reassessment could help. The World Bank estimates India has 100-150 million households living below USD 1.90 consumption per day per person. And the pandemic would have increased the number of ultra-poor households in the country. Way Ahead What is needed is a clutch of targeted, high-impact interventions that can make population-scale impact, fast. Technology holds answers. India has built robust public data stacks on education, health, citizen enumeration, mobile phone penetration and bank account ownership. Innovation using these digital stacks can help us design scalable interventions to deliver impact quickly. Our country is large, diverse, and complex – topographically, climatically, culturally, and population-wise. This is the reason organizations often find it challenging to implement even carefully drafted interventions. This is where we require government, industry, and NGOs to combine forces for positive change. Each of these stakeholders has unique strengths that, when brought together, can make a profound difference. While the government brings scale of operations, corporate India has monetary muscle, organizational might, and planning skills to design effective public interventions. The civil society brings with it on-ground connect and experience of implementing public welfare initiatives. They have the networks and enjoy the trust of people which helps them implement efficiently to deliver impact. Make no mistake, India requires urgent population scale change for poverty alleviation by rapidly improving access to livelihood, education, healthcare, and nutrition. For this to happen, the key stakeholders – governments, corporate India and civil society organizations must bridge the trust deficit and work in close coordination to improve the effectiveness of public welfare initiatives and pull people out of poverty faster and sustainably.

• Renewable Energy

Floating solar: a small but vital role for India’s sunrise sector

Floating solar plants were never part of India’s plans to reach 100 GW of solar power by the end of this year. But the benefits are becoming clearer and numbers are on the rise. India’s G20 presidency next year offers a “golden opportunity” to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, environment minister Bhupender Yadav told reporters on April 26 in a meeting with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This year is a litmus test for progress, representing a deadline for India’s renewable energy target of 175 gigawatts. While floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) was not originally envisaged as part of the mix, which only included terrestrial and rooftop solar, it has emerged as a small but not insignificant catalyst for the figures. floating solar Binh Thuan, Viet Nam Floating solar ready for take-off Read now → Read now → Despite later including large hydropower in the renewable category to help meet the target of 175 GW, which originally included only small hydropower, India is still set to miss the goal, with 156.6 GW of utility-scale renewables as of March 2022, plus an estimated 11 GW of rooftop solar. The shortfall, due mostly to the slow development of rooftop solar, highlights the need to further diversify India’s portfolio of green energy sources. An alternative to terrestrial solar India’s journey with floating solar began in 2014 when it was approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in Kolkata. S P Gon Chaudhuri, a veteran of the country’s renewable energy sector, told The Third Pole: “The organisation tasked with implementing this project was NBIRT [the NB Institute for Rural Technology], of which I was chairman at the time.” When we start looking for a piece of land, it isn’t easy. In places with a lot of land, there are too many projects and hence, transmission is a challenge. Floating solar addresses so many problems Manu Srivastava, commissioner for new and renewable energy, Madhya Pradesh Once the project was completed, “officials from organisations such as the World Bank visited the site and examined how a floating solar plant is set up, how it works”, Chaudhuri recalls. “Basically, it was a study centre.” Plants in Punjab, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu followed, among others. India’s reservoirs cover 18,000 square kilometres with the potential to support 280 GW of floating solar, according to a report by think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). High costs and design challenges are still holding back the deployment of the new technology, which as of November 2021 had an estimated cumulative installed capacity of just 2.7 megawatts, making it little more than a pilot project. However, according to the think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), India now has about 170 MW of operational floating solar capacity and another 1.8 GW under different stages of development. The steep increase, a CEEW spokesperson explained, is due to the fact that the first plants deployed were small, and India has only started implementing large-scale floating solar in recent years. Terrestrial solar PV is land-intensive, and the TERI report recommends exploring alternatives such as floating solar to keep pace with India’s national target of 100 GW of additional solar capacity by the end of 2030. The state of Maharashtra, the authors say, has the most potential and could generate 57.9 GW on 3,173 sq km of its reservoirs’ surfaces. “The FSPV addition is small in relation to the entire market for solar energy, but it could be a viable alternative for speeding up solar power deployment in India,” a 2021 study by researchers at Effat University in Saudi Arabia stated. Floating solar milestones Recent developments in the floating solar space hint at the sector’s promise. In August last year, government-owned NTPC, India’s largest integrated energy company, commissioned a 25 MW project on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal power station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The plant has the potential to generate electricity from over 100,000 solar PV modules, which could light around 7,000 households and avoid the emission of at least 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year over its lifespan. In January 2022, the state-owned hydropower corporation NHPC signed a deal with a developer in the eastern state of Odisha to build a 500 MW floating solar plant. It will initially invest over INR 20 billion (USD 261 million) in 300 MW-worth of floating solar projects. The project will help the state to meet its renewable energy generation targets, besides creating investment and employment opportunities. On March 10, 2022, Tamil Nadu’s chief minister MK Stalin inaugurated India’s largest floating solar power plant, which was constructed at a cost of INR 1.5 billion (USD 19.6 million). Scarce land, more water Most Indian states lack land, but have enough water for FSPV. Installing solar on water can increase the panels’ efficiency due to lower temperatures that prevent overheating, Chaudhuri explained. Manu Srivastava, commissioner for new and renewable energy with the government of Madhya Pradesh, said: “When we start looking for a piece of land, it isn’t easy. In places with a lot of land, there are too many projects and hence, transmission is a challenge… Floating solar addresses so many problems.” Avnish Shukla is executive engineer at Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd, a joint venture that has commissioned solar projects in Madhya Pradesh. Shukla told The Third Pole that a 600 MW floating solar plant in the state of Madhya Pradesh will be commissioned by August 2023, likely to be one of the largest in the world. Shukla said that solar projects often occupy barren land, not used by agriculture, industry or people. “Since there is scarcity of such a type of land, we face trouble… In such a scenario, water bodies are perfect. Moreover, water will evaporate if we do not use it to install solar panels [to reflect the sun’s rays].” Vinay Rustagi, the managing director of Bridge to India, a renewable energy consultancy, pointed out that some floating solar sites that are located near hydropower projects or in thermal plant reservoirs already have ready access to their transmission infrastructure. Falling costs Ground-based installations still form 93.1 per cent of India’s grid-connected solar PV, according to a 2020 report by TERI. Utility-scale solar costs fell 84 per cent between 2010 and 2018, making large-scale solar cheaper in India than anywhere else. According to Chaudhuri, the cost of setting up a floating solar plant is currently INR 50-60 million (USD650,000-780,000) per MW, while conventional land-based solar projects cost the equivalent of USD 520,000 per MW, a difference that explains the slow take-off of the technology. However, he said, floaters and maintenance are becoming more cost-effective. “India needs to meet certain targets it has committed to by 2030, which means states need to adopt more such [floating solar] plants, as they do not have so much land to spare,” he said. According to Srivastava, transporting the lightweight but big floaters the panels sit on can be a challenge. However, these are low-tech components, so manufacturing plants installed near the development site could bring costs down further. Floating solar projects do require longer due to the need for more detailed assessments of sites’ hydrography and water-bed topography. Furthermore, both the capital and operating costs are slightly higher due to the more complex design and risks of working in water, Srivastava added. Rustagi, however, said the local governments and municipal agencies in charge of most inland water bodies must push for them. Binit Das, deputy renewable energy programme manager at New Delhi think tank the Centre for Science and Environment, agreed but said there are other, more technical hurdles to overcome: “The solar floating system needs to hold solar panels on the water for over 25 years, so the racking system needs to be highly resistant to corrosion, must have a long lifespan and high load capacity.” He added: “Since this is a relatively new solar power technology, it requires specialised solar power equipment and more niche solar panel installation knowledge.”

• Sustainable Habitat

Demolition Politics Ignores The Ecological Impact Of 'Development'

