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Cse In News

Environmentalist says India has no record of 25.87 million hectares of forest—roughly the size of UP

The story of India's ‘missing forests’ is the one we should all worry about, says CSE director general Sunita Narain India needs to focus on its missing forests, noted environmentalist Sunita Narain on Wednesday. Her comments come days after the central government released its report on India State of Forest Report 2021. The report highlighted an increase in India’s forest cover, but Narain, the director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment, says this isn’t something to boast about “even note-worthy". "The ‘missing’ forest is the real issue that we need to focus on. Otherwise, our forests will be only ‘paper forests’—forests only on paper and not real,” Narain said in her analysis published in the CSE's in-house magazine Down to Earth. The recently released survey report has a glaring omission, she says—some 25.87 million hectares of forests—roughly the size of Uttar Pradesh—are missing. "There is no record of whether they exist, or in what condition they are. Between 2019 and 2021, India’s forest cover has grown by a mere 0.2 per cent. Most of this ‘growth’ has been in ‘open forests’, on lands outside recorded forest areas.” The recorded forest area, according to the Indian State of Forest Report 2021, is 77.53 million ha (hectare), she says. But forest cover on these lands is said to be 51.66 million ha. “This means as much as 34 per cent of the area classified as forests—25.87 million ha—is missing in the assessment. The India State of Forest Report 2021 does not explain what is happening to this huge tract of forest land,” she says. India can be said to have two kinds of forests—those that are inside the officially recorded forest area, and those that are outside it. "The 2013 report estimated India’s total forest cover as 70 million ha – but it did not distinguish if this forest was inside or outside the recorded forest area. From the 2015 report, the area inside the forest got reduced to 51 million ha and the rest—19-20 million ha—was said to be forest cover outside recorded forest area,” the analysis says. "In fact, between the assessment 2019 and 2021, India’s forest cover has grown by a mere 0.2 per cent, and most of this ‘growth’ has been in ‘open forests’ (with canopy cover of 10-40 per cent), on lands outside recorded forest areas." There are states where over 30-50 percent of the land classified as forests is ‘missing’ from the government’s assessment, Narain says in her assessment. Madhya Pradesh, for instance, has ‘lost’ nearly three million hectares. “This is the real story of forest loss in our country – and it should worry us enormously,” her analysis says.

Air pollution in Delhi remains high depsite action

From October to January, Delhi recorded 19 days of ‘severe’ air quality, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI). Following a period of high air pollution, in late 2021 the government introduced various measures to reduce air pollution and even shut schools in a bid to reduce exposure. However, despite this, the air pollution picture this winter is the same as the previous two years when 19 days of ‘severe’ air quality were also recorded. January and October recorded better air quality this year when compared to previous years, but in November, when Diwali was celebrated and when the contribution of stubble burning to particulate matter (PM2.5) increased, the capital recorded worse air this year than previous years. yellow bus on road during daytime Over the past three days, the AQI has remained in the ‘moderate’ category, according to experts this is aided by strong winds. Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director for Research and Advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment told Indian Express: ‘October was about prolonged rain, while January was also about record rainfall. In terms of overall winter pollution, we would see cleaner air days this winter, if we account for January and October. These are two key months; October is when winter begins and January is usually the thick of winter. ‘But at the same time, we recorded one of the most prolonged smog episodes this year in November, with continuous ‘severe’ air days. Towards the end of December, even when there was no stubble burning, Delhi experienced ‘severe’ pollution days. That shows the impact of local pollution in Delhi and NCR. The fact that so much pollution trapping could happen in November and December is indicative of high pollution in the region.’

Global Operating Tables and Lights Market to Surpass US$ 1,810.0 Million by 2028, Says Coherent Market Insights (CMI)

According to Coherent Market Insights, the global operating tables and lights market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1,382.0 million in 2021 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period (2021-2028). Key Trends and Analysis of the Global Operating Tables and Lights Market: Key market players are launching innovative products in the market, which is expected to drive the global operating tables and lights market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in January 2017, Hill-Rom, an American medical technology provider and a subsidiary of Baxter International, launched a new TruSystem 3000 Mobile Operating Table, which is suitable for various surgical disciplines and can be customized for different surgical procedures. This customization is attributed to the availability of wide range of patient-positioning components and accessories such as head sections, leg sections, arm supports, and anesthesia frames, which are easy to attach and dismantle through an intuitive, easy-to-use, coupling system. Key Market Takeaways: The global operating tables and lights market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period, owing to rising incidence and prevalence of lifestyle diseases demanding surgical interventions. For instance, according to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), over 61 percent of all deaths in India were attributed to lifestyle or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in 2017. Among product, the operating tables segment is estimated to hold a dominant position in the global operating tables and lights market over the forecast period, as the key market players are focusing on inorganic growth strategies such as collaboration. For instance, in October 2021, STILLE AB, a company that develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for surgeons across the world, announced an exclusive collaboration with GE Healthcare, a medical technology and digital solutions innovator, for a new general surgery table in the U.S. The new general surgery table, GS2, had been developed to address a growing need for a premium general surgery table that satisfies the needs of multi-disciplinary surgery units such as Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) while providing a cost effective high-value solution. On the basis of end user, hospital is estimated to hold a dominant position in the global operating tables and lights market over forecast period. Increasing number of hospitalization for chronic disease management, which often requires surgical intervention, is expected to propel the segment growth. For instance, according to Cancer.Net Colorectal Cancer Statistics, in 2021, it is estimated that 149,500 adults in the U.S. will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. These numbers include 104,270 new cases of colon cancer (52,590 men and 51,680 women) and 45,230 new cases of rectal cancer (26,930 men and 18,300 women). Competitive Landscape: Key players operating in the global operating tables and lights market are Siemens AG, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Getinge AB, KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG, Mizuho OSI, Koninklijke Philips N.V., STERIS Corporation, Stryker Corporation, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., BenQ Medical Technology, Mediland Enterprise Corporation, Alvo Medical Sp. z o.o. Famed Zywiec Sp. z o.o., Heal Force, OPT Surgisystems S.R.L. (TKB Group), Medifa-hesse GmbH & Co. KG, UFSK-International OSYS GmbH, Taicang Kanghui Technology Development Co., Ltd, Ningbo Techart Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Fazzini SRL, Lojer Oy, and AGA Sanitaetsartikel GmbH.

Delhi sees yet another air pollution-riddled winter, AQI remained in ‘severe’ category for 19 days

From October to January this winter, Delhi recorded 19 days when the Capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was in the ‘severe’ category with readings between 401 and 500. Despite the emergency measures introduced to tackle pollution, the situation in Delhi this winter was not any different from that in the previous years with regard to ‘severe’ air days, the Central Pollution Control Board bulletins show. From October to January this winter, Delhi recorded 19 days when the Capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was in the ‘severe’ category with readings between 401 and 500. This is the same as the previous two winters, which also recorded 19 days when the air quality was in the ‘severe’ category. However, this winter fared worse than the 2017 season, when 12 ‘severe’ air days were recorded from October 2017 to January 2018. However, it was marginally better than the winter of 2018 when 21 ‘severe’ air days were recorded from October 2018 to January 2019. January and October recorded better air quality this year when compared to previous years, but November, when Diwali was celebrated and when the contribution of stubble burning to particulate matter increased, recorded worse air this year than previous years. “October was about prolonged rain, while January was also about record rainfall. In terms of overall winter pollution, we would see more cleaner air days this winter, if we account for January and October. These are two key months; October is when winter begins and January is usually the thick of winter,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment. “But at the same time, we recorded one of the most prolonged smog episodes this year in November, with continuous ‘severe’ air days. Towards the end of December, even when there was no stubble burning, Delhi experienced ‘severe’ pollution days. That shows the impact of local pollution in Delhi and NCR. The fact that so much pollution trapping could happen in November and December is indicative of high pollution in the region,” added Roychowdhury. While the first three days of February recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, subsequently, the AQI has either remained ‘poor’ or ‘moderate’. Over the past three days, the AQI has remained in the ‘moderate’ category, aided by strong winds. Different combinations of measures have been taken in the past as well, when AQI rises, including banning construction and restrictions on industrial units over the last few years, Roychowdhury said. Similar restrictions were introduced by the Commission for Air Quality Management this winter as well. “But emergency measures are temporary efforts to ensure that we are not adding more pollution when pollutants are already trapped. Infrastructural changes, like improving the public transport system, will now have to be the focus,” she added.

