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Cse In News

मूळ सदोष आहारपध्दतीत पर्यावरण तज्ज्ञ सुनीता नारायण यांचे मत; किर्लोस्कर वसुंधरा महोत्सवाचा समारोप

‘गेल्या काही वर्षांत प्राण्यांपासून होणाऱ्या आजारांचे प्रमाण लक्षणीयरित्या वाढले आहे. हे आजार म्हणजे आपल्या अस्तित्वाला धोका निर्माण होण्याचे संकेत आहेत. कोरोनासारख्या सूक्ष्म विषाणुने तर संपूर्ण जगाला गुडघे टेकायला भाग पाडले. हा प्राण्यांच्या अधिवासावर मनुष्यजातीने आक्रमण केल्याचा परिणाम आहेच. तसेच याचे मूळ आपल्या सदोष आहारपध्दतीत आहे,’’ असे मत पर्यावरण तज्ज्ञ आणि शाश्वत विकासाच्या पुरस्कर्त्या सुनीता नारायण यांनी व्यक्त केले. पंधराव्या किर्लोस्कर वसुंधरा आंतरराष्ट्रीय चित्रपट महोत्सवाच्या ऑनलाइन समारोप सत्रात त्या बोलत होत्या. सुनीता नारायण म्हणाल्या, ‘‘वाढत्या लोकसंख्येच्या गरजा भागवण्यासाठी अन्न उत्पादन वाढवण्याची आवश्यकता आहेच. मात्र पोषण व सुदृढ आरोग्यासाठी आणि मुख्यत्वे पर्यावरणासाठी चांगले अन्न कोणते, या प्रश्नाचे उत्तर शोधावे लागेल. त्यासाठी ‘फास्ट फूड’कडून ‘फर्स्ट फूड’कडे वळावे लागेल. ‘फर्स्ट फूड’मध्ये आपल्या स्थानिक खाद्यसंस्कृतीतील पारंपारिक अन्नपदार्थांचा समावेश होतो. तसेच पाण्यात, शेतीत, जमिनीत गुंतवणूक करावी लागेल. लहान शेतकऱ्यांना प्रोत्साहन द्यावे लागेल आणि उत्पादकाला थेट पैसे मिळतील, याची खात्री द्यावी लागेल. आपण आताच खबरदारी घेतली नाही, तर भावी पिढीचे कधीही न भरून येणारे नुकसान होईल.’’ आंतरराष्ट्रीय बडिंग आणि रिसर्च सेंटरचे संचालक प्रा. रुवेन योसफ यांना महोत्सवातील सर्वोच्च ‘वसुंधरा सन्मान’ देऊन गौरवण्यात आले. मूळचे पुण्याचे असलेल्या प्रा. योसफ यांना ‘व्हिजनरी ऑफ इस्त्रायल कन्झरव्हेशन अॅवार्ड’ या सर्वोच्च पदवीने इस्त्रायलचे पंतप्रधान शिमन पेरेज यांच्या हस्ते सन्मानित करण्यात आले आहे. मध्यपूर्व भूमध्य प्रदेशावर स्थलांतर करणाऱ्या पक्ष्यांना विश्रांतीसाठी सुयोग्य स्थानाची निर्मिती त्यांनी केली. या कार्यासाठी त्यांना यंदाचा ‘वसुंधरा सन्मान’ प्रदान करण्यात आला. या वेळी ‘पर्यावरण स्नेही घर’ ही संकल्पना रुजवणाऱ्या प्रतीक धानमेर यांच्याशी महोत्सवाचे संयोजक वीरेंद्र चित्राव यांनी संवाद साधला. भारतातील नैसर्गिक बहु विविधतेमुळे गावागावांतील खाद्य संस्कृतीत तफावत दिसून येते. परंतु, ही तफावतच मानवी आरोग्यासाठी पोषक आहे. या वैविध्यपूर्ण खाद्य संस्कृतीचे जतन होणे गरजेचे आहे. -सुनीता नारायण, पर्यावरण तज्ज्ञ

CSE warns of growing air pollution in Northeastern cities

Contrary to the impression of pristine blue skies and clean air that people usually have about the country's northeastern region, a new analysis by the Centre for Science a-> Contrary to the impression of pristine blue skies and clean air that people usually have about the country's northeastern region, a new analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that the problem of air pollution is growing steadily in the states of that region. "In winter, air quality of cities like Guwahati can be almost as bad as what we see in the National Capital Region (NCR) and cities of Uttar Pradesh. Pollution is also high in smaller cities like Agartala and Kohima," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager, Urban Lab, CSE.<br><br>This is based on an assessment of annual and seasonal trends in PM2.5 concentration for the period January 1, 2019 to December 7, 2021. This analysis is based on the real-time data available from currently functioning air quality monitoring stations in the northeast. A huge volume of data points have been cleaned and data gaps have been addressed based on the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method, the CSE said in a statement.<br><br>This analysis covers seven continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) spread across six cities in an equal number of states -- two stations in Guwahati (Assam) and one station each in Shillong (Meghalaya), Agartala (Tripura), Kohima (Nagaland), Aizwal (Mizoram) and Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh). There is no real-time monitoring in Manipur and Sikkim, which is why the analysis is unable to cover these states.<br><br>"The current obsession with high pollution concentration in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and in overall northern India overshadows and sidelines the early signs of the crisis in our northeastern states in the national discourse on air pollution and public health. Weak and inadequate air quality monitoring and paucity of data do not allow proper assessment of the risk. But even the limited evidence shows several cities -- especially the state capitals -- are already vulnerable to poor air quality and winter smog," said CSE's executive director, research and advocacy, Anumita Roychowdhury.<br><br>The CSE analysed the urban air quality status in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh as part of the air quality tracker initiative of the Urban Data Analytics Lab of CSE. <br><br>The objective of this new analysis is to understand the magnitude and trend in winter pollution in major cities of the region, which have recently started real-time air quality monitoring.<br><br>Even from the states covered, the data is limited. Guwahati and Shillong have data available for over two years. Real-time monitors in Agartala, Kohima and Aizwal became operational only near the end of 2020, which limits the possibility of doing long-term trend analysis for these cities. Naharlagun got its real-time monitor in March 2021. Due to excessive amount of missing data from this station, any meaningful analysis is not possible.<br><br>Guwahati has the most polluted air in northeastern India Average PM2.5 levels in 2021 (up till November 30) has already surpassed the 2019 annual average in Guwahati. The city's 2020 annual average was also higher than its 2019 average, which indicates continuous worsening of air in the city.<br><br>Shillong is the only other city in the region that has a station generating data for over two years, but due to poor data availability its annual averages cannot be considered credible. Nevertheless, the city's average is considerably below the annual standard.<br><br>High pollution episodes are common during winters despite low annual levels Except Guwahati, rest of the cities in the states in northeast have low annual PM2.5 levels; but during winters, episodes of high pollution are common, the CSE statement said.