Construction and demolition (C and D) waste is considered to be one of the top sources of pollution and environmental degradation globally. It has been estimated that New Delhi produced 4,500 to 5,000 tonnes of C and D waste per day. In keeping with the wave of ‘bulldozer politics’ in nearby states like Uttar Pradesh where the BJP is in power, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), ruled by the BJP, recently announced a 10-day anti-encroachment drive in several areas of Delhi including the South Zone, Najafgarh Zone, West Zone and Central Zone. In most cases, the demolitions are being carried out by in densely populated areas occupied by migrant workers and slum-dwellers. Not just Delhi, demolitions have also taken place in Gurugram where the District Town Planning Enforcement carried out demolitions in areas like the Banjara Market and Saraswati Kunj. The drives have once again raised the question of pollution and beg a look at the environmental toll of demolitions. A 2019 study titled ‘Source Apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 of Delhi NCR for Identification of the major sources of pollution found that dust from roads, construction, demolition along with soil dust contributed to a significant 23 to 31 per cent of the PM10 concentration in the air during winters. These sources also contributed to 15 per cent of the PM2.5 in winter in Delhi and NCR regions. In November last year, the Delhi government put a temporary ban on construction and demolition activities following a string of days with ‘severe’ or ‘very bad’ air quality. The ban was meant to cut down on pollution caused by demolition and construction work, which is one of the top sources of dust pollution in urban developing settings. While much of the criticism over demolitions has centred around the impact it has on the socio-economic welfare of marginalised populations and the reportedly communal angle of the planned demolitions around the city. The environmental harm caused by these demolitions remains a neglected matter. Construction and demolition (C and D) waste is considered to be one of the top sources of pollution and environmental degradation globally. It has been estimated that New Delhi produced 4500 to 5000 tonnes of C and D waste per day (as noted in 2018). Such waste includes dust, rubble, debris, and construction material. While C and D waste is created by construction, remodelling, renovation as well as demolition, a 2015 study by Gayakwad and Sasane found that demolition pucca and semi-pucca constructions alone typically produces 300 and 500kg per sqm of waste respectively in India. Demolition can lead to excessive dust, noise, smoke and odour. Residents living near areas where demolitions have taken place run the risk of getting impacted by fugitive discharges like harmful gas leaks that were inadvertently caused by the destruction. Demolition often causes huge plumes of smoke and dust that can adversely impact people suffering from respiratory diseases. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 on 29 March 2016 to set out guidelines for C and D waste management by generators across the country and set ecological and sustainability standards. It laid out certain mandates for carrying out construction or demolition work including ensuring optimum waste management. According to the rules, the “service provider shall prepare a comprehensive waste management plan for waste generated within their jurisdiction” and “remove all construction and demolition waste in consultation with the concerned local authority on their own or through any agency”. C and D waste management nevertheless remains a problem that gets little to no attention. Last year, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation became the first of Delhi's civic bodies that took the initiative to transport C and D waste from locations in Delhi to designated dumps and recycle plants such as the one set up in Burari. But the initiative got a lukewarm response, reportedly due to the high cost of the service. The EDMC charges over Rs 400 to clear one tonne of construction waste. Meanwhile, the debris caused by the round of demolitions which seem to have begun at Jahangirpuri last month has not entirely been cleared up yet. The streets of Jahangirpuri and other parts where demolitions took place are dusty with rubble lying around. Not just Delhi, other places where recent demolition drives have taken place such as the city of Rajgarh in Alwar Rajasthan continue to be drowned in debris and dangerous projectiles. The residents of the area reported water and electricity shortages due to the disturbance in pipelines and wirings. In India, one often sees demolition debris accumulating for months before being unscientifically disposed of. A 2020 report titled Another Brick off the Wall: Improving construction and demolition waste management in Indian cities by the Centre for Science and Environment found that India recycled only one per cent of its C and D waste. The country produces 150 million tonnes of C and D waste in a year but as of 2020, it only had the capacity to treat 6,500 tonnes per day, which means just 1.3 per cent of the total waste generated. Delhi produces nearly 5,000 tonne of C and D waste out of which the North Delhi region generates nearly 2,000 TPD daily. When carrying out necessary demolition activities, authorities need to ensure proper C and D waste management. A 2018 paper titled ‘The Impact of C & D Waste on Indian Environment: A Critical Review’ made certain recommendations for reducing C and D waste that can be vital in reducing the environmental impact of demolition activities. First is to prevent illegal open dumping of debris and excavated earth on roadsides, low-lying areas and river beds. Such dumping often leads to pile up of debris which is not only an eyesore but also causes traffic inconveniences, choking of drains, groundwater pollution Additionally, authorities must conduct site to site assessments of the environmental impact of the demolition and ensure imposing dust-averting and noise cancellation strategies to minimise harm. Experts have also recommended a shift from ‘demolition’ to ‘deconstruction’ as the way forward for urban development and city planning. Deconstruction refers to dismantling buildings with the goal of maximising the reuse potential of its components. Demolition refers to razing of buildings in such a way that the components of the building are unlikely to be fit for reuse and can only be recycled or sent o a landfill. Deconstruction is not only a more sustainable option but also espouses responsible development by paving the way toward rehabilitation of the people living in or using the buildings prior to dismantling so as to ensure people don’t lose their homes and livelihoods. Achieving sustainability goals goes beyond increasing the longevity of things and includes including the longevity of people. Development and demolition plans have a tendency to cause more harm to the proverbial ‘have-nots’ than the ‘haves’. Razing even illegally built or homes and shops in the name of anti-encroachment and ‘beautification’ is not in the best interests of the slum dwellers, migrant workers, the poor and the marginalised who are displaced from their homes and shops. Such urban development highlights the inherent class structure in presumably meritocratic urban spaces that predefine the division between those who reap the benefits of the country’s development and those who pay the price.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Rain shortfall has kept Delhi’s air ‘poor’ for most of summer

The Delhi government last month formulated a 14-point action plan to combat air pollution during summer Delhi has seen more ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ days than ‘moderate’ or satisfactory’ days since March this year, as experts said that air pollution is not more a winter-specific problem and called for a year-round action plan to tackle air pollution in the city. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data from March 1 to May 11 shows Delhi recorded a total of 55 ‘poor’, 1 ‘very poor’, 16 ‘moderate’ and no ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ air quality days. In comparison, there were 35 ‘poor’ days and just three ‘very poor’ days during the same period last year. An air quality index (AQI) of 0-50 is termed ‘good’, 51-100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 is ‘moderate’, 201-300 is ‘poor’ and 301-400 is ‘very poor’. The last time Delhi recorded ‘satisfactory’ day was when the AQI fell to 92 on February 27, as a result of rain across the city. Delhi’s AQI was 156 (moderate) on Wednesday, with strong surface winds from Cyclone Asani helping Delhi’s air quality. However, the AQI is forecast to return to the ‘poor’ category by the weekend, owing to a return of dry and dusty westerly winds. Between February 16 and May 10, Delhi’s average PM 2.5 concentration was 100 micrograms per cubic metre -- 2.5 times higher than the national annual safe limit for PM 2.5 (40 micrograms per cubic metre) and 20 times the WHO limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre -- as per CPCB’s real-time data analysed by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In comparison, the average PM 2.5 concentration last winter was 197 micrograms per cubic metre (15 October till 15 February). S.N Tripathi, a professor at IIT Kanpur and steering committee member of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), said dust has been a primary factor behind pollution, and attributed it to the absence rainfall, and other sources including emissions from coal-based power plants and farm fires which begun across Punjab and Haryana following the rabi harvest season. “This indicates the need to once again identify sources and until that is done, immediate or long-term action cannot be taken. The primary problem for Delhi has been re-suspended dust, but also dust particles transported from other states, particularly from Rajasthan. With power problems also common, coal-based power plants are running at a high capacity and the high PM 2.5 concentration over Delhi indicates combustion is a factor, which could be partially from farm fires and some localised burning, such as garbage burning or landfill fires,” he said, adding that there is a need for a one-year study of pollution sources. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, said that though pollution level is half the winter level, the PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels are still fairly high, especially considering that this is despite better meteorological conditions in summer. “As the lower layer of the atmosphere is warmer and lighter in summer compared to winter, air can easily rise upwards and disperse pollution. The intensity of summer pollution is lower than winter and shows higher influence of dust but these levels are still beyond the safe limits and indicates the need for sustained action,” said Roychowdhury, stating that while emergency-level measures are needed during winters, the summer and monsoon months need to be utilised to continue pollution control efforts and to scale up systematic changes, such as emission control from vehicles, industries, waste burning and dust sources. “We don’t need reactive measures alone during the winters, but sustained action through the year to meet clean air targets.” She also suggested holding regular meetings during the summer months as well, allowing for agencies to plan and take action based on the air quality. Only last week, the sub-committee on the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) met after a period of nearly three months, asking for Delhi and NCR states to intensify certain Grap measures including dust control activities such as mechanised sweeping, enforcement of dust control measures at construction sites and speedy redressal of pollution-related complaints. The sub-committee last met on February 16, 2022, prior to the review meeting on May 4. Farm fires a problem in summers too While crop burning has been a prominent source of pollution for Delhi in winters, largely occurring between October 15 and November 15, the rabi harvest season causes a similar action from farmers across Punjab and Haryana. As per Nasa’s VIIRS satellite data, analysed by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), 14,957 farm fires have been reported in Punjab and 4,592 fires in Haryana between March 1 and May this year. For Punjab, this is the highest corresponding count in at least five years, with 6,392 fires recorded last year and 5,585 fires in 2018. For Haryana too, this figure is the highest in at least five years and is close to last year’s count of 4,461 fires during the same period. The magnitude of rabi fires usually pales in comparison to the kharif ones. This is because unlike paddy residue, wheat residue is widely used as animal fodder,” said LS Kurinji, Programme Associate at CEEW, adding that while favourable meteorological conditions are at play during the summers, this can still impact air quality to an extent. “The higher mixing height and faster wind speed during summers can provide adequate ventilation, but it is still harmful and shows it is critical to act now to have a safer winter,” she added. A Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) official said the Delhi government has launched a 14-point summer action plan from April 12 to focus on different sources of pollution, including anti-dust and anti-open burning campaigns. “The real-time source apportionment study for Delhi is also on track and we can expect data on the various sources of pollution from the end of July onwards,” said the official.