Cancer: ब्रेड खाने से हो सकता है कैंसर,पढ़ें यह रिपोर्ट

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट ने चेतावनी दी है कि रोजाना ब्रेड खाने से कैंसर हो सकता है और ब्रेड और पिज्जा में मौजूद केमिकल कैंसर का कारण बन सकते हैं। सीएसई ने दिल्ली में कुछ कंपनियों द्वारा उत्पादित ब्रेड के नमूनों की जांच की। शोध से पता चला है कि इसमें पोटेशियम ब्रोमेट और पोटेशियम आयोडेट जैसे खतरनाक रसायन होते हैं, जो कैंसर का कारण बन सकते हैं। दुनिया के कई देशों में पोटैशियम ब्रोमेट के इस्तेमाल पर बैन है। हालाँकि, भारत में अप्रभावी खाद्य प्रसंस्करण कानूनों के कारण, इसका उपयोग भारत में व्यापक है। पोटैशियम आयोडेट थायरॉइड से जुड़ी कई बीमारियों का कारण बनता है। इसलिए, इन दोनों रसायनों के उपयोग पर प्रतिबंध लगाने की मांग बढ़ रही है। सीएसई की प्रदूषण निगरानी प्रयोगशाला की एक रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, भारतीय ब्रेड निर्माता पोटेशियम ब्रोमेट और पोटेशियम आयोडेट का उपयोग करते हैं। इस बीच पीएमएल ने दिल्ली के एक मशहूर फास्ट फूड आउटलेट से 38 तरह की ब्रेड के सैंपल की जांच की है। गेहूं के आटे से रोटी बनाई जाती है। यह रोटी हर घर में पहुंचती है। बहुत से लोग कहते हैं कि इससे कैंसर हो सकता है, लेकिन आटे या आटे से कैंसर नहीं होता, लेकिन ब्रेड बनाने में इस्तेमाल होने वाले केमिकल से कैंसर होने का खतरा होता है। इन रसायनों पर पहले से ही कई देशों में प्रतिबंध लगा हुआ है। कई देश ब्रेड केमिकल्स पर प्रतिबंध लगाते हैं पोटेशियम ब्रोमेट और पोटेशियम आयोडेट, जिनका उपयोग ब्रेड बनाने के लिए किया जाता है, कई देशों में प्रतिबंधित हैं। यह संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका, इंग्लैंड, कनाडा, ऑस्ट्रेलिया, चीन, श्रीलंका, ब्राजील, नाइजीरिया, पेरू और कोलंबिया जैसे कई देशों में प्रतिबंधित है। हैरानी की बात यह है कि भारत का एफएसएसएआई, एक खाद्य प्रहरी, अभी भी चुप है। दिल्ली सीएसई में 38 सैंपल की जांच के लिए दिल्ली के अलग-अलग हिस्सों से ब्रेड के 38 सैंपल की जांच की गई। इसमें ब्रिटानिया, हार्वेस्टर गोल्ड, इंग्लिश ओवन, परफेक्ट प्रीमियम जैसी लोकप्रिय कंपनियों की ब्रेड शामिल है। इनकी रोटी में खतरनाक केमिकल पाए गए हैं।

New policy in March to combat Delhi-NCR’s pollution problem

The expert panel by the CAQM was formed on January 7 this year, while the central air quality control body invited comments and suggestions from the general public on December 24 to solve the region’s severe air pollution problem. Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) may get a comprehensive plan to tackle its air pollution problem by next month, with a nine-member expert panel formed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) due to submit its report in March. The panel was formed on January 7 this year, while the central air quality control body invited comments and suggestions from the general public on December 24 to solve the region’s severe air pollution problem. The best solutions have been shortlisted, said members of the panel, which is currently analysing presentations based on these ideas. The nine-member panel is headed by P Raghavendra Rao, chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB). Arvind Nautiyal, the CAQM’s member secretary, holds the same role in this committee. It also comprises experts such as Sachin Ghude (a scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, or IITM), Mukesh Sharma (IIT Kanpur), Anumita Roychowdhury (executive director at the Centre for Science and Environment) and LS Kurinji (from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, or CEEW). The panel was asked to “consider suggestions received from the general public” with a view to “finding a permanent solution” for Delhi-NCR’s annual winter pollution rerun, which is fuelled first by stubble smoke from neighbouring agrarian states and then by local sources of bad air, and exacerbated by low temperatures. Each expert member will also have to submit their own suggestions before the final policy is finalised. The panel was given two months for the task, according to the January 7 order that ratified the panel. A member of the expert panel who asked not to be named said residents were given two weeks to submit possible solutions and ideas that could be implemented next winter. The panel has picked the “best solutions” within each sector. “The final report will be submitted to CAQM by the first week of March. Currently, individuals are being asked to present their ideas to us and several presentations have been seen in the last two weeks from the shortlisted solutions. Once finalised, these will be incorporated in the report, along with each expert’s comments,” said the member. Another member said the plan was fairly comprehensive and will look at all sectors, including long-term solutions, such as increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road, better solutions to waste management in place of the existing landfill sites, making the PUC certificate criteria more stringent and to prevent subsidies to prevent biomass burning. “Each sector was being looked at separately and for each of these sectors. Multiple solutions are being looked at. The CAQM asked for the public to participate to include problems on the ground,” the second official said. As per the CAQM, the policy formed will run in tandem with existing plans, both at the national and state level. These include measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), the Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) and the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), each of which have short-term and long-term measures to tackle air pollution in the region. “This is in preparation for next winter and to address any gaps if at all,” said a senior union environment ministry official.

Delhi: 7 plants to stop 248mgd of sewage from flowing into Yamuna every day

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited and ambitious Interceptor Sewage Project (ISP), touted to be the game-changer for Yamuna’s pollution problems, has been completed by Delhi government. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said the project was an integrated approach towards zero sewage flow as it would treat a substantial amount of sewage flowing into the river and drains. Targeted at cleaning a 22km stretch of the river, the plan is to trap minor drains discharging sewage into Delhi’s largest drains — Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahdara. A DJB official said work for treating 238 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage out of the targeted 248 MGD from the minor drains had been completed. The project would start functioning at full capacity by next month. Built at Rs 2,454 crore, Delhi government is implementing the project in six packages with seven sewage treatment plants (STP). Waste water flowing in drains would be trapped and diverted to STPs for treatment. The plants would purify untreated waste water and generate gases to run themselves. The cost includes operation and maintenance for 10 years. The project was conceptualised in 2006. A 60km sewer line was to be laid parallel to the three largest drains to tap about 100 minor drains. This important work has been completed. The interceptor sewage network will have an inflow from the existing sewer network running along 597 sqm of the city. In 2007, Supreme Court had constituted an expert committee comprising experts from Central Water Commission, Union ministry of urban development, Central Pollution Control Board, Central Ground Water Board and IIT Delhi and Roorkee to assess the techno-economic feasibility of the interceptor sewers in comparison with a plan to set up STPs at the mouth of the drains opening into Yamuna. The committee filed its report in 2009 stating that the interceptor project was the technically and environmentally desirable option. The biological oxygen demand (BOD) level in the water of Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary drains is around 150 parts per million (ppm). DJB claimed this would come down to 15 ppm, effectively reducing the polluting content by 90% after treatment. However, a report published by Centre for Science and Environment, which did a review of the interceptor sewage project, stated, “An analysis of the detailed project report shows that the way the project is designed, it will not result in a clean river. It will be more money down the drain.” In February 2020, environment minister Gopal Rai, while visiting the STP at Delhi Gate, had said that the ISP was likely to be completed by March 31, 2020. He had directed DJB to ensure that waste water in the ISP was treated to meet the standards observed in the STP at Delhi Gate.