CSE Warns Of Growing Air Pollution In Northeast Cities

A new analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says that the problem of air pollution is growing steadily in the states of India’s northeast, putting paid to the impression of pristine blue skies and clean air that people usually have about this region. According to the analysis by the New Delhi-based think-tank, sparse and limited air quality data underrates the magnitude of the problem in cities of these regions.

India Has 9 Out Of World's Most Polluted Cities, But Few Air Quality Monitors Than Other Populated Nations

Most of the air quality monitors are concentrated in urban areas. This, experts say, prevents India from knowing the true extent, scale and geographical spread of various pollutants, and limits the government's ability for preventive public health measures. India has nine of the 10 most polluted cities worldwide, but it needs 1,600 to 4,000 air quality monitors owing to its size, population and rising pollution levels. As of September 2021, India has only 804 air quality monitors, mostly in urban areas. Experts said that this is the reason why the country is unable to know the true extent, scale and geographical spread of different pollutants and limits the government's ability for preventive public health measures.Most of the air quality monitors are concentrated in urban areas. This, experts say, prevents India from knowing the true extent, scale and geographical spread of various pollutants, and limits the government's ability for preventive public health measures. With 200 particulate matter (PM) 2.5 monitoring sites in operation from 2010-2016, India's air quality monitor density (nearly 0.14 monitors per million people), is below China (1.2), the US (3.4), Japan (0.5) and Brazil (1.8) respectively, according to IndiaSpend. As a consequence, India does not exactly know the spread of pollutants, including nitrous dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), respirable PM 10, the finer particulate matter or PM 2.5, lead, carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia. As per the World Health Organisation, chronic exposure to these pollutants contributes largely to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and in extreme cases lung cancer. Since existing air quality monitors are concentrated in cities, health and environmental authorities are unable to assess the level of air pollution in villages due to fuelwood, biomass, spraying of pesticides and stubble burning. Need For Real-Tme Air Quality Monitoring Ambient air quality is monitored by observing pollutants like NO2, SO2, PM 10, PM 2.5, lead, CO, and ammonia. Currently, India's clean air programme has set a tentative national target of 20-30 per cent reduction of air pollution in 132 non-attainment cities by 2024. These cities did not meet the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and are required to formulate city-specific action plans to reduce air pollution. While the focus is on the most-polluted cities, rural and semi-urban areas are not being fully monitored. In India, air quality is traditionally monitored using manual readings, and experts use data from 804 stations to ambient air quality. Even after the real-time monitors were introduced, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) continues to use data from manual monitors to report compliance with air quality standards. There are total 261 real-time monitors whose data are updated on the central database and it is part of the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP). According to 2020 Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report, its data is stored and treated separately as CPCB has not established a method of equivalence between the two monitoring techniques. In the manual system, the monitoring of pollutants is carried out for 24 hours with a frequency of twice a week, whereas real-time monitors measure pollutants constantly. Data from real-time monitors are only included in calculating a location's daily AQI (air quality index). "Manual monitoring protocol requires readings from 104 days yearly but for some stations, data was recorded for just 50-75 days," Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at CSE and the report's author, said. Experts said that manual monitoring is a monotonous procedure and readings once or twice a week are not beneficial for daily understanding of air quality. They also suggested that data from real-time monitors to be used for ascertaining long-term trends. Requirement Of 1,500 Air Quality Monitoring Stations The minimum number of stations to monitor suspended particulate matter with a population of less than 100,000 is four. As per CPCB guidelines for ambient air quality monitoring released in 2003, the minimum number is four for NO2, three for SO2, one for CO2, while the number of monitors required increases with growing population. The number of sampling sites depends on the area size to be covered, data requirements related to monitoring, variability of pollutant concentration, a pollutant to be monitored and population figures which can be used as indicators of air quality deterioration and health implications. India's six megacities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad) need at least 23 to 44 air quality monitoring stations. In contrast, the existing stations range between nine and 12, excluding Delhi. "Over 33 per cent of the real-time monitors are concentrated in Delhi-NCR. The national capital alone has invested over Rs 100 crore to set up 38 stations over time," said the CSE report. Station density is inferior in several states, including Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. According to another paper titled Monitoring particulate matter in India' published in Springer journal in 2019, only two to five years of data are available now. Manipur, with a population of 2.7 million, has only one monitoring station in 2021 and Arunachal Pradesh has just two whereas it has a population of 1.25 million. Using CPCB criteria, an average city of with more than one million residents needs nearly 25 monitoring stations, and if this number is extrapolated across 60 million cities, a total of approximately 1,500 stations would be required, as per the journal. The Cost Of Measuring Pollutants To address the data gaps in monitoring pollutants, India will need 1,600-4,000 monitors (1.2-3 monitors per million people). The average cost of a monitoring station is nearly Rs 1 crore with around 10 per cent for annual maintenance costs. This would require an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore to set up 1,500 stations. India has set aside a budget of Rs 470 crore to control pollution in the financial year 2021-22, including funding for its ambitious National Clean Air Programme. Rural Areas To Be Monitored The NCAP report pointed out the grave problem of air pollution in rural areas and proposed setting up 75 stations in rural areas. Rural areas suffer from outdoor air pollution as well as indoor air pollution. Significant sources of outdoor air pollution are the indiscriminate use of insecticides/pesticides sprays and the burning of wheat and paddy straw. Atmospheric ozone concentration has been observed higher in rural areas than urban areas, the report stated. Alternatives To Expensive Monitors According to Sunil Dahiya, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, procuring new air quality monitors is costly and consumes a lot of time. Apart from government monitors, the industries have also set up monitors. If the data is coupled with government data, it could give much more granular information for pollution across India. It will also save the money to set up new stations. Another alternative to costly monitors could be low-cost sensors. These sensors offer an opportunity to generate high-resolution data at a low price, with deployment and access limitations. However, they are not long-term, does not provide accurate data, but efforts are underway to improve precision in such sensors. https://thelogicalindian.com/health/india-has-9-out-of-worlds-most-polluted-cities-but-few-air-quality-monitors-than-other-populated-nations-32674