• Finance and Accounts

CBI names “promoters of NGO Omidyar” in FIR

A year after the U.S.-based philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network was placed on a watch list by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), restricting all foreign donations from the firm, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named the “promoters of NGO Omidyar” in a First Information Report (FIR) filed on May 10. The case pertains to alleged connivance of MHA officials and private consultants in facilitating illegal clearances to NGOs under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. The FIR names 36 accused persons. The list of accused mentions “promoters of NGO Omidyar,” without specifics. Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), it is mandatory for NGOs to get clearance to receive foreign funds. Omidyar has invested in prominent news websites such as Newslaundry, Scroll and The Ken and provided grants to think tanks, institutions and advocacy groups such as the Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR), Ashoka University and Centre for Policy Research, among others. According to Omidyar’s website, it supported NITI Aayog during the design phase of National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) by supporting a team for the Program Management Unit (PMU), led by IDinsight, and Development Data Lab. The FIR alleges that on April 24, Devesh Chandra Mishra, a resident of Delhi contacted FCRA official Tushar Kanti Roy “for clearing of permission for receiving foreign remittance worth ₹3 crore as donation for an NGO namely Omidyar”. The accused official assured him of arranging the permission but “demanded 10% of the total remittance as bribe”. Mishra told the official that “the promoters of NGO Omidyar were ready to pay ₹5 lakh”. Finally, the official is said to have demanded at least 7% of the foreign donation in bribe stating that he had to give money to others as well. The public relation firm handling Omidyar’s account did not respond to The Hindu’s e-mail request for a comment on the CBI’s allegation. The MHA has identified at least three consultants who were offering various services pertaining to the FCRA to NGOs. The alleged racket in connivance with former and present MHA officials was running for the past six months. On Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 40 locations across India. Explaining the modus operandi, a senior government official said, “The consultants were found offering facilitation services to the NGOs for renewal of their registration for a fee. They obtained information from the Ministry officials on where the NGO’s file was stuck in the system. They contacted the said NGO and offered speedy renewal against a fee.” The official said the smaller NGOs were being charged ₹2 lakh each while there was a different rate list for the bigger associations that could go up to ₹15 lakh. The racket was exposed when one of the NGOs that was approached by the consultants complained to the Ministry officials. The website of one of the consultants under the CBI’s scanner — Shaurya Business Solutions Pvt Ltd — has a separate section on the FCRA, offering services such as renewal of registration, filing annual returns and even fresh registration. None of the phone numbers listed on the website were reachable when The Hindu called on Wednesday. The “about us” section of the website said, “We are a team of professionals including chartered accountants, company secretaries, lawyers, cost accountants, MBAs who possess expertise across a wide range of business needs. We provide various services online as well as offline as per your requirement.” The FCRA registration of several thousand NGOs are up for renewal since 2021, a process that has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry has given several extensions due to the slow renewal process, with the latest deadline revised to June 30. This is not the first time the FCRA division has come under cloud on corruption charges. In 2016, on the MHA’s complaint, the CBI had raided the residence of a Home Ministry official Anand Joshi for his alleged role in corrupt practices. The accused issued a notice arbitrarily to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in November 2015. A CBI official said that Mr. Joshi came under scanner after he arbitrarily issued standard questionnaires to a few NGOs, the first step to probe foreign funds violations under the FCRA. The MHA in 2016 switched to an online renewal system for FCRA-registered NGOs to reduce human interface after several NGOs complained of bribes sought by officials to renew their registration. The renewals are done every five years. The FCRA registration of nearly 6,000 NGOs had ceased to be valid from January 1 as the MHA refused to renew their application or the NGOs did not apply for registration. There were 16,890 FCRA-registered NGOs as on May 10, down from over 22,000 on December 31, 2021.

• Urban Lab

“We have to adapt to heat waves by changing how we function during summer”: Environmentalist Avikal Somvanshi

Once upon a time in Delhi, even when summer day temperatures hovered over 40 degrees C, the city would cool down considerably after sunset, bringing the minimum temperature in the range of mid 20 degrees C. But what we have seen during the recent spate of heat waves is not even remotely reminiscent of that. Today, the city does not cool down after sunset: the heat exhaust from millions of air conditioners in residences and offices and central air conditioning in commercial and institutional spaces raises minimum temperature to or above 30 degrees C. According to Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager of Sustainable Cities Programme of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), power demand in the capital was 4336 MW in April 2022, almost double the demand for the same month in 2020. “Heat waves have already become a seasonable event and we have no choice but to adapt to them,” says Somvanshi, who was closely associated with the preparation, in 2018, of the union government’s effort to draft an India Cooling Action Plan. It gave him an opportunity to include some of the lessons he had learnt over the years about climate, design habitat, homes and city. Somvanshi’s first brush with “environmentalist politics” happened in 2007, when as a student of architecture at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, he participated in a summer school programme at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). But the “awakening moment” for him was while working at Auroville in Puducherry. The “sustainable” house he had built there for himself using bamboo all but got blown away with the first strong breeze. The realisation that people have to adjust their lifestyle and their perception of comfort to their homes made the architect start looking at buildings, energy efficiency and design. “We were clear it had to be more about adaptive thermal comfort, and not just about thermal comfort which is air conditioning,” says Somvanshi about his work on the cooling action plan, which recommended an “adaptive thermal comfort standard” of 28-32 degrees. He rues that the India Cooling Action Plan, released by the Union Environment Minister in 2019 is gathering dust. As are the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)’s Emergency Action Plans on dealing with heat waves .One of these pertains to reserving hospital beds for patients with heat stroke. Given the IMD’s forecast for a very hot May, Citizen Matters decided to interview Avikal Somanshi to learn more about his ideas and recommendations on how to cope with heat waves. Excerpts from the interview: What kind of heat waves are we likely to witness in May-June? They are likely to be dry with low humidity levels. These dry heat waves are common during May-June, but their current spells in April are unusual. What will be its impact on people? Instances of heat-stroke are common during these heat waves with low humidity. High heat makes working outdoors during daytime dangerous. But given the fact that the night temperature is still dropping below 28 degrees C, people are getting some reprieve to recover from the daytime heat exposure. How can deterioration of air quality from heat waves be minimised? Heat waves do impact air quality but not in the way we see during winter in Delhi. The more direct impact of heat waves is increased formation of surface ozone pollution. Surface ozone formation takes place when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds (VOC) react with oxygen in the air and this reaction requires sunlight and heat to happen. If all other variables are equal, such as the level of precursor emissions — emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), and sulphur dioxide (SO2) in greenhouse gas inventories—in the air and wind speed and direction, more surface ozone will form as the environment becomes sunnier and hotter. During heat waves, these environmental conditions are met and this leads to a spike in surface ozone pollution. This is a major public health concern as surface ozone is highly toxic and can lead to severe health outcomes even from short term (one hour) exposure. Rising deaths The aggregated data available from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2000-2014 notes that Heat Stroke causes more deaths than due to “cold exposure”. Only lighting and earthquakes killed more people than heat stroke during 2000-14. NCRB’s annual publication “Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India” for 2019 attributed 1,274 deaths to heat stroke and 796 in 2019. The number for heat stroke deaths came down to 530 in 2020, most possibly due to hard lockdowns during the summer of 2020. The most deaths due to heat stroke are reported from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, UP, Bihar, and Maharashtra. Older adults are among the most vulnerable to extreme heat events. Many physiological, psychological, and socioeconomic factors contribute to this danger. Older adults are more likely to be in poor health, to be less mobile and more isolated, to be more sensitive to high heat, and to live on reduced incomes. Young children tend to be more susceptible to extreme heat due to their small size. Children’s more rapid breathing rates relative to body size, time spent outdoors, and their developing respiratory systems raise the chances of aggravated asthma and other lung diseases caused by ozone air pollution and smog, which usually increases during heat waves. Populations with low-income are at greater risk of heat-related illnesses due to poor housing conditions and small living spaces, and inadequate resources to find alternative shelter during a heat wave. People who spend their working hours outdoors are more prone to conditions such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. They have higher exposures to ozone air pollution and heat stress, especially if work tasks involve heavy exertion. People in poor health, including people with chronic conditions, disabilities, mobility constraints, and those taking certain medications, are vulnerable to extreme temperatures. People with diabetes, physical impairments and cognitive deficits are especially at risk during heat waves. What lessons can we learn from the way our ancestors dealt with heat waves? Culturally, most regions in India had developed their own practices to safeguard themselves from the impact of heat waves. The practice of afternoon siestas are effective in reducing heat exposure. The practice of consuming nimbu pani, sugarcane juice, aam panna, bel sherbet, and many such hydrating and cooling drinks helps the body fight the heat. Even meals during summer used to be altered to include vegetables and recipes which helped the body to manage heat better. One of the most important aspects of dealing with heat waves was the building designs which shielded the indoors from the sun and the dry winds. A wisdom which has been lost in modern building designs. Modern buildings are heat magnets instead of being a shelter from heat. Buildings made of concrete and glass especially trap heat and makes it almost impossible to live inside these buildings without using ACs. These ACs produce heat exhaust that is dumped right outside leading to more outdoor heat. As part of climate change, will heat waves become a regular feature in the near future? Heat waves have already become a seasonal event and are predicted to get worse in coming years thanks to climate change. We have no option but to adapt to these heat waves. And to do so we will have to change how we function during summer. Hydrating and cooling drinks Hydrating and cooling drinks helps the body fight the heat. Representational image/Pixabay CC0 This means changing school calendars and office timings, and not just these. We need to start rethinking what we are eating. Our food habits will help our body to handle heat better. Farmers will have to shift to more heat resistant crops that can be grown with relative ease in this new climate. Similarly, we need to redesign our homes, offices, shops etc. We need to bring back the traditional wisdom of shading our windows and catching the cool breeze that made the homes of our ancestors comfortable. We also need to rethink the idea of being comfortable. Wearing a three-piece suit during summer for the sake of fashion or corporate look is blatantly stupid. Similarly, freezing down one’s room to an extent that one needs to wear a shawl or blanket during summer is not comfortable. In fact, it makes the outdoors hotter. Is there anything positive about heat waves? Heat waves don’t have any positive spin in my understanding of the issue.