Capital’s parking policy etched on paper, but little impact on ground

Capital’s parking policy etched on paper, but little impact on ground Despite the direct intervention of the Supreme Court, leading to notification of Delhi’s parking policy in September 2019, key features of the plan are yet to be implemented in the city. Last week, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) decided to hire a private agency for implementation of parking policy in heavily congested trans-Yamuna areas. The project will be carried out on public-private partnership (PPP) basis and the private operator will help the civic agency in formulating solutions, enforcement as well as monitoring through a software-based mechanism, the civic agency has said. Despite the direct intervention of the Supreme Court, leading to notification of Delhi’s parking policy in September 2019, key features of the plan are yet to be implemented in the city. A senior EDMC official from the remunerative projects (RP) cell explained that roping in a private player is expected to expedite the parking management and enforcement in east Delhi. “The tenders have been floated for development, implementation and maintenance of parkings on PPP mode. A monitoring software will be developed by the contractor and committee of civic officials will carry out the monitoring,” the official said. Haphazardly parked vehicles on roads and pavements are a common sight in Delhi -- a city that has 13.4million vehicles. Counted among the cities with poor parking facilities globally, Delhi continues to struggle to streamline its parking management despite a policy in place. Despite the government notifying the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, it had been put on the backburner by the three municipal agencies which are tasked with its implementation. Under the parking policy, the corporations were expected to chalk out parking management area plans (PMAPs) to streamline parking. The policy had also recommended a dynamic pricing mechanism for parking in peak and non-peak hours. Lack of initiative at political level to take unpopular decisions, competing interests of stakeholders and repeated disruptions due to pandemic have ensured that these plans have largely remained on paper, several stakeholders pointed out. Anumita Roychowdhary, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE),and a member of the committee that drafted the parking rules, said implementation of the policy has slowed down and Delhi immediately requires ward-wise parking plans and a clear implementation timeline. “We need a sense of urgency in the implementation of the policy because vehicles are one of the biggest contributors to the pollution in the city.” Under the policy, the civic bodies were expected to prepare parking management area plans PMAPs with neighbourhood-specific solutions while taking care of rights of pedestrians, cyclists, emergency vehicles and vendors. However, the process continues to move at snail’s pace. Key features of Delhi's parking policy are yet to be implemented in the city. Key features of Delhi's parking policy are yet to be implemented in the city. The South corporation has finalised PMAPs for 16 areas with diverse regions including Safdarjung Development Area (SDA) to Nizammudin Basti during June-August 2021 last year, but the implementation has not started yet. An SDMC official said that the final notification of the plans will be done by the Delhi government. “We are also planning to give the parking area management plan implementation work to Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd. BECIL- a public sector enterprise,” official added. The Delhi government did not respond to repeated texts and calls. North MCD has initiated 20 parking plans of which seven are in final stages, and two may be soon put in public domain for feedback, a civic body official said. Similarly, EDMC is also in the process of finalising PMAPs for Bhajanpura and Laxmi Nagar. An official with EDMC parking division said the process may still take another month. “There are so many stakeholders and competing interests involved. We also have severe budget constraints with corporation being unable to even pay salaries of workers. There are demands of parking space between RWAs, markets and East Delhi clearly has shortage of open land. PMAPs will need initiative at higher political level and assistance from Delhi government for implementation.” The lethargy in enforcement has ensured that even the three SC-approved model parking projects -- Lajpat Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Kamala Nagar -- which were expected to showcase the benefits of parking rules remain effectively unimplemented. The Karol Bagh predestination project and parking/circulation plan, which was cleared by the lieutenant governor-led UTTIPEC in April 2010, also remains a work in progress. In East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar, pedestrianization of Lal Quarter market was carried out in October 2019 and on-street parking was shifted to nearby multilevel parking facility. BS Vohra, head of East Delhi RWA joint front & local RWA said the initiative failed in just one month. “There is lack of political will. Any new project will require adjustments from some stakeholders and everyone cannot be pleased. Instead of finding solutions to traffic circulation problems, entire project was shelved,” Vohra said. An EDMC official said that they faced a lot of resistance from local market and residents. “We could not take forward the Krishna Nagar project at a successful level and it needs to be reworked,” he said. The North MCD had kick-started its pedestrianization and parking management project at Kamala Nagar in December 2019 by turning Mandelia Road into a no-parking zone but could not go forward. Nitin Gupta, president of Kamala Nagar traders’ association said that the issues related to street vendors and parking shortage need to be worked out before restricting the traffic. “We are willing to co-operate and even help in funds related problems in beautification of area but corporation needs to stop new street vendors from encroaching space and make some surface parking provision for shop owners/workers,” he added. The pedestrianisation Ajmal Khan Road in Karol Bagh was first implemented in May 2019, but the project has failed to make further headway in terms of improving parking space availability through grid parking, marking vending zones and streamlining traffic mobility in region. Murali Mani, who heads local traders’ welfare association said they are not satisfied with the progress of the project. “Four multi-storey parking facilities were to be set up and grid surface parking provisions were also to be made. In second phase, the project was to be expanded to neighbouring areas and by-lanes, but nothing has been carried out. Even the benches installed on the road are now mostly broken,” Mani said. North MCD is relocating the street vendors from the site of an upcoming multilevel parking lot at Bank street. Harjeet Singh, who heads street vendors association said that the relocation sites in Moti Nagar and Naraina are also problematic as the existing markets in those locations do no want new traders. Jogi Ram Jain, the standing committee chairman said all stakeholders need to be brought on board before expanding the project. Jai Prakash, former North MCD mayor, said traders have been resisting the project from the beginning but the implementation of next phases must have been ensured by the subsequent officials. “Momentum of such projects cannot be maintained unless there is constant initiative from both political and executive side. When the first relaxation was provided in during the Covid, people moved back to the old habits,” he added. The parking policy mandates a steep hike in parking charges in Delhi to discourage the use of private vehicles and promote public transport and to discourage on-street parking for long durations. But barring select locations such Ajmal Khan Road and Green Park market, no price hike has been cleared. The government has repeatedly deferred the dynamic pricing citing the financial stress on residents due to the coronavirus pandemic and the political wings corporations have also been reluctant to adopt any price hike with upcoming municipal elections.