This is the most polluted city in Northeast India

According to the analysis Guwahati has the most polluted air in northeastern India: Average PM2.5 levels in 2021 (uptill November 30) has already surpassed the 2019 annual average in Guwahati. Guwahati: Citizens of Guwahati are inhaling the most polluted air across Northeast India, according to a report by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment. According to the analysis, Guwahati has the most polluted air in northeastern India: average PM2.5 levels in 2021 (till November 30) has already surpassed the 2019 annual average in Guwahati. Guwahati has almost two months of very poor air quality days. This year, so far, the number of days with air quality in ‘very poor’ or ‘severe’ categories stands at 54 days in Guwahati city. ADVERTISEMENT CONTINUE READING BELOW This is comparable to cities of north India that are more polluted compared to those in the northeastern states. The city’s 2020 annual average was also higher than its 2019 average, which indicates continuous worsening of air in the city. Shillong is the only other city in the region that has a station generating data for over two years, but due to poor data availability, its annual averages cannot be considered credible. Nevertheless, the city’s average is considerably below the annual standard, the report said. Among other cities meeting the minimum data availability requirements, Agartala with a 2020 average of 45 microgramme per cubic metre (ug/m3) is the second most polluted city in the region. Kohima with a 2020 average of 35 ug/m3 is the third most polluted city in the region. Aizwal and Naharlagun donot meet the minimum data availability requirement, but the limited data available indicates that these two would most probably be meeting the annual standard. In other cities, ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory’ days dominate but ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ days have also begun to emerge. Agartala registered 10 ‘very poor’ days, while Kohimahad two. There is a considerable number of days in these cities for which the AQI (air quality index) could not be calculated due to poor data availability. All three cities meet the 24-hour standard for about half of the days in 2021 so far. The AQI chart for Shillong, Aizwal and Naharlaguncould not be made as these cities don’t have enough data. CSE has analysed the urban air quality status in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. This is part of the air quality tracker initiative of the Urban Data Analytics Lab of CSE, which was initiated last winter. The objective of this new analysis is to understand the magnitude and trend in winter pollution in major cities of the region which have recently started real-time air quality monitoring. This is an assessment of annual and seasonal trends in PM2.5 concentration for the period January 1, 2019 to December 7, 2021.

Guwahati and Agartala top in air pollution index: Report

AGARTALA: Though bereft of industries, Guwahati and <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Agartala" styleobj="[object Object]" class="" data-ga="within_article-topic_link|topic_Agartala" frmappuse="1">Agartala</a> have been listed at the top of air pollution index among northeastern cities followed by Kohima and Aizawl by the report of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Friday. <br>The report warned that the problem of air pollution is growing steadily in the northeastern states, putting paid to the impression of usual pristine blue skies and clean air. The high level of air pollution generated from massive motorisation, traffic congestion and use of solid fuel has indicated a public health crisis in the hilly terrains and valleys. The pollution in the northeast needs support under the National Clean Air Programme to implement locally appropriate clean air action and robust air quality monitoring networks for proper risk assessment, the report suggested. <br>The study observed that hourly concentration of nitrogen dioxide in Guwahati and Agartala increases five-fold between 1 pm and 6 pm while the increase was noticed about 40% in Naharlagun of Itanagar during these hours. All three cities have a morning nitrogen oxides peak which happens around 7-8 am but in Guwahati, it increases at night due to truck movement in the city. The pollution levels especially PM 2.5 level on Diwali night had shot up by 1 to 3.6 times the average level recorded seven nights preceding Diwali in both Guwahati and Agartala. However, weak and inadequate air quality monitoring and paucity of data didn't allow proper assessment of risk, the report mentioned. <br><div id="div-gpt-ad-1397659688198-7-88355928-1" class="outstreamad" style="width: auto; height: auto;" data-google-query-id="CMTJiteD8vQCFZWYcAod_zwPBQ"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/7176/TOI/TOI_ROS/TOI_ROS_Out_1x1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none; width: auto;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/7176/TOI/TOI_ROS/TOI_ROS_Out_1x1_0" title="3rd party ad content" name="google_ads_iframe_/7176/TOI/TOI_ROS/TOI_ROS_Out_1x1_0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" style="border: 0px none; vertical-align: bottom;" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" srcdoc="" data-google-container-id="6" data-load-complete="true" width="1" height="1" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div>"The air quality in the northeast has gradually been worsening but this has not drawn adequate public attention. In winter, air quality of cities like Guwahati can be almost as bad as what we see in the National Capital Region (NCR) and cities of Uttar Pradesh. Pollution is also high in smaller cities like Agartala and Kohima," the report underlined. <br>The CSE analysed the data of seven continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations spread across six cities - two stations in Guwahati (Assam) and one station each in Shillong (Meghalaya), Agartala (Tripura), Kohima (Nagaland), Aizawl (Mizoram) and Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh). The report mentioned that despite the setting up of a real-time air quality monitoring system, data quality remained poor

Zero the way to go

Our 'waste' must become a resource — to be reworked, reused and upcycled India is rapidly evolving its policies to deal with garbage — the waste generated from the use of materials at homes, institutions and factories. The evolution must now reflect in our actions. Our "waste" must become a resource — to be reworked, reused and upcycled. This will minimise the use of materials in our world and mitigate environmental damage. It's a win-win solution. We know that the "nature" of solid waste changes as societies get richer and urbanise. Instead of biodegradable (wet) waste, households generate more plastic, paper, metal and other non-biodegradable (dry) waste. The quantity of waste generated on a per capita basis also increases. Many of the country's urban areas are already on the trajectory where waste generation has risen exponentially. Also Read - Damned on atrocities In 2000, when the first Municipal Solid Wastes Rules were notified they were based on the idea — prevalent in most countries — that waste had to be collected, transported and then disposed of in secure landfill sites. The objective was to "clean" cities by removing waste from our vicinity. But this policy failed to reflect in practice and the scourge of garbage grew in our cities. What could not be collected or transported because of the paucity of municipal services fouled up our neighbourhoods? What was collected got dumped and is today visible as "mountains" of shame? Over the past few years, there has been a rapid shift in the strategy for waste management in the country. Today's policy, the Union government's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 2.0, focuses on source segregation, processing of waste (wet and dry) and on minimising the waste sent to sanitary landfill sites. Also Read - Arrogance begets chaos According to the guidelines of SBM 2.0, only the inert waste and process rejects, which in no case should exceed 20 per cent of the total waste and are not suitable for either dry or wet waste treatment, can be sent to landfill sites. Therefore, the premise of the guidelines is that cities must become zero-landfill — they must recover and reprocess all waste. The guidelines stress that waste-to-energy (WtE) projects are financially and operationally viable only with an assured minimum input of 150-200 tonnes per day of non-recyclable, segregated dry waste of high calorific value. This has also been our learning that WtE plants are not the silver bullets they promise to be — incinerating municipal waste to make energy. It is critical that the waste sent for incineration and energy generation is of high quality and this requires a high level of segregation — best done at source. Without this, the plants work below operational capacity and become defunct. Also Read - Delivery quickies The guidelines also provide an opportunity to reclaim the 3,000-odd landfill sites where, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), some 800 million tonnes of waste is dumped. This will not just free up valuable land, which can be greened and put to the suitable use, but also help avert environmental disasters. This requires deliberately designed strategies to reuse the material that is bio-mined from these legacy landfills. Cities must also stop sending new waste to these landfills, otherwise, they will get filled up again even while being remediated. The good news is that India's solid waste management strategy is now being designed for material recovery and reuse. It is an approach aimed at a truly circular economy. As the strategy demands full reutilisation of materials and no waste, we will learn what we cannot recycle and work towards minimising its use. This will make policy and practice even more environment friendly. That said, while the policy has evolved, our practice is still to catch up. Source segregation remains our Achilles' heel — it does not happen at the scale and pace needed. Even if waste is segregated at the household level, it does not get transported in a segregated manner to processing facilities. In fact, processing happens incidentally, only because there are people who need our waste for their livelihoods — ragpickers, as we call them. City managers are still working through the different options for processing this waste and managing it effectively to generate revenue. Worse, plastic waste — particularly much of the packaging waste — is growing and filling our cities. We still do not acknowledge that much of the "plastic" we use cannot be recycled and so needs to be phased out. The current policy on "single-use" plastics — where certain products have been identified for eventual elimination — is just not good enough to deal with this gigantic problem. We are in an exciting phase of development, where city managers and leaders are reworking waste strategies. The Centre for Science and Environment has partnered with Niti Aayog to document the best practices of "waste-wise" cities as a textbook of new learning and teaching. It is what needs to be practised, and at scale. This is a real opportunity for change. DTE Views expressed are personal http://www.millenniumpost.in/opinion/damned-on-atrocities-462310?infinitescroll=1