• Renewable Energy

Floating solar: a small but vital role for India’s sunrise sector

Floating solar plants were never part of India’s plans to reach 100 GW of solar power by the end of this year. But the benefits are becoming clearer and numbers are on the rise. India’s G20 presidency next year offers a “golden opportunity” to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, environment minister Bhupender Yadav told reporters on April 26 in a meeting with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This year is a litmus test for progress, representing a deadline for India’s renewable energy target of 175 gigawatts. While floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) was not originally envisaged as part of the mix, which only included terrestrial and rooftop solar, it has emerged as a small but not insignificant catalyst for the figures. floating solar Binh Thuan, Viet Nam Floating solar ready for take-off Read now → Read now → Despite later including large hydropower in the renewable category to help meet the target of 175 GW, which originally included only small hydropower, India is still set to miss the goal, with 156.6 GW of utility-scale renewables as of March 2022, plus an estimated 11 GW of rooftop solar. The shortfall, due mostly to the slow development of rooftop solar, highlights the need to further diversify India’s portfolio of green energy sources. An alternative to terrestrial solar India’s journey with floating solar began in 2014 when it was approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in Kolkata. S P Gon Chaudhuri, a veteran of the country’s renewable energy sector, told The Third Pole: “The organisation tasked with implementing this project was NBIRT [the NB Institute for Rural Technology], of which I was chairman at the time.” Once the project was completed, “officials from organisations such as the World Bank visited the site and examined how a floating solar plant is set up, how it works”, Chaudhuri recalls. “Basically, it was a study centre.” Plants in Punjab, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu followed, among others. India’s reservoirs cover 18,000 square kilometres with the potential to support 280 GW of floating solar, according to a report by think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). High costs and design challenges are still holding back the deployment of the new technology, which as of November 2021 had an estimated cumulative installed capacity of just 2.7 megawatts, making it little more than a pilot project. However, according to the think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), India now has about 170 MW of operational floating solar capacity and another 1.8 GW under different stages of development. The steep increase, a CEEW spokesperson explained, is due to the fact that the first plants deployed were small, and India has only started implementing large-scale floating solar in recent years. Terrestrial solar PV is land-intensive, and the TERI report recommends exploring alternatives such as floating solar to keep pace with India’s national target of 100 GW of additional solar capacity by the end of 2030. The state of Maharashtra, the authors say, has the most potential and could generate 57.9 GW on 3,173 sq km of its reservoirs’ surfaces. “The FSPV addition is small in relation to the entire market for solar energy, but it could be a viable alternative for speeding up solar power deployment in India,” a 2021 study by researchers at Effat University in Saudi Arabia stated. Floating solar milestones Recent developments in the floating solar space hint at the sector’s promise. In August last year, government-owned NTPC, India’s largest integrated energy company, commissioned a 25 MW project on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal power station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The plant has the potential to generate electricity from over 100,000 solar PV modules, which could light around 7,000 households and avoid the emission of at least 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year over its lifespan. In January 2022, the state-owned hydropower corporation NHPC signed a deal with a developer in the eastern state of Odisha to build a 500 MW floating solar plant. It will initially invest over INR 20 billion (USD 261 million) in 300 MW-worth of floating solar projects. The project will help the state to meet its renewable energy generation targets, besides creating investment and employment opportunities. On March 10, 2022, Tamil Nadu’s chief minister MK Stalin inaugurated India’s largest floating solar power plant, which was constructed at a cost of INR 1.5 billion (USD 19.6 million). Scarce land, more water Most Indian states lack land, but have enough water for FSPV. Installing solar on water can increase the panels’ efficiency due to lower temperatures that prevent overheating, Chaudhuri explained. Manu Srivastava, commissioner for new and renewable energy with the government of Madhya Pradesh, said: “When we start looking for a piece of land, it isn’t easy. In places with a lot of land, there are too many projects and hence, transmission is a challenge… Floating solar addresses so many problems.” Avnish Shukla is executive engineer at Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd, a joint venture that has commissioned solar projects in Madhya Pradesh. Shukla told The Third Pole that a 600 MW floating solar plant in the state of Madhya Pradesh will be commissioned by August 2023, likely to be one of the largest in the world. Shukla said that solar projects often occupy barren land, not used by agriculture, industry or people. “Since there is scarcity of such a type of land, we face trouble… In such a scenario, water bodies are perfect. Moreover, water will evaporate if we do not use it to install solar panels [to reflect the sun’s rays].” Vinay Rustagi, the managing director of Bridge to India, a renewable energy consultancy, pointed out that some floating solar sites that are located near hydropower projects or in thermal plant reservoirs already have ready access to their transmission infrastructure. Falling costs Ground-based installations still form 93.1 per cent of India’s grid-connected solar PV, according to a 2020 report by TERI. Utility-scale solar costs fell 84 per cent between 2010 and 2018, making large-scale solar cheaper in India than anywhere else. According to Chaudhuri, the cost of setting up a floating solar plant is currently INR 50-60 million (USD650,000-780,000) per MW, while conventional land-based solar projects cost the equivalent of USD 520,000 per MW, a difference that explains the slow take-off of the technology. However, he said, floaters and maintenance are becoming more cost-effective. “India needs to meet certain targets it has committed to by 2030, which means states need to adopt more such [floating solar] plants, as they do not have so much land to spare,” he said. According to Srivastava, transporting the lightweight but big floaters the panels sit on can be a challenge. However, these are low-tech components, so manufacturing plants installed near the development site could bring costs down further. Floating solar projects do require longer due to the need for more detailed assessments of sites’ hydrography and water-bed topography. Furthermore, both the capital and operating costs are slightly higher due to the more complex design and risks of working in water, Srivastava added. Rustagi, however, said the local governments and municipal agencies in charge of most inland water bodies must push for them. Binit Das, deputy renewable energy programme manager at New Delhi think tank the Centre for Science and Environment, agreed but said there are other, more technical hurdles to overcome: “The solar floating system needs to hold solar panels on the water for over 25 years, so the racking system needs to be highly resistant to corrosion, must have a long lifespan and high load capacity.” He added: “Since this is a relatively new solar power technology, it requires specialised solar power equipment and more niche solar panel installation knowledge.”

• Renewable Energy

Floating solar: A small but vital role for India’s sunrise sector

Floating solar plants were never part of India’s plans to reach 100 GW of solar power by the end of this year. But the benefits are becoming clearer and numbers are on the rise India’s G20 presidency next year offers a “golden opportunity” to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, environment minister Bhupender Yadav told reporters on 26 April in a meeting with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This year is a litmus test for progress, representing a deadline for India’s renewable energy target of 175 gigawatts. While floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) was not originally envisaged as part of the mix, which only included terrestrial and rooftop solar, it has emerged as a small but not insignificant catalyst for the figures. Despite later including large hydropower in the renewable category to help meet the target of 175 GW, which originally included only small hydropower, India is still set to miss the goal, with 156.6 GW of utility-scale renewables as of March 2022, plus an estimated 11 GW of rooftop solar. The shortfall, due mostly to the slow development of rooftop solar, highlights the need to further diversify India’s portfolio of green energy sources. An alternative to terrestrial solar India’s journey with floating solar began in 2014 when it was approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in Kolkata. S P Gon Chaudhuri, a veteran of the country’s renewable energy sector, told The Third Pole: “The organisation tasked with implementing this project was NBIRT [the NB Institute for Rural Technology], of which I was chairman at the time.” Once the project was completed, “officials from organisations such as the World Bank visited the site and examined how a floating solar plant is set up, how it works”, Chaudhuri recalls. “Basically, it was a study centre.” Plants in Punjab, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu followed, among others. India’s reservoirs cover 18,000 square kilometres with the potential to support 280 GW of floating solar, according to a report by think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). High costs and design challenges are still holding back the deployment of the new technology, which as of November 2021 had an estimated cumulative installed capacity of just 2.7 megawatts, making it little more than a pilot project. Floating solar addresses so many problems Manu Srivastava, commissioner for new and renewable energy with the government of Madhya Pradesh However, according to the think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), India now has about 170 MW of operational floating solar capacity and another 1.8 GW under different stages of development. The steep increase, a CEEW spokesperson explained, is due to the fact that the first plants deployed were small, and India has only started implementing large-scale floating solar in recent years. Terrestrial solar PV is land-intensive, and the TERI report recommends exploring alternatives such as floating solar to keep pace with India’s national target of 100 GW of additional solar capacity by the end of 2030. The state of Maharashtra, the authors say, has the most potential and could generate 57.9 GW on 3,173 sq km of its reservoirs’ surfaces. “The FSPV addition is small in relation to the entire market for solar energy, but it could be a viable alternative for speeding up solar power deployment in India,” a 2021 study by researchers at Effat University in Saudi Arabia stated. Floating solar milestones Recent developments in the floating solar space hint at the sector’s promise. In August last year, government-owned NTPC, India’s largest integrated energy company, commissioned a 25 MW project on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal power station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The plant has the potential to generate electricity from over 100,000 solar PV modules, which could light around 7,000 households and avoid the emission of at least 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year over its lifespan. Workers install solar panels on the roof of a metro station, Amlan Mathur RecommendedRooftop solar: The missing piece of India’s renewable ambitions In January 2022, the state-owned hydropower corporation NHPC signed a deal with a developer in the eastern state of Odisha to build a 500 MW floating solar plant. It will initially invest over INR 20 billion (USD 261 million) in 300 MW-worth of floating solar projects. The project will help the state to meet its renewable energy generation targets, besides creating investment and employment opportunities. On 10 March 2022, Tamil Nadu’s chief minister MK Stalin inaugurated India’s largest floating solar power plant, which was constructed at a cost of INR 1.5 billion (USD 19.6 million). Scarce land, more water Most Indian states lack land, but have enough water for FSPV. Installing solar on water can increase the panels’ efficiency due to lower temperatures that prevent overheating, Chaudhuri explained. Manu Srivastava, commissioner for new and renewable energy with the government of Madhya Pradesh, said: “When we start looking for a piece of land, it isn’t easy. In places with a lot of land, there are too many projects and hence, transmission is a challenge… Floating solar addresses so many problems.” Avnish Shukla is executive engineer at Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd, a joint venture that has commissioned solar projects in Madhya Pradesh. Shukla told The Third Pole that a 600 MW floating solar plant in the state of Madhya Pradesh will be commissioned by August 2023, likely to be one of the largest in the world. Shukla said that solar projects often occupy barren land, not used by agriculture, industry or people. “Since there is scarcity of such a type of land, we face trouble… In such a scenario, water bodies are perfect. Moreover, water will evaporate if we do not use it to install solar panels [to reflect the sun’s rays].” Vinay Rustagi, the managing director of Bridge to India, a renewable energy consultancy, pointed out that some floating solar sites that are located near hydropower projects or in thermal plant reservoirs already have ready access to their transmission infrastructure. Falling costs Ground-based installations still form 93.1% of India’s grid-connected solar PV, according to a 2020 report by TERI. Utility-scale solar costs fell 84% between 2010 and 2018, making large-scale solar cheaper in India than anywhere else. According to Chaudhuri, the cost of setting up a floating solar plant is currently INR 50-60 million (USD650,000-780,000) per MW, while conventional land-based solar projects cost the equivalent of USD 520,000 per MW, a difference that explains the slow take-off of the technology. However, he said, floaters and maintenance are becoming more cost-effective. “India needs to meet certain targets it has committed to by 2030, which means states need to adopt more such [floating solar] plants, as they do not have so much land to spare,” he said. According to Srivastava, transporting the lightweight but big floaters the panels sit on can be a challenge. However, these are low-tech components, so manufacturing plants installed near the development site could bring costs down further. Solar panels in Zanskar, Ladakh, India RecommendedThe promises and pitfalls of India’s plan for a global grid Floating solar projects do require longer due to the need for more detailed assessments of sites’ hydrography and water-bed topography. Furthermore, both the capital and operating costs are slightly higher due to the more complex design and risks of working in water, Srivastava added. Rustagi, however, said the local governments and municipal agencies in charge of most inland water bodies must push for them. Binit Das, deputy renewable energy programme manager at New Delhi think tank the Centre for Science and Environment, agreed but said there are other, more technical hurdles to overcome: “The solar floating system needs to hold solar panels on the water for over 25 years, so the racking system needs to be highly resistant to corrosion, must have a long lifespan and high load capacity.” He added: “Since this is a relatively new solar power technology, it requires specialised solar power equipment and more niche solar panel installation knowledge.”