A bolt from the blue that kills thousands in India

Last March, four gardeners working in a condominium in Gurgaon, a suburb near the Indian capital, Delhi, took shelter under a tree during a downpour. Within minutes, an orange flash raced down the trunk followed by pealing thunder. Lightning usually lasts under a second. A typical lightning flash measures about 300 million volts and 30,000 amps - enough to kill. It can cause the air around it to heat up to temperatures that are five times than that on the surface of the sun. The four men fell to the ground. One of them died, while the others survived with burns. "I don't remember what happened to me and how it happened. In a matter of seconds, everything was destroyed," one of the survivors told a newspaper. His colleague was one of the more than 2,500 Indians who lose their lives to lightning every year. Lightning strikes have killed more than 100,000 people in the country between 1967 and 2019, according to official data. This is more than a third of fatalities caused by natural hazards during this period. Survivors might have to live with symptoms such as weakness, dizziness and memory loss. India's meteorological office began lightning forecasts three years ago. Mobile apps now track flashes. People are alerted over radio, TV and megaphone-toting volunteers. A three-year-old initiative called Lightning India Resilient Campaign is working hard to raise awareness in lightning-prone villages and reduce deaths. But the number of strikes have also risen sharply. India recorded more than 18 million lightning strikes between April 2020 and March 2021, according to a study by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment and climate magazine Down to Earth. This was a 34% rise over a similar period during the previous year. Satellite data gathered by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology also shows strikes had "increased rapidly" between 1995 and 2014. Although half-a-dozen states recorded a bulk of the strikes, three states - Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal - accounted for 70% of the deaths. Men working in farms are most vulnerable. "There are a lot of lightning strikes in our area. I still remember a seven-year-old boy getting killed when he went out during a storm to fetch their buffalo. Now we just try to stay at home," says Sandhyarani Giri, a school teacher in West Bengal. Ms Giri lives in a thickly populated fishing village in Fraserganj bordering Bay of Bengal, some 120km (74 miles) south of the state capital, Kolkata. It's a lightning hotspot of sorts - about 60 people die every year due to lighting in the South 24-Parganas district, where her village is located. The coastal villages present a landscape of land and water: farms, ponds and tin-roofed and thatched homes. Living next to the sea can be precarious: cyclonic storms and tidal surges are common. Lightning is more likely to occur over land, but waters off the coast are most often affected. Lighting strikes are essentially a release of electricity mostly caused by imbalances within the storm clouds. So villagers have helped raise awareness and cut lightning deaths here by making cheap, homegrown lightning conductors to direct the electrical charge to the earth. To make these conductors, villagers use second-hand bicycle wheel rims, bamboo and metallic wires. The rim is fixed on the top of a bamboo pole - sometimes up to 30ft high - which is strapped to buildings, mainly community centres and local schools. The conductor makes sure that the electricity generated will pass to the earth without causing any harm. The overwhelming majority of India's lighting victims live in villages and die after taking shelter under tall trees, according to studies conducted by Lightning Resilient India Campaign. Tribespeople who farm, fish and forage for a living are especially vulnerable. The campaign has cut lightning deaths by 60% in some states. "But there's a lack of community driven safety awareness campaigns by governments to reach the really vulnerable people at hotspots like farms, jungles, sea, coasts, ponds, lakes and rivers," says Col Sanjay Srivastava, convener of the campaign. Scientists say the threat from climate change is leading to increased lightning activity. Rising land and sea surface temperatures warm the air above and make more energy available to drive thunderstorms from where lightning emanates. A study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, said that lightning strikes in the US could increase by 12% for every degree rise in average temperature. In India, increasing urbanisation and loss of tree cover have led to rise in temperatures. "Heating over land and moisture over water and aerosols due to air pollution create favourable conditions for thunderclouds to trigger lightning activity. As India gets warmer and more polluted, thunderstorms will increase," says SD Pawar, director of Thunderstorm Dynamics at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Also, he says, the intensity of lightning is increasing: recently, scientists confirmed an almost 500-mile-long bolt of lightning that lit up the sky across three US states and set a new record for the longest flash. India aims to reduce the number of lightning deaths to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. Volunteers are holding awareness camps and telling people in far-flung villages to stay indoors and avoid running out into open fields to fetch grazing livestock during storms. They are telling them not to gather under trees, and keep away from power lines and metal fences. But every year, in the skies above, there's more thunder and lightning. "It is terrifying. We live in fear," Ms Giri says. — BBC

Χιλή: 39.000 τόνοι ρούχα στο γιγάντιο νεκροταφείο «γρήγορης» μόδας στην έρημο Ατακάμα

Στην καρδιά της ερήμου Ατακάμα στην Χιλή νέα «βουνά» αναδύονται ημέρα με την ημέρα! Και δεν είναι βουνά από άμμο, αλλά από μπλούζες, φούστες και τζιν παντελόνια που καταφθάνουν σε αυτή την παράξενη χωματερή από όλο τον κόσμο! Ρούχα, πάνω από ρούχα, πάνω από ρούχα, στοιβάζονται σε αυτό το απομακρυσμένο μέρος του κόσμου, όπου «τρωγλοδύτες» της ερήμου ψαχουλεύουν για να βρουν κάποιο μικρό... θησαυρό. Πρόσφατο ρεπορτάζ του BBC, καταγράφει την τραγική κατάσταση στο «νεκροταφείο» της «γρήγορης μόδας» στην έρημο Ατακάμα της Χιλής. Το Aljazeera μεταδίδει ότι πάνω από 59.000 τόνοι ρούχων που δεν πουλήθηκαν στις ΗΠΑ ή την Ευρώπη καταλήγουν στην πιο ξηρή και άνυδρη έρημο του πλανήτη. Ντόπιοι έμποροι εισάγουν ρούχα - μεταχειρισμένα ή απούλητα - και τα οποία προορίζονταν για την αγορά της Λατινικής Αμερικής, αλλά μόνο 20.000 τόνοι καταφέρνουν τελικά να διοχετευτούν στην αγορά. Πού πάνε λοιπόν τα υπόλοιπα ρούχα; Ό,τι δεν πωλείται στο Σαντιάγκο ή δεν επανεξάγεται σε άλλες χώρες μεταφέρεται λαθραία σε αυτή την περιοχή της ερήμου, σε μία γιγαντιαία και επικίνδυνη «χωματερή» γρήγορης μόδας. Κανένας δεν αναλαμβάνει την ευθύνη να καθαριστεί η περιοχή και κανείς δεν πληρώνει οποιαδήποτε εταιρία ή συνεργείο για να μετακινήσει ούτε ένα … τζιν παντελόνι. Οι τοπικές Αρχές σηκώνουν τα χέρια ψηλά! Ο Πατρίσιο Φερέιρα, δήμαρχος της περιοχής Alto Hospicio αναφέρει στο BBC: «Δυστυχώς έχουμε μετατρέψει την πόλη μας στη μεγαλύτερη χωματερή ρούχων του πλανήτη». Η πόλη Iquique βρίσκεται 1.800 χλμ. νότια από την πρωτεύουσα Σαντιάγκο. Περίπου 60.000 τόνοι μεταχειρισμένων ρούχων καταφθάνουν μέσω θαλάσσης εδώ, και κάθε χρόνο πάνω από τα μισά λήγουν στην έρημο Ατακάμα, με παράνομα φορτηγά. Ο δήμαρχος αναφέρει: «Το πρόβλημα είναι ότι μόνο το 15% αυτών των ρούχων πωλείται κανονικά και το 85% καταλήγει στην έρημο». Τα υφάσματα μπορεί να κάνουν και 200 χρόνια για να βιοδιασπαστούν, καθώς πρόκειται κυρίως για πολυεστέρα και όχι βαμβάκι. Τα χημικά των ρούχων απειλούν τη βιοποικιλότητα της Ατακάμα και την υγεία εκατοντάδων ανθρώπων που μένουν στα πέριξ. Ακόμα και η τεράστιας έκτασης φωτιά, που ανάβει μία φορά τον χρόνο για να καούν κάποια από τα ρούχα - λένε οι ντόπιοι περιβαλλοντολόγοι - δημιουργεί τοξικό καπνό, τον οποιο αναπνέουν οι κάτοικοι στην ευρύτερη περιοχή. Στον κόσμο της «γρήγορης» μόδας, οι τάσεις εναλλάσσονται με γοργούς ρυθμούς στα ρούχα, στα παπούτσια, στα αξεσουάρ. Τα μαγαζιά ανανεώνουν το εμπόρευμα ακόμα και κάθε εβδομάδα, όχι σε δύο σεζόν (πχ χειμώνας-καλοκαίρι) αλλά σε 52 μικρο-σεζόν, κάνοντας ιλιγγιώδη την ποσότητα των ρούχων και αξεσουάρ που παράγονται. Η «γρήγορη μόδα» («fast fashion») είναι κατά μία έννοια η ταχεία απορρόφηση όλων των ιδεών από την πασαρέλα απευθείας στα μαγαζιά. Τα κύρια χαρακτηριστικά αυτών των ενδυμάτων, είναι τα φθηνά υλικά, τα φθηνά εργατικά χέρια, το χαμηλό κόστος και τα μεγάλα κέρδη για τα καταστήματα. Όταν «πεθαίνει» η προηγούμενη τάση συνήθως καταλήγει στα απορρίμματα. Επιβάρυνση, βέβαια, αποτελούν και τα υλικά που χρησιμοποιούνται στην παραγωγή: τοξικά υλικά, χαμηλής ποιότητας με επικίνδυνα χημικά, είναι μερικά από τα πιο οικονομικά, ώστε το κόστος να παραμένει μικρό. Διεθνώς υπολογίζεται ότι η «γρήγορη» μόδα δημιουργεί 92 εκατομμύρια τόνους απόβλητων από υφάσματα κάθε χρόνο. Σύμφωνα με αναφορά του ΟΗΕ η «γρήγορη μόδα» χρησιμοποιεί ασύλληπτες ποσότητες νερού. Χρειάζονται περίπου 7.000 λίτρα για ένα ζευγάρι τζιν, ποσότητα που χρειάζεται ένας άνθρωπος για επτά χρόνια – ενώ την ίδια στιγμή αυξάνονται οι θάνατοι παγκοσμίως από έλλειψη πόσιμου καθαρού νερού. Η UNCTAD υπολογίζει ότι η βιομηχανία της μόδας χρησιμοποιεί 93 δισεκατομμύρια κυβικά μέτρα νερό τον χρόνο, ικανά να ικανοποιήσουν τη δίψα 5 εκατομμυρίων ανθρώπων. Εργοστάσια ρούχων πετούν τα χημικά απόβλητα της επεξεργασίας υφασμάτων σε ποτάμια και αγωγούς υδάτων, με αποτέλεσμα τη μόλυνση του περιβάλλοντος και των τοπικών κοινοτήτων – ειδικά σε χώρες όπως το Μπαγκλαντές και η Ινδονησία. «Είμαστε υποκριτές» λέει η η Sunita Narain, γενική διευθύντρια του Κέντρου Επιστήμης και Περιβάλλοντος της Ινδίας (Center for Science and the Environment) για αυτή τη «βρώμικη» πρακτική. «Δολοφονούμε εσκεμμένα τα ποτάμια μας». Το 2017 σε ντοκιμαντέρ για την μόλυνση των υδάτων που προκαλεί η γρήγορη μόδα ανέφερε ότι το χρώμιο από τα απόβλητα εργοστασίων ρούχων διοχετευόταν στα νερά της Kanpur, στην Ινδία, και μετά κατέληγε στο γάλα των αγελάδων και στα γεωργικά προϊόντα. Η έρημος Ατακάμα (Desierto de Atacama) βρίσκεται στη βόρεια Χιλή. Αποτελεί ουσιαστικά μια άνυδρη πεδιάδα αποτελούμενη από λεκάνες αλάτων, άμμου και ξερής λάβας, εκτεινόμενη από τις Άνδεις έως τον Ειρηνικό Ωκεανό. Έχει ηλικία 15 εκατομμυρίων ετών και είναι 100 φορές πιο ξηρή από την δεύτερη ξηρότερη περιοχή της Γης, την Κοιλάδα του Θανάτου στην Καλιφόρνια των ΗΠΑ. Μάλιστα κατέχει το παγκόσμιο ρεκόρ της πλέον μακροχρόνιας ξηρασίας, καθώς έχει καταγραφεί περίοδος 400 ετών χωρίς βροχή, έως το 1971. Η συνολική της επιφάνεια είναι 181.300 τετραγωνικά χιλιόμετρα (μεγαλύτερη της Ελλάδας). Το ύψος της βροχής ανέρχεται μόλις στο 1 mm ετησίως, κατά μέσον όρο. Γενικά είναι περιοχή πλούσια σε ορυκτό πλούτο, καθώς και σε... αστρονομική παρατήρηση λόγω του υψόμετρου και του ανέφελου συνήθως ουρανού που επικρατεί. Το φαντασμαγορικό τοπίο κάποιων σημείων, έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί και ως μοντέλο για την προσομοίωση συνθηκών στα εδάφη του πλανήτη Άρη. Με τις οργανωμένες χωματερές των δήμων να μην δέχονται τα υφάσματα, λόγω των χημικών προϊόντων που περιέχουν στις βαφές τους σύμφωνα με την NY Post, περίπου 39.000 τόνοι απούλητων ρούχων καταλήγουν να... λιάζονται στην Ατακάμα.