CSE warns of growing air pollution in Northeastern cities

Contrary to the impression of pristine blue skies and clean air that people usually have about the country's northeastern region, a new analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that the problem of air pollution is growing steadily in the states of that region. "In winter, air quality of cities like Guwahati can be almost as bad as what we see in the National Capital Region (NCR) and cities of Uttar Pradesh. Pollution is also high in smaller cities like Agartala and Kohima," said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager, Urban Lab, CSE. This is based on an assessment of annual and seasonal trends in PM2.5 concentration for the period January 1, 2019 to December 7, 2021. This analysis is based on the real-time data available from currently functioning air quality monitoring stations in the northeast. A huge volume of data points have been cleaned and data gaps have been addressed based on the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) method, the CSE said in a statement. This analysis covers seven continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) spread across six cities in an equal number of states -- two stations in Guwahati (Assam) and one station each in Shillong (Meghalaya), Agartala (Tripura), Kohima (Nagaland), Aizwal (Mizoram) and Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh). There is no real-time monitoring in Manipur and Sikkim, which is why the analysis is unable to cover these states. "The current obsession with high pollution concentration in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and in overall northern India overshadows and sidelines the early signs of the crisis in our northeastern states in the national discourse on air pollution and public health. Weak and inadequate air quality monitoring and paucity of data do not allow proper assessment of the risk. But even the limited evidence shows several cities -- especially the state capitals -- are already vulnerable to poor air quality and winter smog," said CSE's executive director, research and advocacy, Anumita Roychowdhury. The CSE analysed the urban air quality status in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh as part of the air quality tracker initiative of the Urban Data Analytics Lab of CSE. The objective of this new analysis is to understand the magnitude and trend in winter pollution in major cities of the region, which have recently started real-time air quality monitoring. Even from the states covered, the data is limited. Guwahati and Shillong have data available for over two years. Real-time monitors in Agartala, Kohima and Aizwal became operational only near the end of 2020, which limits the possibility of doing long-term trend analysis for these cities. Naharlagun got its real-time monitor in March 2021. Due to excessive amount of missing data from this station, any meaningful analysis is not possible. Guwahati has the most polluted air in northeastern India: Average PM2.5 levels in 2021 (up till November 30) has already surpassed the 2019 annual average in Guwahati. The city's 2020 annual average was also higher than its 2019 average, which indicates continuous worsening of air in the city. Shillong is the only other city in the region that has a station generating data for over two years, but due to poor data availability its annual averages cannot be considered credible. Nevertheless, the city's average is considerably below the annual standard. High pollution episodes are common during winters despite low annual levels: Except Guwahati, rest of the cities in the states in northeast have low annual PM2.5 levels; but during winters, episodes of high pollution are common, the CSE statement said.

'Smog doesn't spare even smaller towns in winter'

This means even smaller cities with lower annual average levels record pollution levels as bad as or even worse than Delhi’s. NEW DELHI: Winter smog is usually associated with the Delhi-NCR region, but the phenomenon affects all of northern India with even smaller cities recording high pollution levels, claims a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released on Wednesday, December 15, 2021. CSE’s analysis is based on an assessment of annual and seasonal trends of PM2.5 concentrations between January 1, 2019, and November 30, 2021. “This analysis puts a spotlight on the cities of Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan, besides Delhi and NCR, to understand the synchronised pattern of pollution during winter when atmospheric changes entrap pollution across the region,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE. This means even smaller cities with lower annual average levels record pollution levels as bad as or even worse than Delhi’s. For instance, Vrindavan, Agra and Firozabad in UP have comparatively lower annual average PM2.5 than Delhi. But during the early winter of 2021, their weekly average PM2.5 levels exceeded that of Delhi, the analysis showed. “This demands action at scale and speed across all key sectors of pollution in the larger region,” she added. The analysis covered 137 air quality monitoring stations across 56 cities in the region. Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager, Urban Lab, CSE, said that even though air quality monitoring is limited and data for a large part of northern India is under-reported, available evidence clearly points to the magnitude of the regional problem. Cities in UP, besides Delhi-NCR, top the list of those with the highest average PM2.5 concentrations in north India. The analysis also highlighted that early winter smog is synchronised across the region, but lasts longer in Delhi-NCR. “These episodes linger longer only in Delhi, NCR and UP during the rest of the winter. Atmospheric changes during winter that lead to inversion, calm conditions, change in wind direction, and seasonal drop in ambient temperature entrap pollution across north India. This is further tripped into a severe category by smoke from farm fires and Diwali firecrackers during November,” the report stated. Air quality improves from ‘severe’ to ‘poor’ and ‘moderate’ categories in cities of Punjab and north Haryana after the stubble fire season, but remains in the ‘very poor’ category in NCR and UP till February.

Why smog overstays its welcome in Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: A recent analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found that the smog episodes of November synchronise across the northern region, but they linger on for a longer period only in Delhi, other NCR areas and Uttar Pradesh during the rest of winter. “Early winter smog synchronises across the northern region but lasts longer in Delhi-NCR,” the study states, adding that atmospheric changes during winter, which include inversion, calm conditions, change in wind direction and seasonal drop in ambient temperature across north India, entrap pollution. “This is further tripped into ‘severe’ category by smoke from farm fires and Diwali firecrackers.” Although, the study points out, air quality improves from “severe” to “poor” and “moderate” categories in Punjab and north Haryana after the stubble fire season, it remains “very poor” in NCR and UP till February. “Rajasthan cities also show impact of smoke, but to a lesser degree with relatively less polluted air during the rest of winter.” The analysis reveals most smaller towns have considerably lower annual average PM2.5 levels but report levels comparable to or worse than Delhi during the usual smog episodes in November. For instance, the annual average level of Delhi is 97ug/m3 and that of Agra 20% lower at 78ug/m3. But during early winter this year, the weekly average PM2.5 level in Agra was 282ug/m3 and exceeded by 5% that of Delhi’s 270. “This analysis has put a spotlight on the cities of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCR to understand the synchronised pattern of pollution during winter... This shows even smaller cities with lower annual average levels record pollution levels that are as bad or even worse than Delhi. This demands action at scale and speed across all key sectors of pollution in the larger region,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at CSE. While the entire north India is vulnerable to the pollution build-up, the overall annual average of NCR is among the highest in the region. This year, Ghaziabad has been the most polluted city in the region with the average as high as 110ug/m3 till November 30. Moradabad is the most polluted city outside NCR with the PM2.5 level at 96ug/m3. NCR cities also saw a two-fold rise in nitrogen dioxide. The long-term trend shows that average fire radiative power — the rate of emitted radiative energy by fire — in Punjab has been increasing since 2017 and this season’s average is the highest since monitoring started in 2012. “This, coupled with overall increase in fire count in Punjab, may have also contributed to the increased severity of smog this year,” states the study.