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

Around 78% of India’s e-waste is not being collected or disposed by the government

Untreated solid waste, e-waste must be getting dumped in open spaces and water bodies, say experts Only 22.7 per cent of the e-waste out of the total 10,14,961.21 tonnes generated in 2019-20 in India was collected, dismantled, and recycled or disposed off. This e-waste is comprised of 21 types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) notified Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. In 2018-19, about 21.35 per cent of the total generated e-waste was handled, collected, dismantled, and recycled in India, while in 2017-18 this percentage was just 9.79 per cent. The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 extend the responsibility to producers to manage a system of e-waste collection, storage, transportation, and environmentally sound dismantling and recycling through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) authorisation. The rules also promote and encourage the establishment of an efficient e-waste collection mechanism. However, the data show that not even 25 per cent of the e-waste generated is being managed properly. Experts say that like untreated solid waste, e-waste must be getting dumped in open spaces and water bodies. Under 2016 rules, provisions have been made for the dismantling and recycling of e-waste. The dismantlers and recyclers have to obtain authorisation from concerned State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) or Pollution Control Committees (PCCs). The concerned SPCB or PCC grants authorisation after ensuring that the dismantlers and recyclers have the dismantling and recycling facilities as per the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Limited dismantlers and recyclers The data provided by the Ministry of Environment show there are 468 authorised dismantlers/recyclers in 22 States having a processing capacity of 13,85,932.22 metric tonnes per annum. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana are among the States that have a bigger capacity to dismantle and recycle e-waste. Maharashtra has the highest number (116) of authorised dismantlers and recyclers. The number of limited dismantlers and recyclers and their concentration in urban areas is a major cause for concern. This is one of the reasons that all e-waste generated is not handled properly. Role of urban local bodies E-waste is anything with a plug, electric cord, or battery (including electrical and electronic equipment) from toasters to toothbrushes, smartphones, fridges, laptops, and LED televisions that have reached the end of their life, as well as the components that make up this end-of-life products The report titled ‘Waste-Wise Cities: Best Practices in Municipal Solid Waste Management’ by NITI Aayog and Centre for Science and Environment, published last year, states that the use of electrical and electronic equipment has witnessed explosive growth and so is e-waste. The UN has termed this phenomenon a “tsunami” of e-waste. The report highlights that e-waste typically does not feature in the list of municipal solid waste and therefore not a direct mandate for the cities to collect, transport, and manage. “However, looking at its exponential growth, it is now time to rethink the policy framework and recognise the city government as one of the key institutions to spearhead e-waste management,” the report mentioned.