Market size key to battery investments

While the Centre has made its intent clear on faster adoption of electric vehicles, there are a host of issues that need to be sorted out first. According to Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director — Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), the adoption of battery swapping strategy is an option to embrace faster EV adoption. “Within that, the private sector will be encouraged to innovate business models for battery or energy services,” she says. Yet, when it comes to scale, Roychowdhury believes that an idea about the real market size is what will make a difference. This is where “we would still expect” the Centre to give a sense of what kind of market transformation “we are looking at”. Otherwise, she continues, why would businesses respond to battery swapping or battery manufacturing if there is uncertainty about the level of EV penetration in the coming years. In her view, an exclusive battery swapping policy signals delinking (the battery) from the vehicles and making it separate as an independent business for someone else to invest. However, there is a need to quantify scale in this case too as “whoever is coming into the market needs to be assured of a certain scale of the market, that is set to or expected to happen.” By the end of the day, says Roychowdhury, there is still need for a “lot more certainty” in terms of setting targets one could expect going forward so that “we don’t get caught in the typical chicken-and-egg syndrome” about what should come first. Her other concern is that the Budget is “technically not talking about allocations” except for where the grants are going to be given — there is “some promise” to the state governments about allocations. “What will really determine the transformation is how this Budget is going to activate the funding levers for what has been planned,” says Roychowdhury. Clearly, the Centre is throwing its weight behind faster EV adoption and linking it with urban development. As she elaborates, “We need to reimagine the city and then within that they have linked up the new generation policies like modernisation of building bylaws, town planning and transit-oriented development.” The provisions in the Budget along with the PLI scheme for battery chemistry and the ongoing FAME incentives will collectively define the EV trajectory across the country. Given India’s net zero target by 2070, the Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study 2022 indicates that the future of mobility in India is electric. More than a third of Indian consumers have expressed interest in electrified and hybrid vehicles. The Budget in this context brings about a “better alignment of policies with the overall clean air and low carbon growth path that India is now committed to after COP26,” says Roychowdhury. The direction is clear but within industry there are some anxieties like battery prices and the obvious limitation of the FAME incentives which cannot last forever. Yet, world over, EVs have become the buzzword even while carmakers are concerned about the return on investments being made. Within India, it is quite obvious that the transition will happen in the two and three-wheeler space first before expanding into cars. The internal combustion engine may be on its last lap but it will be a while before petrol and diesel are completely taken over by electric. For now, neither fuel will top a popularity poll given the crude oil price spiral which has seen their retail prices in India soar to giddy levels.