Diesel blow: Experts laud Delhi's green move, users fume

NEW DELHI: Welcoming the decisions to deregister diesel vehicles older than 10 years with an NOC and completely scrapping those older than 15 years, experts have said removing older vehicles from the city roads will reduce the toxic exposure. Experts, however, also asserted that while the decision would help the national capital breathe a little better, the government must also provide lucrative scrapping options to the owners, who, though saw it coming, still had a fairly short window as the new year was less than three weeks away. Road transport in Delhi accounts for the biggest contributor to the local particulate pollutants. According to the data available from the transport department, at least 2,64,721 registered diesel vehicles are over 10 years older. “This is a good step to control toxic emissions from older vehicles. There had always been special concern for diesel emissions as they are extremely toxic. Replacing the older vehicles with the new one that comply with much cleaner BS-VI-standard fuel can reduce toxic emissions and toxic exposure considerably,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of Centre for Science and Environment. In an order issued this week, the transport department stated that all diesel vehicles older than 10 years would be deregistered with an NOC so that they could register elsewhere, while those older than 15 years won’t even receive an NOC. The order came in compliance with a 2016 order by National Green Tribunal. Asserting that while at this point it will be difficult to quantify the reduction in toxic exposure, Roy Chawdhury pointed out one BS-VI diesel car emitted 10 times less particulate matters compared with a BS-III diesel car. “According to WHO, diesel emissions are class-I carcinogen and is in the same category as that of tobacco smoking for its strong link with lung cancer. Older diesel vehicles were designed to emit several times more particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons,” she added. According to Sewa Ram, professor at School of Planning, while the decision would come hard on a number of people, it was “needed”. “It is a very important decision that has removed all the ambiguity as vehicles with BS-II-compliant engines had been running on city roads. There is always an argument from the people that they keep their older vehicles well maintained and fit, but it is to understand that even a vehicle registered in 2010 emits much more than that running on BS-VI-compliant engines, because the technology has changed a lot,” said Ram. He, however, pushed for rewarding scrapping policies. “This order will create issues as telling people that their vehicles will be deregistered from the new year is a very short time. Also 10 years are not that long time either. The government has to be rewarding and bring very good scrapping policy that would help people switch to new vehicles,” Ram added. The owners of the affected vehicles, however, came stronger on the decision. “The government has given us a very short notice. Telling us in the middle of December that our vehicle will be deregistered over the next 15 days is cruel,” said Kartik Kumar, a resident of Mayur Vihar. Another resident said the government must deregister vehicles failing the emission tests. “We keep our car well maintained and it’s an expensive affair. Where will we go to register this car? By this logic, I am allowed to run my car in Noida or Ghaziabad, but not in Delhi. How much difference would it make?” wondered R S Pandey, a resident of Dwarka. “We understand that there is a pollution situation in Delhi, but this is a very short window. The government must phase out vehicles not meeting the emission standards first before seeing the date of registration. Extension should be given to the vehicles that are fit,” said Jalaj Awasthi, another Dwarka resident.

Webinar on human behavior and environmental sustainability kicks off on Friday

With a wish to learn from multi-disciplines, to refine/redefine existing perspectives, and/or to reflect collectively, for what small difference everyone around can make to create a sustainable society, a WEBINAR on Human Behavior and Environmental Sustainability is planned for, during December 17 – 18, 2021, with the support from Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India. The webinar is to be inaugurated by Padma Shri Subash Palekar (Father of Subash Palekar Natural farming) and Dr. D Brindha (Webinar Chairperson & the Principal, PSG College of Arts & Science). Professor Glenn Albrecht (University of Sydney), Swami Swaroopananda (Global Head – Chinmaya Mission), Professor Charles Vlek (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Mr. Richard Louv (Chairman Emeritus – Children & Nature Network), Lex Amore (Biomimicry Institute, USA), Professor Tal Ben Shahar (Harvard University), UNESCO (Section of Education for Sustainable Development), Dr. Suresh Kalagnanam (Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan, Canada), Professor Sanjoy Mukerjee (IIM Shillong), Dr. Robin Mazumder, Environmental Neuroscientist (University of Waterloo), Stephanie Seferian (Creator & Host, Sustainable Minimalists), Clifford W. Cobb (Editor- American Journal of Economics and Sociology), had send their note/video for the webinar. Since we are trying to look at sustainability from a trans-disciplinary lens (Applied Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Humanities), we would have speakers from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) India & Kenya, Ministry of Environment, Forest, & Climate Change, Government of India, Asian Development Bank, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Trichy, IIT Jodhpur, BITS Pilani, Centre for Science and Environment, Bamboo Society of India, Institute of Psychiatry (Kolkata), Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company Limited (TWIC), ISEC Bengaluru, SHARAN Auroville, Nature Connections. Dr. J Venkata Pirabu (Director, Planning & Monitoring – TamilNadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore) will deliver the valedictory address. The following are some of the sub-themes identified for the webinar: Eco-Psychology, Ecological Intelligence, Affective ecology / Eco-anxiety / Ecological grief, Solastalgia, Environmental Sustainability & Human Values, Eco-therapy / Forest therapy / Nature- based therapy, Genuine Progress Indicator, Transpersonal Ecology / Eco-spirituality / Deep Ecology, Biomimicry, Environmental Economics, Nature Connectedness / Nature Deficit Disorder, Anthropocentrism and Environmental crisis, Green Auditing, Green Consumerism, Green National Accounting system, Social Return on Investment, Food Sovereignty / Locavorism, Pigovian Taxes, Carbon market, Energy Labels, Green Bond / Climate Bond / Green Investing, Eco-minimalism, Sustainable Village / Sustainable Habitat Dr. KP Naachimuthu Webinar Convener Assistant Professor Department of Psychology (Aided) PSG College of Arts & Science Coimbatore – 641014, TamilNadu

Polluted Cities : जगातील सर्वाधिक 10 प्रदूषित शहरांमध्ये भारतातील 9 शहरांचा समावेश