• Sustainable Habitat

How Fares the PMAY (U)? Taking Stock of India’s National Housing Programme

Across India’s burgeoning cities, the supply of affordable homes is highly inadequate to keep pace with the growing need; as a result, slums and other informally built areas, where living conditions are extremely poor, have grown. In 2015 the Indian government implemented a national housing programme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) or PMAY (U) to bridge the gap in affordable housing. This report evaluates the progress of PMAY (U), and finds that the mission has accomplished only 50 percent of its goal of providing housing for all by 2022. The report outlines the administrative and socio-economic impediments to the programme’s success. Introduction Large numbers of city dwellers in India are unable to live in proper houses for two related reasons: insufficient income to buy or rent them, and the shortage of affordable homes.[a] Urban spaces, however, continue to attract denizens because of the livelihood opportunities that they presumably bring. These individuals or families then put together whatever money they can afford, to build for themselves some form of shelter in the unplanned areas of the city. This has led to the emergence of slums and informal residential colonies in Indian cities. As these residences are unauthorised, government agencies often do not provide them basic amenities, and living conditions are left substandard. The last census in 2011 had found that over 65 million people, or about 5 percent of India’s total population, lived in slums; this number is 17 percent of the country’s urban population.[1] States with the largest slum population (above 28 percent) are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. In some hill states, notably Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram, slums are a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging only in the 2011 census count. As for specific cities, Greater Visakhapatnam, Jabalpur, Greater Mumbai, Vijayawada, and Meerut[2] had the biggest slum populations of over 40 percent. Reliable data on the number of people living in unauthorised colonies is not available. According to some estimates, 25-30 percent of Delhi’s population live in such colonies.[3] Many other poor people live in public areas, such as pavements, without a roof over their heads. Government agencies have historically taken a lenient view of the growth of unplanned (or informal) living areas. While authorities conduct evictions, these are mostly done when the area comes in the way of a development project or has been deemed palpably unsafe. Poor families have largely been allowed to reside wherever they built their homes. Indeed, with the growing recognition that every individual has the right to choose to live in the city if they wish to, many such areas have been given authorised status, and subsequently upgraded. Numerous housing programmes for people living in informal areas have also been launched. Following the 2011 census, in 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation estimated that urban India needed 18.78 million more dwelling units.[4] Of this total, 95 percent was for the economically weaker section (EWS) and lower-income group (LIG) categories. A later estimate in 2014 by the same ministry, by then called Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), set the housing demand at 11.22 million dwelling units.[5] The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) [PMAY (U)] the following year to provide housing for all by 2022. The scheme sought to be an expanded version of a programme already in operation under the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. PMAY (U) is being implemented in the following four ways:[6] (i) In-situ slum redevelopment (ISSR): This consists of existing slums being replaced by new, liveable houses at the same spot. The Centre provides assistance of up to INR 100,000 per house. Private developers, selected through an open and transparent bidding process, are encouraged to design and execute redevelopment projects in consultation with slum dwellers. Incentives have been offered to generate interest among private developers and to make projects financially viable. These include permitting them additional floor area ratio and floor space index, providing transferable development rights, and free sale of some houses in the market to cross-subsidise the projects. Upon completion of work, houses have to be allotted to eligible slum dwellers in a transparent manner. (ii) Credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS): This scheme is targeted at EWS, LIG and middle-income groups (MIG). People from these groups are eligible for interest subsidies of 3-6.5 percent on housing loans up to INR 1.2 million from financial institutions, the loan being repayable over a maximum of 20 years. The money received can be utilised to buy a house, build one’s own house, or improve/enhance an existing dwelling. Only houses with carpet area between 30 and 200 sq m are eligible. The conditions include giving preference to disadvantaged sections such as manual scavengers, women, persons belonging to scheduled castes (SC)/scheduled tribes (ST)/other backward classes (OBC), minorities, persons with disabilities, and transgenders. (iii) Affordable housing in partnership (AHP): Under this component, the Centre offers financial assistance of INR 150,000 to buyers for each EWS house constructed as part of a housing project. The projects can be undertaken by states/UTs through their own agencies or in partnership with the private sector, and can include houses for various income categories. However, to be eligible, the housing project has to comprise at least 250 houses, reserving 35 percent of them for the EWS category. Once again, preference for such assistance is given to persons with disabilities, single women, senior citizens, persons belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories, minorities, and transgenders. (iv) Beneficiary-led individual new house construction/enhancement (BLC-N/BLC-E): People belonging to EWS categories, wishing to construct new houses or enhance existing ones themselves, and who have not availed of the benefits of PMAY (U) under any other category, can apply for central government assistance of up to INR 150,000 per house. They need to submit land/property documents providing proof of ownership of the land on which they intend to construct. Funds are released to bank accounts of eligible applicants through direct benefit transfer (DBT). The agencies in states/UTs which build the affordable housing colonies get central assistance, both in constructing houses and providing basic civic infrastructure such as water supply, sanitation, roads, and electricity. The PMAY (U) guidelines require states/UTs to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Centre, conduct housing demand surveys (based on discussions with local representatives), and prepare proposals, plans of action, annual implementation plans, and detailed project reports. PMAY (U) is accompanied by a technology sub-mission (TSM) to ensure adoption of modern, innovative, and green technologies and building material in house construction. Given the varying geo-climatic zones in the country, the TSM allows deploying disaster-resistant technologies. With the regular migration of people from rural to urban centres, and the reverse migration crisis seen following the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns, an Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) scheme was also launched by the government in July 2020. It is a sub-scheme of the PMAY (U) targeted at EWS, LIGs, SCs, STs, OBCs, women, persons with disabilities, and minorities. Under the initiative, existing government housing stock lying vacant (about 88, 236 houses to date)[7] will be made available to migrants at affordable rents. The scheme also provides for construction, operation and maintenance of ARHCs by public and private entities. PMAY (U): A Status Report This report evaluates the progress of PMAY (U), and its implementation experience, reviewing national, state, and city-level data on houses sanctioned and constructed, and financial assistance offered by the Centre to states and cities. An attempt has also been made to understand the nature of affordable housing initiatives undertaken in the proposed ‘smart cities’ of India. An appraisal of the physical and financial progress of PMAY (U) reveals the following: As of 21 February 2022, 11.46 million houses had been sanctioned in urban areas across the country, for which INR 1,228.98 billion was released. Of these, 9.36 million houses have been ‘grounded’ (i.e. work has begun), and 5.51 million, or less than one-half the houses sanctioned, have been completed. Houses sanctioned, grounded, and completed under the four different components of the scheme are shown in Table 1. The data shows significant achievements under the ISSR component, while the AHP and BLC initiatives have moved slower. It is also noted that the maximum number of houses have been constructed or enhanced under the BLC component. Table 1: Houses Sanctioned, Grounded and Completed under PMAY (U), All-India Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2022.[8] Note: * Number of beneficiaries; includes 0.61 million MIG and 1.22 million EWS/LIG; **based on a demand survey. Among UTs, the number of houses sanctioned under the PMAY in urban areas has ranged from 603 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to 48,777 in Jammu and Kashmir. Among states, the smallest number was in Goa – 3,520 units – and the largest, 2.04 million, in Andhra Pradesh. In each of the three states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, over a million houses were sanctioned. On house completion rates among UTs, the cities of Chandigarh and Delhi have recorded the highest, exceeding several times the number of houses sanctioned. But that is because houses sanctioned under earlier schemes, which could not be completed then, have also been included. They are followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) and Daman and Diu (DD) with 70 percent completion. Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands has the lowest completion rate among UTs – a bare 7.3 percent. Among states – excluding the northeast – Goa, Telangana, Kerala, and Gujarat have been the best performers, recording over 70 percent completion. The lowest rates were in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, with less than 30 percent of sanctioned houses completed. In the northeast, sanctioned houses were between 628 (Sikkim) and 168,106 (Assam). Tripura and Sikkim have reported over 50-percent completion, while in Manipur and Mizoram, the rate is a mere 13 percent. (See Figure 1) Figure 1: PMAY (U) House Completion Rates in States and UTs Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2022.[9] PMAY (U) in Smart Cities PMAY (U) guidelines mandate the convergence of the scheme with other ongoing urban development initiatives to utilise resources judiciously and achieve maximum societal benefits. The smart cities mission statement includes the following provisions for housing of the poor:[10] The core infrastructure elements should include affordable housing. Of the total housing provided in greenfield areas, at least 15 percent should be in the affordable housing category. Be it redevelopment or greenfield development, at least 80 percent of buildings should be made energy-efficient. A total of 2.37 million houses were sanctioned under PMAY (U) in the 100 proposed smart cities, of which 1.4 million houses, or nearly 60 percent, have been completed. The number of houses sanctioned has varied from a low 63 in Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh) to 256,093 in Ahmedabad. No houses were sanctioned for Atal Nagar (Chhattisgarh), Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), and New Town, Kolkata. The highest numbers (133,376 to 256,093) have been sanctioned for Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Surat, and Pune. In 13 of the 100 cities, all the houses sanctioned have been completed; in another eight, the completion rate is above 80 percent. There are 55 cities in the 40-80 percent completion category (see Figure 2). The completion rate is below 40 percent in 21 cities, including three where it is below 10 percent – Imphal, Port Blair, and Solapur. Figure 2: PMAY (U) House Completion Rates in Proposed Smart Cities Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2022.[11] In all, 143 affordable housing projects were proposed under the smart cities mission at a cost of INR 180 billion.[12] – 9 percent of the total investment of INR 2,050 billion committed under the mission. Of these projects, 38.38 percent are completed, and work is underway on a similar proportion. However, work is yet to begin on nearly one-fourth of the projects (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Physical Progress of Affordable Housing Projects in Proposed Smart Cities s Source: Elets News Network, June 7, 2021. The PMAY (U) projects in smart cities relate to slum rehabilitation and redevelopment, EWS/LIG flats, working women’s hostels, night shelters, and affordable rental housing complexes (see Figure 4). Some representative projects in Surat, Tumakuru (Karnataka) and Bhubaneswar are described in the following paragraphs. Surat In 2017-20, 208 flats were built in the Magob area of Surat for EWS families, with the cost of construction, around INR 150 million, shared between the Centre and the state government.[13] Two apartment blocks of 13 floors were developed. Each unit has an area of 30-40 sq m – with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom – and was sold to EWS families at INR 300,000-500,000. Common facilities include parking area, LED street lights, lifts, fire fighting equipment, rainwater harvesting facility, wastewater treatment facility, organic waste converter, and piped natural gas line.[14] Affordable rental housing for migrant workers has also been built in Surat. The demand for rented homes is high as the city’s textile and diamond industries attract a large number of workers from other states. The need for secure accommodation for such workers was felt acutely during the pandemic-induced lockdowns, when migrants were unable – since their wages had stopped – to pay house rent and many were asked by their landlords to vacate their homes. Under this scheme, unoccupied government houses are given to private firms for renovation and subsequent use for rental housing. A total of 393 one-BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) flats of size 32 sq m, previously constructed by the State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) in 2014 in the Sachin area of the city, have been made available at rents of INR 3,500 – 4,000 per month.[15] The private firm has to pay INR 180 million to SUDA over 25 years.[16] Tumakuru In this city, land under slums has been redeveloped as a planned residential complex. The newly constructed houses were given to slum residents at zero cost.[17] Bhubaneswar A three-storey social equity centre has been built in the city centre with the support of the Odisha government. It offers rental housing to construction workers and homeless persons. The city’s municipality has also set up a shelter for mendicants, with a 100-bed capacity.[18] Figure 4 provides more details.[19] Figure 4: Affordable Housing in the Proposed Smart Cities Sources: (i) mapsofindia.com; (ii) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, December 2021.[20] Achievements and Shortcomings of PMAY (U) Houses are being constructed and delivered to EWS and other needy communities. Women’s empowerment is being stressed as it is the woman of the family who is given house ownership rights. The financial support provided is enabling people to purchase, construct or improve their houses. Residential facilities are also being created for migrant workers, working women, and homeless people. Among all urban initiatives, such as the metro rail network in different cities, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) which provides basic urban services, the overall smart cities project, the Swachh Bharat (Sanitation for All) Mission and others, the PMAY (U) has received the highest budgetary allocation from the Centre in the last three years. In Budget 2022-23, for example, INR 280 billion has been allocated. This is 36.57 percent of the total budgetary allocation by [21] A few cities are ‘building green’, laying stress on incorporating smart features into their house designs, as well using sustainable building materials.[b] The Surat project for EWS, for instance, has included sustainable management of water, sustainable sanitation, and power-saving devices. However, such examples are rare. In most cases, buildings are still being built in the traditional way without any provision to monitor energy and water consumption, or sustainable management of liquid and solid waste. Nor are annual audits conducted to measure building performance. An independent assessment claimed that not even 5 percent of the total built environment in the country is green.[22] The goal of Housing for All (HFA) by 2022 is far from achieved. Less than one-half of the houses sanctioned under PMAY (U) had been completed by February 2022. House completion rates depend greatly on release of central financial assistance, as well as the beneficiaries’ economic condition (since the latter too must contribute). Thus, it is no surprise that states and UTs lagging behind in receipt of sanctioned funds – such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram, Manipur, and A&N Islands, which have received less than 44 percent of the sanctioned assistance[23] – have recorded the lowest rates.Other common institutional deficiencies that hamper the completion of projects include delayed approvals, restrictive development norms, high cost of construction, inadequate technical capacity of implementing agencies, and failure to mainstream low-cost technologies.[24] With the BLC (N) and BLC (E) components of the PMAY (U), central funds were often delayed because municipalities failed to submit fund utilisation certificates, which is usually caused by the beneficiaries’ inability to continue building or improving construction. The Covid-19-induced lockdown saw many families’ incomes fall steeply, and they were unable to contribute their share towards house construction.In Maharashtra, for example, constructing a new unit costs around INR 450,000-650,000 (land cost is separate). Central assistance up to INR 150,000 is available, but the remaining cost has to be borne by the beneficiary. With beneficiary income dropping, many projects have remained incomplete; it is not rare to find dwellings where walls have been raised, but the roof could not be laid.[25] In some places, relocation has affected beneficiaries adversely. In congested cities, for instance, vacant land to build PMAY (U) houses is not available in the core areas; housing projects for the poor have to be in peripheral areas. These areas often lack essential social/economic/physical infrastructure and services, and are poorly connected to the city centre.In Ahmedabad, for example,[26] slum dwellers near the Sabarmati River have been relocated at Odhav, at the eastern periphery of the city. With few public transportation options available, their reduced mobility makes it difficult for them to continue with their work, however informal. Thus many did not relocate to their new homes, which remain unoccupied. Limited availability of vacant land in cities has been an important reason for the slow progress of the scheme. This issue is being dealt with by the government in various ways: (i) PMAY (U) guidelines require states/UTs to earmark land for affordable housing in their master plans; (ii) construction agencies need to reserve land/flats for EWS in housing projects; (iii) vacant land available at the periphery of cities is being acquired using the model of land pooling; (iv) existing government housing stock lying vacant is being made available to the migrant population on rental basis; (v) existing built-up informal areas are being improved through in-situ rehabilitation for optimal utilisation of land; and (vi) small format housing is being promoted. Such measures are proving beneficial, as observed in Bhubaneswar, Surat, and Tumakuru. Private sector participation in affordable housing projects has been lower than expected, despite the incentives offered – such as stamp duty exemption, reduced GST, and granting of additional development rights. According to one assessment, private developers are unhappy with capping of bid costs and house sale prices by public authorities.[27] Conclusion This evaluation of the PMAY (U)’s performance reveals that progress is being affected by various administrative and socio-economic constraints, key of which are the following: delays in fund release by the Centre, and in project approval; infrastructure and service deficiencies in new EWS housing areas; difficulties in attracting private developers for affordable housing projects; private builders violating the pre-condition of reserving houses for EWS in affordable housing projects; public/private builders’ non-compliance with green building norms/green building audit measures in new housing areas; low affordability among a large number of people; difficulties in providing houses/giving housing loans to EWS due to their inability to furnish required documents, such as identity card, proof of income, tax returns; sale of houses by some beneficiaries after obtaining possession. The early resolution of these problems will help bridge the housing demand and supply gap, and prevent proliferation of informal housing areas in India’s urban spaces. Rumi Aijaz is Senior Fellow at ORF. Endnotes [a]The Indian government has not set any price ceiling for a house to qualify as ‘affordable’. The eligibility criteria for an ‘affordable’ dwelling in the PMAY (U) scheme are as follows: (i) EWS and LIG houses constructed for the poor and other needy communities living in slums and informal areas; (ii) EWS and LIG houses having a maximum carpet area of 30 sq m and 60 sq m respectively, along with basic infrastructure and services; and (iii) Buyers must be households having an annual income of no more than INR 300,000 (for EWS homes) and no more than INR 600,000 (for LIG homes) (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Housing for All Mission Scheme Guidelines). [b]Green buildings use less water, optimise energy efficiency, conserve natural resources, generate less waste, and provide healthier living spaces (Indian Green Building Council, “Green Building and Sustainable Architecture in India”). [1] Census of India, Primary Census Abstract for Slum, New Delhi: Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, 2013. [2] “Population Enumeration Data (Final Population),” Primary Census Abstract Data for Slum (India & States/UTs – Town level), Excel Format, 2011. [3] “Centre grants ownership rights to people in Delhi’s unauthorised colonies,” National Herald, October 23, 2019. [4] Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Report of the Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage (2012-2017), New Delhi: Government of India, 2012. [5] MoHUA, “PMAY (U) Achievement (provisional),” as on February 21, 2022. [6] MoHUA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Housing for All Mission Scheme Guidelines, New Delhi: Government of India, 2021. [7] Press Information Bureau, “Affordable Rental Housing Complexes Scheme under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package,” July 29, 2021. [8] MoHUA, “PMAY (U) Achievement (provisional)” [9] MoHUA, “PMAY (U) – Housing for All, State-wise Progress since 2014,” as on February 21, 2022. [10] Ministry of Urban Development, Smart Cities Mission Statement and Guidelines, New Delhi: Government of India, 2012. [11] MoHUA, “City wise details of PMAY (U),” as on February 21, 2022. [12] Elets News Network, “Smart Cities Mission brings together diverse government schemes on affordable housing under one roof,” June 7, 2021. [13] “Affordable housing (PMAY) EWS II – 208,” Surat Smart City. [14] “Construction of 208 DUs of EWS type at TP 19 (Parvat Magob), FP 112 under PMAY,” A2ZProperty.in. [15] Kamal Saiyed, “SUDA to provide around 400 houses on rent to migrant workers,” The Indian Express, February 4, 2021. [16] “Surat sets up first affordable housing for migrant workers,” The Hindu, November 13, 2020. [17] MoHUA, Smart Cities Mission Monthly Bulletin, Issue # 6, September 1, 2021. [18] “BMC conducts vaccination drive at beggar’s home & social equity centre in Bhubaneswar,” Odisha News Tune, June 5, 2021. [19] “PMAY (U) – Glimpses of Progress,”. [20] MoHUA, “Dashboard,”. [21] MoHUA, “Notes on Demand for Grants, 2022-23 – Demand No. 60”. [22] Manisha Natarajan, “A pale green habitat,” The Indian Express, July 20, 2021. [23] MoHUA, “PMAY (U) – Housing for All, State-wise Progress since 2014” [24] Elets News Network, “Smart Cities Mission brings together diverse government schemes on affordable housing under one roof” [25] Atikh Rashid, “Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana subsidy delayed, thousands of beneficiaries forced to live in shanties or half-finished houses,” The Indian Express, October 10, 2020. [26] Rumi Aijaz, “Social Marginalisation in Urban India and the Role of the State,” ORF Issue Brief No. 118, December 2015, Observer Research Foundation. [27] Anumita Roychowdhury, Rajneesh Sareen and Mitashi Singh, “Beyond the Four Walls of PMAY: Resource Efficiency, Thermal Comfort, and Liveability in the Affordable Housing Sector,” Policy Brief, 2020, Centre for Science and Environment.