Climate Change And Agriculture: Ethiopia Farmers Utilise Smart Methods To Tackle Erratic Weather

Our climate has changed for the worse due to the prolonged burning of fossil fuels, destruction of forest cover and use of livestock farming. These have collectively caused global warming due to the accumulation of greenhouse gasses (GHG). The rising temperatures have caused erratic weather and led to an unpredictable seasonal cycle. Ethiopia, a farming-dependant nation, has also faced the brunt of these impacts. They have, however, taken steps to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance their farming production. As noted by Susan Chacko in a Down to Earth article, 25 Ethiopian smallholder farmers were interviewed in a study led by Diana Feliciano of the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. The study used Mitigation options tool (MOT) to estimate the GHG emissions in farming, note mitigation choices to understand the mutual benefits, between farmers and the environment. They learned that the farmers noted changes in weather patterns, such as a rise in temperatures and reduced rainfall, rise in crop diseases, decreased yields, crop season delays and water springs disappearing. The small farmers began to use methods such as reduced tillage and adding manure to the soil to lessen the impact of climate. Smallholders are farmers in developing countries, who own and also control a small patch of land and cultivate crops in it for commercial purposes and personal use. They create small volume yields with lesser resources than large-scale farmers. Smallholders are usually not part of the formal economy due to lack of government registration, proper legal documentation, and may fail to receive benefits of agricultural laws and initiatives by the government. Smallholder farmers may produce a small volume of crops, but they are the chief food producers in third world nations and their success as noted above means an increase in food production for their nation, a better economy and a reduction in poverty. In Ethiopia, traditional inversion tillage with ploughs and harrow was practised, which destroyed the qualities of the soil’s organic matter in the long term. Reduced tillage practises disturb smaller areas of a farm and are shallower. Such practises allow the preservation of the natural structure of the soil, which in turn helps prevent soil erosion. Reduced tillage also reduces reliance on machinery and saves fuel and labour. With the additional use of manure, the soil’s organic properties and its carbon content are protected and rejuvenated. The above climate mitigation practises have led to an increase in the soil’s water retention capacity, which is a blessing for nations like Ethiopia which are largely dry and have very little rainfall. Increased water retention by the more nutrient-rich soils in Ethiopian small farms can lead to improved yields. Other climate mitigation practises employed by Ethiopian small farmers are crop rotations and planting new types of crops, which increase soil fertility, increase yields, keep pests and diseases at bay, among others. The farmers are also adopting indigenous animal breeds in small numbers, and native Desho grass strips, for farming. They are utilising boundary planting and replacing wheat with barley, which does better in shallow soil and requires less moisture. The smallholders have increased the use of fertilisers, are sowing crops earlier and storing crops as a contingency for years in which yields are low. They are also, of late, seeking government help through agricultural officers and agents, to manage their farming better.

The New Single-Window Green Clearance System Is Bad Political Reform

In her budget speech, Union finance minister Sitharaman expressed a need to expand the scope of the single-window green clearance portal, called ‘Parivesh’. A single-window clearance system will hasten processes designed to rationalise – perhaps even delay – ecological destruction caused by human activity. In the new framework, the environmental protection that our natural resources avail is perceived to be a hassle to the free flow of capital. As a result, the onus of creating a hassle-free business environment has fallen to agencies within the environment ministry, which are now forced to abdicate their statutory mandates. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech last week garnered a lot of attention from various quarters, as intended. But while concepts like ‘climate action’ and ‘energy transition’ adorned the speech, Sitharaman didn’t make any substantial commitment to the cause of environmental governance. The country’s foremost pollution regulatory agency, the Central Pollution Control Board, was allocated only Rs 100 crore while key institutions like the National Biodiversity Authority, the Wildlife Institution of India and the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History had their budgets cut by 10% or more. More fundamentally, the budget speech also included crucial announcements that deserve wider discussion, especially in civil society circles and from the perspective of the shrinking democratic space in environmental decision-making. In her speech, finance minister Sitharaman expressed the need to expand the scope of the single-window green clearance portal, called ‘Parivesh’, and launched the ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0’ mission with the idea of ‘trust-based governance’, in keeping with the Narendra Modi government’s commitment to “minimum government, maximum governance”. To understand the social impact of these announcements, it is first important to decipher the connections between these ideas that appeared in different parts of the speech, and their implications. The key terms here were “single window”, “trust-based”, “ease” and “minimum”. The overall message was for businesspeople and investors to see India as a hassle-free destination for profit-making activities. In this framework, the environmental protection that our natural resources avail is perceived to be a hassle to the free flow of capital. As a result, the onus of creating a hassle-free business environment has fallen to agencies within the environment ministry – which have now been forced to abdicate their constitutional and statutory mandates and participate in the national GDP contest. In fact, this is contrary to plain common sense. State of India’s environment The push towards ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0’ comes at a time when India’s ecological capital has been severely degraded and is threatened by the vagaries of a warming planet. The government’s sustained focus on deregulation under the pretext of easing business without improving environmental governance has only made matters worse. In 2020, India ranked 168 in the 12th biennial Environment Performance Index, which measured the environmental performance of 180 countries. India scored below the regional average score on all five key parameters: environmental health (including air quality), sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals and waste management. India also ranked 120 out of 165 countries evaluated in the Sustainable Development Index of 2021. According to the Centre for Science and Environment’s 2021 report on the state of India’s environment, over 11,000 hectares of forest land were diverted for other uses in 22 states in 2019-2020 alone. The Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease Study in 2019 found that nearly 1.7 million, or nearly 18%, of deaths in India are attributable to air pollution. The economic cost of output lost to premature deaths and morbidity was estimated to be Rs 2.6 lakh crore, or 1.4% of India’s GDP. The surface and groundwater in the country are also under threat, with 86% of water bodies in the country ‘critically polluted’. And between 2008 and 2020, some 3.73 million people were displaced every year by floods, earthquakes, cyclones and droughts. Democratising environmental governance Given the state of India’s environment, the priority for Indian policymakers should be to strengthen the country’s environmental governance. ‘Environmental governance’ comprises the rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape how people interact with the environment. Good environmental governance is participatory, inclusive and takes into account the roles and stakes of all actors. The idea of single-window green clearance for infrastructure development has been one of the modes of governance of this government since 2018. The idea’s ultimate aim is to hasten development that is otherwise perceived to be mired in bureaucratic processes. While it’s fair to apply such a system to customs and taxation, it’s imprudent to apply the same standards to the environmental clearance processes. Investigating the environmental impacts of a project can be time consuming – and rightly so. A standard environmental impact assessment, if done right, will have to account for seasonal variations across a whole year. If a project is to come up in an already polluted area, the assessor will have to study its cumulative impacts – another time-consuming process. Add to this the time required to democratise the process in line with the principles of sustainable development, i.e. getting all stakeholders, especially the impacted communities, on board. As such, a single window clearance system designed to ‘simplify’ this process is a major political reform. It’s a change management project that involves interdepartmental coordination, redesigning business processes, document simplification and data harmonisation. It will completely overhaul the environmental governance regime and hasten processes designed to rationalise – perhaps even delay – ecological destruction caused by human activity. Arguably, a similar single-window clearance system should be for project-impacted communities to register their grievances and for the judicial system to dispose of cases on environmental crimes faster. In 2020 alone, 61,767 cases of environmental crime were registered – a 78.1% increase from 2019. To clear the backlog, courts will need to dispose of close to 237 cases a day. All these issues call into question the idea of “trust-based governance” that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed. If we go by recent decisions of the courts and tribunals, it’s clear that the only ground on which approvals for development projects have been cancelled is because regulatory agencies accepted the words of the project developers as gospel truth. Our trust in project proponents is misplaced – and a single-window system will only further benefit the proponents. The bureaucracy – in the form of a few upright and honest civil servants – around the green-clearance processes has been the principal safeguard against the unsustainable exploitation of our natural resources. It is also a way to ensure democratisation, instead of fostering a centralised clearing house. Impacted communities have various avenues, both bureaucratic and procedural, to challenge projects that impact their environment, health and livelihoods. This variety somewhat levels the playing field in a game that is heavily tilted in favour of the powers that be. Indeed, the idea of sustainable development is at the heart of the ‘Prime Minister Gati Sakthi’ scheme – the backbone of the 2022 budget. Going forward, policymakers need to incorporate the realities of our changing environment and strive to combine new economic models based on the sustainable use of resources and the principles of social equity and environmental justice. They will also have to embrace participative processes, collective decision-making and systems-thinking to withstand the social outfalls of climate change. But if they continue with business as usual, climate change won’t be our biggest problem. Dhamesh Shah is the senior technical advisor at the Lawyers Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), New Delhi.