वाढती लोखसंख्या आणि वाढत्या हवा प्रदुषणामुळे भारताला 1,600 ते 4 हजार हवा गुणवत्ता मॉनिटर्सची (हवा गुणवत्ता निरीक्षण केंद्र) गरज आहे. परंतु, भारतात या मॉनिटर्सची संख्या फक्त 804 एवढीच आहे. मुंबई : वाढत्या प्रदूषणाची समस्या (Polluted Cities) सध्या संपूर्ण जगाला भेडसावत आहे. भारतातही दिल्ली, मुंबईसारख्या मोठ्या शहरांमध्ये प्रदूषणाचे प्रमाण आधिक आहे. वाढती लोखसंख्या आणि वाढत्या हवा प्रदुषणामुळे भारताला 1,600 ते 4 हजार हवा गुणवत्ता मॉनिटर्सची (हवा गुणवत्ता निरीक्षण केंद्र) गरज आहे. परंतु, 16 सप्टेंबरपर्यंत भारतात या मॉनिटर्सची संख्या फक्त 804 एवढीच आहे. त्यातील जास्त मॉनिटर्स हे शहरी भागात आहेत. जगातील सर्वाधिक 10 प्रदूषित शहरांपैकी भारतामध्ये 9 शहरे आहेत. परंतु 2010 ते 2016 या कालावधीत दोनशे मॅटर (PM) 2.5 मॉनिटरिंग साइट कार्यरत आहेत. भारताची हवेच्या गुणवत्ता मॉनिटरची संख्या दहा लाख लोकांमध्ये सुमारे 0.14 मॉनिटर्स आहेत. 2019 च्या संशोधनानुसार चीन (1.2), युनायटेड स्टेट्स ऑफ अमेरिका (3.4), जपान (0.5) आणि ब्राझीलमध्ये (1.8) आहेत. सल्फर डायऑक्साइड (SO2), नायट्रस डायऑक्साइड (NO2), श्वसन करण्यायोग्य PM 10, सूक्ष्म कण किंवा PM 2.5, शिसे, कार्बनडायआॅक्साईड (CO) आणि अमोनिया यासह प्रदूष करणाऱ्या घटकांची भारताकडे अचूक माहिती नाही. जागतिक आरोग्य संघटनेच्या म्हणण्यानुसार, या घटकांच्या जास्तवेळ संपर्कामुळे हृदय व रक्तवाहिन्यासंबंधी, श्वसनाचे आजार तसेच फुफ्फुसाच्या कर्करोगांसारख्या आजारांचा धोका निर्माण होतो. सध्याचे हवेच्या गुणवत्तेचे मॉनिटर्स शहरी भागात असल्याने, जैव पदार्थ, इंधन लाकूड आणि कीटकनाशकांच्या फवारणीमुळे ग्रामीण भागातील वायू प्रदूषण किती प्रमाणात आहे याचे आरोग्य आणि पर्यावरण अधिकारी मूल्यांकन करू शकत नाहीत. वेळेनुसार हवेच्या गुणवत्तेचे निरीक्षण आवश्यक आहे हवेतील SO2, NO2, PM 10, PM 2.5, शिसे, कार्बनडाय आॅक्साईड आणि अमोनिया या प्रदूषण करणाऱ्या घटकांचे निरीक्षण करून आजूबाजूच्या हवेच्या गुणवत्तेचे परीक्षण केले जाते. सध्या, देशाच्या स्वच्छ हवा कार्यक्रमाअंतर्गत 2024 पर्यंत 132 शहरांमध्ये 20 टक्के ते 30 टक्के हवा प्रदूषण कमी करण्याचे तात्पुरते लक्ष्य ठेवण्यात आले आहे. हवेचे प्रदूषण कमी करण्यासाठी प्रथम सर्वाधिक प्रदूषित शहरांवर भर दिला जात आहे. परंतु मॉनिटर्सची संख्या आणि नियमांच्या अभावी ग्रामीण आणि निमशहरी भागांचे पूर्ण निरीक्षण केले जात नाही. भारतात हवेच्या गुणवत्तेचे पारंपारिकपणे मॅन्युअल रीडिंग वापरून परीक्षण केले जाते. आजूबाजूच्या हवेच्या गुणवत्तेचे परीक्षण करण्यासाठी 804 मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशनचा डेटा वापरला जात आहे. केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण मंडळ (CPCB) 2020 च्या सेंटर फॉर सायन्स अँड एन्व्हायर्नमेंट (CSE) च्या अहवालानुसार, हवेच्या गुणवत्तेच्या मानकांचे पालन करण्यासाठी केवळ मॅन्युअल मॉनिटर्सचा डेटा वापरण्याची प्रथा सुरू ठेवण्यात आली आहे. वेळेनुसार हवेची गुणवत्ता सांगणारे 261 मॉनिटर्स आहेत. याचा डेटा सेंट्रल डेटाबेसवर अपडेट केला जातो. हा तांत्रिकदृष्ट्या राष्ट्रीय हवा गुणवत्ता मॉनिटरिंग कार्यक्रमाचा (NAMP) भाग आहे. परंतु CPCB ने दोन मॉनिटरिंग तंत्रांमध्ये समतोलता नसल्यामुळे त्याचा डेटा स्वतंत्रपणे संग्रहित केला जातो आणि त्यावर उपाय शोधला जातो. प्रदूषण करणाऱ्या घटकांचे निरीक्षण 24 तासाच (वायू प्रदूषकांसाठी चार-तास नमुने आणि कणांसाठी आठ-तास नमुने) केले जाते. आ 24 तासांमध्ये आठवड्यातील फक्त दोन वेळेचा समावेश आहे. हे मॉनिटर्स सतत प्रदूषण मोजत असतात. सेंटर फॉर सायन्स अँड एन्व्हायर्नमेंट (CSE) च्या कार्यकारी संचालक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी याबाबत बोलताना सांगतात, "आमच्या 2020 च्या अहवालातील आकडे अद्ययावत करणे आवश्यक आहे. परंतु, कोणत्याही परिस्थितीत, शहरी लोकसंख्येचे कव्हरेज अपुरे आहे आणि ग्रामीण लोकसंख्या आज पूर्णपणे निरीक्षणाच्या कक्षेबाहेर आहे," मॅन्युअल मॉनिटरिंग प्रोटोकॉलसाठी वर्षातील 104 दिवसांचे रीडिंग आवश्यक आहे. परंतु काही स्टेशनवर हा डेटा फक्त 50 ते 75 दिवसांसाठीच रेकॉर्ड केला गेला आहे, असे आम्हाला आढळून आले आहे." इंडियन इन्स्टिट्यूट ऑफ टेक्नॉलॉजी कानपूर येथील स्थापत्य अभियांत्रिकी विभागाचे प्रमुख आणि NCAP सुकाणू समितीचे सदस्य एस. एन. त्रिपाठी यांच्या मते हवेच्या गुणवत्तेच्या निरीक्षणासाठी मॅन्युअल मॉनिटर्सचा जास्त उपयोग होत नाही. "मॅन्युअल मॉनिटर्स ही एक कंटाळवाणी प्रक्रिया आहे. हवेच्या गुणवत्तेबद्दल दैनंदिन डेटा समजून घेण्यासाठी आठवड्यातून एकदा किंवा दोनदा परीक्षण करणे फारसे उपयुक्त नाही. आम्हाला अधिक वारंवार मोजमापांची आवश्यकता आहे. किमान दर एक तासाला हवेचे परीक्षण होणे गरजेचे आहे." अशे त्रिपाठी यांचे मत आहे. भारताला दीड हजार मॉनिटर्सची गरज भारतातील सहा मेगासिटीजमध्ये (मुंबई, कोलकाता, बेंगळुरू, चेन्नई, हैदराबाद, दिल्ली) प्रत्येकी किमान 23 ते 44 मॉनिटर्सटी आवश्यकता आहे. सध्या ही संख्या 9 ते 12 अशी आहे. यात दिल्लीचा समावेश नाही. कारण दिल्लीत जास्त प्रदूषण असल्यामुळे तेथे यापेक्षा जास्त मॉनिटर्सची आवश्यकता आहे. सध्या भारताकडे उपलब्ध असलेल्या मॉनिटर्सचेही समान वितरण करण्यात आले नाही. "वेळेनुसार हवेची गुनवत्ता तपासणाऱ्या मॉनिटर्सपैकी 33 टक्क्यांहून अधिक दिल्ली-एनसीआरमध्ये आहेत. एकट्या दिल्लीने 38 स्टेशन्स उभारण्यासाठी जवळपास 100 कोटी रुपयांहून अधिक गुंतवणूक केली आहे," असे CSE च्या अहवालात म्हटले आहे. मणिपूर आणि अरुणाचल प्रदेशसह अनेक राज्यांमध्ये, स्टेशनची संख्या खूपच कमी आहे. 2019 मध्ये स्प्रिंगर जर्नलमध्ये प्रकाशित आलेल्या अहवालानुसार 9 लाख लोकसंख्या असलेल्या ग्रेटर लंडन प्रदेशात PM 10 साठी 87 आणि PM 2.5 साठी 32 मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन आहेत. 2021 मध्ये, 2.7 लाख लोकसंख्या असलेल्या मणिपूरमध्ये फक्त एक मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन आहे आणि 1.25 लाख लोकसंख्येच्या अरुणाचल प्रदेशात दोन आहेत. CPCB निकष वापरून, दहा लाखांपेक्षा जास्त रहिवाशांच्या शहरासाठी सुमारे 25 मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन्सची आवश्यकता असते आणि जर ही संख्या 60 लाखांपेक्षा जास्त वाढली गेली तर दीड हजार स्टेशन्सची आवश्यकता असेल. असे स्प्रिंगर जर्नल पेपरने प्रसिद्ध केलेल्या अहवालात म्हटले आहे. पर्यावरण मंत्रालयाच्या अहवालानुसार "देशातील सध्याच्या चाह हजार शहरांतील 307 शहरांमधील 703 मॅन्युअल मॉनिटरिंग स्टेशन मर्यादित कमी आहे. ती वाढवण्याची गरज आहे. सध्याच्या 703 केंद्रांपासून दीड हजार केंद्रांपर्यंत वाढवण्याचा प्रस्ताव आहे,"