• Sustainable Food Systems

CSE Report flags poor state of organic fertiliser, biofertiliser sector in India

Context Drastic reduction in the production of organic fertilisers observed in India in 2020-21 when compared to the data of 2017-18. Background What are organic fertilisers? Organic fertilizerscomprise a variety of plant-derived materials that range from fresh or dried plant material to animal manures and litters to agricultural by-products. What are the benefits of using organic fertilisers? Helps improve the Soil Structure: Because of the organic matter present in organic fertilizer, soil structure is improved and as a result the soil’s ability to hold onto water and nutrients increases. Microbes Thrive Synthetic fertilizer consists of chemical molecules without carbon. These molecules can sometimes be disruptive and are not accessible to microbes. Organic fertilizers are rich in organic matter, which helps microbes thrive. Organic fertilizer contains carbon as part of its chemical makeup; and it is the carbon, along with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that feeds microbes and enables them to make nutrients available for plants in a naturally occurring biological process. Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Synthetic fertilizers runoff into our waterways harming marine life and water quality. Organic fertilizers do not run off as easily (if at all) and are associated with soil structure. It has been observed that organic fertilizer also increases species biodiversity by 30% compared with synthetic fertilizer. Reduces the use of Fertilizers and Pesticides Although organic fertilizer can be more costly than synthetic, it can reduce the need for pesticides and the overall nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium requirements. Because of the reductions, organic fertilizer can be cost neutral and sometimes a cost savings. Plant Damage Threat Avoided Some synthetic fertilizers can cause plant damage to leaves and roots. This is less likely with organic fertilizers. What are the Disadvantages of Using Organic Fertilizers? Not All Products Are Created Equally Not all products are created equally and many organic products produce inconsistent results. Nutrient Levels Are Low The level of nutrients present in organic fertilizer is often low. In addition, the nutrients are usually complexed in organic chemical structure; this means using organic fertilizer may not produce the pop of colour seen with a chemical fertilizer. DIY Compost is a Complicated Procedure Creating an organic compost is a messy and complicated process that often leads to an inconsistent product and end-result. Production of Organic Fertilisers in India: Making compost out of agriculture, animal and plant waste has been practised in India for a long period of time. Today though we are seeing a new era of organic fertilizers which are made using modern technologies and machineries. India, at this point of time, is the biggest producer of organic fertilizer in the world. Though the production of the same in the last few years has gone down drastically. Karnataka alone produces 94% of organic fertilisers in India. What the reasons for reduction of organic fertilisers in India? Farmers in India have become habitual of using inorganic fertilisers and making them shift towards the use of organic fertilisers is the biggest hurdle. Inorganic fertilisers have a history of giving bumper harvest since the time of Green Revolution and hence farmers in India continue to use them ignoring their ill-effects. Resources allotted by the Indian and state governments for manufacturing, distribution and promotion of organic fertilizers are miniscule when compared to the overall allocation made to the Agricultural sector. Data of companies through whom state governments procure organic fertilisers is opaque and hence tracing them and enquiring about the quality of their product is difficult. Stakeholders indicate widespread corruption and faulty tender process in such procurements. Farmers do not get good results because of such poor quality products and lose confidence in organic and bio-inputs available in the market. Not many companies today are operating in this sector and hence low competition is leading to sub-standard products being available in the market. Quality control infrastructure is poor. Many states do not have their own testing laboratories. Way forward Way forward: Promoting the use of organic fertilisers amongst farmers is of utmost importance. Farmers must be made to realise about the agricultural and environmental impact that indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers have. Union and states governments need to allocate more financial resources to the manufacturing and promotion of organic fertilisers. Procurement and distribution of organic fertilisers should be left to be done by local self-government bodies which could ensure transparency in the process. Mains Question Q1. Organic food export can transform Indian economy. Discuss the challenges faced by organic farming in India. What policy measures are needed to overcome them? Q2. Sri Lanka’s experiment with Organic Farming has raised questions on its efficacy. In light of this statement, discuss the future of organic farming in India.

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

What do we do with Chennai’s legacy waste?