Spell of cleaner AQI may mean end of pollution curbs for Delhi

January 2022 saw only one “severe” air day as against six such days last January, two in January 2020, and seven in January 2019. No severe days have been recorded in February so far January 2022 saw the cleanest air in the Capital in at least seven years -- and with air quality in February generally being better, the last restrictions related to bad air may soon be removed. As daytime temperatures rise, the winter pollution season is all but over, with no “severe” air day recorded in Delhi since January 2, when the air quality index (AQI) touched 404. Since then, Delhi’s air quality has largely hovered between the “moderate” and “very poor” categories, even recording some “satisfactory” air days, with spells of rain and good wind-speed keeping pollution in check. January 2022 saw only one “severe” air day as against six such days last January, two in January 2020, and seven in January 2019. No severe days have been recorded in February so far. In terms of the average AQI of the month, January 2022, at 279, was the cleanest January since AQI was launched by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in April 2015. RELATED STORIES Manchester United star Paul Pogba reacts to Karnataka hijab row, shares Instagram story involving religious mobs Manchester United star Paul Pogba reacts to Karnataka hijab row, shares Instagram story involving 'religious mobs' Step inside Shark Tank Indias Ashneer Grovers lavish 18,000 square feet Delhi mansion. See photos Step inside Shark Tank India's Ashneer Grover's lavish 18,000 square feet Delhi mansion. See photos ED attaches funds worth <span class=webrupee>₹</span>1.77 crore of journalist Rana Ayyub ED attaches funds worth ₹1.77 crore of journalist Rana Ayyub DU starts work on infra revamp ahead of students’ Feb 17 return DU starts work on infra revamp ahead of students’ Feb 17 return No hijab in schools till matter is resolved: HC No hijab in schools till matter is resolved: HC Mrunal Thakur reveals she was ‘absolutely okay’ with her boyfriend being on a dating app: ‘I am very understanding’ Mrunal Thakur reveals she was ‘absolutely okay’ with her boyfriend being on a dating app: ‘I am very understanding’ Amid slugfest over Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Kerala’ remark, data offers reality check Amid slugfest over Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Kerala’ remark, data offers reality check This spell of relatively cleaner air is likely to lead to the last of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) restrictions falling under the “very poor” category — particularly the ban on diesel generator (DG) sets across the National Capital Region (NCR) — being lifted by the end of the month, according to officials familiar with the matter. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) released a notification dated February 8, regarding the ban on DG sets in the region, and while it has not been lifted yet, the Commission has extended the list of exemptions, also allowing the telecom and IT sectors to use DG sets. Their use was also allowed across all sectors for a maximum period of two hours if they are run on 70% gas and 30% diesel. “Based on a review of the DG set ban and several meetings held with stakeholders, a decision was taken to extend the list of exemptions to the IT and telecom industry too. In addition, non-diesel based generators will be allowed from next winter, even during GRAP,” an environment ministry official said, asking not to be named. He added that a decision on lifting the ban on DG sets altogether will also be taken soon. Last year, the Central Pollution Control Board lifted the ban on DG sets in NCR on March 5. Experts say that unlike previous year when the impact of pollution continued till the end of January, this year, the second episodic smog event of the season occurred earlier than usual with Delhi recording six straight days of “severe” air between 21 and 26 December. According to data since 2015, after November, Delhi sees a second spike in pollution between December 31 and January 6, with some “severe” days being recorded until the end of the month. “January has been quite unique this year in terms of the intensity of rain, and winter rains have been quite prolonged this year, largely eliminating peak pollution levels during the month. Instead, we saw six consecutive days of severe air in December and the impact of the episodic smog event was concentrated in December and November instead of being spaced out from October till January, highlighting the impact meteorological conditions can have on air quality,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Experts recommend setting up of regional labs for honey testing

NEW DELHI: Experts from across the honey value chain have stressed on the need for setting up of honey testing labs by the government, better facilities for training, infrastructure and capacity building for beekeepers. They said the government needs to create a more enabling environment for holistic growth of beekeepers, who are an important part of the honey ecosystem. The experts were speaking at a virtual panel discussion organised by the India Honey Alliance, an association of honey producers, beekeepers, and technology experts recently. Naveen Patle, executive director at the National Bee Board, said while the National Honey Mission has been launched, there is a big lacuna in maintaining proper data on beekeepers, bee colonies and production. The webinar was organised to address the issues faced on-ground by beekeepers and to get insights on the various government schemes, scientific and technical information and initiatives to promote beekeeping in India. Experts agreed that beekeeping is a fragmented and unorganised sector, and that the government and the entire honey ecosystem should collaborate to take strong measures to create a robust, transparent and long-term strategy that can be implemented on ground for the betterment of beekeepers. Pankaj Prasad, additional MD, NAFED, said, “The honey production at grass-root level is highly unorganised and there is complete lack of technical knowledge for the efficient management of colonies. Further, the poor logistics and management for migration of bee-colonies is a great concern for the beekeepers. The inadequate infrastructure for production, collection, quality control and storage of honey also needs to be dealt with for tapping the potential of the honey industry at large." Sitaram Gupta, founder Samridhh Bharat Abhiyan, stressed the importance of employment generation though honey and authentic honey production through various means. He pointed out that the Processing Plant holders should open their training centres for beekeepers. He also spoke in favour of setting up of State Bee Boards. India Honey Alliance and sector experts said that labs with state-of-art, cutting-edge technologies be established across states by the government for honey testing. To be sure, private companies in India are growing the honey market through branded and packaged honey as more and more consumer turn to honey to improve health. India’s packaged honey market is dominated by Dabur. Others include Marico Ltd’s honey under the Saffola brand, Patanjali as well as Emami’s Zandu. An earlier report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found several Indian honey brands to be adulterated with sugar syrup. These brands allegedly failed the globally accepted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) test, the CSE report had said. India Honey Alliance has been formed to create a unified platform for all stakeholders in the honey sector to identify issues and find solutions related to technology, training, and consumer awareness programmes.