India has 9 of 10 most polluted cities, but few air quality monitors

Research shows that the number of air quality monitors in India per million people is lower than other highly populated countries. This prevents it from gauging the true extent of various pollutants With its size, population and aggravating air pollution, India needs 1,600 to 4,000 air quality monitors but has only 804 as of September 16, 2021, most of which are concentrated in urban areas, shows research. This, experts say, prevents India from knowing the true extent, scale and geographical spread of various pollutants, and limits the government's ability for preventive public health measures. India has nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, but with 200 particulate matter (PM) 2.5 monitoring sites in operation during the 2010-2016 period, India's air quality monitor density--about 0.14 monitors per million people--is below China (1.2), the United States of America (3.4), Japan (0.5) and Brazil (1.8), according to research from 2019. As a consequence, India does not accurately know the spread of pollutants, including sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrous dioxide (NO2), respirable PM 10, the finer particulate matter or PM 2.5, lead, carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia. Chronic exposure to these pollutants contributes to the risk of developing ailments such as cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Further, since existing air quality monitors are concentrated in urban areas, health and environmental authorities cannot assess the extent of air pollution in rural areas due to biomass, fuelwood, stubble burning and spraying of pesticides. Real-time air quality monitoring needed Ambient air quality is monitored by observing pollutants, including SO2, NO2, PM 10, PM 2.5, lead, CO and ammonia, present in the air. Currently, the country's clean air programme has set a tentative national target of 20%-30% reduction of air pollution in 132 non-attainment cities by 2024, taking 2017 as the base year. The 'non-attainment cities', called so because they did not meet the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) at the time, are required to formulate city-specific action plans in order to reduce air pollution. So, while the thrust is on the most-polluted cities, rural and semi-urban areas are not being fully monitored for want of monitors and protocols. In India, air quality has been traditionally monitored using manual readings. Data from 804 monitoring stations are used for monitoring ambient air quality. Even after the introduction of real-time monitors, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) continues the practice of using data only from manual monitors to report compliance with air quality standards, according to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report from 2020. There are 261 real-time monitors whose data are updated on the central database. This network is technically part of the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) but its data are stored and treated separately because CPCB has not established a method of equivalence between the two monitoring techniques, the 2020 CSE report pointed out. In the manual method, the monitoring of pollutants is carried out for 24 hours (four-hourly sampling for gaseous pollutants and eight-hourly sampling for particulate matter) with a frequency of only twice a week, whereas real-time monitors measure pollutants constantly. In simple terms, the readings from manual monitors are the ones the CPCB uses for ascertaining long-term air quality trends, including annual data on air quality. Data from real-time monitors are only included in calculating daily AQI (air quality index) of a location. "These numbers from our 2020 report need updating but, in any case, coverage of overall urban population is inadequate and rural population is completely outside the ambit of monitoring today," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at CSE and the report's author. "Manual monitoring protocol requires readings from 104 days in a year but for some stations, we have found data was recorded only for 50-75 days," she said. Manual monitors do not make sense for air quality monitoring anymore, said S.N. Tripathi, head of the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a member of the NCAP steering committee. "It is a very tedious procedure and readings once or twice a week are not very helpful for a day-to-day understanding of air quality. We need more frequent measurements--at least hourly readings are needed." Experts have suggested that data from real-time monitors also be used for ascertaining long-term trends and not just for daily AQI. In 2015, identifying this lack of monitors--there were even fewer at the time--IndiaSpend had launched its own network of low-cost sensors to measure the air quality in many Indian cities. You can read more about the project that ended in 2018, here. India needs 1,500 air quality monitoring stations The minimum number of stations to monitor suspended particulate matter where the area's population is less than 100,000 is four. The minimum number is three for SO2, four for NO2, one for CO, according to CPCB guidelines for ambient air quality monitoring released in 2003. The number of monitors required increases with the population. The number of sampling sites depends on the size of the area to be covered, variability of pollutant concentration, data requirements related to monitoring, pollutant to be monitored and population figures which can be used as indicators of criticality both from view of likely air quality deterioration as also health implications, the guidelines state. When scientists compared the density of India's monitoring network with that of other high-population countries, they found large differences. "It is like when a person is ailing, the doctor will need to measure fever before deciding the course of treatment, otherwise treatment can go wrong. The number of monitors we have recommended [in the paper] is the basic, bare minimum requirement," explained Tripathi, who is also one of the authors of this paper. India's six megacities (Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi) need at least 23 to 44 air quality monitoring stations each, while the existing number of stations range between nine and 12 [excluding Delhi], according to the CSE report from 2020. The monitors that India has are also not evenly distributed. "More than 33 per cent of the real-time monitors are concentrated in Delhi-NCR. Delhi alone has invested over Rs 100 crore to set up 38 stations over time," said the CSE report. In several states, including Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, station density is very poor and only two to five years of data are currently available, said another paper, titled 'Monitoring particulate matter in India' published in Springer journal in 2019. For comparison, there are 87 monitoring stations for PM 10 and 32 for PM 2.5 in the Greater London region, a city of nine million, it said. In 2021, Manipur, with a population of 2.7 million, has only one monitoring station and Arunachal Pradesh, with a population of 1.25 million has two. Using