Legacy waste in Chennai’s dumpyards has become a ticking time-bomb making headlines over the years. The latest in a long line of incidents at Chennai’s dumpyards was a fire that broke out in Perungudi in the last week of April. The blaze spread across 15 acres and took four days for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Fire and Rescue Services and the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) to put out. While much is talked about waste management and the source segregation of household waste, such incidents bring into sharp focus the scale of legacy waste at the dumpyards in the city and how little success there has been in tackling it. Status of Chennnai’s dumpyards At present garbage generated in Chennai is dumped at two dumpyards – Kodungaiyur, spread over 269 acres, and Perungudi, spread over 200 acres. With both the landfills being in use for almost three to four decades, 2,400 to 2,800 metric tonnes of waste is being disposed of at each site daily. In 1985, the civic body started dumping 20 tonnes of waste per day in Kodungaiyur and in 1989 the first sewage treatment plant (STP) was built on the fodder farm land. These combined factors started the destruction of the original pulpannai (turf) in the area. In a matter of years, the lush green pulpannai had turned into a brown hill of garbage. Similarly, the dumping of waste in Perungudi has had a profound effect on the ecologically sensitive Palikkaranai Marshland found nearby. The marshland has shrunk in size to 300 heactares from the original 8000 hectares, in part due to the spread of encroachments including the dumping site. The estimated volume of legacy waste at present in the Perungudi dumpyard is 30.60 lakh cubic metres, while the Kodungaiyur dumpyard has around 64 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste. chennai dumpyard With improper source segregation, more waste gets added to the dumpyards daily. Pic: Aruna Natarajan Legacy waste a source of pollution According to a study from the Centre for Science and Environment titled ‘Clean it right – Dumpsite management in India’, waste in dumpsites gradually decomposes by a combination of biological, chemical and physical processes. During the process of decomposition, two major emissions of primary concern – leachate and landfill gas which affect the environment in the following ways Leachate is polluted water that emerges at the base of dumpsite waste. It is formed in two ways. Rainwater landing on the waste flows over and through the waste and soluble substances are dissolved in the water. Also, some of the decomposition reactions in the waste produce liquid that is acidic. Some substances, such as toxic metals, tend to dissolve more easily in acids, making the final leachate more harmful. Leachate enters watercourses and may be consumed by humans in drinking water, for domestic purposes or irrigation, exposing users to these pollutants. Dumpsites in general receive mixed waste. The process of decomposition creates anaerobic conditions due to the presence of plastic and other large-surface-area materials. These anaerobic conditions lead to the formation of landfill gas, comprising a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. Methane is known to be more potent as a heat-trapping gas. It is also flammable with slight exposure to flame or high temperatures. In extreme cases, the gas can build up in a landfill and explode, with risk of devastation. Biomining, the solution with pitfalls An oft cited solution to the mammoth task of clearing legacy waste in cities is biomining. Biomining is the process of using microorganisms to extract materials of economic interest from legacy waste. The prime process, however, is to recover soil from decomposed mixed waste. In other words, biomining is a process by which previously dumped waste is dug up after loosening by harrowing and then processed to recover valuable recyclable scrap while also recovering landfill space. The end product, likely to be soil, is rid of toxic materials and hence becomes reusable. Removal of legacy waste is a herculean task. “It is not only a mixture of waste that is dumped there. For every two layers of legacy waste, debris from construction and demolition waste has been used to compact because there was a need for something to hold the waste together so that the waste does not dissipate. It could not be dug open or unearthed that easily,” said Dr Jayshree Vencatesan, Managing Trustee of Care Earth. Citing the surveys conducted by Care Earth since 2002 in Perungudi, she pointed out the medical wastes also continue to be dumped there. “Physical removal of such wastes is not going to help. Projects like biomining are being done under the assumption that the land is flat. In the case of Perungudi, we still do not know how much of the waste has sunk into the marshland,” she noted. With biomining, the useful inorganic waste in the dumps will be sent to recycling centres, while the organic part of the soil will be used for agriculture or creating manure. Explaining how the plastic in legacy waste gets inseparably mixed, Satyarupa Shekhar, Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator for Break Free From Plastic, said “Plastic is scientifically established to degrade very quickly. It basically does not biodegrade but breaks into smaller particles and gets mixed with all the materials. The problem with biomining is the assumption that we are removing all the plastic from the waste. The organic part of the soil, which is assumed to be free of toxic plastic substances, is used for gardening and farming. End of the day, these plastic substances enter our food system and also the bloodstream.” Akin to how the soil becomes unusable despite biomining, citing a 2019 study conducted by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), she said that groundwater around Kodungaiyur dump site has been highly contaminated. “The problem with legacy waste is that it makes the soil and water completely unusable,” she said. The inorganic waste which cannot be recycled, is either sent to cement plants or used in projects like ‘waste to energy conversion’ in which the waste is incinerated. The cement plants require good quality waste. A monitoring mechanism on how the toxic mixed wastes are handled at cement plants is the need of the hour. The problem with incinerators in India is the substandard technology, said Dharmesh Shah, Advisor at Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). “In addition to the emission, the larger question is what would we do with the ash after burning them? The ash is also very toxic and we will need a place to dump it again. What happened in Delhi is that the Okhla dumpyard was cleared, the waste was incinerated and ash was again dumped at the same site. This only led to air pollution,” he said. Commenting on ‘waste to energy’ projects, he said, “It is just another term for incineration and it is going to have the same impact as incineration.” What after biomining? In a bid to remove the legacy waste and reclaim the marsh land, biomining works are underway in Perungudi. Meanwhile, waste characterisation study, a hydrogeological study to compute the flooding potential at the site, a baseline environmental study to determine presence of heavy metals and toxic substances in the soil, water and air and a socio-economic survey are soon to be conducted in Kodungaiyur prior to biomining, said a corporation official. According to recent news reports, following the biomining works which are underway in Perungudi, an eco-park or a forest is likely to come up following the reclamation. “My worst fear is that the local body would plant saplings and convert it into a park. The Pallikaranai marshland has two unique features – the unique hydrology which is partly saline and partly fresh waste and the second, as a result of such unique hydrology the marshland has a wide diversity of habitats. It serves as home to 114 flora and 223 fauna species. Plantation on this land will make it a single habitat area which will attract only a few sets of birds. This could also have other ecological consequences,” she said. When asked if the marsh land could retain its original shape after the biomining process, she said that it is impossible and is gone forever. S Janakarajan, Professor of Economics (Retired) from the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS, Adyar), commented that natural hydrology could be retained after reclamation but it will not happen overnight. “It is going to take a very, very long time,” he said. Need for Circular Economy While dealing with the legacy waste is by itself a huge task, thousands of tonnes of fresh waste which remain unsegregated despite the attempts to implement decentralised waste management systems, also pose a huge challenge and further complicate the process. A sanitary worker, S Balakrishnanan from Zone 9, who has been working on contract basis for over a decade, said that though there are different bins used for collecting bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes and even when residents segregate the household wastes at source level, the wastes are later mixed together and taken to dumpyards without being processed. “Similarly, the compactor vehicles, which are mostly used only at night times, carry the mixed garbage from the bins straight to the dumpyards at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi,” he added. “‘Use and throw’ has become the habit of urban citizens. In particular the middle and upper middle-class population have been intoxicated in a way with increasing habits of consumerism. They are decently employed people. They earn money and they spend. Who handles all the waste they generate? The answer is obvious”, said Janakarajan, stressing that every individual should take ownership of their garbage and ‘see through their own waste’. “I would consider all the garbage as a resource and put it in a circular economy where by-products like manure could be made. Unless a product is processed from purchase to end through a circular economy, it could not be called solid waste management,” he said. While some people argue that manufacturers should not use plastic. They are selling only because there are consumers who buy the product. Though the onus is on both the ends, people should have some sort of mechanism to protest against such sales, he added. Decentralised infra must be in place The Solid Waste Management Rules are very clear. It mandates source segregation and decentralised waste management systems. However, municipal corporations have not been able to implement it effectively. “Even when all the waste generated is segregated into separate streams, there are few categories like low quality plastics which could not be recycled. We need policy level decisions to eliminate such waste,” Dharmesh said. Pointing out examples from Bangalore and Pune, he added that unless a decentralised infrastructure is in place, biomining will only be yet another fancy project where crores of money is dumped in. “Not only in Chennai but also across the country and globe, solid waste management contracts are being given only for waste collection and disposal. When contracts are worded that way, it only means that the contractor should collect the waste from the houses and dump it in a specified location. The contracts should rather include scientific processing of all kinds of waste,” said Satyarupa Jayshree suggested that multidisciplinary experts should be roped in to deal with legacy waste as even a margin of error could have irrecoverable impacts on the environment. Vamsi Shankar Kapilavai, Senior Researcher who heads projects in Solid Waste Management with Citizen Consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) said that the companies should come up with ‘reuse and refill’ initiatives, while the residents should ensure source segregation. He also added that the reclaimed land in areas near the Pallikaranai marshland should not be used for anything. It should be left as marsh land which will help in retaining the effects of climate change naturally in the long run. Responding to the critiques on source segregation, a corporation official said that the civic body is implementing the source segregation strictly now and is aimed at preventing at least 1,000 metric tonnes of organic wastes from reaching the dumpsites. Meanwhile, the GCC has also announced that a sum of Rs 100 per day would be levied as fine on each household that fails to segregate the wastes at source level. A sum of Rs 13.85 lakh fine has been collected in April from 573 persons for dumping the household and construction waste in public places. Speaking on the legacy waste management, the officials also assured that the biomining in Perungudi is done with caution following all the rules and the biomining in Kodungaiyur would be carried out after the aforementioned studies.