The role of grassroots initiatives in managing waste in cities

Most of us forget about our waste once it is discarded into dustbins or municipal garbage trucks. Municipalities and waste management companies are only at the tip of an iceberg – the formal waste sector – funded, regulated and managed by local governments. This sector is involved with all kinds of waste: organic, inorganic, domestic, hazardous, horticultural refuse, and construction debris, among others. They are responsible for the collection, transport, recycling, and the appropriate disposal of waste which they often execute directly or via an external vendor. Ideally, the segregation of waste into recyclables and non-recyclables should be done at source by the households, residential areas, or business centres that generate waste. Paper, metal, and glass have long been salvaged as they have good potential for recycling. Plastic is the new material that needs immediate attention. While polyethylene terephthalate or PET has a fair recycling value with the plastic-to-textile industry creating high demand, other commonly used plastics have little to no value and are often discarded. Hence, this plastic often reaches landfills, where it is incinerated or buried. Many chemical additives from these plastics leach into the soil and the surrounding ecosystems, often finding their way into rivers and marine ecosystems. In much of the developing world, as in India, recovering recyclable waste between source and landfill is expensive, tedious and labour-intensive. This gap in the waste ecosystem is filled by the informal sector. This informal sector is a near-invisible, shadowy waste economy that we rarely acknowledge or appreciate, because it falls outside the purview of the formal system. The informal sector, often concerned with inorganic waste, has many players. Waste pickers collect and segregate recyclable waste from residential areas, and are incentivised by the chance to earn a livelihood from it. They then sell the waste to small scrap dealers or kabadiwallas. The scrap dealers further segregate the waste and sell it to a (Level 2) small or medium aggregator. From here, it is carted off to a wholesaler or stockist, and finally, to specific recycling units. In India, many national policies have recognised the role of the informal sector, mainly waste pickers, and have expressed value in their inclusion in the waste ecosystem. Yet waste pickers face other challenges while operating within the formal waste economy: outsourcing of waste management to private companies, waste-to-energy plants touted as alternatives to recycling, and urban zoning plans that do not factor in the infrastructure requirements of waste management. Importantly, waste pickers at the frontline of the informal sector work in challenging, often unsanitary conditions that affect their health. They also face uncertainty due to fluctuating market prices of recyclables. Over the decade, grassroots organisations around the country have been working with waste pickers, in a bid to integrate them into the waste economy. Among these are Kabadiwalla Connect (Chennai), Hasiru Dala (Bengaluru), and Chintan (Delhi) that have emerged as waste management solutions and there are a few lessons that can be learnt from them. Informal sector crucial in finding solutions to plug plastic leak “Every year, Chennai generates over 1,30,000 tonnes of waste, of which plastic accounts for 10-15,000 tonnes. It is a huge challenge for the municipality to implement waste segregation at source. Hence, most of the waste, including 10-15% of which can be recycled, ends up in landfills. City authorities spend $200,000 (approximately Rs. 15 million) every day to collect the waste and transport it to the Pallikaranai and Kodungaiyur landfills,” states Siddharth Hande, CEO of Kabadiwalla Connect, a Chennai-based initiative for decentralised waste management. “If cities across India are keen on optimising their resource recovery and recycling in the future and finding solutions to plug the ‘leak’ of plastics into our oceans, integrating the formal and informal waste sectors will be crucial,” adds Hande. Hande also shares that the informal waste system helps Chennai collect roughly 20% of its recyclable waste, over 100,000 tonnes annually. By linking networks of waste pickers and scrap shop owners, he says he believes that almost 70% of the waste being sent to landfills could be diverted. Kabadiwalla Connect helps leverage the city’s existing informal waste infrastructure in the collection, segregation and processing of post-consumer waste, with the help of innovative, technology-based solutions. Its inclusive, cost-efficient, and industry-compliant solutions harness the untapped resource of the informal sector in the supply chain, reduce the health risks faced by waste pickers, and pay rich dividends while tackling plastic waste at urban, and semi-urban levels. “In the informal sector, we rarely talk of the stakeholders beyond waste pickers. Yet there is a nexus of scrap dealers or kabadiwallas, aggregators, wholesalers and recyclers, that are an essential part of the waste ecosystem. This lack of classification is key to the problem of integrating the formal and informal sectors,” explains Hande. The involvement of upstream stakeholders of the value chain, such as plastic manufacturers and retailers is needed to bring about an integration of the waste ecosystem. Bridging gap between waste workers and other stakeholders vital In Bengaluru, the informal waste ecosystem is much the same – the door-to-door collection of waste is done by the municipality, or waste pickers, and is deposited at dry waste collection centres, where it is sorted for recycling. Paper, metal, glass, cloth, and plastics are usually recovered, with plastics like tetra packs, which are technically recyclable but have a poor market value, sent off to waste-to-energy plants or as fuel for cement kilns. Since 2011, Hasiru Dala has been working to bridge the gap between waste workers and other stakeholders, such as the local governments, policymakers, and citizens, while improving the lives and livelihoods of waste pickers. Bengaluru with over 35,000 waste pickers and itinerant buyers, has approximately 3,500 tonnes of plastic traded in the informal economy every single day – rescuing it from landfills, incineration sites and water networks. In 2021, Hasiru Dala actively worked with over 40 wards in the city, and their dry waste collection centres handled a total of 13,656 metric tonnes (T) of waste, of which 4,097 T was recyclable, and 9,559 T was non-recyclable waste. “Often plastics that can be recycled, such as food containers, aren’t washed properly, and hence, have to be discarded. Working with residents and encouraging them to put in the effort to clean food-related waste, often discarded improperly due to convenience, is essential,” says Rohini Malur, Communications Manager at Hasiru Dala. “Putting the onus of cleaning and segregation on households reaps benefits further up the waste ecosystem, as lesser waste, especially plastic, ends up at the highly polluting waste-to-energy plants, “she continues. The pandemic adversely affected the entire informal waste ecosystem, and as single-use plastic consumption soared, recovery and recycling couldn’t keep pace. Waste pickers are essentially daily wage workers, and restricted mobility affects their ability to collect recyclables and earn a livelihood. With waste pickers clocking fewer hours, there was lesser income for scrap shops too. There were months during the first wave when the entire recycling industry shut down. Dry waste collection centres were deemed essential services, yet scrap shops and godowns were not, and had to close down. Collection centres stayed open during the lockdowns yet they had nowhere to send the aggregated waste, causing the waste economy to stagnate. Workers struggled to get by as they could collect but not sell the recovered recyclable waste, payments from the authorities were often in arrears and they had little to no savings to fall back on. “It is crucial for grassroots organisations to amplify the messages of other efforts across India if we are to see a bigger shift in our waste management practises and to realise how vulnerable and essential these waste warriors are,” Malur adds. Waste workers play a crucial environmental role Every day, Delhi produces 12,350 tonnes of solid waste, most of which ends up at three major dumpsites: Ghazipur, Bhalaswa, and Okhla. The city has an estimated 40,000 waste pickers, with other recyclers, itinerant buyers, small and large kabadis, re-processors and other waste workers adding to a total of a 1,50,000 strong informal sector. They collect 15-20 per cent of Delhi’s total waste (in terms of weight) and 55% (in terms of volume) and recycle about 2,000 tonnes of the city’s waste each day. As in other cities, much of this recycling happens due to the toil of waste pickers. In addition, as unsegregated waste accumulates at landfills, rotting wet waste releases methane – a highly combustible gas. This results in spontaneous combustion of waste, with plastics, among other hazardous, polluting materials being set on fire. Sometimes, waste is incinerated at landfills before being buried. This adds significantly to Delhi’s air pollution issues. Waste pickers can help Delhi tackle some of its air pollution problems by diverting waste from reaching dumping sites. As a partner of the CounterMEASURE initiative under the United Nations Environment Programme, funded by Japan, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group (Chintan) strives for better waste recovery between source and landfills. Their work with waste pickers ensures lesser plastics end up in the Yamuna, and further downstream into the Ganges, and the Bay of Bengal. In 2018, Chintan’s report titled Wastepickers: Delhi’s Forgotten Environmentalists, highlighted the role of the informal sector in tackling the burgeoning problem of waste management and plastic pollution. “Ironically, Delhi’s Master Plan 2041 talks in detail about solid waste management and environmental pollution, yet doesn’t make provisions for the labour involved, nor for the space and infrastructure they require,” says Shruti Sinha, Manager of Policy and Outreach at Chintan. “Recently, many dhalaos (large three-walled concrete structures used by waste pickers to collect garbage from a locality or market), have been put to alternate use. A study by Chintan in 2021 found that 73.8% of waste pickers do not have access to sheltered spaces, which makes it difficult to work through monsoon and winter,” Sinha continues. The Chintan report advocates establishing partnerships between the informal and private sectors, as well as the public, legitimising the informal workers, developing waste management protocols, and training and monitoring waste workers. This would ensure they can operate effectively in their niche while performing key environmental roles. A waste management blueprint The CounterMEASURE initiatives are committed to identifying sources and pathways of plastic pollution and finding solutions to prevent city-sourced plastic from reaching rivers and oceans. Working at the grassroots level with stakeholders in the waste economy, is an effective way to raise awareness about source segregation to reduce mismanaged waste, as well as build on existing knowledge to inform policy decisions. The 2021 report titled Waste-Wise Cities published by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Niti Aayog, inspected solid waste management initiatives in 28 cities to understand the mechanisms that worked best. Across cities, grassroots initiatives concur that the integration of the informal and the formal sector is an effective solution for waste management. The report found that decentralised systems and public-private partnerships would be ideal for India to achieve its ‘smart cities’ objectives. City planners and municipal organisations should take cognisance and find ways to integrate the waste ecosystem. This would not only ensure better living and working standards for the informal sector but also incentivise their role in last-mile resource recovery and recycling, while providing cities with a decentralised, cost-efficient blueprint for waste management. Devayani Khare (As published in Mongabay India)