CPCB criteria, an average city of one million-plus residents requires around 25 monitoring stations, and if this number is extrapolated across 60 [million-plus] cities, a total of around 1,500 stations would be required, the Springer journal paper said. An environment ministry report on NCAP agreed. "With reference to the existing 4,000 cities in the country, 703 manual monitoring stations in 307 cities reflect limited numbers and need augmentation. It is proposed to augment it to 1500 stations from existing 703 stations," it stated in its 2019 report. At its very launch, NCAP had promised to increase the number of monitoring stations in the country, including rural monitoring stations. The cost of measuring pollutants To address the data gaps in monitoring pollutants, India will require 1,600-4,000 monitors (1.2-3 monitors per million people), the Elsevier paper said, and warned that even at these densities, only relatively basic information on common air pollutants would be available more frequently, and would cover a relatively limited area. The average cost of a monitoring station is around Rs 1 crore with around 10% for annual maintenance costs, the 2019 Springer paper had estimated. This would require an initial investment [of setting up 1,500 stations] of Rs 3,000 crore due to capital and operational costs for 10 years. India has set aside a budget of Rs 470 crore for control of pollution in the financial year 2021-22, which includes funding for its ambitious National Clean Air Programme. "On top of this, costs associated with infrastructure, personnel and training need to be accounted for; and this can be estimated as an additional Rs 3,000 crore; to cover other miscellaneous costs, an additional 50% is added to this, resulting in a total of Rs 7,500 crore. These estimates indicate that the average cost of running the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring [CAAQM] station network in each city over a 10-year period would amount to around Rs 12.5 crore per year," the paper read. Rural areas should also be monitored The NCAP report had itself pointed out the grave problem of air pollution in rural areas and proposed to set up 75 stations in rural areas. Rural areas suffer from outdoor air pollution as well as indoor air pollution. Major sources of outdoor air pollution are indiscriminate use of insecticides/pesticides sprays and burning of wheat and paddy straw. Atmospheric concentration of ozone has been observed higher in rural areas as compared to urban areas, the report stated. "Under NCAP, city-level action plans were to find out pollution sources within the city," said Sunil Dahiya, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. "But instead of looking at just cities, look at airsheds [airshed is a region which shares similar air quality]. States were supposed to formulate their own state-level clean air plans based on cities' plans. Stubble burning, power plants, these are regional sources of pollution and not limited to a city or town. A hybrid of local and regional approach is needed. While we have formulated local city action plans, we are far away from state or regional plans." Alternatives to expensive monitors Procuring new air quality monitors is expensive and time-consuming. "Apart from government monitors, there are monitors set up by industries. If that data is coupled with government data, it could give much more granular information for the situation of pollution across the country. It will also save the cost of setting up new stations," Dahiya said. Another alternative to expensive monitors could be low-cost sensors. These sensors offer an opportunity to generate high-resolution data at a lower cost, and with fewer deployment and access limitations. But they have not been proven to provide long-term, accurate data yet and efforts are underway to improve precision in such sensors. Latest analyses are supporting the case for deployment of well-designed low-cost sensors for measurement of air pollution at the city level, according to the Springer paper. "While it is true that we have to expand our monitoring network, procurement of monitors is very expensive. India needs to leverage its real-time monitoring network for long-term trends and have a hybrid model with satellite monitoring and low-cost sensors that help in mapping the pollution profile and exposure of a region," Roychowdhury said.

As Hotspots Revert To Type, 2020 Gains Lost

New Delhi: The Centre for Science and Environment has determined that on average, PM2.5 concentration at 17 pollution hotspots in Delhi-NCR initially showed a fall in 2020 only to rise again at several locations this year, with a few even faring worse than in 2019. The CSE analysis, which is based on the Central Pollution Control Board’s real time air quality data, found industrial locations such as Bawana, Mundka, Narela, Sahibabad, Jahangirpuri and Wazirpur to be among the areas with an upward trend in PM2.5 levels. CPCB and DPCC had identified 13 places in Delhi with average PM2.5 and PM10 levels throughout the year higher than the mean of the city and designated them as pollution hotspots. A comparison of the annual average PM2.5 levels of 17 hotspots show them all recording an improvement in 2020 mainly due to the Covid lockdown. However, the gains made last year were lost this year as pollution levels again increased at most of the locations. Mayapuri in Delhi and Faridabad in NCR were the exception, with the annual average PM2.5 concentration there remaining stable till December 13 compared with the level in 2020. Jahangirpuri and Narela saw a spike in PM2.5 concentration in 2021 against the levels of 2019. The annual average PM2.5 concentration at Jahangirpuri was 129 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019. It reduced to 124 micrograms per cubic metre in 2020 but has again shot up to 131 micrograms per cubic metre this year. Similarly, Narela’s annual average PM2.5 concentration was 101 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019 before it rose to 105 and 112 micrograms per cubic metre in 2020 and 2021, respectively. According to the analysis, of the 17 hotspots, 10 recorded PM2.5 concentrations higher than the Delhi city average of 104 micrograms per cubic metre. However, seven locations — Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mandir Marg, Mayapuri, Okhla Phase II and RK Puram — reported average levels below that of the Delhi city average. Experts said the cause of the pollution spike in some locations should be investigated. They stressed that apart from a city-wide action plan, local issues in certain areas should also be targeted. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE, said, “It is necessary to strengthen targeted action to control highly polluting local sources including waste burning, local industrial stack and fugitive emissions, construction activities, unpaved roads, and traffic congestion. Strong local action has to align with city-wide improvement in infrastructure, compliance systems and clean fuel access." Meanwhile, CSE analysis of the current winter season (October-December 13) showed a mixed trend with several hotspots recording an improvement and a few worsening from the status in 2020.